Chapter Nine

Riley’s Pov

Who would have guessed the cold genius could actually be a good actor?

Because honestly, this dinner was going far better than I’d expected. I had fully prepared myself for disaster. I mean, come on. Cole was practically a stranger who treated conversation like an optional feature in life, and my mother was impossibly picky. In my head, a complete train wreck had been the closest thing to success.

“You look like a promising young man,” Mom began, folding her napkin neatly onto her lap, “but I must ask… if you’re a computer engineering student, how exactly did your paths cross?”

“We met at the library.”

“Theatre.”

Cole and I answered at the exact same time. Mom’s eyes narrowed slightly as her gaze shifted between us.

“I first saw Riley at the theatre,” Cole explained smoothly. “My twin is her co-star, so I sometimes have reasons to be around there. But we officially met in the library.”

What a clean save. Mom nodded slowly, though she still looked unconvinced.

“And when was this?” she asked.

For one painfully long beat, neither of us spoke.

“Two weeks ago.”

“A month back.”

We both turned toward each other immediately. Mom let out a soft chuckle that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“So you don’t know when you met or what?”

“Mrs. Brooks,” Cole said calmly, entirely unfazed, “we gave different answers, but technically, they’re both correct.”

Mom arched a brow.

“What do you mean?”

“Like I said, I saw Riley before we officially met. It’s been about a month since she first entered my line of sight.” His voice remained steady. Controlled. “A month since I started noticing her.”

My stomach tightened.

“And about two weeks since we actually spoke in the library.”

“You must really like her then,” Mom said quietly.

“Yes,” Cole answered without hesitation. “I really do.”

My eyes snapped toward him. There was something terrifying about how believable he sounded. No awkward pauses. No forced emotion. Just quiet certainty.

For one dangerous second, It didn’t feel like pretend.

“Was that why you kissed her in public?”

I nearly choked on my drink.

“Mom!”

Cole looked mildly caught off guard for half a second before recovering almost instantly.

“What?” Mom asked innocently.

“Do we seriously have to discuss this right now?”

“I don’t see why we can’t.”

“Mom, please…”

“It’s alright,” Cole interrupted smoothly. “Your mother is right. It shouldn’t have happened.”

I stared at him.

“But,” he continued, “I got a little carried away when she finally agreed to date me.”

If I didn’t know better, I would genuinely believe this man had secretly attended acting school. He looked completely composed. Mom stayed silent for a while after that. Then slowly, she reached for her bag and stood. Cole and I stood immediately too. She looked at me first.

“I still believe,” she began carefully, “that no matter how excited people are, not everything needs an audience.” Her voice softened slightly.

“Attention is not the same thing as love.” A knot tightened painfully in my chest.

“If something becomes public,” she continued, “the fallout becomes public too. And heartbreak feels heavier when strangers are watching.” Her eyes held mine meaningfully.

“You know that better than most.” My throat burned instantly.

Because I did know. I knew from watching my father humiliate my mother publicly before their marriage collapsed. I knew from the whispers that followed our family afterward. I knew from Matty.

And suddenly, for the first time in years, I realized maybe my mother’s fear had never actually been about control. Maybe it had always been about survival. Then she turned toward Cole.

“But despite my opinions,” she said politely, “it was still a pleasure meeting you.”

“The pleasure was mine, Mrs. Brooks,” Cole replied immediately. “You raised an incredible daughter.”

My head whipped toward him. Mom’s expression softened just slightly before she nodded.

“I believe we’ll meet again.”

And then she left. I walked her outside to where her car waited by the curb. The night air felt cooler now, carrying the distant scent of rain and car smoke. Mom pulled me into a brief hug before slipping into the backseat while her driver hurried around to close the door.

I stood there for a while after the car disappeared. Breathing. Recovering. The dinner was over. And somehow, it felt like the beginning of something much worse. Or maybe something much bigger. After another deep breath, I headed back inside the restaurant. Only to freeze.

Tyler was now sitting across from Cole with the widest grin I’d ever seen plastered across his face, while Cole calmly worked on his laptop like this entire situation was a business meeting.

“When did you get here?” I asked, laughing slightly as I approached.

