Page 14 of As They Are (Strawberry Springs #2)

WREN

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Kerry Winsor: HENRY? KISSING WREN AT THE LIbrARY? THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!

Comments:

Dale Garrett: I SAW IT TOO! AND I CALLED IT!!! GIVE ME MY MONEY!!!

Jade Clark: I WAS A DAY OFF!

Hu Gh: All this filming ruined my coffee time!

Tammy Jane: Chill it, Hugh. We’re all talking about the cutest couple in town.

Mollie Wilson: HANG ON, WHAT?

Kerry Winsor: WAIT DID YOU NOT KNOW? YOU SAW THE BETTING POOL, RIGHT?

Mollie Wilson: I THOUGHT YOU ALL WERE ABOUT TO LOSE MONEY! Cain told me to join and I DIDN’T!

My first thought was, I can’t do this with Jude.

My second was, Henry is gonna be so mad.

And the third? It’s unfair that he’s a good kisser.

For a second, we both stood still, making for what could have been the most awkward camera kiss ever. I moved my lips against his, preparing to pull away if this last-second change didn’t work.

But then he kissed me back. One hand cupped my cheek and his lips slotted over mine. He smelled like fresh linen and oranges, and I was having a hard time remembering why I’d done this in the first place.

All I could think about was him.

“Cut!” Madison bellowed, her voice echoing off everything.

Everyone around us whispered among each other, and I could feel eyes all on us.

I pulled away, cheeks as warm as the sun, looking Henry in the eye.

“What—” he began.

“Can you please go with it?”

“Go with what? Are we dating? Did I completely miss us agreeing to that?”

“No, of course not. This is just?—”

“What the hell , Wren?” Madison yelled as she stalked over to us. “You were supposed to go kiss Jude, not some random guy on the side of the street.”

I really hoped he’d back me up here, or else I was in for a lifetime of embarrassment.

“He’s not some random guy. This is my boyfriend. Otherwise known as the reason I can’t fake a relationship with Jude.”

I reached for Henry’s hand, hoping that he wouldn’t pull away and run for the hills.

Luckily, he let me latch onto him.

“That’s ... right,” he said. “I’m Wren’s boyfriend.”

Henry glanced over at the crowd of the town. They’d gone deathly silent, which probably wasn’t a good sign. I followed his gaze and everyone had some version of shock on their faces.

This didn’t look good.

Madison let out a long breath, narrow eyes darting in between us. “I’m not falling for this.”

“I am!” Dale yelled. “They’ve been two peas in a pod since he saw her!”

“They’re so cute!” Jade added.

My cheeks were on fire. Henry and I were so sure this would never happen, and now, it was getting me out of being with Jude. Everyone’s nosy nature was literally saving us.

“It’s ... new!” I defended. “And I just couldn’t even touch someone else knowing my boyfriend’s standing right here. You said that the show needed to be about love, so it can be about love with someone else.”

Henry’s hand went rigid in mine. One look at him told me that his entire body was the same way. Fuck. I wish I’d had this idea before the lie had started. At least I could have talked to him about it. Or figured something else out when he said no.

This whole time, I’d been thinking about myself. Did he want to date me? The town thought so. Maybe they had it wrong.

“Are we almost done here?” Jude yelled. “I wanna head back to Nashville to hit up a bar tonight.”

I rolled my eyes. In the first season, he spent all of his extra time with me.

He’d said he wanted me to be his guide. But when we’d go to the bars, he would vanish and I would be alone, forcing me to call a car to come get me.

Then he got involved in the Nashville scene, becoming a well-known figure at events.

That was around the time he told me he wasn’t interested.

“Jude!” Madison said. “Did you not see her kiss someone else?”

He only shrugged. “I thought it was revenge. An eye for an eye or something.”

Madison groaned, letting out her frustrations at the blue sky. “I can’t do this today! We’re done. We’ll figure this out tomorrow.”

“I have a shoot tomorrow,” Jude said. “Bud Light’s sponsoring me.”

“Dammit! Then Monday.” She pointed at me. “This is not the end of this.”

She stormed off. Jude shrugged and walked over. I didn’t think it was possible for Henry to tense even more, but he did.

“So, was that just revenge?” Jude asked. It was the first thing he’d said to me all day.

“No. I’m really dating someone else.”

He looked between me and Henry. “Interesting. You know, I’ll let this happen. The whole fake dating thing was really limiting anyway. Good luck dealing with Madison, though.” He waved and walked off, completely unbothered.

“Nice people,” Henry remarked, his voice tight.

I took my hand out of his. “We should talk.”

“Yes, we should.”

