Page 16 of As They Are (Strawberry Springs #2)

HENRY

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Kerry Winsor: Anyone seen the lovebirds? I still have questions!

Comments:

Tammy Jane: They haven’t been at the diner. I have some too!

Jade Clark: They’re probably enjoying some alone time. *eyes emoji* Let’s give them space. (Do you think they’ll get married at the square?)

Kerry Winsor: Oh, that would be so pretty! We need to figure out who does all the flowers. I bet they’d decorate for the wedding!

Dale Garrett: Do you wanna take bets on when they’ll get married now?

My brain felt like it was melting out of my ears. Google was not helpful when I looked up how to fake date someone. There was one legitimate site that popped up in my search. The rest were all Reddit posts about how fake dating was unrealistic and only happened in books.

If only they knew.

What I needed to do was continue with my routine. I was sure I would find comfort in my plants and silence, but I wanted to get this right. And I’d fallen down a rabbit hole to ensure that.

Eventually, I rubbed my eyes and tossed my phone on the couch. I was already frustrated from being flustered with Wren, and I knew she’d noticed. I couldn’t let that happen again.

But my brain wasn’t working with me, because when I wasn’t thinking about how to be a fake boyfriend, I was thinking about the kiss with Wren.

I shouldn’t. I needed to put it out of my mind, because it was only for the camera, but for a split second, it felt like she’d run to me and kissed me . And for that split second, I thought it was all real. That after this, we would go on a date and be something.

It was harder than I expected to get over the disappointment.

I should have seen it coming, though. Wren was out of my league. Even the most perfect version of me didn’t deserve her. Others thought we had a connection, but a woman like her wouldn’t look twice at a guy like me.

And it would get worse if I started to slip.

What if she looked at me the same way Norah had?

Fuck.

I couldn’t let it happen, but I wasn’t sure I could stop it either.

My phone buzzed with a text and I picked it up, hoping it wasn’t an emergency.

Cain

Hey. You good?

Are you all right? Does Eric need anything?

Nope. He’s his usual self.

But I heard about what happened today. And what Wren told Mollie about it being to get out of her dating Jude.

I see.

I’m pretty bad at this, and if you don’t wanna talk, I’ll respect it. But if you do ever need an ear, I’m here for that.

I blinked at the screen. I’d heard of all the work Cain had put into being more open with the town. I just hadn’t seen it for myself.

Thank you, Cain. I’m just gonna try not to make a fool of myself.

I’ll be here if you do. But also if you don’t.

I told myself I wouldn’t take him up on that. The last thing he wanted to hear was me scrutinizing every single rule of how to fake date someone. Most people would probably be able to figure it out easily. Or could make educated guesses on how something like this worked.

Me, though? I never could.

I grabbed a notepad from one of the side tables and wrote out what I knew.

Dos:

Only touch her when the cameras are rolling

Hold hands

Give her gifts

Kissing (but not real kissing)

Don’ts:

Catching feelings

Touching her when I want to

Letting her stay over

Letting her see the real me

Normally, lists made me feel better, but this one would be hard to follow. My own fledgling feelings would make this difficult.

But I was the one she chose, so I had to do my best.

After I had my rules down, I forced myself to go through my routine and try to get it together. Once I was outside and with my plants, I felt more like myself. It only got better after I cooked and ate dinner.

Still, the nervousness simmered under the surface of my skin. I tried to find a book to read. Something in my house to calm the feeling.

When nothing worked, I knew I needed to go on a walk and hope no one talked to me. The roads were thankfully deserted. I didn’t follow a path and allowed my feet to lead me wherever I needed to go.

Eventually, I found myself at the library.

But for once, the lights were on. After being here for so many years and seeing nothing but the same thing over and over, it was shocking to see it breathing again.

I looked around for the crew, but only saw a red truck. Wren was here.

It was a bad idea to see her so soon after this afternoon, but I was sure she was in there alone. And I didn’t like the idea of that.

