Single And In Love With My Fake Boyfriend (Single Girls Club #1)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Lincoln

I stare at the doorway Callie just ran out from. Fleeing from me, from the kiss, from the most wonderful moment of my life.

It’s not an exaggeration. It was the most wonderful moment of my life. No woman has made me feel the way she does.

But she ran from me. Why? Did she not like the kiss? From the way she grabbed onto me, I know that she did. Is she scared that everything might change now?

I can’t stop reliving the moment we were wrapped in each other’s arms, dancing to the beat of the slow song. Her eyes staring into mine, the sweet, beautiful smile on her face as she made up for what she missed at her high school dance. I’m very happy I did it for her. She deserves only good things in life, and I’ll do whatever I can to provide them for her.

But I can’t leave things the way they are. I need to talk to her. It’s obvious there’s something brewing between us. Why would she kiss me if she just sees me as a friend?

After taking a deep breath and releasing it, I make my way down the hallway to her room. The door is shut. I lift my hand and knock, hoping she didn’t fall asleep yet.

A few seconds pass before the door opens. Callie stands there, face scrunched in uncertainty. And from the look on her face, I know she’s embarrassed about what happened between us. But I don’t want her to be embarrassed.

I step closer to her, closing the small distance between us. Placing my hands on either side of her face, I devour her lips with mine, not holding anything back. I kiss her even more fervently than I did only a few minutes ago.

Callie’s shocked for a few seconds, but she wraps her arms around my neck, pressing herself to me like she wants to be as close to me as possible. I feel so many emotions from her—joy, hope, excitement. But the one that stands out the most is confusion. She doesn’t understand what’s happening right now, but I have a clear head and know exactly what I desire.

Drawing back, I stroke her cheek with my finger. “I don’t regret this,” I murmur as I gaze into her eyes. “I want this. But we should talk in the morning.”

She stares into my eyes as well and nods.

Bending forward, I rest my forehead on hers, letting out a soft breath. “Good night, Callie.”

“Good night, Lincoln.”

I brush my lips across her cheek before backing out of the room. I don’t turn around, I don’t take my eyes off her. And she doesn’t take hers off me. We must be gazing at each other for quite some time before I blink and smile warmly at her. I don’t want to part from her. I want to be with her, talk to her, spend as much time as I can with her, kiss her, hold her. But it’s late and we need to get some sleep.

I force myself to wave and then turn around, ordering my feet to take me to my room. I can feel Callie watching me before the door shuts behind her with a light thud.

I lower myself on my bed and stare at the ceiling. After a minute or two, I shut my eyes and try to get some sleep. But of course I can’t. There’s a girl in the room next door. And not just any girl. A special girl whom I just exchanged two intense and passionate kisses with. It felt like Earth was tipping over.

I’m glad I told her I don’t regret what happened. The last thing I want is for her to be embarrassed or for her to think I didn’t want the kiss.

I’m looking forward to our conversation tomorrow. But first, I seriously need to get some sleep. But darn it, I can’t get her beautiful face and the feel of her warm lips on mine out of my head.

***

Callie’s door is shut when I wake up the next morning. She must still be in bed. I hope she managed to get some sleep and wasn’t up all night thinking about the kisses like I was. I maybe got an hour of shut-eye.

Before I start breakfast, I check the news. The rain has completely stopped, the flooding has lessened, and most of the roads will be operational soon. It looks like Callie can go home. I’m sure she’ll be happy about that, but I’m a little bummed. Of course she should go to her house and not stay with her fake boyfriend whom she just shared two kisses with only a few hours ago, but I’ll miss her.

But this isn’t about me. It’s about her. She misses her friends and her apartment and her life.

I get started on breakfast, following another recipe in the cookbook. It’s a little more complicated than the previous one, but I think I can manage it. I don’t have all the ingredients, but I’ll make it work somehow.

I’m not sure how much time passes before I hear movement. Glancing up, I find Callie standing in the doorway. “Good morning, Callie.”

“Morning.”

I look at her, trying to get a sense of how she feels about last night. Does she want to pretend like it didn’t happen? I can’t forget, but I’ll obey whatever she wishes.

I can’t read the expression on her face, though.

She gives me a shy smile as she walks over to the stove to see what I’m making. “Smells good.”

“Thanks. It should be ready soon. Please take a seat. Did you sleep well?”

