Faking Love (Complete)

Chapter 36 - Birthday Present

I stood there looking up at Colton, trying to figure it out. He looked even more handsome than he normally did and it was intimidating and made my brain stop functioning.

"I guess not because I have no idea," I said with an exhale. "Is it because you feel bad for ditching me back in middle school so now you're trying to make up for it?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No. You know, for somebody so smart, you sure can be clueless sometimes," he said with a soft smile.

"Clueless about what?" I asked, feeling confused.

He let out an exhale and looked down at the ground with his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans, hesitating. "I've been doing all these nice things for you," he said as he slowly lifted his head and looked into my eyes, "because I like you Sydney. I've liked you for a while."

I swallowed hard and my eyes widened. I didn't expect him to say that.

"You do?" I barely choked out.

"Yeah. I mean, back when we were best friends I always knew you were a good person and I enjoyed hanging out with you, but after getting to know you again, it's so much more than that now ........," he said, hesitating as he looked down at me and studied my eyes. "I've never felt like this before, but I'm pretty sure I'm falling in love with you."

My heart was beating fast as I stood there in front of him, trying to process what he just said. How could he possibly love somebody like me? It made no sense.

"Ummm. I must be drunker than I thought I was, cause I swear it sounded like you just said you were falling in love with me," I laughed.

"That's because I did," he smiled, but then his smile slowly faded away. "But I guess it doesn't matter, cause you're with Takashi Chang now," he said, before running his hands up over his face and letting out a tortured exhale.

I shook my head. "No, I'm not. We were just dancing together and then he kissed me before I had a chance to stop him. I didn't even want to kiss him and I didn't feel anything. All I kept thinking about was how much I wished he was somebody else."

"Who?" Colton asked with scrunched eyebrows.

I gave him a soft smile and said, "My fake boyfriend."

A smile slowly spread across his face, and he lifted his hand to the side of my face and ran his thumb across my cheek as he looked down into my eyes. "I was really hoping you were gonna say that."

He took another step closer, closing the gap between us and then he leaned down until his mouth was hovering right over mine, close enough that I could feel his breath on my lips.

"Can I kiss you Sydney Ryan?" he whispered, looking down into my eyes.

I looked up at him and felt my heart beating faster. "Only if it's for real this time and not pretend," I whispered back.

He smiled and whispered softly, "Oh trust me, it will be very, very real this time," before leaning in and I held my breath and closed my eyes right before he pressed his lips softly to mine.

I instantly felt butterflies erupt in my stomach and my insides melted as a shiver ran across my skin. I felt a rush of adrenaline when I kissed him that I hadn't felt with Takashi, and knowing he was kissing me for real made it so much better than the other times. It was soft and sweet, exactly what I had wanted.