Lucas came back to the table to find Cole, Kate, and I giggling and joking together like best friends. Maybe Kate was just being nice to me for his sake, but I couldn’t remember the last time I’d made a friend so quickly. Usually I clam up when new people are friendly with me, but something about Kate’s good humor was contagious. We exchanged phone numbers and promised to stay in touch before Cole dragged her off to the dance floor. Lucas and I stared awkwardly at each other once they were gone.

“Want to dance, Rae?” Lucas asked the question carefully. He was watching me with a thoughtful expression.

The song that was playing was slow and romantic. I nodded and followed him onto the dance floor. As long as he didn’t expect anything particularly fancy from me, I could dance to this.

“Are you happy here with me?” Lucas asked me as we slow danced. He was a good leader. This wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d feared.

There was nowhere to look but at him. Being back in his arms, held close to his chest and breathing his air, it all just made me feel deprived. This was all a lie. I aimed for a properly flirtatious fake-girlfriend reply. “Of course, I am. You’re my darling boyfriend.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him.

He frowned. “That’s not what I meant.” His voice was soft.

I dropped the act. “What did you mean?”

“I want to know how you’re really feeling. I want to know if you’re happy.”

“Really?” I’m not sure why I felt a bit angry at the question, but I did. “What does it matter how I feel?” I whispered. “You didn’t even care enough about my feelings to keep to our arrangement. You told your friends about us.”

This whole day had been spent making it look like we were the most perfect, happiest couple ever. We were weaving this elaborate lie for one reason. Victoria. This was all for her benefit. Once she got jealous enough, she’d come back to get Lucas. Then he’d leave me in the dust. If it wasn’t for Victoria, Lucas wouldn’t even be speaking to me.

“It matters to me,” he said. His voice was a gentle, whispered rumble. I stared into his huge, beautiful hazel eyes and could barely stand it. “I’m sorry if you feel like I broke my word by telling my friends about our arrangement. I never meant to make you uncomfortable or violate our terms. It just never even occurred to me to lie to them.”

I shook my head. “Whatever.”

“I’m sorry if I made you unhappy.”

I swallowed hard. Don’t let yourself think he really means it. He only wants Victoria. When he kissed you before, he really wanted to be kissing her. When he touched you before, he wanted to be touching her.

“You don’t need to worry about me,” I finally told him. “I’m fine.” I could tell he didn’t buy it.

Besides, if I could be angry at Lucas, I didn’t have to feel so damn guilty.

“Rae—” he started.

“No,” I interrupted. “Don’t. Please. Just let it go.” I heard the vulnerability in my voice and I hated it. Usually I was so good at hiding my real emotions, but Lucas seemed to bring all my feelings to the surface. It was like he could see right through me.

“I can’t. What’s bothering you? It can’t be me telling Cole and Kate about us. You’ve been distant all day. Except for when you were talking to Kate or posing for a picture, you’ve barely smiled today.”

“I’ve been distant? We’ve spoken more in the past twenty seconds than we have all day.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” He paused, and then swallowed hard. “I’ve been having second thoughts.”

My lips parted in shock. “What?”

The song had ended, and Lucas pulled me outside by the hand. I went along numbly. In the quiet of evening, I stared at him in total disbelief.

“Rae,” he told me, “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”