“I just—” Blake looks away for a moment, the conflict showing on his face. “I don’t want anything I do to cause you panic or fear because it makes you think of…him.”
Is that why he refused to kiss me last night? I can see the logic. Of course I do. And I can’t sit here and pretend such a thing hasn’t happened before; it’s what stopped me from dating in the first place. But I never told him that.
I take Blake’s hand, lacing our fingers together as one. His eyes dart up to meet mine and for a second my breath catches.
“You’re not him,” I say, not just for him but for me. “I promise I will tell you if something like that happens, but you can’t let the fear of it dictate your actions. And I can’t, either. It won’t always be smooth sailing, but…but we need to make this look real, no matter the cost.”
“Are you sure about this?” Blake asks, and the tenderness in his voice is so unlike anything I’m used to that my heart flutters at the sound. “It’s not too late. We can forget the whole thing right here and now.”
I shake my head. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m not taking your money. Maybe I need to look at this as something of a trial run, a fakerelationship to prepare me for the real thing, you know? Get me ready to date again. And since you’re doing that for me, I want you to know that as long as you keep it way down on the down low, you’re welcome to sleep with whoever you wish.”
Blake holds my gaze with a scoff. “I haven’t cheated once in my life, and I’m not about to start now.”
“It’s not cheating.” I laugh. “You’re only mine during the day. Who you spend your nights with is none of my business.”
“No.”
I raise a brow. “No?”
“No,” Blake says again, even more firmly this time. “You said it yourself, we need to sell this relationship to win. And if you’re looking at what we’re doing as a trial run, then I’m going to give you the full experience. So no, I won’t be sleeping with anyone. And some nights, the two of us will have sleepovers so my teammates don’t get suspicious. You take the bed, I’ll take the floor.”
A muscle tenses in his jaw, those bright blue eyes dark and flighty as they hold mine. There is no convincing him of his plan, that much is clear. “You have thought a lot about this.”
“You have no idea.” He wipes a hand over his face, his eyes pressed closed for a moment before they fall back on me.
There is something in the look on his face that makes my heart flutter, and I bite my lip before I can do something stupid like trying to kiss him again. “Look, you obviously know what you’re doing, and I don’t. Like, at all. So you take the lead, and I’ll follow. And if you cross a line, I’ll kick you in the nuts, and that will be that.”
Blake’s expression softens as he looks at me, his hand still in mine, his thumb tracing slow circles on my skin. “Sounds like a fair deal. Let’s fall in love, Sunshine.”
When we stepinto the house, a few buttons on Blake’s shirt are undone and my hair is slightly disheveled.
I wish it happened naturally, but alas. It was a last-minute idea Blake had to kick-start the rumor mill, and judging by the looks of the drunk kids outside, it’s already working.
“I’m going to put my arm around your waist,” Blake whispers in my ear, and his fingers gently stroke along the width of my back before settling on my hip. In one fast movement he pulls me flush against him, my palm landing on the hard planes of his chest as I try to keep my balance.
Even without looking I know all eyes are on us. The quiet, rarely-seen sister of the captain of the hockey team, getting touchy and dirty with one of the hottest athletes on campus? Yeah, I would not believe it either.
“You okay?” Blake asks under his breath, and as my heart leaps from my chest I raise myself onto my toes and press a kiss to his jaw.
Blake stills beneath my lips and for a moment I think I’ve done something wrong, but as I pull away I find him smiling almost shyly, a hint of color on his cheeks.
“You are just full of surprises, aren’t you?” he muses, and as a stray beam of light from a mirrorball catches his face I notice the bright purple lipstick staining his jaw.
“I think I left a mark,” I laugh. “Here, let me…”
I move my fingers to wipe off the lipstick but his hand closes over mine before I get the chance.
“Leave it,” Blake says. “Let them know I’m yours.”
And I want to ignore it, pretend they didn’t. But the words make my heart flutter just the same.
Miller’s party is held in the football team’s joint housing, an old Victorian building with a wraparound porch and turret. In its prime it must have been a gorgeous statement of opulence, but after a decade of housing rowdy college boys it is a far cry from beautiful. Most of the wallpaper has been scratched off, there is a mirrorball in the grand foyer and the hardwood floors are in desperate need of varnishing. I shudder at the thought of what the rest of the house must be like.
Though this isn’t an official part of the Cute Couples contest, a small crew armed with cameras and microphones has assembled to capture the scene. Blake was right, then, when he said not going would kill our ranking before the contest started. Whatever misconceptions I had about tonight, about easing into the ruse, I have to leave at the door. Because the presence of cameras means the game is on. It’s all or nothing from here on out.
I try not to dwell on it too much as Blake leads me through every room, shielding me from spilled drinks and clumsy guys built like skyscrapers. And while many jealous gazes are shot my way, I let them bounce right off me.
Though I stick to the shadows, Blake puts me right in the spotlight. From a silly dance in the living room to a friendly game of beer pong where he twirls me around with each shot, Blake knows exactly how to draw attention our way and keep it there.
