She was amazing. Goddammit.
“She’s so good for you,” Allie went on. “She’s always understood you so well. You really need someone who’s a safe place, someone to ground you. But also someone who can stand up to you when it’s necessary.”
“I know,” I snapped. I didn’t need to be told Felicity was one in a million. This wasn’t helping.
“I’m just so glad you got out of your head and told her how you feel before it was too late. I mean, it took you long enough—but also, it came out of nowhere. One minute you won’t even go to a reunion, and the next—poof, you’re getting married.”
I looked at her. “Allie.”
“Yes?”
It was so obvious. “You know.”
“Know what?” She blinked innocently at me. “That your sudden engagement is totally ridiculous? That it was a ploy to get Mom off your back? That you two are actually in love but somehow feel more comfortable faking it? Which thing that I know should we talk about first?”
“Fuck. Why didn’t you say something?”
“What good would that have done? You two clearly had your reasons, you’re consenting adults, and people work out their shit in different ways. I just figured this was your way of finally crossing the line without fear. If you could call it all for show, it was less pressure.” She grinned. “Plus, it was a riot to watch you two react that morning at your house.”
I groaned. “I can’t believe you knew. You made us take all those pictures! You made us kiss.”
“I know.” She chuckled. “So did you guys plant the story yourselves?”
“Not exactly.” Taking a deep breath, I launched into the story—how Felicity had blurted it out at the reunion, how she’d asked me to come rescue her, how the story had leaked, and how I’d convinced her to keep up the act.
“To get Mom off your back? Was I right about that?” she asked, since she was still my big sister, and being right mattered.
“Yes. Also . . .” I rubbed the back of my neck.
“Also, you wanted to be with her. And this handed you the opportunity without the vulnerability.”
I frowned. “You don’t have to make me sound like an asshole. We both agreed to the plan.”
“I’m not here to judge you, Hutton.” She sat back. “But I have a feeling something went wrong with your plan.”
“Nothing was wrong with the plan,” I argued. “The plan was perfect. What went wrong was that I tried to make it better, and she got mad.”
She put her chin in her hand. “Go on.”
“We were going to get through the party, then break it off and tell everyone we’d decided we were better off as friends when I went back to San Francisco.”
“But then you realized you’re in love with her and that plan sucks?”
I jumped out of my chair and started pacing. “Look, it doesn’t really matter how I feel. We can’t stay together.”
“Why not?”
“We just can’t, okay? I’m going back to San Francisco and her life is here.”
She cocked her head. “So it’s the distance?”
“Yes,” I lied.
“But you’re a billionaire. Can’t you work from anywhere?”
Honestly, I probably could. But that wasn’t the point. “No, I can’t. I have to live where my company is based.”
“Felicity won’t move?”
“I didn’t ask her.” I avoided Allie’s eyes.
“Why not?”
“Because her family is here, and her business is here, and she won’t want to upend her life that way for me. Why should she? My relationships always end badly, and so do hers. We wanted something different. Something safer.”
“Interesting choice of words,” she mused. “So you thought you were protecting yourself by giving the relationship a deadline? That way neither of you would have to do the hurting or get hurt? You could stay friends?”
“Exactly!” I snapped my fingers, glad she finally understood. “Foolproof.”
“So how did you attempt to improve upon this totally safe and foolproof plan?”
“We have to be out of the house we’re in by August fifteenth,” I explained. “But I suggested that I could rent or buy another place and she could live there when I go back to San Francisco. I was trying to do her a favor.”
My sister’s jaw dropped. “By suggesting she become a kept woman?”