Page 102 of Let’s Make a Scene

He looks over to me, but I’m no help. I still haven’t recovered from the tap-dancing; but this new piece of information is a whole other level. “I mean, I’d guess so,” Jack says with a shrug. “I don’t see why not. I’m actually a fair bit stronger than I was then.”

“Yeah, you are,” I murmur, and I sound so thirsty it’s a joke.

Jack’s gaze snags on mine, and whatever he sees there has his eyes widening. He reaches out and his fingers toy with the end of my ponytail. “What do you think, Taylor? You want to try?”

My lips part, but I don’t say anything, which doesn’t really matter, because my friends are losing their shit, clambering to their feet and pushing furniture aside already.

“Shhhh, shhhhh!” Patty cautions, suddenly remembering Priya. After that, they continue to squeal at a lower pitch.

“Are you sure about this?” I ask.

“Don’t worry.” Jack stands up and holds out his hand. “I won’t drop you, I promise.”

I let him pull me to my feet, and the others have formed a sort of narrow runway. Patty and Arjun stand on one side, Liam and Hannah on the other.

“What do I do?” I ask, suddenly nervous.

“Just run at me and jump into my arms as high as you can,” Jack says. “You need to brace your core. Sometimes it helps if you hold your breath. I’ll do the rest.”

“Um, okay.” I send silent thanks to Petra for the fact I can at least locate my core these days.

Liam has rewound the film so that the scene plays out on the TV behind Jack. The music starts, and when Baby begins to run, so do I. I don’t know what I’m doing, but when I reach Jack, I basically throw myself at him. His hands are around my waist, and he lifts me up a little and puts me back down.

“Okay, you jumped a bit too early that time,” he says, patiently. “You have to wait a second longer. You need to trust me. I’ll catch you.”

“Right,” I say, going back to the start. Liam puts the film back again, and I roll my neck in a few circles, windmill my arms by my side, taking a deep breath like an Olympian limbering up for the big event.

“We’ve got this,” Jack says, and I nod.

Then he crooks his finger.

Fuck me.

On this go, I time it right and leap into his arms, feeling him grip my hips hard through the fabric of my jeans, his fingers biting into my flesh with a delicious pressure. I fly up and up, and the world tips and I squeak and brace myself, wobbling for a split second, but Jack’s arms lock underneath me, and then it’s just… happening. He’s holding me over his head like it’s no big deal and I stretch my arms out and laugh like a maniac. He holds me like that for a long moment while the others whoop and cheer, Priya and her light sleeping forgotten in our fever pitch of excitement, and then—slowly—he pulls his arms down, reeling me in, his hands slipping down, cupping the tops of my thighs. My arms wrap around his neck and he slides me down the rest of his body, until my feet touch the floor.

I look up at him, and it feels like part of me is still flying. My heart beats hard and fast at our bodies being pressed so tightly together, and the way he looks at me… it’s as if there’s nothing pretend about what’s between us at all.

“My turn, my turn!” Liam sings, and Jack lets out a startled huff of laughter.

I step back, out of the circle of his arms.

“Why not?” Jack asks, and Arjun punches the air.

“And then me, Uncle Jack!” Priya stands in the doorway, rumpled and adorable in her pajamas, her entire being lit with excitement.

Jack crouches down, opens his arms to her. “Then you, little P,” he promises as she hurls her small body into his.

Hannah appears beside me. “Oh, shit, Cyn,” she whispers, resigned.

“I know,” I say, because I do, I know what she sees, what she probably saw before I even saw it myself.

I’m totally falling for my fake boyfriend.

And the last time we did this, everything ended in disaster.

THEN THIRTEEN YEARS EARLIER

Chapter 33 CYNTHIE