I’m not sure that was the best question to ask because she presses her lips together as she lowers herself on one of the chairs at the table.

“Yeah, um. I slept okay. Did you?”

“Yeah,” I lie. “No more internal problems.”

She nods slowly. “Well I’m glad you were able to work them out.”

She has no idea how wrong she is.

“Right,” I say. “And I hope you can work yours out, too.”

She nods again.

The room is bathed in silence as I finish preparing breakfast. Then I bring it over to the table for us to dig in.

“It’s good,” she says with another shy smile. “Looks like you have no excuse to buy frozen meals anymore.”

I laugh. “That’s probably a good thing. I actually enjoy cooking. It relaxes me.”

“Nice.” She swallows her food down with orange juice.

We’re quiet. I look at her and she looks at me. But then her gaze shifts to her food and she stares at it like it’s the most interesting thing in the world.

I bend closer to her, placing my hand on her arm. “Callie, I wasn’t lying last night when I said I don’t regret what happened.”

Her eyes widen as she turns to me. “Are you sure? I mean, I thought maybe there was this spell over us that made us…you know. Like maybe it was a dream or something.” She laughs awkwardly. “When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t sure if you came to my room or if I imagined it.”

I gently squeeze her hand. “I did come. I did want the kiss. More than anything else in the world. There’s something between us. We can’t ignore it anymore. But if you’d rather not talk about it, that’s okay. Just tell me what you want and need.”

She gazes into my eyes. “You’re right that we can’t ignore it anymore. But I’m just so confused and don’t understand what’s happening between us. We’re fake dating and then we shared kisses that were…”

“Wonderful and spectacular and something I want to relive again and again.”

Her jaw falls as she stares at me. “You do? I thought maybe you said that to make me feel better for kissing you so impulsively.” Her cheeks redden as she averts her gaze.

I get to my feet, push my chair closer to hers, and sit down. She watches as I hold out my hand to her and then she slowly places hers inside. “I’ve been having feelings for you,” I admit. “For quite a while, but they grew stronger after we kissed for the first time.”

She doesn’t say anything as she searches my eyes.

“My feelings for you go way beyond friendship,” I murmur as I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I didn’t understand what was happening to me. You’re my friend, my fake girlfriend. I’m not supposed to feel that way. But you’re such a special person, Callie. You understand me on a level no one else does. I feel like I can be completely myself with you. When we hang out, I’m not Lincoln Walker, QB for the Atlanta Armadillos. I’m just Lincoln, a guy trying to make something of himself in this world.”

She swallows. “You’re saying last night…”

“Was one of the best moments of my life. You don’t have to apologize for kissing me because, like I said, I wanted it too. And I still do, very badly.”

She gapes at me. “Why would Lincoln Walker like a nobody like me?”

I squeeze her hand. “You’re not a nobody, Callie. I told you that you’re very special to me, but I mean as more than a friend.”

Her gaze drops to the floor before she looks at me. “You’re not just a friend or fake boyfriend to me, either. I have feelings for you, too. I mean, duh I do or else I wouldn’t have kissed you.” She shakes her head. “But what you don’t know is that this isn’t new for me.”

“What do you mean?”

She shuts her eyes for a second, then inhales deeply. “I had a massive crush on you in high school.”

Now it’s my turn to gape at her.

“All girls did, really,” she goes on. “But I was obsessed with you. I loved looking at you and listening to you talk to your friends in the hallway. You were so passionate about football and you cared about your teammates so much. To me, you were perfect.”

My gaze lowers to the floor. “So perfect I didn’t even know you existed.”

She places her hand on my chest. “Lincoln, it’s okay. We all had our own stuff to deal with. Besides.” She scoffs. “A hottie football player would never choose an invisible girl like me.”

“I was a stupid kid.”

She shakes her head. “No you weren’t.”

I look into her eyes. “But I wish I would have known you in high school. Sure, I had lots of friends, but there was no one I could talk to. No one I could share my fears and insecurities with. If we were friends, I know you would have been there for me.”

“Yeah, I would have. But the past is the past and we can’t do anything about it.”

I don’t say anything as many thoughts play around in my mind.

“Linc?” she asks.

I look at her. “You said you liked me in high school. But for how long?”

“Um…since freshman year.”

“And after?”

