I’m pathetic.
“But why me?” I ask.
His brow furrows, but he doesn’t answer.
“Of all the girls in the game, I make the least amount of sense to pick for this. Why wouldn’t you pick someone who’s gorgeous and popular?”
Tristan averts his gaze from mine as he scratches the back of his head. “You don’t think you’re gorgeous?”
I snort. “Don’t patronize me. You know what I mean.”
He sighs heavily, but he doesn’t meet my eyes. “Harper never liked…when you and I used to talk… You know, back in high school. She didn’t like it. She’ll be extra jealous if she thinks I’m falling for you.”
His words hit me in the chest. What the fuck is he talking about? Harper never gave me any indication that she didn’t like me talking to Tristan. She encouraged it when they first got together.
Until one day, she didn’t. Shortly after I started getting to know Tristan, she cut me out of her life entirely.
No, that’s not really true. She didn’t fully reject me. She never straight up said she didn’t want to hang out with me anymore.
But she distanced herself from me, and I got the message. Our friendship transformed into what felt like a shallow acquaintance, and the difference between that and what we had before was stark. She was once my comfort, my warmth, and for the rest of high school, I felt like I was watching her through a foggy window.
“So what do you want me to do?” I try my best to sound bored.
Those blue eyes grow bright. “First, we need to be seen together more often. Studying, eating, hanging out. Everything. We’ll become inseparable. We need to make it seem like what we feel for each other has nothing to do with the competition.”
“A win-win for me. You know how much I love your company.”
He narrows his eyes, but he doesn’t call me out on my sarcasm. “This is only the first stage. As the competition moves on, we’ll start touching each other casually. You know, like holding hands, brushing up against each other, that kind of thing. Nothing too obvious, but enough to catch her eye.”
A pleasant thrill runs down my spine. I shouldn’t be excited about Tristan touching me. I didn’t think I was this shallow, but I guess I’m just like every other horny person in the world. He may be a total fucking bore, but he’s utterly gorgeous.
He smirks. “Lastly, we’ll make her think we’re fucking.”
My mouth drops open. “What?”
“Relax, Amelia.” He draws out my name as if caressing it with his mouth. “We don’t have to actually do anything. You just have to stay in my room for a night. That’ll be enough. Harper will hear about it from one of the guys.”
“Right. Okay.” I take a shaky breath, trying to steady myself. “I can do this.”
He smiles at me, but it doesn’t look like one of his normal smiles. This one is warmer. If I didn’t know any better, I’d describe it as tender.
“Trust me,” he says, his voice gentle. “We’ll pull this off, and you’ll win that ten grand.”
“Alright,” I say, swallowing my reservations. “Let’s make Harper jealous.”
And I’m going to make Tristan want me.
Maybe he’ll win Harper in the end, but I don’t give a fuck. I don’t care about either of them anymore. I’ll show them both that they can never break me, no matter how hard they try.
CHAPTER 5
Amy
What was Mr. Darcy about to do?
Shit.
I haven’t been able to concentrate a bit on the latest chapter of my fanfic. My mind keeps drifting back to the deal I made with Tristan last night.
