Page 88 of The Fake Out

“Somehow I doubt they’re going to see it that way,” Betsy said.

“Go away,” Chris mumbled. His arm tightened around my waist.

I cracked an eye open and just as quickly shut it against the sunlight streaming in through the open door. We were free. But I didn’t want to move from this spot where I was warm and comfortable. That had been the best sleep I’d had, maybe ever.

“Yeah, well, Mom might kill us if she finds out,” Aggie said.

Ellie nudged the bed. “Get up. Piper’s been trying to get ahold of you. She finally called Mom. Now Mom’s frantic because she can’t find you.”

Chris rolled over on his back, taking away my human blanket. I kept my eyes closed. “Go. Away.”

“Sure thing. I’ll leave Mae’s phone right here on the bed,” Aggie said. “Because I happened to find it. Mae, you should be careful about leaving your phone lying around. But don’t worry, I kept it safe. I even charged it for you. Remember that when you’re picking a maid of honor.”

Chris growled. “Put down the phone and leave.”

“For the record,” Betsy said, “I knew nothing about this scheme. I am innocent.”

Aggie gasped. “Did you just throw Millie and me under the bus?”

“No. I removed myself from the road entirely. You know the revenge for this will be…” Betsy’s voice drifted off and the door slammed shut.

A moment later, Chris rolled back over and dangled my phone in front of my face. “You can stop pretending. They’re gone.”

“I wasn’t pretending.” I took the phone just as a text notification came through.

I blinked the sleep from my eyes and asked Chris to hand me my glasses. When I saw how many missed calls and texts I had, I gasped. All of them were from Piper.

Piper: Hey, give me a call. A great opportunity just opened and I wanted to make sure you were on board.

A half-hour and two missed calls later:

Piper: Really need to talk to you for a quick minute.

Two hours, five text messages, and seven calls later:

Piper: Where the hell are you two? I can’t get anyone to respond.

The last text from just before midnight:

Piper: Fine. A decision was made for you. Be at Chris’s parents’ house by noon tomorrow. You’re taking engagement pictures.

Oh, crap.

Chris and I grabbed all our stuff and hightailed it back to his house. He left me to take a shower, which gave me plenty of time to panic about the photos.

It was one thing to lie about being engaged or wear the ring or be cute and cuddly in public, or even the couple of cell phone pictures Piper had taken of the “actual” engagement. But professional photos?

There was something so very real about the idea. If we were engaged, one of those photos would end up on a Save-the-Date card and we’d have another framed because it would be our very favorite, that one photo that captured just how we felt about each other.

But this was not, I repeat, not real.

“How is this my life?” I said to no one at all. I dragged on a pair of shorts and a tank top and walked over to the main house, my mind spinning.

The second I opened the front door, I was overcome by the sheer amount of people and stuff in the house. Racks of clothes greeted me in the living room. The dining room table had been pushed aside and an entire shoe store was laid out by size and color. When I made it to the kitchen, I saw Margot chatting it up with a pretty woman in jeans and a t-shirt. Sitting at the table were Betsy and Millie and yet another woman I didn’t recognize.

“Mae.” Margot waved, face bright with excitement. “Isn’t this all something else? When Piper told me the whole family got to be in the photos, I couldn’t believe it. It’s been so long since we’ve had a family portrait. I only wish Ellie was here. But, you’ll get to be in them.”

My heart sank. Family photos too? This had all gone too far. “Do you happen to know where Chris is?”