I wait for her to nod before rising and crossing to the door, pausing at Alissa’s side for only a moment. “She hurt her wrist. Keep an eye on it, will you?”
Alissa stares at her sister for a moment, her pink-tipped hair grazing her shoulder as she looks back at me, her expression telling me she knows exactly how it happened. “I will.”
“Thanks,” I say, and as my gaze slides back to Alexis I can see the faintest blush on her cheeks. “Good night.”
Chapter 7
Alexis
A loud rappingon the door interrupts my unbroken loop of Taylor Swift songs.
Swallowing against the fear rising in my throat, I reach for my phone to call Alissa as a witness. My fingers just graze the cold glass of the screen when I hear, “Lex, it’s me. Open up.”
I slack a sigh of relief.Blake.
When I open the door he’s leaning against the frame, his arms crossed over his toned chest, making him seem even broader. His curly brown hair is still wet from his post-game shower, the faint scent of his eucalyptus shower gel lingering in the air around him. “You weren’t at the game.”
The words are simple, an easy fact that cannot be disputed. But his tone? His tone is almosthurt,like he had actually been looking forward to having me there. But that’s silly; there’s barely a moment to chit-chat during those games, so me being there or not makes no difference.
“Very observant.”
He shoots me a look that saysdon’t test me.“Girlfriends go to their boyfriend’s games. I scored and wanted to point at you in the crowd, but you weren’t there. You should have been there.”
I shrug. “I had a ton of work to do, and the cold of the ice rink makes me flare up. Besides, Alissa was there, wasn’t she?”
Blake lets out an exasperated chuckle. “Sending your identical twin to go in your place doesn’t count. I’m not kissing your sister.”
“You’re not kissing anyone, period,” I say, my brain locking on the possibility at once, imagining the way his lips would feel on mine. The thought alone sends a shiver of longing through me, and I can feel my cheeks starting to tinge pink.
Pull yourself together, Moore.
Blake laughs. “We’re supposed to be dating. Of course there will be kissing.”
Somehow, I hadn’t thought of that. Who in their right mind believes a couple to be in love if there’s no kissing? No physical touch, no intimate gestures. When I agreed to this…farce, I did so for the money and the possibility of getting Hudson to leave me alone—which, so far, has been working. I had been so caught up in that I hadn’t considered what it meant to be convincing; the fact that I had to surrender myself, at least in some part, to Blake. That I would have to let him touch me and kiss me whenever he saw fit, and I had to do the same with him.
Fucked. I am so utterly, completely fucked.
And not even in a fun way.
“Sure, but, like, on the cheek.” I spin on my heels, diving into the kitchen to keep Blake from seeing my panic. A moment passes before I hear him follow, gently closing the front door behind us.
“Is there a reason why the mere thought of kissing me makes you break out in hives?” Blake perches on the side of a chair, staring pointedly at my hands. I look down and promptly drop them; I didn’t notice I was scratching.
“It’s not you.” I turn my back towards him, busying myself with getting us both something to drink, my breathing unsteadyas flashes of Hudson flood my mind faster and faster until all I can hear is a sharp ring.
A hand closes around mine, and the ringing stops.
I turn to find Blake standing behind me, his eyes filled with a sadness I can’t quite place. “It’s him, isn’t it?”
There’s no use in hiding it. “Yes. He was the last…I mean, I sort of haven’t…”
It’s all so stupid, I know. Blake is so vastly different from Hudson. Blake doesn’t yell, or make sudden movements. Everything he does seems well thought-out, at least when it comes to me. Hudson could never be like him if he tried. But while my mind knows this, my brain has yet to catch up.
“I’m not him,” Blake says gently, softly, as if he’s still trying to calm me down. “We won’t touch until you want us to, and you can always tell me to fuck off. But I willneverhurt you. Being with me… it shouldn’t be something to fear.”
His eyes are like a steady mountain brook, calm and blue, and I cling to the shards of peace I feel when I meet his gaze. “What should it be like, then?”
“Easy.” Blake’s fingers glide across my cheek, sliding a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “Safe. Good. You can be you, and I’ll be me. No pretending, no lies.”
