Fake Dating The Enemy

20

Thomas

"You made it!" Ashley calls as we step out of the car. She runs over, engulfing us in hugs. "I'm so glad you two are here!" I glance over and see Luke heading towards us.

"Thomas! Elizabeth!" He calls, giving his sister a hug. "I'm glad to see you both made it in one piece." He laughs, patting me on the back.

"It feels nice to stretch my legs." Lizzy says, bending to rub her legs.

"Come on you two, let's go inside. Dinner is almost ready." Ashley says, leading us inside. Lizzy wraps her arm in mine, resting her head on my shoulder as we walk into the house.

"This place is gorgeous." Lizzy says, taking a moment to glance around. "Ooh, something smells delicious."

"Homemade lasagna." Luke says, helping Ashley set the table. "Grandma's recipe." He looks at Lizzy, and she smiles.

"My favorite." She says, taking a seat at the table. I sit next to her, reaching to grab onto her hand. She looks up at me, and I give her a kiss on the cheek.

"You two are so cute. I, for one, am so glad you guys are official." Ashley says, smiling at us. I give Lizzy's hand a squeeze, watching as her face turns pink from embarrassment. Luke serves us each a piece of lasagna, and it smells absolutely divine.

"Enjoy." He says, taking a seat next to Ashley.

"Oh my God," Lizzy says after taking a bite. "This tastes just as amazing if not better than when grandma would make it." Luke smiles at her compliment.

"Thank you. We both worked really hard on making this a special dinner."

"I'm just so glad we're all together and on good terms. It'll be nice to not have something ruin our night for once." We all share a laugh, and I glance at Lizzy. In this moment, I am eternally grateful to have her and to call her mine. I don't think anything could ruin this moment.

*

After dinner, we are sitting around the table laughing and catching up on what's been going on in each other's lives. Ashley gasps, taking a moment to look at Luke.

"We forgot to buy dessert."

"Oh, that's alright. We can always get it another day." Luke says, placing his hand on hers.

"No, Luke. We were supposed to have it tonight."

"We could place an order online and have it delivered." Lizzy suggests, and earns a smile from Ashley.

"See, now that's an idea." She glances back at Luke. "Honey, would you take care of that? I want to give them a tour of the house." He nods, and Ashley motions for us to follow her upstairs.

"I truly can't get over how beautiful this place is." Lizzy says, taking in the beauty of the house.

"We've worked hard to really make it our own." Ashley says, stopping outside of a room in its own hallway. "This is the guest room. This is where the two of you will be staying. As you can see, it is separated a good bit from our room. So, you two can have your privacy." She winks at us, and I glance at Lizzy to see her practically turning into a tomato. She's so cute when she's nervous.

"That's good to know." I say, winking at Lizzy.

"Thomas." She says, playfully slapping my chest causing me to laugh.

"What? I'm just being honest." She tries to hide her face so we can't see her embarrassment.

"Oh, you two." Ashley says, shaking her head. "Continuing on, the guest room does have its own bathroom so no need to worry about sharing one with us. Now, let's move on to my personal favorite area of the house." We follow her back down the hallway and up another set of stairs into an actual whole library in the house.

"You have a whole library up here?" Lizzy beams, walking around to check out the books.

"I had a feeling you'd like it. I'm an avid reader, and I spend most of my time up here. If you ever need me and can't find me, I'll most likely be here."

"Ah, I should've known you'd be up here." Luke says, joining us. "Doordash should be here soon. I hope everyone likes apple pie. It's the best I could do."

"That'll be fine, Luke. Don't stress over it." Ashley says, kissing him. "Why don't we go downstairs and let these two have a chance to settle in?" Ashley and Luke leave, and I glance over at Lizzy. She's nose deep in books, and I can't help, but chuckle.

"Anything good?" I ask, sneaking up behind her. I wrap my arms around her waist, my chin resting on her shoulder.

"I don't think I've ever seen so many books in a house before. I want a library in my house." I chuckle, taking the books from her hands and sitting them down on a nearby table. I turn her to face me, resting my hands on her waist and pulling her close.

"I would build you one."

"You would?" I nod, kissing her softly.

"I'd do anything for you." Her eyes flick back and forth between my eyes and my lips. I close the gap between us, crashing my lips to hers. Our lips move in perfect rhythm. My hands try to pull her even closer to me, roaming her body as if they've never felt her before while her hands find their way into my hair. "I want you so bad." I say in between kisses.

"I want you, too." She says against my lips, her hands finding their way under my shirt.

"Not here." I say, trying to stop, but kissing her is so damn addictive.

"You're right. We can't do this in their library." She says, breaking away from me and trying to catch her breath. "Why is it so hard to resist this?" She asks, making me laugh.

"I feel the same way." I give her a soft kiss, resting my forehead against hers. "Come on, let's go downstairs. I'm sure dessert is almost here, and they are probably expecting us back." She nods, grabbing onto my hand as we walk downstairs. Just as we reach the bottom of the steps, there's a knock at the door.

"I'll get it. It's probably Doordash." Lizzy says, going to open the door. I stand behind her as she opens it and a familiar, unexpected face comes into view.

"Conrad?"