Page 54 of Faking It With the Small-Town Bad Boy

“I never said anything about saving. Supporting, Leah. That’s what I

should be doing.”

“For the sake of this deal?”

“Fuck the deal,” he bites. “I want to support you, because of you. You

have just offered yourself in my asinine plan to mask our feelings

about Ryan and Farrah’s wedding to the whole town. I owe you more

than just support, Leah. Besides, you’re a good person. You deserve

it.”

I warm with that admission. “Thank you, Percy.”

“Of course. I’m here if you need anything.”

He goes to pull away, but I stop him, bringing him back into my arms

for another embrace. “And I’m here for you, okay?”

“I know you are,” he hums. “Thank you. Maybe one day I can be as

open as you are, but right now I just don’t have the guts.”

“Whatever,” I grumble. “You have the guts. I can feel them.” I

squeeze him tighter in our hug and feel his stomach wince as he

laughs. He pries himself free and bats my hands away when I try to

take him back in my possession. “Come on, Percy. Hug me!”

Laughing, he brushes me off again. “You have work to do, Leah. And

now you have to do it with me watching very closely.”

My brows knit. “What do you mean?”

“I’m going to help you with this stuff. You obviously need it, and the

faster you finish, the quicker you can dig yourself out of this financial

hole, right?”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t ask that of you.”

“No, you can’t. That’s why I’m offering. Well, it’s not an offer or a

suggestion. I’m just going to do it, and you’re going to deal with it.

Okay? So, tell me, where do we start?”

“Well, we have to get under the car and check out the transmission. If

it’s in bad shape, I have to pull it.”