“Over thirty years?” Sully speaks up, obviously doing the math. I realize he doesn’t know much about my parents and their great love story. “And you got married when you were just teenagers?”
“Tell him the story!” Frankie says, clapping her hands together. “It’s so cute!”
My mother grins, patting my dad’s shoulder. “Yeah, Harvey, go ahead and tell them.”
“Ugh. Not this again,” he grumbles. “Okay, fine. We met at a convenience store, of all places. Letica had dropped a gallon of milk. I was lost in my own little world, just trying to grab my lunch and get out of there and back to the jobsite, and I slipped in the puddle.”
“Whacked his head on the shelf of chips when he went down and sent those toppling over too,” my mother cuts in. “I felt awful. He looked so pitiful just splayed out on the floor, unsure if he should grab for his head or his back first.”
“She just stood there, just stood right over top of me with her arms crossed over her chest, eyes narrowed like she was annoyed at me for slipping in the mess she made. Then she said—”
“You should really watch where you’re going.” My mother laughs at the memory, then shrugs. “What can I say? I lacked a filter.”
Sully glances over at me. “Now I know where you get it from.”
I tuck my lips together. “You love it.”
“I sure do.”
Hey there, butterflies. Good to see you again.
“After I finally got back on my feet, she offered to buy my lunch as an apology—though, I do want to point out that she complained about it the entire time.” My dad shakes his head. “Anyway, we’ve been together since. Can’t seem to shake the smartass.”
“Please, like you’d want to get rid of me at this stage. Who would put up with all your awful jokes?”
“I’d find a willing victim.”
I watch them go back and forth, an ache forming inside my chest.
I’ve always wanted what they have, something fun and supportive, something lasting.
Something real.
Can we be real, Thea?
Sully’s words from before echo in my mind, but I try not to cling to them, instead mentally insisting, It’s just sex. You’re getting ahead of yourself.
“They’re so in love,” Sully mutters from beside me.
I’m not sure he even realizes he said it out loud, but when he pulls his eyes from my bickering parents, goose bumps break out over my skin.
“Yeah, they are,” I say back, swallowing.
“I think I’d like something like that someday.”
My breath stutters.
The way he’s looking at me? It’s real, like I’m not getting ahead of myself.
It’s everything I want.
And everything that frightens me.
Slice Eighteen
Sully
There was no juju, no magic moment. Nothing special occurred.
It just happened.
I’m in love with Thea Schwartz.
I want her for real. For however long she’ll let me have her, I want her.
“You okay?” she asks when we climb into my truck.
“Yeah,” I tell her. “Why?”
“You just seem quiet.” She grins at her own words. “Aw, who am I kidding—you’re always quiet. Are you getting nervous about the wedding?”
“No.” It’s the truth, because being with Thea has become so natural I can’t count the number of times I’ve forgotten this wasn’t real. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“So you can get your signed football, right?” she teases.
“Obviously. Gonna be worth thousands one day.”
“What a gold digger. Only wants me for my famous connections.”
Oh, Thea. I want you for so many other reasons.
“Are you excited for the wedding?” I ask her, just to keep myself distracted.
“Unbelievably so. My brother is so smitten with Frankie, and I can’t wait to see him get everything he’s ever wanted.”
What about you? What do you want?
She gushes about her brother’s romance, and it’s like I’m on autopilot as I park my truck and open her door for her. Thea’s talking as we walk down the dock to my boat, but I’m not listening.
I can’t listen. I can’t focus.
Not on anything other than the fact that I’m in love with her and my gut is screaming at me about it because I know how this is going to play out, and it won’t be in my favor.
This feels like more than just breaking the rules. It feels like I’ve shattered them. I promised her I’d be upfront, and I can’t go forgetting my promises now.
I come to a halt, but she doesn’t notice. Just keeps walking and talking, her hand waving around in the air.
She’s beautiful in the moonlight, curvy and confident and oh so fucking sexy. I want to wrap my hands around her waist and hold her to me, never letting her go.
Never letting her run.
I inhale a steadying breath.
“Thea?”
She spins toward me, a playful grin on her lips. “That’s my name, and I give you full permission to wear it out in bed.”
“What are we doing here?”
She chuckles. “I figured you’d judge me for eating at least two cups of chocolate pudding after eating all that food at my parents’, and then I figured we could—”
Her mouth snaps closed, and her eyes turn serious.
“You’re not asking about right now, are you?”
I shake my head once. “No.” I take a step toward her. “What are we doing? What is this?” Another step. “What are we?”
“I…” She licks her lips, looking anywhere but at me.
She’s scared. I can see it—can feel it.
“What do you want us to be, Sully?”
“I have a feeling you might know the answer to that.”
“It’s fake. It’s just sex.” Her words are cold, like she’s practiced them a million times.
“No.” I shake my head again. “It’s not. It hasn’t been, not for a long time…for much longer than either of us realized. You know it, and I know it.”
