Fake Friends - Saxon James Page 0,9

back.

Where the hell would I be now if I could?

His terms should be easy to agree to. It’s what I’d literally just been considering, but as much as this small town can feel stifling at times, it’s home. Given the chance to leave, for good, I’m not totally convinced I’d take it.

But I’m not going to tell Circus that.

And if what he needs to forgive me is for me to leave, then fine.

“Okay, deal.”

I’m expecting him to hold out his hand or something, but he stays firmly planted on the other side of the porch

“To be clear, when we’re shooting, you’ll follow all directions I give you. We don’t have to like each other, we don’t have to talk, we don’t even have to be civil, but we do need to take hot photos. So you’ll shut up, you’ll listen, and you’ll do what I say. Then when it’s over, we never have to speak to each other again.”

“Sounds good.”

He laughs. “It sounds like fucking magic.”

“Your eagerness to get rid of me does wonders for my ego.” If I thought joking would help lighten a little of the tension between us, I’m dead wrong.

“Oh yeah? Try giving head for the first time and getting your nose broken for your efforts. Then you can tell me how your ego’s going.”

What the hell?

He jogs down the front steps, grabs his bike, and takes off. I’m too busy reeling from his words that I forget I’m not supposed to be watching the way his ass moves as he pedals down the drive.

I broke his nose?

From one punch?

If I felt like shit before, it’s nothing to the gross feelings creeping over me now. I try to remember the way his nose used to look and if it’s any different now, but I’m struggling to remember.

And it’s not like it matters.

At the end of the day, I fucked up, and now I’m paying for it.

As I should be.

Yet somehow, Circus is taking this chance on me anyway.

Which means I have to do everything in my power to make sure these are the sexiest shots he’s ever seen in his life.

I’m up way too late the night before the shoot, setting everything up, so I sleep past sunrise the next morning. Never a good sign.

I figure we’ll take a few different shots in my studio, then head down to get some by the creek.

At first, Rowan’s need to keep his face out of the pictures stumped me, but I like a challenge. I’m sure I can make it work.

The thing I’m unsure about is if either of us will be able to act natural around each other. There’s so much tension between us that even trying to have a relatively easy conversation the other day ended with me needing to put some distance between us. And we’ll be here. All alone.

With one tiny scrap of material between us.

Except none of that matters because I have a little thing called self-control.

Probably.

Rowan is getting here just after his shift ends at midday, which means I have a whole morning to fill. I take a short hike along Crown Trails, then come home and do some light exercises in my gym. I make a fruit smoothie and cook lunch and spend time walking around watering every plant I own.

Normally I’m okay with just being still.

But every minute feels weighted with purpose and pressures me to keep moving.

I have no idea what he’ll think of my place. The houses in Sunbury are small, idealistic homes where families come together, just like the Harvey’s. It’s an ice-blue cottage with a white front porch and window shutters. Is that the kind of thing Rowan likes?

Does it matter if he likes my place?

I tell myself it only matters because other than Leon, who helped out during the build, no one has been here. It’s my space, and I like that it’s hidden from the rest of the town.

With any luck, Rowan won’t be able to find it, and all this stress will be for nothing.

I’m still torn about whether that would be the best-case scenario or not. Letting the brand down would be fucked-up for my career, but on the flip side, letting my guard down around Rowan could be fucked-up in other ways.

Because I really do hate him.

And the messed-up thing is that it’s not even totally over breaking my nose. That hurt, physically and emotionally, but I know if he’d stayed in town and we’d talked it out, I would have