“Woo, that was so much fun!” Roxy says as we walk through the doors of the mansion at one in the morning. After her set, we stayed another couple of hours, and she’s feeling pretty tipsy. “I’m so glad you guys came.”

“We’re glad we did too,” Mindy says quietly, exchanging a glance with me. I know what she’s feeling and thinking. The raw emotion Roxy displayed for us set us both on edge. I feel worse for Mindy. She wanted to please her family too much and didn’t think of the consequences. Now we’re mired in a web of lies. Even if she did want this to last past this week, the amount of lies and bullshit is so deep that it could poison any chance of our having peace.

We can keep it up for a week, but for longer? Hell, I can barely keep the stories straight now, and I’ve been the ones telling them. No matter what, for Mindy, it has to end after we go home.

Nothing can be done about it now, I say to myself. Only two nights left.

I don’t know if I could go back to my life though. Knowing that Mindy’s literally around the corner? I’ll never be able to have a minute’s peace.

“You guys looked really good together,” Roxy continues. “I saw you dancing on the floor. Y’all were tearing it up.”

“Yeah,” Mindy says quietly without much enthusiasm. “Listen, Rox, I’m kinda tired, and with the ceremony tomorrow . . . well, I’m gonna head up to bed.”

“Sure,” Roxy says, giving me a big wink. “You too, Oli?”

“Yeah,” I agree. “Roxy . . . you’ve got real talent. Don’t stop singing, okay?”

My words pierce some of the fog of alcohol around her, and she nods. “Sure, Oli.” She gives me a big hug, squeezing my neck hard. “I’m gonna love having you as a brother-in-law. Thank you.”

We all three head upstairs, Roxy in front since she’s down the hall from us and her balance isn’t quite what it needs to be. As Mindy and I make sure she doesn’t fall and break her neck, she rambles on. “I can't wait for your wedding. It will be something truly special. Mindy, you gonna let me walk you down the aisle? “

Mindy hesitates, glancing at me. I place a hand on her arm, giving her a nod. Even if we’re a lie, Roxy can walk her down when Mindy does get married. “Of course,” she says weakly. “That would be great, Roxy.”

“What’s wrong?” Roxy asks, turning on the riser. I guess she could hear it in her sister’s voice. She weaves a bit, and I steady her shoulders as she peers at her closely. “This ain’t the time to be gettin’ sappy!”

“Just tired. The dancing, ya know,” Mindy says quietly. “Takes it out of you.”

“Girl, you act as if you’re as old as Grandma.” Roxy giggles. “Y’all go on. I’m good to get to my room. Good night, sis, I love you both.”

“Night, love you,” Mindy says. “Thank you for the song.”

“Goodnight, Roxy,” I echo, feeling like I just got punched in the chest. Roxy loves me too? Fuck me, what am I supposed to do now? No matter what, we’re going to break her damn heart.

We go into the room. Neither of us says anything, although I can tell she’s having the same thoughts I am.

Mindy walks over and sits down on the bed, sliding off her shoes before she leans forward, putting her elbows on her knees. “I had fun tonight. Until . . .” Her voice trails off. She shakes her head, her eyes clouded as I come over and sit down next to her. “It never really hit me how far we’ve gone with this thing until I heard the emotion in Roxy’s voice. How much she feels for us.”

I’m silent. I’m not sure what to say. I want to tell her that maybe Roxy’s convinced our love is genuine because it is real. Maybe the silly girl sees something we’re too stupid to see. But I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet. As much as I love being with Mindy, we’ve only been with each other for five days. Everything I’ve ever been told tells me it’s impossible to know if you love a person that fast.

But at the same time, no one has ever made me feel the way she makes me feel. I never believed in storybook love before, the sort of all-consuming, all-encompassing love that hits like a bolt of lightning and changes your life forever.

“I just wish I’d never done this,” she says.

“Don’t say that,” I say, more emotionally than I intended.

“But I can't help it,” Mindy softly wails, tears coming down her face. “I lied to everyone. My family. I’m just a fraud. A big, fat, terrible fraud. I’m a horrible person!”

