Faking with Benefits : A Friends to Lovers Romance(109)

“We all screwed up,” I point out, trying to calm them down. “All of us. Stop blaming each other.”

Zack’s scowl deepens. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Josh shakes his head, looking at him incredulously. “You seriously believe that, don’t you?”

“Yes!” Zack crosses his arms over his chest. “I told her going into this that it wouldn’t be for real. How is it my fault that she chose not to listen?”

“You literally dumped her three seconds after pulling out—”

I’m getting sick of this. I slam my hand onto the table, shutting them both up. “For God’s sake,” I snap. “You two need to get over this. You’ve been best friends since you were children. You’ve helped each other through every bad and good thing that’s ever happened in your lives.”

“Well, he’s never acted like this much of a git before,” Josh mutters.

“And you’ve never been this much of a goddamn prissy coward,” Zack shoots back.

I throw my hands in the air. “Yes, you both have! Josh has always been bad at expressing his emotions, and, Zack, you’ve always been a stubborn bastard. You’ve forgiven each other for it before, and you’ll do it again. Because like it or not, you love each other.”

Zack scoffs. “We don’t—”

“Yes. You. Do.” I emphasise. “And I’m sick of hearing you bickering. I’ve already lost her, I’m not losing both of you, as well. Now pull yourselves together.” I wave at the door. “The people out there paid money to come and see us. Money they could’ve spent on food, or bills, or rent. Some of them have travelled a long way to get here. So stop bloody moping. You’re behaving like children.”

Josh looks down at the floor, his expression frozen. Zack looks like he’s about to argue, but before he can, the door to the Green Room bangs open, and Katie bounds back in. Through the open doorway, I can hear the muffled chatter coming from the auditorium, and the beginning strains of our theme tune starting to play.

“They’re ready for youuuu!” She practically sings. “The crowd is so big today, oh my God, I’m so excited.”

“Great,” I say through gritted teeth, standing. “Let’s do it.”

Josh and Zack get up, and we make our way to the stage.





SIXTY-NINE





LUKE





The stage has been set up following our usual specifications; three chairs sit facing the audience behind a long table covered in our recording equipment, all tested and ready to go. Bottles of chilled water are placed under our chairs. A projector is shining our logo onto the screen behind us.

The room is full of people, seated in rows of plastic chairs. As we reach the table and sit down, I scan the crowd grimly. Clearly, the drama of the past few days hasn’t lost us any followers. The place is packed. There are even people sitting on the floor.

I tap gently on my mic, then lean forward to speak into it. Thanks to all of my years talking in front of classrooms of teenagers, I’m the best at presenting in front of a crowd, so I take the role of main host whenever we do live shows.

“Hello, London!” I call. The crowd whoops and shouts. “Thank you so much for joining us today. It’s wonderful to finally see you all in person, instead of talking to you through a microphone. My name is Luke—”

“I’m Josh,” Josh adds.

“And I’m Zack,” Zack says, his voice rough.

I don’t let my smile falter. “And we are Three Single Guys, who are absolutely unqualified to answer your relationship questions. So let’s get on with it. Today, we’re going to be doing advice as normal, but instead of reading your emails, we’ll be taking live questions from you, the audience.”

The crowd cheers and screams, stamping and clapping. I point to Katie, who’s hovering on the main floor, clutching a wireless microphone. “Our lovely assistant Katie is standing at the front of the room. Can you give us a wave, Katie? If we pick you out to ask us a question, Katie will come to where you’re sitting and give you the mic.”

I glance between Josh and Zack. Neither of them add anything, both stony-faced.

I swallow a sigh. “Right. Let’s get started, then. Who’s got a question for us?”

Hands go up throughout the auditorium. I start scanning the crowd, but before I can pick someone to speak, a voice shouts: “Where’s Layla?”

“Layla will not be attending,” I say. “We’ve decided to… part ways. She won’t be on the podcast anymore. I’m very sorry, if any of you came to see her specifically.”

A ripple goes through the crowd. I can see faces fall. One girl raises her hand, and Josh points at her. Katie scurries forward and passes her the mic.

“So the rumours are true?” The girl asks in a hushed tone. “She did cheat on you?”

Jesus Christ.

“Layla didn’t cheat on us,” Zack mutters. “We weren’t actually dating. You all got that, right?”

I give him a warning look.

The girl at the microphone narrows her eyes. “It didn’t look fake in the pictures from the wedding,” she accuses.

Zack shrugs. “What can I say? I’m a good actor.”