The second I entered, there was a bang so loud that it made every one of my hairs stand on edge. I jumped, wondering if she’d fallen. The bangs kept coming, and I ran into her on the second floor, swinging a sledgehammer against wooden shelves.

I would have left if she’d looked normal. But she was covered in sweat and her movements were wild.

“Fuck.” She swung. “Everything.” Again. “About.” Another. “This!”

The final hit brought the old shelf down, and her chest heaved. She went to hit it again, but I stopped the sledgehammer mid-air.

“Wren,” I said. “What’re you doing?”

Her eyes were wide. “Henry? What are you doing here?”

“I was out for a walk and saw you here alone.” I took the sledgehammer from her. “Now I wonder if it was on purpose.”

“You got me. Now leave me to my meltdown. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you avoiding something again?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Does it matter?”

“Everything matters. Especially when it comes to you.”

My words made her eyes widen for a moment. Then she blew out a breath. “Just go and let me smash things. It’s how I process bullshit.”

Wren took the sledgehammer and returned to the job, hitting the other shelf with all of her might. The noise was overwhelming and I cringed at every hit, but refused to move.

She was mad. Anyone could see that, but anger always had something simmering underneath, waiting to spring free.

Eventually, she stopped and she hiccupped. Her shoulders fell and I knew the moment had come.

“Are you ready to talk now?”

She jumped and turned to me. “You’re still here?”

“Anger fades. It’s what remains that you need to talk about.”

Her eyes watered as she tugged off her gloves and set the sledgehammer on the ground. “All of that was for nothing.”

“All of what?”

“Me kissing you. Saying we’re dating. If I don’t forget all of it and pretend to be starry-eyed with Jude, then they’ll sue me.” She put her head in her hands. “Why did I even try to fight back? It never ends well for me.”

“ Can they do that?”

“No idea! But I can’t afford a lawyer at this moment because I just bought the library and used a lot of my money to do it. I’m literally stuck, and it’s all my fault.”

In a second, I was wondering if the STM grant would help. If I could help. I was sure there was some way to fight this.

But now tears cascaded out of her eyes, and I knew this wasn’t the time to fix this. She needed someone.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “This is so stupid to cry over.”

“Wren, it’s not.” I stepped close to her.

I put a gentle hand on her arm and tugged her to me, giving her plenty of space to pull away if she wanted to. Instead, she pressed her face into my neck, melting into every inch of me.

She fit so perfectly. Like she was meant to be in my arms.

I shoved the thought out of my head.

Wren needs a friend, Henry. Not a guy with a crush.

I pulled myself back into the present, listening to her soft sniffles. My hands ran up and down her back and the tension slowly melted away.

“It’s okay, buttercup.”

The name slipped out, and I could only hope she hadn’t heard it.

This hug went on for a while—too long for friends. She must have realized it right when I did because she pulled away.

“Thank you,” she said. “Did you call me buttercup?”

“I was hoping you didn’t notice that.”

“It’s a cute name. It’s a shame you can’t use it when you fake date me, though.”

“We’ll fix this.”

“There doesn’t have to be a ‘we,’” she said. “It can be just me now.”

“I’m still helping you with this. We’ll fix it. But I think you need to take a minute and recover.”

“I’m fine. I can destroy things all day.”

I raised an eyebrow and looked at the wall. “You did a lot. You’re sure that you’re not feeling tired after you stopped for a bit?”

Her face fell. “You know too much.”

“Comes with being a doctor,” I replied. “What if you showed me the library? It looks very different with the lights on.”

“That’s probably a better use of my time.” She stretched her shoulders, grimacing as she did so. “Dammit. I went too hard on that.”

“Come here,” I said. She blinked, but she did what I asked. I put my hands on her shoulders and pressed in. “You carry your tension here, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Smashing things helps relieve it sometimes.”

“There are other ways, you know.”

“Like what? Bottling it up inside until I explode?”

“Nope.” I pressed harder and rubbed circles into her tight muscles.

“Fuck,” she said. “That feels good.”

