Chapter 25

• The whole point of a fake relationship was to pretend. But if that were true, I was already in trouble because that kiss didn’t feel fake. Not even a little. There was something in the way Gosto kissed me that short-circuited everything rational inside me.
• Agreeing to this arrangement had seemed borderline logical at first, but the more I sat with it, the more unsteady I became. One kiss had turned my brain to jelly. And if that’s what one kiss could do, I didn’t dare imagine what would happen when the pretending deepened.
• This whole setup felt wrong on too many levels to count. And yet... part of me some ridiculous, traitorous part actually believed I could handle it. Worse, another part of me ached for more of these so-called "performances." It was stupid. I knew that. Naïve, even. But I still ignored every warning flashing in my mind. I silenced my instincts and listened only to the chaotic rhythm of my heart, which thundered every time Gosto was near. That traitorous blood-pump chased all logic from me.