People stared at us the entire time, even after we’d taken our seats.
While I had their attention, I leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Everyone thinks I’m telling you something sexual right now, but I really just needed to tell you that I don’t like cheese.”
Pulling back, I noticed her eyes had widened slightly and her jaw had dropped, giving the appearance of true shock at my words.
I gave her a wicked grin, further aiding my efforts to make people believe I’d said something naughty.
She bit her lip in what I assumed was an effort not to laugh, but it gave off a sexy vibe. I tried not to laugh myself at how everyone was interpreting our looks and perceived conversation.
She put her hand on my arm and leaned into me so she could whisper in my ear. “I don’t know if we can be friends any more if you don’t like cheese. But it does make me wonder if you’d be willing to eat cheese off my naked body.”
Whoa.
My brows flew up. I had definitely not expected her to say that. Or anything remotely like that, for that matter.
She gave me a self-satisfied smile and then glanced around the room at the watchful eyes before settling back into her seat.
Well played.
She’d had to say something shocking to get a genuine reaction out of me, and she’d definitely succeeded.
We’d done exactly what we needed so far to show we were at least hot for each other, and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought it was kind of fun. We’d given everyone a show, and all we’d had to do was talk about cheese. And her naked body.
I internally moaned. I could not be thinking about Isla naked or this whole thing was not going to go well for me.
Instead of rubbing my hand over my face in frustration like I wanted to, I placed my hand on Isla’s leg in what I hoped was a “she’s my girl” gesture. I hoped it didn’t look as forced as it felt. It’s not that I’d never put my hand on a woman’s leg before, but this was different. This was a show of togetherness, and as much as I knew we were faking, it still felt foreign to me.
Her hand reached down and joined mine, and when her fingers curled around my hand, the uneasiness faded away. She gave a gentle squeeze, which had me looking over at her. The small smile on her face was reassuring, almost as if she was telling me, “We got this.” I wasn’t sure if she knew I was in new territory or not, but her simple and silent motivation was exactly what I needed.
I squeezed her hand back, hoping she knew it was my way of saying thank you.
The rest of the class was uneventful, with us eventually letting go of each other’s hands so we could type, and then when we walked out, I followed behind her, making a show of watching her hips sway—not an act at all.
The rest of the week flew by, and Isla and I didn’t have to do too much pretending, which was nice. Classes and my football practices kept us busy enough that we really only had to pretend during our kinesiology class and the few times we ate lunch with our friends. The real test was going to be tonight after the football game. The team always went to the Wolf’s Den to either celebrate a win or forget about a loss.
This would be my first time going to the Wolf’s Den as a taken man. Usually going to the Wolf’s Den meant women clinging to me, all in hopes of one of them getting to spend the night with me. But tonight I’d have to prove I was beyond happy to have only one woman at my side. Only one woman to dance with, to flirt with, to kiss…
My brain halted at the thought of kissing Isla tonight. Images of her full pink lips filled my mind. Isla smiling, laughing, biting her bottom lip that was a little fuller than the top, pursing them when I said something inappropriate—
A hand slapped against my padded shoulder, and I looked up to see Wilder looking down at me as I sat on the bench in the locker room.
“You ready for tonight?” he asked.
In the middle of thinking about kissing Isla, I almost said I don’t know but quickly realized he had been talking about the game. “Hell, yeah.”
Tonight we were playing our rival, Providence University, and all the guys were riled up. The locker room was filled with yelling and shouting about how we were going to shut the other team down, and I was surprised I’d been able to get lost in my own thoughts earlier. Usually I was yelling right along with them, but Isla seemed to have overridden my football-focused mind.
I stood up, turning to grab my helmet. I couldn’t think about Isla anymore. I needed to get in the zone.
The roar of the crowd outside filtered through the walls as the time got closer for us to head out onto the field. Was Isla one of them, screaming and yelling our fight song?
Damn it.I was supposed tonotbe thinking about Isla.
Pushing my shoulders back, pushing thoughts of Isla from my mind, I followed Wilder out to the tunnel. The noise was almost deafening. I bounced on the balls of my feet, rolling my neck from side to side. The announcer’s voice boomed overhead, calling out the names of the starting lineup as our pictures came up on the big screen. Soon my name came through the speakers.
“Slaaaate Don-a-hue!”
The crowd went wild, and I smiled as teammates slapped my helmet.