I put my arm around her, comforting her as best I can. “You’re not. You just want them not to judge you and to please your mom. It’s totally understandable.”

“Yeah? Then why can't I just tell them the truth then? Even now, I know if I had to tell her, I’d still lie to save face. And I don’t know why I fucking care. I’m always brushing things off and don’t take things seriously . . . but this . . . I just can't.”

I pull her closer, sliding around so that I’m holding her from behind, just giving her comfort. “Mindy, we all lie to please others. When my parents divorced, I went with my father while Tony went with Mom.”

“You don’t talk much about your father, really. I mean, beyond him making your life like boot camp.”

I nod my head and bury my nose in her hair. Even after a night at the club and tinged with sweat, she smells good. “After college, majoring in business, of course, my father brought me into the family business as his right-hand man. Oh, I was being groomed for success, given a nice chunk of stock, a Vice President’s position right off the bat . . .”

“But you gave it up. Why?”

I nod, holding her more tightly. “Because I never wanted to be in pharmaceuticals. Steele Pharma started off generations ago doing good stuff. We developed treatments for yellow fever, for bacterial infections, all of that. When my father took over, though, that started to change.”

“Why?” Mindy asks.

“Because you make more money selling skin tighteners, tooth whiteners, or wrinkle removers than you do curing diseases anymore. My father shifted all the R&D into cosmetic areas, and now the only real medicines Steele makes are generics on stuff that’s a generation old or more. That’s not the sort of life I wanted to lead.”

“So you quit?” Mindy asks.

I shake my head. “No. Not for years. I was like you are now, living a lie and hating every minute of it. My father and I started fighting, and it got worse and worse until I had to walk away. I had to, or else I’d never be able to speak to him again. So I know what it’s like, and I’m here for you.”

Her body trembles, and I hold her closer. She starts to cry, and I turn her to me, holding her in my lap and letting her bury her head in my shoulder. I murmur in her ear, stroking her hair and back, letting her know I’m there for her. “Mindy, if it counts for anything, I wouldn’t want to lose this week.”

“Why?” she asks, sniffing and looking up into my eyes. I stroke her cheek with my thumb and give her a little smile.

“Because if it hadn’t been for this week, I might never have met you.”

Mindy cuts me off by pulling me close and kissing me, her mouth hot on mine. She’s desperate for reassurance and lost in the fantasy that’s not really a fantasy anymore. I have to have this moment too, a chance to reassure her and to show her, even if it’s just once, what she really means to me.

We tumble to the bed, and I’m careful not to crush her underneath me, her hands tugging at my shirt to stroke my back, not with the rough urgency of our earlier passions but tenderly, searching for something we can’t put into words yet. She mewls, moaning like a kitten as I lift her top up to her armpits and explore the silky soft skin of her body. “Oliver . . .”

I stop and look into her eyes, swallowing back the feelings that are threatening to overwhelm me. “I’ll be very careful, Princess.”

I sit back, unbuttoning the rest of my shirt and shrugging it off, before I scoot back off the bed and unbutton my pants, her eyes drinking me in the whole time. “Mindy, I know tonight’s maybe our last chance. I want this time to be special.”

She nods and sits up, pulling off the rest of her clothes and dropping them over the side of the bed. Mindy's smile fades as she looks at me in amazement, blinking silently until my eyes meet hers, and I swallow, pulling her to her feet. “You truly are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”

“You make me feel beautiful,” she tells me, stepping closer.

Mindy smiles and puts her arms around my neck, mashing my cock between us as she kisses me again. She’s just short enough without her shoes on that I have to bend my head more than what's comfortable, but it’s okay, and she leads me back to the bed, stretching out beside me as we keep kissing.

I've never felt my heart filled with such pleasure and pain as we just kiss and let our hands stroke over each other’s skin. I never touch her breasts or between her legs. Not yet. I want to explore everything else, goosebumps of pleasure breaking out on her skin as I pour myself into her. Mindy’s touch is just as electric, my brain frizzing out again and again as she finds another spot on my skin that leaves me gasping and moaning. I’ve never let myself be this vulnerable, this open before, and I know that no matter what, tonight’s going to change me forever.

