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

Chapter Thirty-Three

Callie

When I walk into my apartment, I find Lizzie dusting in the living room. Alex and Emily must be in their rooms. As soon as Lizzie notices me, she calls, “Callie’s home!”

It takes literally five seconds for Alex and Emily to rush into the living room. All three of them throw themselves at me and hug the living daylights out of me, telling me over and over how much they missed me and how happy they are that I’m safe.

“I missed you guys so much, too,” I say as I give each of them another hug. “It feels like we were separated for two years instead of two days.”

“Are you hungry?” Alex asks. “We have some waffles left over from breakfast.”

“Thanks, but Lincoln and I ate before he drove me home.”

“But you have to taste Alex’s muffins,” Emily says. “She tried a new recipe yesterday and they’re so freakin’ good.”

Alex frowns. “They’re a little dry.”

Lizzie playfully hits her arm. “They’re delicious.”

“Yes, please,” I say.

We make our way to the kitchen and settle down at the table with the muffins. They seem be to chocolate flavored.

“This looks so good,” I say before taking a bite. My whole body lights up. “Oh my gosh! This is awesome.” I stuff it into my mouth.

“Right?” Emily stuffs hers into her mouth, too.

Alex smiles. “Thanks, guys. Once I perfect it, I’ll ask the owner of the restaurant if we can add them to the menu.”

“Ooh, I can’t wait until you open your own restaurant, Alex,” Lizzie says.

Alex waves her hand. “That will be in like a million years.”

“You never know,” I say as I swallow and take another bite. “Life is so unpredictable. Look at me. Just three weeks ago, I thought I would be engaged. Now I have Lincoln.”

At the mention of Lincoln, a host of emotions nearly knock me over. I’m glad he and I had that talk and admitted how we feel about each other. He has no idea how thrilled I was to learn he actually liked me, too. The prospect of us dating for real makes me so darn excited, but it scares me as well. Could things work out between us? And how much will it hurt if they don’t?

Alex narrows her eyes at me. “Did something happen between you and Lincoln?”

“Uh…Why do you think that?”

“You got this really weird look on your face when you mentioned him.”

“She always gets a certain look on her face when she thinks about him,” Lizzie says with a giggle.

“I see it, too,” Emily observes as she studies me. “It’s definitely a different look from the ones you had in the past.”

Trying not to squeal, I slap my hands on my face. “I kissed him last night.”

“ What ?” they cry.

“And he kissed me back.”

“Oh my gosh!”

“Wait a second. Rewind and give us details!”

“What do you mean you kissed him? How???”

Lowering my hands from my scorching face, I say, “He was so sweet to me, guys. You have no idea. He tried to reenact our sophomore winter formal dance after I told him how bummed I was that I didn’t have a date. It was so romantic.”

They gape at me like I told them I plan to run away with him and get married.

I hold up my hands, then shift my eyes to Alex. “You were right, Alex. Maybe I was in denial, maybe I was too stubborn, or maybe I was afraid. But the truth is that I do have feelings for Lincoln. And he has feelings for me, too.”

“This is the best news ever!” Lizzie explodes out of her chair and dances around the room. “Callie got herself a sweet boyfriend. Callie got herself a sweet boyfriend—”

“Not so fast, Lizzie,” I say. “Sharing an out-of-this-world kiss doesn’t make us boyfriend and girlfriend.”

She stops dancing and frowns at me. “Why not?” She sits back down in her seat.

“Lincoln and I had a long talk this morning. We both admitted we have feelings for each other, and I finally told him that I had a crush on him in high school. But what we both realized was that he and I were living in a fantasy world the past two days. We pretended the world out there didn’t exist, and the only one that existed was the one we shared inside his apartment. But that wasn’t reality. In the real world, there’s no promise that Lincoln and I are good for each other. I just got out of a breakup and it’s not healthy for me to dive into another relationship. And there’s also the fact that Lincoln is a very famous athlete, and that would affect our relationship and my life. I told him I would be willing to be with him despite the fame, if he and I were meant to be.”

I take a break for a drink, then continue. “We both care a lot about each other and want to give this a shot. I know I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t at least try to see where things can go with Lincoln. But at the same time, I need to protect myself. So we decided that we’ll take things slow. We’ll date for real, get to know each other even more than we already do, and take things one step at a time. He said he’ll go at whatever pace I’m comfortable with.”

Lizzie throws her arms around me. “I’m so happy to hear that! For a second, I thought you were going to tell us that you broke up with him. Now you guys have a real shot.”

“I’m so relieved by this news,” Alex says, she, too, pulling me into her arms once Lizzie releases me. “You know I was super worried about the whole fake dating thing. I knew you had strong feelings for him and I was certain the only outcome of the arrangement would be you having a broken heart. I’m so glad Lincoln admitted he has feelings for you and is willing to go at your pace. He really is a great guy.”

I nod as warmth fills every part of me. “He really is.”

“I know it’s too premature to say this,” Emily says, eyes shining with hope. “But I have a strong feeling that things will work out between you guys. I know, I know, some might claim I’m too much of a romantic or that I spend too much time in my fantasy worlds, but I just have this strong feeling that everything will be okay. I mean, it has to. There has to be hope that true happily ever afters can happen to people.”

