Page 93 of Hooked On Him

“Yes.”

“But you told me you didn’t have a clue.”

“Yes.”

“You lied.” He whispers, looking away for a moment, then back to me. “So you let me believe you didn’t know you were being set up with me. Why? Why not just tell me you knew? Why let me believe you didn’t?”

“Because I’m stupid.”

“Wait....” he shakes his head. “Was this whole fake dating and friends with benefits thing just a way to get with me?”

“It’s not like that.” I insist.

“Then what was it like, Austin? Why come up with all these things when you could have just asked me out?”

“I didn’t know how you would react, okay? I didn’t know if you would even be interested in me or not.”

“You could have just asked!” he shouts.

“You agreed!" I argue back.

“Yeah. Because... Because....” he looks away.

“Why did you agree?” I push.

“Because I didn’t want to admit to my family, I lied. That I was this sad man who was so obsessed with work that I didn’t have time to date.”

“That’s it? That’s the only reason why you agreed?”

“No,” he admits. “I agreed because you were you. Austin Cade. My brother’s hot best friend, whom I had a crush on in high school. I thought this was my only chance to be with you. So I took you up on your offer.”

“See? It’s not that big of a deal. You felt the same way about me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I knew who you were before the wedding. And I’m sorry for coming up with the fake dating thing when I should have just asked you out. I wanted you to spend time with me, get to know me, and fall for me. That way, when I did tell you how I felt, you wouldn’t reject me.”

“Do you know how crazy that sounds, Austin?” he sighs, shaking his head.

“Yes,” I answer. “You could have told me how you felt, too. Why didn’t you?”

“At first, I didn’t see you that way. Sure, I thought you were hot, and yes, I wanted to sleep with you, but at first, to me, it was only an arrangement. Something fun for the moment. I wasn’t looking for anything more. I didn’t have the time for anything more.”

“That’s why I wanted you to get to know me and see that we could be something more.”

He pauses for a moment and thinks. “Alright. So we were both dumb asses.” Levi surprises me by saying.

“What?”

“We both were too stupid to just tell the other person how we felt, in fear of the other one not reciprocating our feelings.”

“I mean. Yeah.”

“We really are stupid, aren't we?” he starts to laugh. “We could have saved ourselves all this time and worry if we just came clean.”

“Yeah.” I rub the back of my head, very fucking happy he’s taking this a lot better than I thought he was going to.

“Is that the only thing you lied about?” he asks me, eyes flicking between mine.

“Ummm.” I laugh awkwardly.

“What did you do?” his face pales.