“What?” The word trips off my tongue. “Why would you do that?”
“Why not?”
Glancing around, I lean close and lower my voice. “I thought we only agreed to fake it until the dance?”
“Right.” He takes my hand again.
My brows pinch and I try to ignore how nice it feels. He’s acting like my fake boyfriend. He wouldn’t hold my hand otherwise.
“So…? That’s more than two weeks. And besides, being in your world of jocks and partying is one thing, but pretending in mine is?—”
“Don’t talk to me about your divide theory again.” He dips his head, lifting his brows.
It makes his chiseled jaw look more defined and my insides tangle into a hot, pleasant knot. I can’t help but like it when he goes from charming to commanding.
“There’s no divide. Have people been assholes today?” He sweeps an arm out. “At the party?”
He has a point. The girls seated next to me at the hockey game included me in their excitement without a second thought and absorbed me into their group as if I always belonged. Then at the party, his teammates weren’t all that bad. Other than my brother getting in my face, I didn’t feel entirely out of place. Only overwhelmed because of my own anxious hangups.
No one singled me out for being a nerd.
Licking my lips, I shake my head. “I don’t…”
He smiles again and caresses my hand. “You’re going to your own party, aren’t you? You’re working hard all on your own to put it together. You’re the one who should enjoy it the most.”
“I mean, I have to be there to make sure it runs smoothly. I—I have a dress, but?—”
He leans in, eyes bouncing between mine. “Go with me. I want to take you.”
Eyes wide, I stammer, “O-okay.”
“Good.”
My heart does a dizzying twirl in my chest at his devastating grin. He lifts my hand and kisses it with a gentle brush of his lips.
When I agreed to his crazy plan to pretend we’re together, I mostly wanted him to leave me alone so I could plan my benefit in peace. I didn’t think I’d get to know him, that he could make my stomach fill with butterflies and my heart race.
I never expected to feel comfortable around a hockey player as popular as Alex Keller.
Yet here I am, falling into the same trap as every other girl on campus over my brother’s best friend. I need to be careful, or I’ll end up hurt by this precarious game we’re playing.
NINE
LAINEY
With only a shortamount of time left to prep before the Ballgowns for Books benefit next weekend, it’s crunch time. I’m getting excited to see all of my planning come together, but also nervous that there’s only a little over a week left to get it done.
Before I was worried no one would come, but after tickets sold out two days ago with Alex’s help, now I face the pressure of making an incredible night to remember.
I have my notes for the dance open on my stock cart while I add more books to the display for the new romance release.
The one Alex has been buddy reading with me. My face flushes.
Technically I’ve already finished. I stayed up through the night when I first got it and read it cover to cover. I’ve read two more books since then. He insists that he’ll be done by this weekend even though I told him he didn’t have to.
I still can’t believe he’s reading it. The thought of his reactions to the spicy parts keep me up at night, leaving me hot and bothered when I think—fantasize—of him doing any of the sexy things the hero in the book does.
No one has to know that I’ve imagined his thumb tracing my lips before swooping down for a knee-weakening kiss, orhis big hands dipping beneath my skirt to explore my body, or whispering praise in my ear that would leave me swooning.
