Trouble with the Fake Boyfriend (Rock Bottom #3) - Holly Renee Page 0,43

stood in front of me, he held it in my direction.

“You win that for me?” I licked some stickiness off my thumb and he watched every second of it.

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t?” He reached up and ran his thumb over my bottom lip before setting the giant teddy bear beside me. It was as tall as I was and doubly as round.

Liam squeezed in on the other side of me before snatching some cotton candy out of my hand.

“That was sweet.” I nodded toward where the boy and his mom were walking.

“What was?” He acted as if he had no idea what I was talking about, but he knew.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Helping that boy.”

“It was nothing.” He shrugged his shoulders then ignored the conversation altogether. He started talking to Jase about who only knows what, but all I could think about was that boy. It wasn’t nothing. Liam was so different than I thought he was. This entire trip had shown me that.

He wasn’t some asshole with a chip on his shoulder.

I mean, sure, he could be one, but it all seemed like nothing but a show now. A way to keep others from knowing the truth. I guess we were similar in that way.

He was who he was because he had his heart broken by a girl he thought he was going to love for the rest of his life. I was who I was because the one girl who was meant to love me my entire life was more interested in the men she brought home.

We were so damn different, but somehow I felt like I could still understand him.

I had spent the majority of my life not being good enough.

He had spent his being the star.

My family was broken.

His family was incredible but expected so much from him.

I didn’t think he realized how lucky he was.

Even though I should have hated him for taking those things for granted, I didn’t. It just made me want to get to know him even more. I wanted to know every little secret he kept from everyone else. I wanted to know exactly what he wanted out of life.

Because from my eyes, he had it all.

An amazing business? Check.

A loving family? Check.

Damn good looks? Double check.

The only thing Liam lacked was the girl, and even though Katie seemed like she was perfect on the outside, I couldn’t believe that she was ever right for him.

But I wasn’t right for him either.

I was just the girl who was good enough to fake it with him.

He traced his finger over my thigh as he talked to Jase. I wasn’t even sure if he knew he was doing it, he seemed so lost in conversation, but I knew.

I tracked every single inch his fingers touched, and I held my breath when they stopped and went the opposite direction.

I was the girl who noticed everything about him, and I wasn’t even sure if he knew I was there.

He looked over at me as soon as the thought ran through my head, but I had no idea what he was thinking. His face was as unreadable as always. He was just looking at me with this damn look that could have meant anything.

“You want to ride the Ferris wheel?” His fingers were still trailing over my skin aimlessly.

“Yeah.” But I didn’t want to move an inch. I didn’t want him to stop touching me or looking at me regardless of what it meant.

But he had other plans. He stood, reaching his hand out for me, and I slipped my hand in his and let him lead the way. There was nobody there that I knew besides us, Sophie, and Jase but he still held my hand as we walked toward the giant lit up Ferris wheel.

I could lie to myself and pretend like he was doing it just because he wanted to, but the cold hard reality was that Liam brought me here for a reason. That reason didn’t involve my overly wishful thinking or holding hands because he liked the feel of mine in his.

He knew that anyone could see us out here, and we were meant to be dating. Everyone here thought we were more than what we were.

But as much as I repeated those words inside my head, it still didn’t feel like it.

He continued to hold my hand as we stood in line, and he didn’t let go until it was our