“I didn’t peg you as such a responsible big brother.”
“Yeah, well, when I gotta figure out how to pay for it… it makes me a helluva lot more responsible.”
My mouth forms an O and I start to ask why he has to pay for it but stop myself because it’s really none of my business. Nathan reads the questions on my face, though.
“My family back in Michigan is struggling a bit. My dad passed away, Mom lost her job…” He checks himself and smiles stiffly like he’s afraid he’s overshared. “Anyway, my problem.”
I try to hide the pity I feel, but I know he sees it when he adds, “It’s fine. Really. I’m not usually such a downer. Let’s get you a drink.”
My phone buzzes and I pull it from my purse to check as we walk.
Sydney: Where are you? We’re all out on the patio. Come get to know everyone! You can make out with your hot man later.
“Wait,” I say as Nathan starts to descend the stairs. “What if we could help each other?”
He cocks a brow. “What do you mean?”
10
Nathan
“No way. Now I do think you’re crazy.”
Chloe looks deflated by my resistance. Her full red lips fall into a frowny pout. This girl isn’t used to hearing no, and I can see why. She’s fucking adorable and sexy when things aren’t going her way.
“I told you, it’s fine. I’ll figure it out.”
“I just figured it out for you,” she insists. “Seriously. We pretend to keep dating for a little while longer, and I’ll pay you for your time.” That last bit has her looking unsure for the first time since she told me her idea.
“I can’t take your money when I’m trying to date you for real.”
She quirks a brow. “Date or fuck?”
Not gonna lie, my dick twitches at her use of the word.
She doesn’t wait for my response. “Look, I’ve got a lot riding on this season. I need my teammates to like and respect me or I might as well give up and head back to California now. For some reason, my dating you makes them like me more.” She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling.
“So that’s a hard no to dating for real?”
She laughs, and the sound makes my entire body feel lighter. This is how I want my girlfriend’s laugh to make me feel.
She doesn’t respond but her face tells me she’s already made up her mind.
“I get it, and I respect it. And I appreciate the offer, but I don’t need a quick hundred dollars. I need a grand, at least.”
The blank stare she gives me has me feeling uneasy about the hope spreading inside me. Fuck. Could it really be this easy? Fake date a girl I actually like—talk about a dream job.
“No,” I say again, mostly for my own benefit.
Bending down, Chloe unbuckles the delicate straps of her silver heels. They wrap around her ankles in the sexiest way but turns out her taking them off—also sexy. She steps out of them and picks both shoes up in one hand, stands, and extends them toward me.
“Not really my style.”
She rolls her eyes. “These shoes are worth over nine hundred dollars. You could probably sell them for close to that. I’ve only worn them once.”
“Nine hundred dollars? For shoes?!” I shake my head. “I’m not taking your shoes.”
“The point is I have the money.” She shrugs one shoulder. “You’re used to people using you to piss people off, I’m used to people using money for all the wrong reasons.”
“And I’m a good reason? Spare me the pity. Heath can rot in jail for unpaid tickets.” Though as I say it, my stomach twists. Fucking Heath.
“It’s not pity.”
I give her a hard look.
“Okay, not entirely.”
I start to blow by her before I do something stupid like agree to take money from her, but she steps in front of me. “Let me do this. Please? Let me do something good with my money for a change. And it isn’t like I’m getting nothing out of this. My teammates think you’re hot and awesome. Two of them have already started speaking to me just because they think I’m dating you. A few more weeks and I think I can get them to truly accept me.” She places a hand on my chest and warmth spreads through me. “Volleyball is everything to me. It’s all I’ve lived for, for as long as I can remember. It’s my last year, and I want to prove to myself and everyone else that I deserve to be here. And I need them to like me at least a little bit for that.”
“I don’t know,” I say, but I already feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders just entertaining the offer. I run a hand through my hair. “Hot and awesome, huh?”
She rolls her eyes. “Their words, not mine.” She puts her shoes back on the floor and holds on to my shoulder as she steps into them. I watch, fascinated, as she buckles five-hundred-dollar bills onto each foot. She stands when she’s done, nearly eye-level to my six-foot-three height. “So, we have a deal?”
My throat is thick, so I nod my agreement.
We head down the stairs and back to the party. Am I really doing this?
“Should we set some sort of terms?” she asks.
I shrug. “Never done this before. Not really sure. Let’s just roll with it.”
This whole thing is bizarre. I don’t say that though because this bizarre thing is saving my ass. Best not to think through the details too hard right now.
Her confidence deflates a bit when we find her teammates outside, and that makes me ready to do anything for her. Pretending to be her boyfriend is low level when I think of the things I’d probably be willing to do to win her over.
“Okay, you ready?” she asks as we stand a few feet away.
“Just one thing.”
“What?” A tiny crease forms between her eyes as if she’s deeply concentrating on some minor detail she’s forgotten in the fake boyfriend user guide.
“No sex.”
The crease disappears, and her brows raise. “Okay, no sex.”
“You agreed way too easily.”
She smiles and responds dryly, “I’m hurting on the inside.”
