Chapter Three #3
Piper placed the cup beside her.
“You are doing the mysterious-goalie thing.”
“I do not have a mysterious-goalie thing.”
“You communicate in fragments and stare until people fill in the missing pieces.”
“Does it work?”
“Unfortunately.”
Emmett looked toward the lake.
Piper watched him.
The date should have felt ridiculous. A blanket. Takeout. Four lanterns. A fake boyfriend who had apparently confronted her real boyfriend weeks before she knew the relationship was over.
Instead, the quiet felt safer than it should have.
No strangers.
No livestream.
No performance.
Just Emmett sitting close enough that his knee almost touched hers.
“What did Owen send you last night?” she asked.
His attention returned to her.
“You knew he contacted me.”
“Maren knew.”
“Griffin.”
“Team secrets have a short life expectancy.”
Emmett picked up a container and opened it.
“He told me to stay away from you.”
“Why?”
“He believes I have wanted this arrangement longer than I admitted.”
Piper forgot the food.
“Have you?”
Emmett’s expression became unreadable again.
“Eat.”
“That is not an answer.”
“You missed breakfast and lunch.”
“I had half a sandwich.”
“When?”
“Does time matter?”
“Yes.”
“You are deflecting.”
“You are hungry.”
“You are irritating.”
“I have heard that.”
“From me.”
“Mostly.”
Piper took the container from his hand because remaining hungry out of principle was poor strategy.
She ate one bite.
It was exactly what she always ordered.
Emmett handed her a napkin.
She glared at him.
“What?”
“You are being a very convincing boyfriend.”
“That is the agreement.”
“Do you research everyone this intensely?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Piper stopped chewing.
Emmett seemed to realize it too late.
Her heart gave one hard beat.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you are easy to notice.”
The dock became very quiet.
Piper put down the container.
“No.”
His eyebrows drew together.
“No what?”
“You do not get to say things like that during a fake date.”
“It was true.”
“That makes it worse.”
“Why?”
“Because the rules exist for a reason.”
“No feelings.”
“Yes.”
“Noticing is not a feeling.”
“It is adjacent.”
Emmett considered that.
“Do you have a distance measurement?”
“This is not funny.”
“I was not joking.”
That made it funny.
Piper pressed her lips together.
Emmett watched the battle.
“You can laugh,” he said.
“I am still angry.”
“Both can happen.”
“That sounds emotionally healthy.”
“I read once.”
She laughed.
A real one.
It escaped before she could stop it.
Emmett’s face changed.
The expression was not victory.
It was something quieter.
Something that made Piper feel as if he had been waiting all day to hear that sound.
Her gaze dropped.
The lake stretched dark and smooth beyond the dock. Lights glowed from cabins farther along the shore. Somewhere across the water, music drifted from a boat.
“This is a problem,” she said.
“The laughing?”
“The date being good.”
“It is chicken on wood.”
“You remembered what I eat, removed the cameras, brought hot chocolate because you know I stop drinking coffee after four, and chose a place where no one can watch me.”
Emmett did not speak.
Piper looked at him.
“You planned this around me.”
“Yes.”
The simple answer was worse than flirting.
“Why?”
His gaze held hers.
“You had a terrible day yesterday.”
“That does not explain why you cared.”
“No.”
She waited.
Emmett’s phone vibrated on the blanket.
He glanced at the screen.
His entire expression closed.
“What?” Piper asked.
He reached for the phone.
A notification appeared on her own before he could answer.
Owen Keller had uploaded a new video.
The title filled her screen.
WHY COOPER VALE REALLY CHOSE PIPER QUINN
Piper’s stomach dropped.
The video had been live for less than a minute.
It already had twelve thousand views.
“Do not watch it,” Emmett said.
She looked at him.
“That guarantees I am watching it.”
“Piper.”
“You do not decide what I know.”
His face changed.
He heard the connection to the gala.
This time, he did not argue.
Piper pressed play.
Security footage appeared from outside the Founders Gala. The image was grainy but clear enough to identify Owen standing near the service entrance.
Emmett walked into frame.
No cap. Dark suit. Shoulders rigid.
The audio had been enhanced.
Owen’s voice came first.
“She is not yours.”
Emmett stepped closer.
“She is not property.”
“You think she would choose you?”
Emmett let the quiet run.
Owen laughed.
“She barely knows you exist.”
The footage jumped forward.
Edited.
Emmett’s voice returned.
“You do not get to use her pain to make yourself look reasonable.”
Owen moved closer.
“What is she to you?”
The video froze on Emmett’s face.
Piper stopped breathing.
Then the footage continued.
Emmett looked directly at Owen and answered with a calmness more dangerous than anger.
“More than she knows.”
The video ended.
Piper stared at the black screen.
Beside her, Emmett did not move.
Thirty days.
Six dates.
No feelings.
Whoever caught them first lost.
Piper slowly looked up at her fake boyfriend.
“You lost before we started.”