He didn’t sound thrilled with me, and I didn’t blame him. I should have figured out a way to deal with my problems without dragging him into it.

“I’m rich!” Dale yelled. “Finally, I won a bet!”

“I need to know how this happened!” Kerry yelled it so loudly that we both jumped. “Every detail!”

“We can’t go to the diner,” Henry said. “They’ll never let us have a moment alone.”

I let out a sigh. “Right. Have any other ideas?”

“Come with me.”

Great. Judging by the way he uttered the words through gritted teeth, he definitely wasn’t thrilled with me. He probably was taking me somewhere private to tell me what an idiot I was.

“Lead the way.”

Henry gave one nod and we left the square, heading down a few roads. We came up on a two-story house with a massive garden, which happened to be the one he unlocked the gate to.

“This is your place?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Wow. This is very well landscaped. Do you hire someone for this?”

“No. It’s just how I relax.”

Oh boy. I had a feeling he would be doing a lot of gardening after this.

“All right, just get it over with.” I crossed my arms. “You can yell at me now.”

His brow pinched. “Yelling doesn’t solve anything.”

“You’re obviously mad.”

“A little, but it’s because I have no clue what just happened back there. And I despise being this in the dark.” He crossed his arms too. “Haven’t felt like this since the first day of med school, honestly.”

“I found a way out. One I should have discussed with you, but they can’t make me date Jude if they think I’m dating someone else.”

He stared and shook his head. “I’m still not following.”

There was an edge to Henry’s voice, a desperation I hadn’t heard before.

“Fake dating,” I said. “You and I pretend to be together to get Madison off my back about Jude. And then we go our separate ways.”

“ Fake dating? Like what you did with Jude?”

“Yes. We say we’re together but we’re really not.

Just for the camera. You can have your normal life and I can work on the library without being forced to like a man I hate.

It’s a win-win! Well, kinda. For me, at least. But I’d make it worth your while.

Name anything in your house and I’ll fix it.

Or out of the house. I’ll do anything you need me to. ”

“Hang on. I just need a minute.” He took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead while I lapsed into silence. I watched as he began to pace around.

My stomach sank. “You okay?”

“I can’t even begin to comprehend this,” he said. “There’s dating and there’s friends. This is in the middle. And I had no idea there was a middle before last week!”

Henry had always been so soft-spoken and polite. He wasn’t that now. His face was red. He was tense, and had a deeper tone I’d never heard before. Horror dawned on me. I’d taken a mild-mannered doctor and sent him to the edge. Fuck , I needed to fix this.

“I shouldn’t have done this. God, Henry, I’m so sorry.”

“What was the alternative? Being forced to kiss Mister Tall, Dark, and Personality of a Paper Bag?”

Despite everything that was going on, Henry had Jude pegged . I would have laughed if I hadn’t been so worried about him.

Henry saw it. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, you can say what you want. I’m just trying to figure out how to fix this. I really messed up here.”

“At least I didn’t ...” He trailed off and took in a deep breath.

“There’s nothing for you to fix. I shouldn’t have reacted so strongly to this.

But you have to know I’m not ... cut out for this.

Friendship is one thing. Dating is another.

Blurring the lines isn’t something that goes well for me. ”

“Okay,” I said, any mirth gone. “That’s understandable. I’m sorry I dragged you into this. I just ... panicked at the idea of touching him, but that’s my issue to fix.”

Shame colored my cheeks. I needed to leave. Mull over my mistakes. Then figure out how to make this better. I walked backward down his porch, ready to run.

But a hand latched onto mine.

“Wren, wait.”

I looked out at the sky and then back to him. “Yeah?”

“If I say no to this ... What are the other options?”

“I ... don’t think there are any.” I shrugged. “But that’s okay. I got myself into this, so I can deal with it.”

“No,” he nearly snapped, and I blinked at the sharp tone of his voice. Then he winced and spoke in a softer tone. “No. You can’t just accept this.”

“I would love nothing more than to find some way out of it, but I don’t think I can. You saw how Madison was. Even with the entire town cheering about us being together, she didn’t wanna believe it.”

“So, I should say yes.”

“Henry, no . If it’ll make you miserable, then don’t. I’m the one who signed the contract. I agreed to this. It’ll be fine pretending with Jude.”

“Wren.” He said my name desperately. Like it was the last thing he could hold on to. “ I can’t watch you pretend with Jude.”

I froze. I’d had no idea he cared so much.

“If this is the way out, then we’re getting you out of it.”

“We?”

“Yes. And let’s be honest, no one else is gonna let it go, even if we tried to back out of it.”