False Illusions (False #1) by A. Cramton

eyes. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt. “
    “Do you know something that I don’t?”
    She starts to say something but shuts her mouth and shakes her head no.
    Chelsea doesn’t bring it up again while I try on dresses. I end up going with the blush cocktail dress.
    An hour later I’m walking through the front door and frown. Marcus must be home. His gym bag is in the middle of the hallway and sneakers tossed to the side. I usually pick them up, but today I sidestep them.
    I walk into the bedroom right as he is walking out of the bathroom with a towel around his narrow hips.
    “Hey, you get a dress for next week?” he casually asks.
    I nod. “I did.”
    Marcus is a gorgeous man, I couldn’t deny that, but his personality made him ugly in my eyes. I could see why all these girls drop at his feet, he has an amazing body and from the few times we actually had sex, he wasn’t bad. He’s not better than Yoel, that’s for damn sure, but I shouldn’t be comparing.
    I go still when I feel his hand grip my waist from behind. He rarely touches me.
    “I was thinking we could hang out tonight. Order some Chinese and watch a movie.”
    I turn to face him, my face showing my confusion. “You want to hang out with me?” I ask slowly.
    He nods, “Yeah, I haven’t been home a lot and just thought we could hang out. It’s not a big deal, Madison.”
    Now I feel bad for even questioning him. I planned on spending my evening with Yoel, but I couldn’t do that with Marcus home for the night.
    I force a smile. “Of course, I’ll call it in.” I move out of his hold to hang up my dress and then walk out to the kitchen to call the restaurant.
    I quickly send Yoel a text.
    Me: Hey I can’t make it tonight. Sorry.
    Not a second later my phone pings.
    Yoel: You know I hate being alone
    Me: I’m sorry, but I can’t get away tonight.
    Yoel: I guess I understand, I’ll talk to you later.
    He guesses he understands? Is he mad? He knows I’m with Marcus. Things are getting complicated now.
    I finish ordering the food just as Marcus walks in with just a pair of joggers on. Once upon a time I used to love the sight of him bare chested, you know, back when I was blind to his cheating ways. Now I would give anything to be seeing Yoel bare chested.
    After changing into my sleep shorts and tank, I tie my hair into a messy bun and join Marcus on the couch where he has the food spread out on the coffee table. We haven’t done this since we first started dating.
    “Thanks for ordering the beef and broccoli.” He digs into the carton.
    “It’s your favorite,” I automatically reply.
    Marcus stares at me then looks at the T.V.  “Do you want to pick the movie?”
    Picking up the remote I put on Netflix and press on the first movie I see. The Gunman, it is.
    We watch the movie in silence mostly, making small talk every so often. 
    Marcus clears his throat. “So have you been planning the wedding?”
    Wedding? He barely acknowledges that we’re engaged.
    “Um, no.” Confusion laces my voice. My stomach drops just thinking about planning it.
    “Well I talked to our moms this morning,” he says and suddenly it all makes sense. Marcus never wants to hang out with me. He wanted me to get our moms off his back about the wedding.
    I fight the urge to roll my eyes at this. “Well, we haven’t actually talked about it Marcus. You’re never home.”
    “And neither are you,” he throws back.
    I don’t reply back because I’m shocked by his statement. I’m shocked he even noticed.
    “Well would you rather I stay home alone?” I say waving him off. “I’m with Chelsea most of the time. Who are you with?” I smirk.
    He narrows his eyes at me about to say something, but his phone chimes and he pulls his eyes away from me to look at the screen. Marcus types quickly then stands up.
    “Well thanks for dinner, I have to run. So-“
    “Don’t stay up late.” I roll my eyes finishing for him.
    He huffs. “Yeah, just start