Best Served Fake

eighteen // wink, wink, hint, hint

Cole nodded along with her words, his tousled hair falling into his eyes with the movement.

I imagined being subjected to the full weight of Kai's natural charisma and attention. If Kai had come to me in the wake of Tommy's betrayal; called me beautiful, told me that he liked me, put his hands on me, smiled. I didn't like Kai in that way; of course I didn't. He was too flirty, too charming, too flighty, too Kai. But if Kai really tried, and if he could convince me that he actually liked me? It wasn't all that hard to imagine someone falling for it.

Not me, but someone.

I'd already discovered that falling wasn't worth it.

I grabbed a glass from the freshly washed tray and wiped droplets off with my tea towel. Cole and Madi were exchanging glances with a complete lack of subtlety, but I ignored them. Thoughts churned in my mind like waves in a storm, and I couldn't help but wonder if I would ever be able to fall in love again. I'd done it twice, and both of them had betrayed me.

I was only seventeen. Surely, I would be able to find someone again. But what if I did it again, fell in love, only to waste two years of my life. Was it even worth it, really?

"I can't imagine thinking so much," Cole said, swirling the water in his glass. "It just seems like a lot of hard work, and I just couldn't do that to my brain."

I flicked him with the tea towel. "I've got a lot on my mind."

Cole hummed. "Maybe you should get a lot on something else, hey? Wink, wink, hint, hint. I'm suggesting all six and a half feet of Kai Delaney's rocking bod. What else are fake boyfriends for?"

Madi snorted.

"They are for scheming and revenge," I enunciated. At Cole's pout, I flicked him again, the cloth whipping with a satisfying crack against his arm. "Not for undisclosed sexual acts. That's what real boyfriends are for."

"So obsessed with labels," Madeleine muttered. "So closed-minded."

Cole rubbed his arm. "That's abuse. That's not very good customer service, Valerie. Where's your manager? I simply must report your horrendous behaviour toward a paying customer." He looked down at the skin, which was coloured with a faint blush, before looking back at me with wide eyes. "It could be fatal."

Madi bopped him on the head, leaning her hip against the counter to lean over. Cole grinned at her, but she just rolled her eyes fondly. "You haven't paid for anything, so you're not a customer."

Cole never paid for anything. He didn't steal, but he only ever came to sit at the bar and order a glass of tap water, before settling down for a few hours to chatter away to Madeleine. It was strange; Cole was wealthy, beyond any comprehension. The Knight family were billionaires; a different echelon of wealth to the rest of the kids at our fancy private school. He was always dressed immaculately, hair styled meticulously, perfectly put together.

This was the first time in months that I'd seen him looking remotely presentable. And he looked happier.

Cole didn't comment on the money. Instead, he just said. "Ah, well, I wouldn't want to come across like a rich wanker."

"You are a rich wanker."

Cole just raised an eyebrow, but he didn't comment.

Madi turned back to me. "You know, if you wanted to..." I didn't particularly like what she was insinuating, so I didn't finish her sentence. Instead, I just crossed my arms and stared at her, daring her to continue. Madeleine wasn't deterred. "All I'm saying is, you don't have to be dating a guy to have some fun. If you wanted to."

"I know that," I said. Because I did. And given I was demanding fidelity from Kai, he might even say yes. He was probably unaccustomed to monogamy; he was definitely unaccustomed to monogamy that was completely and utterly devoid of sex. "But that's not what this is. It's not a rebound; its revenge."

"Again with the labels," Madi said. "It can be both. But clearly you, for some reason, don't want to have that beautiful boy all over you. I can respect that decision."

Cole snorted, as if to say, I can't. I glared at him, but he just looked at me with all of the innocence an eighteen year old boy can muster.

"I just broke up with Tommy," I explained. "It's... too soon."

I'd never done anything with anyone but Tommy Aster, and I didn't know how I felt about the concept. No matter how gorgeous and safe Kai Delaney might be as an option. No strings attached, infamous for his complete disinterest in being locked down. But I wasn't a no strings attached kind of girl.

Madi's expression softened. "Okay, Valerie," she said.

When she turned away to say something to Cole, I couldn't help but let my mind wander to her suggestion. I thought about Madeleine and Jameson, fooling around in the storeroom at work three weeks ago. Her satisfied smirk when she'd emerged, and Jameson's tousled hair. They'd been laughing, and there had been no trace of awkwardness. And then she'd smacked his ass and sent him on his way; no strings attached. No expectations.

Fun, easy.

That wasn't me. It couldn't be me. I was the kind of girl who found a guy, stuck with him. Loyal, sweet. A girlfriend kind of girl.

And how well did that work for you, Valerie?

I shook my head. I wasn't contemplating this. I wasn't.

"So, yeah," Cole was saying. "I've been crashing with a friend in Toorak."

"Really?" Madi asked. "Would I know her?"

Cole shrugged. "Maybe. Have you heard of Lena Montez? Her parents are friends with mine."

The name wasn't familiar to me, but Madeleine's eyes widened. "Oh shit? I haven't seen Lena Montez in years." She turned to me to explain. "Her parents used to go to fundraisers with mine and Cole's; we hung out, back in the days we were forced to go."

Ah, so she was one of the rich socialite girls. Going to a school like mine; one that was predominantly rich kids from affluent families, I was familiar with the type.

Cole was smiling though. "Yeah, she's great. I'm not on the best terms with my folks at the moment, so it's been good to get out of the house."

"Is this a girlfriend?" Madi asked, eyebrows wiggling.

Cole laughed. "Not even close. She's in love with some guy from school and in complete denial about it. It's disgustingly cute. And annoying. She's all, 'oh my god, I hate him' and then sticks her tongue down his throat." As Cole chattered away, I admired the animated smile he was wearing. It was all pure joy. In the short time we'd been friends, he'd never smiled like this.

It seemed as if Cole had struck up a hard and fast friendship; in less than a week, he spoke about Lena Montez in the same way I'd once spoke of Sydney. Not everyone got to have a best friend—the kind that was so close you felt like two halves of the same whole—but it was sure as shit something I wanted again one day. Maybe one of a greater calibre, but still.

"Hey, Valerie, if you want to stop thinking for a moment, your shift is over," Madi said. When I startled out of my reverie, Cole and Madi were grinning at me.

"Shit, okay," I said.

"Are you working Saturday night?" Madi asked, as I untied my apron and stuffed it under the counter.

"Nope," I said, untying my hair and letting it fall loose over my shoulders. I smiled. "I swapped to Sunday. Because I am attending a party with Kai Delaney."