Mia stared at her reflection in the mirror for what had to be the fiftieth time that morning.
"Casual brunch with my fake boyfriend's ex," she muttered to herself, adjusting the collar of her pale blue blouse. "What could possibly go wrong?"
After their fake first date the night before, Lucas had casually dropped the bombshell as he drove her home: "𝘖𝘩—𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸. 𝘔𝘺 𝘦𝘹 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯?"
And because she was apparently on a roll of saying yes to chaos, she'd agreed.
Now, with her heart thudding against her ribs and her lip gloss already reapplied three times, Mia took one last look at herself. Neat blouse, soft curls, light makeup, and a pair of white pants that said, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. Perfect.
Her phone buzzed.
𝗟𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘀: 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘦.
She rolled her eyes but smiled. Or course he would assume she was overdressed and panicking. He wasn't wrong.
--
When she stepped out of her building, Lucas was leaning against his sleek black car like a walking magazine ad–white shirt tucked in, sleeves rolled up, sunglasses on, and that maddening grin already on his lips.
"You clean up well," he said, pulling open the passenger door for her.
"You say that like I was filthy yesterday."
"I mean emotionally."
Mia snorted. "Touché."
As she slid into the seat, Lucas rounded the car, slid in beside her, and started the engine.
"So," she said, trying to sound breezy. "Any last-minute tips for surviving this brunch?"
Lucas kept his eyes on the road. "Be your charming self. Smile like I'm your favorite person. Oh, and maybe hold my hand."
She blinked. "That escalated."
"I told her we were close. Like... 'couple goals' close."
Mia let out a breath. "Fine. But if this goes sideways, I'm blaming your emotional damage."
Lucas grinned. "I'll take full responsibility."
--
The restaurant was one of those fancy minimalist places with gold-rimmed plates and table water that had herbs floating in it. Of course his ex would choose somewhere like this. The kind of place that made Mia feel like she was playing dress-up in someone else's life.
Lucas led the way to the table where three people were already seated. Mia immediately spotted Talia–the ex.
She was even prettier in person. Effortless waves, designer everything, and a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Lucas," Talia said, standing up for a hug.
He greeted her casually, then gestured to Mia. "This is Mia–my girlfriend."
Mia forced a polite smile. "Hi. Nice to meet you."
Talia's eyes flicked over her. "You too. I've heard so much."
"I've heard... less," Mia replied with a small smile, earning a soft cough of amusement from Lucas beside her.
They sat down, and small talk began. Mia mostly focused on her orange juice while Lucad charmed the table like it was second nature. Every now and then, he'd slide his hand over hers or glance at her when someone mentioned something couple-related.
He was good at this.
Almost 𝘵𝘰𝘰 good.
--
"So how long have you two been together?" Talia asked during a lull in the conversation.
Mia blinked. Lucas smoothly answered. "Three months."
Three months? That wasn't the number they'd discussed, but Mia nodded, keeping her smile steady.
"Time flies," she added. "Especially when your boyfriend's calendar is more booked than a wedding venue."
Lucas leaned in with a small grin. "She means I'm very punctual."
"I mean he triple-booked brunch, a car wash, and his grandma's birthday last sunday."
Talia tilted her head, amused. "Sounds... chaotic."
"It's part of his charm," Mia said, poking Lucas's arm.
Lucas chuckled, and for a brief second, Mia forgot they were faking it.
--
The food came, and things mellowed. Talia's friends were surprisingly normal, which helped Mia relax–until dessert rolled in and someone suggested couple questions. A casual game. Just for fun.
Of course.
Talia smirked. "Let's see how well the lovebirds know each other."
Lucas raised a brow. "You're really leaning into this."
"Oh come on," she said. "Humor me."
The first question: "𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 '𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶' 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵?"
Mia's breath hitched. Her eyes darted to Lucas.
He smoothly replied, "Mia did. Right after I brought her soup when she was sick."
Mia narrowed her eyes slightly. "I was delirious and half-asleep. Might've said it to the soup."
The table laughed. Lucas grinned, clearly enjoying himself.
Next: "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘢'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘬?"
"Spicy chips," Lucas answered instantly.
Mia blinked. "How did you know that?"
"You literally cried over an empty bag once."
Talia gave a knowing glance. "Wow. Someone's observant."
Lucas just shrugged, sipping his coffee.
--
After the game, the group began to drift off–Talia saying she had to catch another brunch in an hour (who does that?)–and Mia and Lucas were finally alone outside.
"Well," she said, walking to the car. "That was... intense."
"You were amazing," Lucas said, unlocking the door. "You even got a laugh out of Talia."
"Pretty sure that was more of a power move than genuine joy."
Lucas laughed. "Still. You nailed it."
Once inside the car, they sat for a beat in comfortable silence. Then Lucas pulled out his phone.
"Hold up," he said, grinning. "I need to record this for future appreciation."
Mia gave him a look. "What are you doing?"
He hit recore on a voice message. "𝘔𝘪𝘢. 𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘖𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳-𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳: 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."
He stopped and smiled.
"I'm keeping that," he said. "Might even set it as my alarm."
Mia laughed, a little too hard.
And just like that, her phone buzzed.
𝗟𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘀: "𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰... 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 2.0 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥? 𝘕𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴?"
Mia stared at the message. Her heart did that annoying flutter thing again.
She didn't reply yet.
But the smile she wore on the way home?
Very real.
