Page 18 of A Real Good Lie

Callahan’s spine straightened, but he didn’t change the direction of his stare.

Jace breathed him in, the smell of nervous sweat and laundry detergent filling his nose. He picked up his drink and leaned back in his own seat, taking a sip and turning to look out the window. Only once he was confident Callahan couldn’t see his face—if he even looked—did he let his emotions show.

This was…

Jace didn’t know if he should be excited or terrified that the dreamy kisser from Lion was the man he was supposed to be pretend to be in a relationship with for the next three days. On one hand, he wouldn’t even need to pretend to be attracted to Callahan because how could he not be, but on the other hand, it would be agony toonlypretend.

He’d spent the last two weeks regretting walking out of the bar, wondering what would have happened if he’d been there when Callahan opened those deadly blue eyes. Would they have kissed again or would Callahan have pushed him away? If Jace had tried, would he have been able to get Callahan back to his apartment…to his bed?

Last week, he’d finally allowed himself to look at the balance of his checking account, and found the money from Carmen, sitting untouched. Remington had hauled him to one of those three for three hundred dollar suit stores and ensured he bought something that didn’t make him look like he had no idea what he was doing, and then for good measure, he’d bought new shoes and some rich person casual clothes, too.

When he’d attempted to fold his suit into his bag, Remington had nearly bitten his head off, and Jace had almost missed the flight because he’d been waiting for Remington to dig a fancy suitcase with a built in garment bag out of storage for him. In the end, everything had worked out and he’d gotten to the plane in time, only to find out who Sebastian had set him up with.

Callahan.

What a fucking name.

What a fucking guy.

Jace polished off the rest of his mimosa as the plane began its taxi down the runway, and with a little champagne courage, decided to make the best of the hand life had dealt him. He’d wanted a chance with Callahan, and now he had it

He shifted in his seat and leaned in close, resting his chin on Callahan’s shoulder. The muscles in Callahan’s jaw worked, tensing and clenching as he stared straight forward.

“How did we meet?” Jace whispered.

“You know how we met.”

“That’s what you’re going to tell everyone?” He huffed out a hot breath against Callahan’s neck. “This is Jace. I met him in a bathroom at a club.”

“I met youin linefor the bathroom,” Callahan corrected.

“And that’s what you’re going to tell your friends?”

Callahan swallowed. “These people aren’t my friends.”

The plane left the ground, the nose pointing toward the sky and carrying them upward. Jace popped his ears, his chin gouging into Callahan’s shoulder.

“Your enemies then.”

“They’re not…” Callahan grunted and shrugged Jace off of him. “They’re not my enemies. They’re just…people.”

“Okay. What are you going to tell people then?”

“Do you ever quit?” Callahan finally looked at him, his eyes wide and his face flushed.

Jace smiled, tilting his head to the side.“No.”

“I don’t know what the story is,” Callahan said, his shoulders finally starting to crumble under the strain of his bravado. “I don’t even care if anyone believes it. I just…”

Jace softened, letting out a quiet breath. “Sebastian said it’s an ex.”

“Rhys,” Callahan said gently, the corners of his mouth tilting down into a tight frown.

“I’ve never met a Rhys I liked,” he offered.

Callahan huffed out an amused sound and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “Have you ever met a Rhys at all?”

“Not that I can remember, but I’ve never met a Callahan either.”