“Oliver,” she whispers in my ear, even the tickle of the warm air causing me to tremble in anticipation, “I want to taste you.”

Mindy kisses down my body, her eyes beseeching as she looks up at me, smiling. I nod, and she reaches out with her tongue.

I don't know how to describe what happens to me the instant her tongue touches the tip of my cock. It's like a rifle shot goes through me, my nerves all lit up at once, pleasure beyond anything I've ever thought possible. She licks softly, my body shaken by the sensations each time, and I’m awakened to new heights of ecstasy. After teasing my head with long, loving sucks, she buries my cock in her throat, bobbing up and down until I’m on the edge, and she pulls back, looking me in the eyes with deep emotion.

Love, my mind insists on saying. Is that what this is? This feeling inside me, or is it just that I’m caught up in a fantasy that I hadn’t even planned? Am I going insane, or is Mindy looking at me with a feeling that we never expected? We were supposed to be buddies, friends with benefits as I help her out of a jam. This was never supposed to grow beyond that.

Maybe I faze out a little, because the next thing I'm aware of is the sound of a foil packet being opened, and Mindy’s kneeling between my legs, rolling a condom down my cock. She rolls over, spreading her legs and giving me a beseeching look.

I nod, climbing on top of her and lifting her hips, her eyes still fixed on my face as I line myself up. I push in, the feeling of her pussy again mind-blowing, and I feel something inside me as Mindy opens up doors to my heart and soul.

It’s not her body, as perfect as it is. It's in the way she looks at me, her eyes full of meaning. I bring my hands up to caress her breasts in gentle strokes. We move slowly, wanting this instant to last forever. The world outside doesn’t exist as I bend down and kiss her and begin to thrust in and out slowly.

Before, I’ve been aggressive, powerful, blurring the line between having sex and being greedy with her body. Part of it was the game—Mindy’s got a freaky side to her too, and we both enjoy it that way. But this isn’t the time for that. Instead, I’m gentle, trying to show her through my body the feelings that I’m too afraid to say. I see it reflected in Mindy as my fears are replaced with a warmth that builds in my chest as we kiss and look into each other's eyes. I kiss her deeply as our bodies move together, my cock rubbing over the places deep inside her with every thrust.

“Oliver . . .” Mindy whispers before words fail her and she moans incoherently. My hips speed up to give her what she needs. She wraps her legs around my waist, giving herself fully to me as we build, faster and harder. Our hips start to slap together, and I feel myself building toward a huge orgasm, my back flexing as her fingers claw at my skin. I want to give her everything I have, everything I am, but I can’t make words either, and all I can do is make sure she’s given everything I can give her.

My body is trembling, her pussy sending vibrations through me as we build higher and higher. Mindy’s shaking, and I squeeze her ass, on the edge myself. Suddenly, her eyes open wide, and she's there, crying out softly in a choked wail. With a final hard thrust, I come, filling the condom as I try to soothe the pain deep in my heart. She’s an angel, a fantasy, and I give all I can to her.

My body trembles as I hold Mindy afterward, sweat drying on my forehead as we lie looking into each other’s eyes. She’s still in so much pain, and I wish I could take it all away from her. “What is it?”

“Oliver . . . I love you,” she whispers, cupping my cheek.

I’m shocked, and my heart leaps in my chest. Is she for real? I want her to be, but how can we really feel this way? Finally, stuck, I tell her the truth. “Mindy, I love you too.”

She nods and gives me a little smile. I can see the question in her eyes, the same one I have. Is she caught up in an emotional moment, or are her words the truth? I know what I feel.

“Thank you,” she whispers and snuggles against me. Her breathing calms, and in minutes, I can feel her nod off. After she’s asleep, I give her a kiss on the forehead, still troubled.

I was telling her the truth. Crazy as it sounds, I was.

Was she?