She drops her head, and I close the distance between us.
With one hand on her hip, I use the other to bring her eyes to mine.
“Thea…”
“No,” she says. “Just…no.”
“Yes.”
“No. Stop ruining this.”
“I’m not ruining it. I’m—”
“Why?” she begs. “Why can’t this be enough?”
“Because I fucked up.” I tug her closer. “Because I fucked up, and I fell in love with you.”
She squeezes her eyes shut, her face crumpling. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do, Thea. I mean every word of it.”
“You can’t.”
“Well that’s too fucking bad.”
She peels her eyes open. “You can’t because I can’t.”
“Take the leap,” I plead on a whisper, dropping my head to hers. “Enjoy the fall.”
“I’m scared.”
“I am too, but you’re worth the risk.”
Without warning, she smashes her lips to mine.
And like the fool I am, I let her.
I even kiss her back, sliding my hands under her ass and carrying her back to my boat. I strip her clothes off and lay her under my sheets. I crawl between her legs and beg.
I beg her to give in.
To take the leap. To enjoy the fall.
I silently beg her to stay.
But I already know she won’t.
Slice Nineteen
Thea
“Okay, what’s the matter? I set that dessert pizza down in front of you ten minutes ago but you haven’t taken more than two bites from it, and I know there’s nothing wrong with it.”
I stare down at the Brookies & Cream pizza, trying not to let my emotions get the best of me…again.
I’ve been a mess for days. I haven
’t eaten a single sweet.
But when Jonas called and asked me to come hang out tonight, just the two of us, I couldn’t tell him no. He’s just days away from getting married, and then he’ll be off on his honeymoon, then football season starts. This is likely the last time I’ll see him until the holidays.
My heartache can wait.
“It’s nothing,” I tell Simon.
He presses his lips into a thin line and nods, tossing the towel that’s over his shoulder onto the counter. Then he leans on his elbows, looking at me with a stare that has me averting my gaze. “Is this about Sully?”
“It is,” Jonas answers for me from where he sits at my side. “She’s been sulking for fucking days and it’s really killing my wedding vibes. We’re supposed to be celebrating because I’m getting married in three days yet here we are, staring at dessert pizza and trying to hold back our tears.”
“Jonas!” Simon chides.
“What? I’m just being honest since someone isn’t.”
Yep, he’s mad at me. He bought into the whole charade and wasn’t too pleased when I came clean and told him Sully and I were nothing but fake. I had to tell someone about what happened, and since Jonas is my closest friend, he was the lucky winner.
He felt duped, and honestly, I understand that. I shouldn’t have lied about something so stupid just to save myself the embarrassment of going solo to my little brother’s wedding.
“It’s her fault she’s moping. He told her he loves her, and she got all bawk bawk bawk about it.” He flaps his arms like they’re chicken wings and everything.
“I hope someone just got you on camera doing that shit and it’s all over the internet tomorrow.”
“So what if it is? I’ll just tell them my big sister is being a big chickenshit.”
“Jonas!” Simon scolds again. Then his lips curve downward. “Well, he does have a point,” he says to me.
“How is that helpful at all?”
“What, honesty?”
I glare at him. “I come here for dessert pizza, not your judgment.”
“I’m just saying.” He holds his hands up. “Also, Sully’s been in here every day this week too. I think he might be hoping you show up.”
There’s no way he’s looking for me, not after I snuck off of his boat in the early morning hours.
He hasn’t called or texted. He doesn’t want to talk to me, and I can’t blame him.
“I don’t think that’s the case.”
Simon looks like he wants to say something else but thinks better of it. “Whatever you need to tell yourself, kiddo.” He shifts back. “But if I were you, I wouldn’t be so sure.” He taps the counter twice, then walks away.
“You know,” Jonas says, picking at the label on his beer bottle, “when Frankie and I split, it was the hardest thing I ever had to go through. It felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest and then a bulldozer ran over it while I watched. It was fucking brutal.”
I haven’t seen Sully for a couple days, but somehow it feels like weeks—years even.
Stupid because I haven’t even known him that long. We weren’t actually dating. It was all fake. It was just sex.
But if that’s the case, why does it feel like this? Why does it feel exactly like Jonas described? It’s like he’s inside my head, pulling out everything I feel right now.
“What’s your point?”
“My point, Thea, is if you feel even a fraction of that, you’re a fool for running and not telling him you’re in love with him too.”
Love.
Do I love Sully? That’s ridiculous, right?
I haven’t known him that long, and we weren’t even really dating. It was all fake, right?
Who cares if he made my heart hammer harder than anything else ever has. Who cares if his smile made me feel warm and giddy, or if the smell of him was comforting, if his touch made me feel alive.
Who cares if it was real.
It wasn’t…was it?
“Jonas?”
“Yeah?”
“I think I fucked up.”
He laughs. “No shit, sis.”