She rolls her shoulders. “We went our separate ways and I didn’t really think about you that much. I focused on college and my job at the school paper. But I’d search you every so often to see how you were doing. And then we met at Spring Falls Gardens after many years. I was surprised to see you there.” She plays with her hair. “You didn’t remember me, but that’s okay.”

“I did remember you,” I say. “Sort of. You looked very familiar and it bothered me that I couldn’t place you.”

She shrugs. “All of this doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”

“You’re right. We need to figure out where we stand right now.”

“Fake boyfriend and girlfriend who have real feelings for each other.” She lifts a brow. “What happens now?”

I take both her hands in mine. “Callie, you just went through a breakup three weeks ago. The jerk broke your heart. I’d be a jerk if I pushed you into a relationship with me.”

She bends closer to me, pulling one hand out and pushing some hair out of my eyes. “You’re sweet for worrying about me. But I don’t want that jerk to have a hold over me.”

“I know you don’t and I have no right to tell you how to feel. But I care about your emotional and mental health. Do you think you’re ready to start a real relationship with me?”

“Of course I am.”

“It wouldn’t be a normal relationship,” I inform her. “Our lives would constantly be in the spotlight, as you’ve experienced so far. Can you imagine that being your life?”

Her eyebrows furrow.

“We’ve been living in a fantasy the past two days,” I continue. “The minute we walk out of my house, we’ll have to face reality. And the reality is that our lives will no longer be private. Your life will be plastered all over social media. And it would be real this time, not fake.”

Shaking her head, she leans close and cups my cheek. “I don’t care about any of that as long as I’m with the person who’s perfect for me. A guy who will treat me like I’m special to him. And I’d treat him the same. I want to laugh with him and cry with him and get stuck in the rain with him.” She strokes my cheek. “Maybe you could be that guy, Linc. It might be hard, but it would be worth it if we’re meant to be together.”

Hearing her talk about us being perfect and meant to be together lifts my spirits. From the expression in her eyes, I know she’s thinking the same thing I am. But I also see some doubt in there, which I feel as well. Of course we can’t know if we’re meant to be or if we’re endgame or soulmates. But the potential is there. I feel about her in a way I’ve never felt about any other girl. And sure one can argue I didn’t date much, but when a person feels it deep in their heart, it has to count for something.

I interlock my fingers with hers, giving her a sweet smile. “As strongly as we feel for each other, I think it’s best we take things slow. You’re still recovering from a breakup, and we’re shifting from a fake relationship to a real one. I don’t want to jump into anything or rush things. I want to savor every single moment with you.” I rub the back of my neck. “And of course you’ll need to determine if you want a relationship with me that will constantly put you in the spotlight.”

She stands and lowers herself on my lap, placing her hands on my cheeks. She gazes into my eyes before tilting her head down and brushing her lips across my cheek. “Taking things slow and savoring every second,” she echoes, a smile on her face. “I like that.”

I take hold of both her hands. “And we’ll go at whatever pace you’re comfortable with. I want you to be open and honest with me. Tell me when things become too much or if you’re too overwhelmed.”

She nods. “You’re so sweet, Lincoln. You care about me so much.”

I rest my forehead on hers. “And you deserve every second of it.”

“So do you,” she whispers.

We sit with our foreheads together for I’m not sure how long. She doesn’t seem to want to move an inch and neither do I. But unfortunately, we can’t remain here forever, in our own bubble and fantasy land. We need to get back to our lives.

We begrudgingly get changed—she into the clothes she came with and me in a T-shirt and jeans. Then we head to where my car is parked. The roads are a little flooded, but we’ve been given the okay to drive.

A few houses are damaged and trees have fallen, but it’s not too terrible.

The drive home is quiet, each of us absorbed in our thoughts. At red lights, we hold hands and send smiles to each other.

I pull up before her apartment. My arms go around her, squeezing gently. Callie presses herself as close to me as she can.

I sweep my lips across her cheek until I reach her ear, where I whisper, “I’ll see you.”

She gazes into my eyes, her hand on my cheek. “Bye, Linc.”

Our hands are clasped as she backs away, and they drop when she gets out of the car. Before she turns to head into her apartment, she faces me.

We look at each other, as if longing for one another, before she smiles and waves and walks to her front door. She twists around to give me one more glance before disappearing inside.