I smile as I wrap my arm around her. “I want to dream and have hope, too, but I also want to be realistic. I’m worried my heart will be broken beyond repair if things don’t work out between us. So I’m taking it bit by bit instead of falling super hard for him.”

Alex nods. “I think that’s the smartest thing to do.”

Lizzie and Em nod, too.

With my face heating up again, I say, “After I kissed him, I was kind of embarrassed and ran to my room. But then he knocked on my door, kissed me, and told me he wants this as much as me. Oh my gosh, it was the most amazing kiss I’ve ever experienced in my life. Even better than the other two we shared. Maybe it was because he took charge? I don’t know. I mean, I liked that I was the one who initiated the kiss the second time, but when he did it?” I fan myself. “Guys, it was so hot.”

The three of them share excited smiles and “oohs” and “ahhs.”

“How the heck did I think kissing Spencer was good?” I wrinkle my nose. “Kissing him was like kissing cardboard.”

Emily and Lizzie try hiding chuckles.

I smile. “I’m serious! He was really terrible. Although, I didn’t think that at the time because I had nothing to compare him to. But Lincoln is like a god.” My face burns again. “Was that lame?”

“Yes,” Alex says at the same time Emily says, “No way!” and Lizzie says, “Heck no!”

“You’re so lucky and I’m so jealous!” Emily complains.

“Maybe some of your luck will rub on us?” Lizzie rubs her shoulder against mine.

I laugh. “I hope so. I wish you guys could experience what I’m experiencing. I feel like I’m in a dream.” I hold up my hands and take a breath. “No, take things slow, Callie,” I tell myself. “You don’t want to dive in too deeply.” I sigh to my friends. “I think this is going to be much harder than I thought.”

Alex puts her arm around me. “Maybe. But we know you’re strong enough to do what’s best for you. And of course Lincoln needs to do what’s best for him.”

“It looks like the only thing Lincoln thinks is best for him is being with Callie,” Lizzie says with a giggle.

“I know, right?” Emily says. “He looks totally smitten whenever they’re together. I used to think he was a good actor, but you can’t fake this.” She takes out her phone and opens her social media app, scrolling through it until she finds a photo. “Check this out.”

We pass the phone between us and study the photo. Someone took a shot of us walking together, most likely to the library. My eyes are animated as I speak to Lincoln, probably gushing about books, and he has this look in his eyes that appears as though…well, that he’s totally smitten, like Emily claimed.

“I want a guy to look at me like that,” Lizzie says with a huge frown.

“Me, too,” Emily says.

Alex lifts her shoulders. “I wouldn’t mind that, either.”

“I know you guys will have that one day,” I tell them. “You’re too awesome not to. But we’re kind of jumping the gun. Lincoln and I don’t yet know one hundred percent if things can work out between us. Like I said, we need to take things very slow and see how we feel. Who knows? Maybe we’ll learn that we’re not good for each other.”

“Impossible,” Lizzie says.

I shake my head. “Anything is possible. But I do want to be positive.”

“How good will it feel for you to hold his hand for real?” Emily says. “To whisper real romantic words to each other and share real kisses in public?”

“I know!” I exclaim. “That’s all I’ve been thinking about since he and I had the talk. And the kisses, of course. With the stress of work and everything, he’ll be like a beacon in my life.” I frown. “That was a little lame.”

“Maybe a little,” Alex admits. “But how do you think you’ll feel about all the media and social media attention? I mean, nothing is going to change for them, but everything is changed for you guys. I hope all the attention doesn’t ruin things for you, because if it did, I might just have to go after each person and slap them.”

“I guess it’s something I’ll have to learn to accept,” I tell them. “There’s no way I’ll ever ask him to give up his career for me. He loves football to death, and all I want is to support him. If that means I’ll have to deal with some unpleasant things online, I’m okay with that. Lincoln is totally worth it.”

Emily beams. “He totally is.”

We spend a few more minutes talking about my two days with Lincoln, and then I decide to head to my room for a nap. I barely got any sleep last night—hello, two amazing kisses back to back!—and there’s no way I’ll function at work tomorrow without proper sleep.

“Don’t dream too much about your guy,” Lizzie tells me with a wink. “Save some of the good stuff for real life.”

That makes me laugh. “I’ll try.”

I’m so tired that I collapse in my bed. But my curiosity gets the better of me and I reach for my phone, tapping the social media app. Lincoln and I are still trending, but it seems as though we’re not as popular as we were a few days ago. People just love sharing photos of our lip-locking session. It sure looks intense and passionate, but it’s nowhere near the ones he and I experienced last night.

With a smile, I tap to another photo, this one of Lincoln signing an autograph for a little boy in a wheelchair. The boy has such a huge smile on his face, like Lincoln just made all his dreams come true. I touch Lincoln’s face, wishing I were touching his face for real.

The next is a video of Lincoln and the team doing this really dorky dance. All the guys look ridiculous, but Lincoln looks extra silly, which just makes him appear even more endearing. The amount of heart emojis and marriage proposals to Lincoln from people all over the world is astounding. But they don’t know him the way I do. They just want him for his looks and fame. They don’t know what an unbelievably kind and selfless person he is.

And I’m the lucky one who does.