Page 72 of Fake It For Him

I fucking hoped so, anyway. Finn was with her now. I’d only stayed with them long enough to make sure my sister was in her room and still breathing before I’d taken off to find my girl.

Ella pulled back and blinked at me. I lifted my hands to her beautiful face and wiped away the tears and what remained of last night’s makeup. Her brow furrowed.

“What?” I asked. “Is there something else?”

She kept staring at me for another moment before she shook her head. “You came all this way.”

“Of course, I did.” I offered her a small, teasing smile. “I was worried you were passed out in an alley somewhere. I had to get here myself. Had to see you.”

I had to hold on to you to make sure you’re okay. I didn’t say that last one out loud, though. As I said the rest of it, acknowledging how I’d felt all day, it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks that my primary concern should’ve been for my sister.

And it had been.

Mostly.

Liar.

Ella had been the one I’d been most worried about. It was Ella I’d pictured with two shadowy figures coming down an alley to do her harm, not Freya. Ella I’d been out of my mind about the entire flight over. Ella I had come to check up on as soon as we’d arrived.

If Freya’s room hadn’t been the first one we’d happened across, I didn’t even know if I would’ve looked in on her at all before I’d come to find my girl. My girl. Since when do I even think about her like that? Fuck, am I falling for her?

As I stared into those watery, reddish green eyes, I knew that something had changed. Even just a few weeks ago, it hadn’t felt like my heart would stop beating if something had happened to her. I wouldn’t have rushed right to her side, my lungs threatening to cave in on themselves if I didn’t see her. Didn’t feel her. Didn’t know she was okay.

Holy fucking fuck. This cannot be happening.

And yet, it was. I knew it all the way to the core of my supposedly rotten being. I cared about this girl more than I’d ever cared about any other.

Before I could even begin to wrap my head around it, the door opened and two more people came into the room. It took me a beat before I managed to tear my gaze away from Ella’s for long enough to see Finn and Freya.

My sister’s hair was damp, which meant she’d probably taken a shower. Her face was devoid of any makeup, but her features were soft and determined as she stepped out ahead of Finn. “Can we talk?”

My brother and I shared a look, and for the first time in four years, it wasn’t full of hatred. If anything, he looked curious when he broke our eye contact to glance at Ella.

She’d tensed in my arms, sinking into my side. I tightened my grip on her instinctively, needing to protect her even from the person I loved most in the world. Outside of her, that is. Fuck, I really do love her. Shit.

Freya glanced at my arms holding Ella to me like a baby I was afraid someone was about to steal away, and she rolled her eyes. “Please, Calan? Let go of her. This is her decision. I’m not going to hurt her. You don’t have to hang onto her like you’re afraid I’m going to bite her.”

My first instinct was to snap at her, but I breathed through it, glancing at Ella instead. “What do you think?”

Ella nodded. “I think I should talk to her.”

“Good,” Freya said, sounding surprisingly cheerful. She grabbed Finn’s hand and backed toward the door. “We’ll wait in the living room. If you feel half as bad as I did, you might want to take a shower first. Helped me a bit.”

With that, they left and Ella and I were alone again. She inhaled deeply, then climbed out of bed without a word and crossed over to their bathroom. After the world’s fastest shower, she came out wrapped only in a towel, and it took everything in me not to drag her naked body back to bed.

This wasn’t the time, though.

Climbing out of bed myself in an attempt to lessen the temptation, I slid my hands into my pockets and waited for her to get dressed. Like Polly and even Freya, she opted for an oversized T-shirt and shorts and tied her wet hair up without even brushing it first.

When she was ready, I took her hand and walked out to the living room with her. We sat down and I pulled her into my side. Finn poured us all some water and Ella stayed close to me, still clinging to me for comfort, which was exactly where I wanted her. It was exactly who I wanted to be for her.

“I’m so sorry about last night, Freya,” she started with a tearful apology, looking my sister right in eye. She sucked in huge gulps of air to help her through it. “I’m so, so sorry I ruined everything right before your wedding. It wasn’t my place and I know⁠—”

Freya held up a hand, giving her a smile instead of scowling at her. “You didn’t ruin anything. I owe you a huge thank you, actually. I had no idea those bitches were so two-faced. I probably never would’ve found out if it wasn’t for you.”

“But—”

Freya shook her head, still smiling. “No, Ella. I’m serious. There are no buts here. I’m the one who should be apologizing for taking it out on you last night. I was drunk and I was shocked, but I was also wrong. I should never have said any of those things to you.”