I chuckle, and I can sense her relax a bit.
“Alright. I’m ready.”
She hesitates. “Wait, why don’t you want to have sex with me?”
I grin and step closer. The wind blows her hair into her face, and I lightly brush my fingers across her forehead and tuck it behind her ear. Her breaths come quick and shallow as I lean in. “Because when we sleep together again, I want to know it wasn’t for any other reason than how hot and awesome I am.”
She laughs—that sweet, perfect sound.
She doesn’t move and neither do I. I want to kiss her and make her remember how good we were together, but this is her show now. I’m just expensive arm candy. Maybe I should feel shitty about the whole situation, but I’m too relieved at the moment to feel anything else. Not to mention, jacked about spending more time with Chloe.
She takes a step back and then pauses and comes forward two and presses herself flush against me. Both hands rest on my chest as her lips touch mine, hesitant and unsure. My surprise at her actions makes me slow to respond, but when I taste summer, my body is frantic for more. Deepening the kiss, my hands go to her hips and then around her back. I press her tighter against me, forgetting all about the party, her roommates, my money troubles—it’s just me and her.
“What was that about?” I ask when she pulls back, far too quickly.
We’re both out of breath, and her cheeks have dots of pink. “Thought we should get it out of the way so it isn’t awkward between us.” Her eyes dart to my lips.
My dick has serious questions about what the fuck we just got ourselves into. Awkward is the last thing I feel as I pull her toward her teammates before I break my own rule on night one.
Chloe
Nathan and I sit side by side on a lounge chair facing Sydney and Emily. Bri and two of my other teammates have also joined us, and I mentioned to Nathan that Sydney thought Shaw was cu
te and now he’s wandered over, too.
Nathan is the picture of comfort beside me. He has one hand on my thigh and continues to field questions as Sydney drills him about the basketball team and what it was like winning the NCAA tournament last year. My roommate is either overdoing it to include me and Nathan or she’s a closet hardcore basketball fan.
I, on the other hand, am a nervous wreck. Our agreement has fully sunk in and the fact I agreed to pay him to pretend to be my boyfriend is making me spiral a bit. I know it’s not the same as buying, say a place on the volleyball team or admission to a top university, but using money to solve problems still feels icky. Though, I meant what I said to him. It’s nice to give money to someone who actually needs it instead of to people who just need to buy a third vacation home.
Nathan’s big hand rests on my bare leg. He’s got these big, powerful, long fingers that really work for me.
“Anybody need another drink. Nathan?” Shaw asks and takes one step toward the house.
Nathan shakes his head.
Shaw gives him a confused look. “You’ve been milking that same beer for the last hour.”
“Keeping tabs on me?” he asks and then follows it up with, “I’m not drinking much anymore.”
Shaw laughs. “Riiight.”
“Really?” I can’t keep the surprise out of my tone. The way he drank the night we met, the tolerance, the fact he was carrying a freaking flask, I had him pegged for a total party guy.
“It’s a recent development,” he admits, looking a little embarrassed. Then, with a sexy smirk, he leans in. “One too many mornings waking up naked to some crazy girl kicking me out of her place.”
He’d said it just to me, but Shaw must have been listening because he pipes in, “Beer goggles. I so get that, my man. I’ve woken up next to some real dogs. You too, huh?”
Without taking his eyes from me, Nathan shakes his head. “Nah, my beer goggles have just as perfect vision as I do.”
“Awww,” Sydney squeals with delight. I don’t glance around but I know everyone is watching us.
I crowd his space, my chest pressed against his shoulder and my lips at his ear so to everyone else it looks like a sweet, private moment. “Laying it on a little thick, aren’t we?”
He turns his head and brushes his lips against mine. “Learn to take a compliment, Chloe. I’m the type of fake boyfriend who likes to give them.”
I let out a shaky breath once he turns back to face the group. This fake dating thing is going to be tricky.
Shaw leaves and comes back juggling seven cups of beer, which he hands out. Everyone takes one despite no one speaking up when he asked.
“How did you two meet?” Bri asks when Shaw is seated next to her.
All eyes are on me.
“Oh, it’s a boring story.” I wave them off.
“What?” Nathan mocks, offended. “Don’t be like that, sweetheart. Tell them how I won you over with a single glance.”
I do some quick thinking to plausible places we could have happened into each other before the athletic mixer. “We met at the fieldhouse.”
“And?” Sydney sits forward with wide eyes.
“And he asked me out.”
“Worst re-telling of the story ever.” Nathan’s eyes twinkle as he plays along. He squeezes my leg with that big hand that hasn’t moved from where it splays out over my left thigh. “What Chloe failed to mention is that she walked into our locker room.”
“What?” A collective gasp. My teammates are really eating this up.
“Yep,” Nathan continues. “She walked in early one morning and caught me as God intended.”
Emily stares blankly.
“Naked.”
Sydney giggles. “How did you get the locker rooms confused? They’re on two different sides of the building!”
“Yeah, how did you get them mixed up?” Nathan asks, giving me an amused smile.
“Like you said, it was early, and I was still figuring out the layout of the fieldhouse.”