My body heated at the words, and I had to focus on my motions and nothing else. It was too easy to imagine this in a very different connotation. Her shoulders were warm under my hands, and I resisted the urge to pull her closer.

I recited my rules in my head. I’d need to put it on the fridge at this point to keep from breaking them.

Wren’s body finally loosened as I worked on her. Her tension was not only in her neck, but all the way down her back. I got to touch far more than I should have, but eventually, she was like putty in my hands.

“If the doctor thing doesn’t work out,” she said when I finally pulled away, “you could be a masseuse.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Her eyes met mine, and for a long time, she held my gaze. I had no idea what she was thinking, but I knew I was thinking of how it felt for me to touch her.

“The library?” I asked, hoping to get both of us back on track.

“Right. Let me show you.”

I followed her as she walked through. Even now, this place felt newer, thanks to the lights being turned on.

But her plan was incredible. She was planning to make community spaces and also leave plenty of places to keep books.

I saw her shine return as she talked about it, and by the time we were downstairs, she was her usual self again.

“I can’t wait to see it,” I said. “This is better than I ever imagined it.”

“Hopefully, the town likes it too. I know some small towns are resistant to change.”

“Some are, but not this one. The library is good change, and all of them know you’ll do it right.”

She turned and gave me the same full-on smile that I’d seen when I’d first met her, and it made my heart skip a beat. I hadn’t seen it when she’d been on camera, which made it feel like it was all for me.

“All right, you’ve made me feel better,” Wren said. “And now I have something to show you.”

“What?”

“You like the history of the town, right? There’s a reason I ended in the kids’ section.”

Wren pulled out a box from one of the corners. She flipped it open and revealed colorful masks and decorations.

“Are these puppets?” I asked, pulling one out.

“Among other things,” she replied as she grabbed a dragon mask. “I think they were used for story time.”

“If only I’d been here.” I pulled it from her and put it over my face. “Would I be a scary dragon?”

It was easier to look her in the eye with protection, but she didn’t let me hide for long.

“I think you’d do much better as the hero.” Her hand gently pulled the mask away and her eyes met mine again. Unfiltered. “That’s better.”

All I could do was stare at her and wonder how she was real. She didn’t move away, her hand still on my wrist. I would have given anything to know what she was thinking.

But then there was a sound of something falling, and then footsteps. Without thinking, I stepped in front of Wren and looked around.

“Jesus,” she said, her hand now on my shoulder. “Is this place haunted?”

“If Henrietta and Marjorie were dead, I’d say yes. But ghosts aren’t real.”

“So, then a real person did that?”

“On the other hand, maybe we should blame it on ghosts.”

“I’m glad I wasn’t alone,” she replied. “Thank you for coming to check on me.”

“Yeah, of course.” My mind was barely functioning, but the healthy dose of fear gave me enough of a reminder of my rules. “I bet it was someone sneaking in. A lot of people take walks on the square at night.”

“Really? Is it safe to walk outside when it’s dark?”

“Have you been at the square at night?”

She shook her head. “I got here right as the sun was setting.”

“Come with me. You should see this.”

I led her outside. The square was fully lit up as it usually was, giving the air an incandescent glow. The lights lined each building, something that had only started when I moved in.

“Whoa,” she said. “This is incredible.”

“It’s mostly safe, but it makes it feel magical here.”

“Like the sign?”

“Like the sign.”

“This almost makes me forget about all of my problems.”

“We should get some sleep and figure out the rest in the morning.”

“I still owe you food. What about breakfast?”

I rarely ate breakfast in the diner. I preferred to make something for myself, but if she was offering, I wouldn’t turn her down.

“Yeah, I’ll meet you there at eight.”

“It’s a date,” she said with a smile before beginning to walk away.

My heart skipped a beat at her words. “Don’t you mean a fake one?”

“Right.” She didn’t turn around. “See you for our fake date, Henry!”

I took a shaky breath and tried to get my head back on straight.

This was another reminder that, when it came to her, I was absolutely and totally fucked .

And it would take everything in me not to break my own rules.