Hired to Hate You

“Smile like you’re madly in love with me,” Liam whispered through clenched teeth, his arm looping tighter around my waist. His cologne smelled like arrogance and expensive mistakes. I forced a smile so wide, I felt my jaw tremble. We were standing in the middle of my cousin’s engagement party—the same cousin who, just six months ago, stole my boyfriend. And now? That ex-boyfriend stood across the garden, holding her hand like he hadn’t once promised to marry me. So yeah, I needed backup. And I’d hired Liam Reyes—my college nemesis, my former pain-in-the-ass seatmate, the guy who once told me I talked too much—to pretend to be my boyfriend for exactly one week. It was supposed to be fake. Clean. Emotionless. But nothing about Liam felt fake right now. Not the way his thumb traced slow circles on my back. Not the way his jaw clenched when my ex looked at me too long. Not the way my heart betrayed me with every beat. I thought I was in control. That I could handle a lie. But as I stared into Liam’s eyes, surrounded by rose petals and lies… I realized one thing: I had just hired the one man who might actually break me.