“So what happened after you walked in on him?” Mallory, a junior teammate, asks.
“Well…” I start and take a drink of my fresh beer to give me a second to think. “I was mortified and ran out of there as fast as I could, of course.”
Nathan nods. “But I took one look at her and knew I had to ask her out so I threw on my gym shorts as fast as I could and took off after her.”
Their eyes dart from him to me, so totally enraptured with this ridiculous story. What the heck, I’m in this deep.
“Inside out,” I say, and the attention is back on me. “His shorts were on inside out when he came running after me.”
Nathan’s lips twitch. “Inside out,” he repeats.
We stare at each other for a long moment. He’s grinning wide and so am I. As fake dates go, I think we’re nailing this one.
The rest of the night goes by without any more questions about our relationship that require us to make up wild stories. I yawn and Sydney scolds me as she tries to stop herself from doing the same. “Stop that. It’s contagious.”
The party has died down. No one is in the pool anymore. The music is still going, but the few people who are still hanging outside are standing around talking.
“I should probably go. Sydney and I have an eight o’clock class in the morning,” I tell Nathan.
Sydney groans in protest of me leaving and surprisingly, I feel the same way. Somehow, I had fun tonight.
My teammates and I stand. Nathan and Shaw follow suit.
“I’ll walk you guys out,” Nathan offers.
Sydney stops. “You aren’t sleeping over?” she asks me.
“Oh.” I look to Nathan for help.
He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me to him. “I’ve got early morning practice. How about I come by your dorm before class and we’ll grab coffee?”
I nuzzle against him awkwardly and nod. “Sounds great.”
God, he’s good.
The walk back is uneventful and quiet. Well, except Sydney. She’s been recapping the whole night for us, but by the silence from everyone else, I think it’s safe to say we’ve all tuned her and her constant chatter out.
“And, wow, Chloe. Damn girl.” My name out of Sydney’s mouth grabs my attention. “The way Nathan looks at you.” She looks up toward the sky and holds a hand to her heart.
“How does he look at me?”
“Totally smitten. He fell hard and fast.” I stare at her in confusion, and she rolls her eyes. “He’s in love with you. Which is crazy, since you’ve only been dating for such a short time.”
“That is crazy.”
Emily nods. “Crazy but true. It’s pretty obvious.”
I look to Bri for her take, knowing she won’t bullshit me, but she stays quiet. She doesn’t dispute my fake boyfriend’s fake love though so I’m calling that a win.
11
Nathan
“We suck.” Joel sits next to me on the sidelines, watching the team do a passing drill. His words are the nice version of what I’d been thinking as Datson and a freshman we’ve not so cleverly nicknamed Fresh, somehow collide. It’s a disaster.
He looks to me when he speaks again, “We’ve gotta do something before Coach sees just how bad it is.”
It’s a captain’s practice, which means Coach Daniels and the rest of the coaching staff aren’t here. Regular season practices don’t start for another week, but Joel is right. If Coach sees this, we’ll spend the first week of real practice doing sprints until we get our shit together.
Joel stands after another bad pass goes flying out of bounds. “Come on, guys. It’s passing the damn ball. Not that fucking hard.”
He walks out on the court firing instructions. Joel is a natural leader. The guys respect him, and they listen. He’s a good captain. I haven’t provided a lot of value to this point. I’m more like the silent partner who nods in agreement so we’re a united front. I hardly feel qualified to hand out advice when I’m
one mistake from being tossed myself.
After our morning practice, I shower and head to Freddy. I call Heath on my way to campus. With the time difference, he’ll be up. And if he’s not, well, he should be.
It’s not Heath who answers though.
“Hi, Nathan.”
“Mom, hi.” I slow my walk. “Where’s Heath?”
“School started back today.”
“And he didn’t take his phone?” I thought the thing was attached to his right hand.
“We’re sharing a phone now. Having two was really a waste of money. Especially when I’m still paying for you to be on our plan.”
I don’t think she means to make me feel like a burden, but the fact that I might be somehow responsible for taking resources that they need has me feeling awful twenty seconds into the conversation.
“Nine more months and you can remove me forever,” I say with a little more frustration than intended.
“Well, don’t get all moody with me. I get enough of that from your brother.” Her voice softens. “How’s school?”
“It’s fine. Listen, Mom, I just called to check in. Will you have Heath call me when he gets home?” I’m probably a shitty son for not wanting to chat but talks with my mom never leave me feeling better.
“Sure, but I’m not expecting him until late. He’s working at the country club after school today.”
My feet turn to lead, and I pause in the middle of the sidewalk. “What about hockey?”
“He quit the team last night.”
I don’t ask why. I know he did it to try and help out financially, but if he quits then everything I’ve done to this point will have been for nothing. I shouldn’t have been so hard on him last night. He’s a kid, making kid mistakes.
“He can’t quit, Mom. He’s got a real shot at college.”
She sighs. “I know. I tried to tell him, but he said he needed to start carrying his weight. I couldn’t talk him out of it.”
The Fake: A College Sports Romance (Smart Jocks #4) Page 7
