Peter by Ruth Colby

Peter:
I am not ready to settle down; I haven’t finished sowing my wild oats. My father thinks that it is time that I get married, be serious about life. I am not ready for that. I want to go to night clubs and date different women, bungee jump and white-water raft, have fun with my boys.
When my father threatens to cut me out of his will, I cook up an elaborate scheme to fake marry my best friend and childhood neighbor, Kayla
Everything goes to plan until the final piece of my heart that I have been holding back slides into place. I realize that I don’t want this marriage to be fake; I want to marry her for real. I want her to know that when I say my vows tomorrow, that I mean for us to last forever. I realize that I have fallen completely in love with my fake fiancée.

Kayla:
My phone beeps, and I want to kiss whoever it is. Having dinner with my mother can be excruciating. I know that she loves me, but the constant lecturing on how I need to settle down and make her some grandbabies gets tiring. It is an old refrain and one she seems to have ramped up in the past year.
So, when my childhood neighbor asks me to fake marry him to get both our parents off our backs and to save his inheritance, I jump at the chance to help out.
But the more I think about this wedding, the more I want it to be real. We have known each other most of our lives, and I know that what I feel isn’t just lust; it is real. I am in love with Peter Booth.