Chapter 1

We're playing truth or dare at the company party. Everybody takes a turn drawing a card and doing whatever it says.

Mine says: Who here would you most want to marry?

I stare at it way too long. Then I write one name.

Grant Calloway.

I hold up my card. For one second, everyone stares at what I wrote. Then the room loses it.

"Two-seventy and she's got her eye on Grant?"

"Does she even own a mirror?"

The jokes keep coming. Grant turns to me like nothing's wrong.

"Relax, Tessa. It's a game. Everybody's just messing around. Don't make it weird."

My nails dig into my palms.

None of them know we've been together for three years.

I thought tonight might finally be the night we told everyone.

Then I watch him act like none of this has anything to do with him, and I lose my nerve.

Next round, Grant and his rival, Paige Mercer, draw matching dare cards: Fake-date someone of the opposite sex at this party for a week.

Grant and Paige both scowl. They both swear they have nobody in mind.

Then they flip their cards over.

Grant's card says Paige. Paige's says Grant.

The room erupts in cheers.

That night, Grant texts me.

[Rules are rules. I can't back out. We'll stay apart for a week. After that, we'll talk about the wedding.]

I read it for a long time. Then I type one word.

[Okay.]

He has no idea there won't be an "after." My wedding is next week.

Just not with him.

——————

A few hours earlier, everyone at the party is still going wild.

Everyone points at Grant and Paige's cards, talking over each other.

"You wrote each other down and you're telling us there's nothing there?"

"Come on, Paige. You two are way too in sync."

Paige actually blushes. Now that's a first. She rolls her eyes.

"It's a game. One week, then we go back to hating each other. Nobody's clinging to anybody."

"One week is plenty to catch feelings!"

"Poor Tessa. She literally just said she wants to marry him."

"Like Grant would ever marry her."

Every head swings toward me. Grant looks over, too.

"Tessa and I are just friends."

Just friend. Great.

"So she was just fooling herself." somebody says, snorting.

"Looking like that? She'd need a custom wedding dress just to fit into it."

I look down at my loose dress. I know exactly what they're laughing at.

My body is the punchline.

Everyone at work knows I'm crazy about Grant.

I bring him breakfast, file his paperwork, memorize every little habit, and he never accepts a thing from me. He won't even ride the elevator with me if we're alone.

At home, though, he's completely different.

He pulls me into his arms, kisses me, and murmurs, "Ignore them. You're the most beautiful woman I know."

I used to believe him. Now he's told the whole room I'm just a friend.

I grab a slice of cream cake and shove it in.

One bite, then another. It's so sweet it makes me sick, but I swallow it anyway.

My phone buzzes. Grant.

[Stop eating. Your stomach can't take it.]

He knows exactly what I do when I'm upset. For one stupid second, I feel hope.

Then I look up. Paige reaches for the cake, but Grant moves the plate out of her reach.

"You hate buttercream. Remember?" He waves over a server. "Can we get her a fruit plate?"

"Who asked you to remember that?" Paige says.

Grant shrugs. "If we're pretending to date for a week, I should know what you like."

Whistles all around.

Paige sneezes. "God, it's freezing in here."

Grant's eyes land on my shoulders.

"Tessa, give Paige your wrap."

I look down at the cashmere around my shoulders.

It was the wrap he'd given me for our third anniversary.

Before I can react, he yanks the wrap off my shoulders.

The pin holding it at my chest is still fastened. Its sharp point slices across my skin.

I suck in a sharp breath. A thin line of bright red quickly appears along my collarbone.

His hands stop for half a second. Then he drapes it over Paige anyway. The cashmere swallows her whole.

"This is Tessa's," she says. "Isn't it weird if I wear it?"

"It's fine." Grant looks at me like it's the most natural thing in the world.

"She doesn't get cold. You're too skinny, and if you get sick, it's everybody's problem."

A beat of silence. Then the place cracks up again.

"She'll be fine. Tessa's got built-in insulation!"

I say nothing. I can't even feel the cut anymore.

Right before the party started, Grant wrapped that same cashmere wrap around my shoulders and told me not to catch a cold.

Now my body is his excuse to give it to someone else.

The party finally winds down after one a.m. My rideshare is already waiting by the curb.

I reach for the door, and Grant gets there first. He holds it open for Paige.

"She's not feeling well. Let your ride take her home. Just call another one."

Paige gives me a wincing little smile. "Sorry, Tessa. I'll Venmo you for the ride tomorrow."

Grant gets in after her before I can get a word out.

The door hasn't even shut when I hear Paige snap, "Nobody invited you."

"Relax. I'm not here for you." He gives a cold laugh. "I just don't want people blaming me if you get yourself into trouble on the way home."

Paige scoffs.

"It's a fake relationship, Grant. One week. Don't let it go to your head."

Grant smirks.

"Don't flatter yourself."

Paige rolls her eyes. "Don't worry. Seven days from now, I'm dumping you first."

The car pulls away.

As they turn the corner, Paige's head starts to droop toward the window. Grant reaches over and gently pulls her against him, letting her rest on his shoulder.

Everyone else starts leaving. Not one of them asks if I need a ride.

I check the app again. No cars available. Forty-minute wait at best.

Grant knows exactly what everyone at the office thinks of me. He knows nobody would offer me a ride. And he still took the car I was counting on.

My throat locks up. My eyes burn.

Then my phone lights up again, a different name this time.

Wesley.

[Tess, if you've changed your mind, we can call off the wedding.]

I wipe my face and type back.

[Don't call it off. Move it up if you can.]