My Fake Boyfriend

The weight of the cake box was familiar and good in Alexis's hands.

She shifted it slightly, careful not to smudge the buttercream frosting she had spent the last three hours perfecting. This is Kevin’s favorite: chocolate with salty caramel filling. Kevin has been her boyfriend for two years.

Her car clicked locked behind her, the sound sharp in the quiet evening of the parking garage. She looked up at their apartment, three floors up. A warm light glowed in the window.

A smile touched her lips. He was home. He was probably expecting her to be at her late-night faculty meeting, which she'd conveniently "forgotten" to tell him was canceled.

The surprise would be perfect.

She imagined his face when she walked in, the way his eyes would light up, the easy smile that always made her stomach flutter, even after two years. Tonight was his thirtieth birthday. It was important.

Her key slid into the lock with a practiced silence. She turned the knob slowly, pushing the door open just enough to slip inside. The air in the apartment was warm, carrying a faint, familiar scent of his cologne and something else... a perfume. Floral. Sweet.

Not hers.

She kicked off her heels at the door, her bare feet sinking into the plush runner in the hallway. Absolute silence was the goal. She wanted to get the cake onto the coffee table and the gift from the bedroom before he even knew she was there.

The cake box landed softly on the dark wood of the table. Mission one, accomplished.

As she turned toward the bedroom, her gaze snagged on something by the entryway, half-tucked under the console table.

A pair of red stilettos.

They weren't hers. Alexis's heart gave a hard, painful thud against her ribs. She knew those shoes. She'd helped her pick them out.

They belonged to Natalie Beaumont, her best friend.

A cold knot formed in her stomach, but she pushed it down. It's a coincidence. Of course, it's a coincidence. Natalie probably came by to drop off a gift for Kevin, to wish him a happy birthday before they all went out this weekend. That had to be it.

She forced her feet to move, padding silently across the floor toward the bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, a sliver of light cutting across the dark hallway.

She was about to push it open, to call out a cheerful, "Surprise!"

But then she heard the voices.

Natalie's voice, low and husky, followed by a soft, throaty laugh. "So, when are you finally going to break up with her? I'm getting impatient."

The world tilted on its axis. Alexis's breath caught in her throat, a sharp, painful gasp she had to swallow down. Her hand flew to the wall to steady herself, her fingers pressing hard against the cool drywall.

Then came Kevin's voice, laced with an annoyance she knew all too well. "Soon, babe. Just wait until I get my mid-year bonus. You know I need to keep up appearances until then."