“Brooks!” Tyler greeted overly gleeful. “Cole invited me.”

I blinked.

“Really?” Cole barely glanced up.

“We need a witness for the contract.”

Of course he said it like that. I rolled my eyes while Tyler looked seconds away from bursting into laughter again.

“But you got here really fast.”

“Well…” Tyler leaned back smugly. “That’s because I was already here.”

I stared at him.

“You were spying on us?”

“Watching over my baby brother’s first date,” he corrected proudly. “Huge difference.”

“This was not a date,” Cole deadpanned immediately. “It’s a contractual arrangement. And stop calling me your baby brother. You’re older by one hour.”

Tyler gasped, placing his hand over his chest, like he had been shot. “Still older, kiddo.”

Cole groaned while Tyler laughed harder.

But for the briefest second, I caught the faintest smirk pulling at Cole’s mouth. Tiny. Almost invisible, but there. Finally, Cole reached into his bag and slid the contract toward Tyler.

Tyler read through it before immediately losing it at the “Mason” section.

“You actually made him answer to Mason?” he wheezed.

“I panicked,” I defended.

Tyler wiped at his eyes after another round of laughter.

“I still can’t believe you answered to Mason with a straight face.”

“I had no choice,” Cole muttered flatly.

“That was actually impressive,” I admitted before I could stop myself.

Both twins looked at me. I shrugged quickly. “Your acting. The whole ‘I’ve been noticing her for a month’ speech? That was terrifyingly believable.”

Tyler slapped the table once.

“THANK YOU!” he exclaimed. “I was literally sitting there wondering why the two of you sounded like a badly rehearsed rom-com couple trying to explain your meet-cute.”

Cole sighed heavily.

“It was efficient improvisation.”

“No,” Tyler corrected immediately. “Efficient improvisation would’ve been agreeing on ONE timeline before her mother interrogated you both.”

I burst into laughter before I could help it. Even Cole looked mildly offended.

“We recovered,” he defended.

“You absolutely did not,” Tyler said. “Mrs. Brooks looked two seconds away from calling security.”

“She did not,” I argued still chuckling.

“She absolutely did,” Tyler insisted. “But then genius over here suddenly turned into Mr. Emotional Monologue.”

My stomach flipped slightly at the memory.

“A month since Riley entered my line of sight,” Tyler repeated dramatically, placing a hand over his chest. “Cole Donovan, everybody.”

Cole looked deeply exhausted.

“That line worked,” he said simply.

“It really did,” Tyler admitted.

And annoyingly enough… it really had.

After Cole and I signed, Tyler signed as witness. Cole scanned the document, sent me a copy, and gave the original to Tyler. And just like that, the contract was official.

By the time I got home later that night, the video was already online. My phone practically exploded. Notifications flooded endlessly across my screen. Comments. Tags. Edits. Theories.

“How did nobody notice this before?”

“They’ve definitely been together for months.”

“WAIT THAT’S WHY SHE KISSED HIM?”

People were acting like they’d uncovered some hidden love story buried beneath campus drama. Then more posts started surfacing. Photos. So many photos.

One from the day I’d first run up to Cole with my ridiculous proposal. One from the café. One from the football team hallway incident, the moment I’d crashed into him after running out of Noah Bennett’s meeting.

There had been absolutely nothing romantic about that moment. But from the angle the picture was taken? It looked devastatingly intimate. Like I’d looked up at him and forgotten how to breathe. Which, embarrassingly enough, wasn’t entirely inaccurate.

There was even one from the library. And another from the gaming café. What were these people? Investigators? Spies?

Then came the post from tonight. A picture of Cole, my mother, and me sitting inside the restaurant.

Captioned:

“They must be serious if Cole Donovan already met her mother. Riley Brooks is literally the daughter of the CEO behind the biggest hotel franchise in the country. This relationship is HUGE.”

I stared at the screen in horror. Were people actually digging into my life now? The comments were even worse. Couple edits. Heart emojis. Marriage jokes. Conspiracy theories.

I shut my phone off immediately and tossed it onto my bed. Silence finally filled the room. And for the first time since signing that contract, the reality of it truly hit me.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?