She raised her perfectly arched brow at me.“And the other?”
“Fuckable.”I smirked.
She rolled her eyes.“Gross, Jaxon.”
God, the way she says my name…
“That isn't exactly the tailored response from a girlfriend to her boyfriend, now, is it?”I drawled.
“It is when myboyfriendis being crude,” she responded with a sarcastic smile.She crossed her arms, pushing her chest up just slightly.My eyes dipped for a second too long—what can I say?I'm only a man—before I pulled them back to her face.
My smirk widened.“Crude?That's the best you've got?”
She glared.
I chuckled.“It's good that you're here, though.We get a chance to fake it in public.”
“What?No.”
“If we can convince my friends that we're together, then we can convince anyone.Ah, ah, no objections—think of it as a pre-date.”
She looked visibly sick at the idea.“Apre-date?That's not necessary.”
“It is if you want to make this work.”I brushed my knuckles along the bar beside her hip—not touching her, but close enough she felt it.“They're my friends, plus it's a group setting, so no pressure or anything.”
“I told you already, we don't need to do anything outside of the scheduled events.”She broke eye contact as she mumbled, “The less I'm around you, the better.”
“You’re warming my heart with these love proclamations, trouble,” I deadpanned.“Reallyselling this relationship.”
She glowered.“A practice session isn’t necessary.”
“Honeypie, you can barely be in the same space as me.”I didn't wait for her to protest again.“Savannah, it's one night.And you need to be comfortable with me.That's what's going to sell this I'm-happy-and-I've-moved-on image to your ex.That's what revenge looks like.If he doesn't believe any of this, then we may as well call it quits now.”
The mention of her ex had her shoulders sagging for a second before she squared them together.Her eyes hardened, and I knew she'd put her walls back up.
“We do this tonight, then these other parties will be a breeze.Trust me, the guys aren't that bad, and you seem to already be best friends with Nerissa.”
She hesitated like she was physically fighting herself.I could see the gears turning behind her eyes—logic fighting emotion, anger fighting fear, stubbornness fighting… whatever this thing was between us.
Finally, she sighed.“Fine.”
A slow smile tugged at my mouth, and I slid a hand to her waist and pulled her gently against my chest.She tensed—of course she did—but she didn’t pull away.
Good girl.
“Relax,” I murmured, thumb resting at the soft curve of her hip.“Practice, remember?”
She swallowed.
I guided her through the crowd toward our table, my hand firm at her waist.The bar lights painted her skin in red and blue, as if the night itself was daring her to get burned.
“You can't compare that!”I heard Ari exclaim the closer we got to the table.“You’ve been there longer than I have.”
Nerissa threw her head back and laughed.“All I'm hearing is excuses, baby.If you need lessons, say that.”
Ari was about to snap back, but the second we showed up, they toned it down.Curious gazes fell on Savannah, their eyes darting from her to me and the nonexistent space between us.
I pulled out the seat beside mine and gestured for Savannah to sit.She froze for half a beat, then sat.I dropped my arm casually across the back of her chair, letting my fingers graze her shoulder.