“Thea? Did you hear me?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll take that as a no.” Dad runs a hand through his hair. “Listen, kid, I know the wedding is coming up and I’m sure you’re preoccupied with all your best man duties. Why don’t you head out early for your vacation? I know it’s not supposed to start until tomorrow, but I think you could use the break.”
A break? The last thing I need is a break.
A break means I’ll have way too much time to sit around and think about everything Sully asked me for…and how I ran away from it.
“I’m fine. I just didn’t sleep well last night. No need for me to leave early.”
“Thea…you do realize we close in an hour, right? Leaving an hour early won’t break you.”
It might.
“What are you doing here anyway?” I ask, diverting his attention. “I thought you were at the other shop today.”
“What? I can’t come to check up on all my hard work?”
“Sure, but it just leads me to believe you don’t trust me.”
“Thea…” He pinches the bridge of his nose.
“I’m kidding.” Mostly. I turn my attention back to the car I’m currently elbow-deep in. “I’m just surprised you’re working and not getting ready for the wedding.”
“Are you serious? I live with your mother, where Jonas and Frankie are every single day. If anything, I am overprepared for this wedding. In fact, I feel like it’s already happened with the number of times your mom has made us go through all the details.”
“It can’t be that bad,” I say.
“She asked my opinion on the color of napkins, Thea. Napkins! They’re just going to get dirty when you use them. Who gives a shit what color they are!” He shakes his head. “I can’t take another second of this. I didn’t think she’d be this bad. Our wedding was so simple.”
“You were broke, twenty-year-old kids. Plus, this is her kid’s wedding, not hers—of course she’s going to want to go all out.”
“Just for old times’ sake, promise your old man you aren’t going to get married, only because I never want to deal with this again.”
“Ha.” I snort sarcastically. “I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about me getting married.”
His brows pinch together. “Things with your fella not going well?”
What fella?
“They’re…a little rocky.”
His lips pull into a frown.
“Oh, don’t give me that look,” I say. “You don’t even like Sully.”
“I like him.”
I stop tinkering with the radiator I’m only half-ass working on and peel myself out from under the hood, looking at him. “What? Since when? The first time you met him, you were all grumpy and dismissive.”
“Oh, Thea.” He chuckles. “That’s because of how he was looking at you.”
I sigh, crossing my arms over my chest. “And how was that?”
I didn’t even know Sully when my parents first met him. Hell, it was only my second time meeting him.
“Like his soul knew yours.”
I stumble back at his bold statement. “What?”
He shakes his head. “I know, I know. It sounds nuts, but he looked at you like you look at a person you’ve had beside you for years, not someone you just met. It was with such ease, such comfort. It was surprising.”
My eyes widen at his words.
He chuckles at my reaction. “Yeah, kid. I knew you two weren’t dating when you introduced him as your boyfriend. Did you forget that we work together? That I see you practically every damn day? I have eyes and ears all over this shop. I knew you weren’t seeing anyone. And let’s not forget that you’ve been my shadow since the day you were born. I know you, peanut. I could see it all over your face. Your mother could too.”
“I… What?” I screech.
/> Two employees carrying some parts across the shop stop dead in their tracks, looking over at the disruption.
“Ignore her. She’s nuts.”
“Dad! You can’t tell my employees I’m nuts!”
“Even if it’s true?”
“Dad…” I drop my head into my hands, holding back an irritated groan.
He knew I was lying this whole time. He knew Sully wasn’t really my boyfriend.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I finally ask.
“Honestly? Your mother and I hoped it would help you get back out there after what happened with…” He trails off, not wanting to say his name. “You were so defeated. It’s like you lost your spark. Don’t get me wrong, you were still sassy as ever, but you weren’t really you for a long time. You were finally starting to get that piece of yourself back when Sully came into the picture. We didn’t want to jinx it.”
“That’s… I don’t even know what to say to that. I’ve been feeling so guilty for lying to you both.”
“Why did you?”
“Please. I’m not stupid. I’ve picked up on all the hints you and Mom have been tossing around. I know you two want to see me dating again.” I eye him. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to…disappoint you? I wanted to make you happy, didn’t want you worrying about me being lonely or whatever.”
“Thea, no offense, but your mother and I don’t give two shits about whether you’re dating someone or not. We just want you to be happy. If that means you’re on your own, that’s fine. All we want is your happiness. The only reason we might have pushed a little too hard is to see if you could find that spark you seemed to lose when that douchebag showed his true colors. That’s all.”
I can’t help but smile when he calls Jaden a douchebag. It reminds me of Sully.
Then the heartache sets in, and my eyes sting with unshed tears.
I miss him. I miss him so fucking much it aches.
He told me he loves me, and I ran, because that’s all I know how to do anymore.
He said to take the leap and enjoy the fall.
I’m not scared of either.
It’s whether we’ll stick the landing or not that terrifies me.
Cheesy on the Eyes: Fake Dating Romcom (Slice Book 5) Page 18
