Fake Skating(70)

And I was left sitting in my room, completely in the dark as I tried to digest the enormity of what he’d just told me.





CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Alec




Where the hell is she?

I waited for her in the Rainforest Cafe, dreading our “date.”

It’d been her idea to schedule a fake date at the mall, where anyone and everyone could see us, and on paper it was a solid idea. We could get food and do something datey, all in one place, snapping a few pictures for social media before calling it good.

But that kiss was destroying my ability to think straight.

How could a fucking split-second kiss be making me so damn crazy?

Yes, it had been the result of a dare and we’d said it was all part of the act and blah blah blah, but if I was being honest, the minute her lips touched mine, I forgot who I was, where I was, and who was fake dating who.

I only knew I wanted more.

And I swear to God it seemed like she felt the same way.

Things between us almost felt too good to be an act.

Which made one thought about Dani keep creeping into my mind, dangerous but undeniable.

She’d let me down during the worst time of my life. That one motherfucking day that started with disappointment and ended with me at the police station.

“Hey, you,” I heard, and when I looked up, it felt like something was squeezing my chest.

No, it felt like someone had punched me in the chest.

She was so pretty, holy shit.

I swallowed and tried to be cool, but that little skirt showed off amazing legs, and the dark blue of her sweater seemed to amp the pink of her cheeks, and had her hair always sort of glittered when she stood underneath recessed lighting?

She gave me a nervous smile, like she wanted me to like the way she looked, and it made me feel weak.

Get it together, dumbass.

“Collins,” I said as she sat down on the chair across from me. “Can I tell you that you look hot without you punching me or getting pissed?”

“I’ll allow it,” she said with a little smirk. “And you look really, really nice, Alec. Like a grown-up version of Zeus.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Oh, someone doesn’t like changing out of his sweats,” she teased in a quiet voice, picking up the menu that was sitting on the table in front of her.

“If we were really dating,” I said, “would you actually want me to wear this when I took you out?”

What the hell is that?

I wasn’t sure why I wanted to know, but I did.

“I mean, you look good like this,” she said with a breathy giggle, like she was embarrassed. “But if we were really dating, I wouldn’t care what you wore.”

“Can I get you two some drinks?”

Dani looked at the server with an appreciative smile, like she felt rescued from… something.

Yeah, same.

We both ordered Cokes and then I asked the waitress, “Would you mind taking a picture of us?”

“Of course not,” she said, taking my phone and stepping back. I moved my chair over and put my arm around Dani, the smell of her perfume and the way I could feel her hair on the side of my neck making me a little nuts.

“Say cheese,” the server said, but I was too hypnotized by apple juice and flowers to say anything at all. Before I could grab my phone, Dani took it and got busy making a post.

She’d been the one posting photos of us to my newly-created-by-her public social media accounts.

“Okay, what do you think?” Dani asked, holding out the phone.

The picture was great. I looked like I was trying with the Ralph Lauren shirt—and my hair was on point—but Dani was stunning. We were absolutely pulling off two good kids on a date, which was what we were going for.

But the caption was what nailed it.

Dinner at the Rainforest Cafe because she likes the sound of thunderstorms, then book shopping at B&N. #perfectdate



She was fucking goodat this game of pretend.

“Wait,” I said, looking at my profile. “How do I have hundreds of followers already?”

“I followed Cassie and a couple guys from the team, so since you’re you,” she said with an eye roll that for once didn’t feel like judgment, “everyone wants to be your friend.”

“You really think I’m a douche now, don’t you?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I did at first, especially when I was ‘some chick’ you knocked over with your bag, but now I think the Zeus hype happens because you’re pretty decent at hockey and there’s not a lot you can do about it.”

“Wow, that feels like a raging compliment coming from you,” I said.

“I’m not a jerk,” she said defensively. “You’ve just changed a lot since we were kids, and it caught me off guard.”

“Trust me, so have you,” I said, wondering if she was still ticklish. I used to be able to drop her to the floor with just a touch on the back of her neck. “You came back as this quiet, shy, uptight girl, but every once in a while I see the Dani I used to know, so I literally can’t figure you out.”

“Well, that’s good, because I don’t like to be figured out,” she said teasingly, and I wished I didn’t know that her lip gloss tasted like cherries.