He Faked a Lottery to Choose Her—Until I Changed the Game Chapter 05

Grant shot off the couch.

He stared at his phone.

Celia looked over. “What’s wrong?”

“Laurel…” He stared at the screen. “She blocked me.”

“I need to go find her.”

He was already moving toward the door when Celia caught his arm.

“Grant, wait.”

“Do you think she saw your message? About me staying here? That might be why she…”

She let it hang. He got it.

Laurel knew. She’d seen that he was bringing Celia home, and she’d shut the door on him.

Celia watched his face for a moment.

“You don’t even know where she went. And if she’s this upset, showing up might just make it

worse.”

“It’s late, Grant…”

Grant paused.

She wasn’t wrong.

First the birthday. Then the proposal. Now Celia in their apartment. He’d stacked one thing on top of another, and Laurel had finally stopped answering.

He sat back down and gave Celia a thin smile. “Yeah. You’re right. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Give her a couple days,” Celia said. “Let her cool off first. Going after her right now would only

make it worse.”

“All right. I won’t go.”

“Graham and the guys want to see you while you’re here. They’re talking about dinner tomorrow night.”

Celia brightened. “Sounds good.”

“Come on. I’ll get the guest room ready.”

He got her settled and turned to leave. Her hand found his wrist.

He looked back at her.

“What is it?”

“I’m not used to this apartment. I don’t think I can fall asleep alone in the guest room. Could you

just… stay with me?”

It didn’t even occur to him how that might look.

He nodded. “Okay.”

The private room was loud with voices and clinking glasses.

They’d all grown up together, the whole group. Celia had been the missing piece ever since she

moved to Harborwick.

Graham Holden leaned back with his drink.

“So does your girlfriend know you got down on one knee for Cece? How’d that go over?”

The whole group had flown out to Harborwick for the birthday. They’d seen the proposal firsthand.

Grant and Celia had just stayed behind a few extra days.

“Dude, she already found out you rigged the draw. And now a proposal? She must be losing it.”

Grant thought about that phone call.

She’d barely said anything. Just that one question (“Are you hearing yourself right now?”) before

the call ended.

He still didn’t know if she’d been angry or just done.

No follow-up call. No angry texts. Nothing.

Was that acceptance? Or was it something worse?

“She was pretty calm about it, actually.” He drank. “Then she blocked me.”

The table went quiet.

Then they burst out laughing.

“Blocked you? Yeah, man, she’s pissed.”

“I figured she’d yell at you for a day and get over it. Blocking is a whole different level.”

When Grant didn’t answer, Celia stepped in…

“It’s probably my fault. She found out Grant brought me back to stay at his place, and…”

Graham raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, birthday trip, fake proposal, now she’s living with you? Can’t really blame the girl for connecting the dots.”

Celia’s eyes darted to Grant.

Normally, Grant would have brushed it off.

But tonight, something made him want to shut it down.

“There’s nothing going on. Seriously. If Laurel heard you say that, I’d never hear the end of it.”

Something in Celia’s face shifted. Just for a second. Then it was gone.