Page 41 of False Start

Suddenly, I wished I’d taken him up on all those practice rounds he’d offered.

My heart stopped before kicking back to life in an unsteady rhythm, and Kyle used his free hand to tilt my chin up. He smiled, one brow arching as if to say,you ready for this?

Then, he lowered his mouth, and pressed a featherlight kiss to my lips.

I didn’t mean to, but I sucked in a breath at that touch, at the first kiss we’d shared in years. It didn’t matter that it was short and sweet, the kind of kiss you greet someone with.

It sent heat rushing down my spine.

It sent memories flashing behind my lids.

It sent fluttering wings free in my stomach, and my fingers curled into a fist where I didn’t even realize I was holding onto his shirt.

When he pulled back, he smirked down at me, lazily — like that kiss had meant nothing to him. Like it was easy. Like it was fake.

And I reminded myself quickly that itwasfake.

For a moment, I stood there, staring up at him with my mouth open like a guppy, my breaths shallow and short. Something shifted in Kyle’s expression then, like he was searching for whatever emotion he thought I was feeling.

I quickly wiped my face blank, inhaling a deep breath and tucking my hair behind one ear as I put distance between us. “Ready?”

“I was about to ask you the very same thing,” he said. Then, he frowned, looking behind me. “Where’s Sebastian?”

Warmth spread through me again, but I dumped a bucket of ice water over it.

“School,” I answered. “My mom’s flight just landed. She’s got plenty of time to get settled, and then she’ll pick him up later.”

Kyle’s face went a bit ashen at the mention of my mother.

Probably because the last time he’d seen her was the night before he found out I was pregnant.

And then he’d left.

Yeah… let’s just say I couldn’t exactly tell my momwhoI was going to this wedding with. I’d been very adamant about the time she flew in so I could avoid her finding out at all costs.

She was just happy to hear I was dating again, and aside from the adorable kind of prying all mothers did, she was leaving me alone about the details.

For now.

I knew if this went on for too long, she’d want answers. And there was no way I could tell her Kyle Robbins was back in my life.

Idefinitelycouldn’t tell her that we were dating — which was why reminding myself this was all temporary made it a bit easier to breathe.

The kiss was fake. What Mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her. And soon, this will all be over, anyway.

But holding up my end of the bargain had my chest tight as Kyle opened the back seat door and helped me inside. Him pretending to be my boyfriend around Marshall was one thing.

Mepretending to be his girlfriend around a wedding full of his old college buddies?

This was a whole new level ofwhat the fuck did I get myself into?

As soon as Kyle climbed into the passenger seat again, the guy in the driver one turned around to face me.

“Hey, I’m Braden,” he said, extending a hand with the widest, most dazzling smile I’d ever laid eyes on.

He was hot — the kind of hot that makes you a little breathless to be in close proximity.

Kyle I was used to. I could still see him as the little brat I used to fight with. But Braden was an NFL player.