Smiling awkwardly, I take a seat at the fifth chair they’ve pulled up to the end of the table.
“You need a drink?” the girl to my right asks and I nod. “I was just about to get a refill. Come on.” The bartender is busy, so we take a seat on the stools to wait. “I’m Blair,” she reintroduces herself. Long brown hair falls over her shoulders and brown eyes nearly the same shade take me in with a friendly glint.
“Wes’ girlfriend, right?”
Her smile could light up the neon signs hung all around. “That’s right. How long have you been dating Nathan? I haven’t seen him much since Wes moved out.”
“Not long.” I can’t bear to tell any more lies so I decide I’m going to keep it as vague as possible tonight.
Blair fills me in on much of the same details Gabby did when I first met her about the dynamic between the group as the bartender gets our drinks. When we return to the table, Vanessa leans forward, her elbows resting on the hard wood, and her shoulder-length brown hair falling into her face. “I need some serious details on what Nathan is like as a boyfriend. I pictured him all caveman, not letting his woman out of his sight, but here you are with no obvious ball and chain.”
The other girls are nodding and grinning.
“He’s…” I search for adjectives. “Sweet.”
Vanessa purses full lips that are coated in a bold purple shade and her big eyes narrow skeptically. Her facial expression says far more than her words. Or word, in this case. “Sweet?”
Nodding, I take a sip of my drink.
Gabby saves me, her blonde hair falling forward. “You should see how he looks at her. It’s swoon city.”
“Have you guys said I love you yet?” Blair asks at the same time Gabby asks, “Does he have a cute nickname for you? I love those.”
And Vanessa. “Is he good in bed?”
Gabby covers her ears. “No, I can’t hear about Nathan’s penis.” She looks at me. “Nathan is gorgeous, and I love him, but these three have already traumatized me enough with vivid details about their boyfriends’ penises. I hope his dick is long, thick, and beautiful, but it’s hard to unlearn those sorts of details.”
We all laugh at the same time, which saves me from answering. Instead, I say, “It’s still new, but I like him a lot.”
That much at least is totally true.
18
Nathan
I’m on the couch playing video games when my phone starts blowing up with texts.
Gabs: I LOVE Chloe. Good work.
Joel: Finishing up with a late workout. Wanna crash girls’ night?
Frank: Need to talk to you. Give me a call.
Heath:
I open the meme Heath has sent and chuckle. It’s our main form of communication, sending them back and forth every day when we don’t have anything else to talk about. I respond with one of my own, and I’m getting ready to text Joel back about going out when the phone rings in my hand. Frank.
“What’s up?” I answer. “I was just about to hit you back.”
“Got something for you.”
“Told you I was done, man.”
“Yeah, I know, and I get it, but this is a one-time run. Five hundred, free and clear.”
I hate the way him dangling cash in front of me makes me so eager and excited. Money may very well be the root of all evil, but being without it fucking sucks.
Thanks to Joel and Wes dropping their used books from last semester in my room—neither would admit it, but it isn’t like I don’t know their class schedule—I was able to pay Frank back, but since I stopped dealing, there isn’t any new cash coming in. Everything Chloe gave me went straight to my mom, save a couple hundred to live on until I find a new income stream.
“No can do. Gonna have to get someone else.”
“This drop requires a certain finesse. I want someone I can trust.”
Finesse equals sketchy as fuck. “No way, man.”
He’s quiet for a beat. “A grand.”
Chloe
When the guys show up, I’m buzzed.
“Where’s Nathan?” Gabby asks them, saving me from having to admit I don’t know where he is. We had class together today, but I haven’t seen or talked to him since.
“Said he’d meet us here.” Joel’s dark hair frames a face that’s almost too handsome to be real. He slides in next to Katrina and pulls her close.
Blair introduces me to Wes, and Vanessa introduces me to Mario. I watch in adoration as the couples get lost in one another. I wonder if Nathan and I look that convincing. Gabby seems to believe we’re legit, anyway.
“Zeke’s in Phoenix?” I ask Gabby, pulling that bit of information from what she told me when we met.
She nods. “I should Facetime him once we’re all here. Speaking of, there’s your guy now.”
Nathan’s already spotted us and walks through the bar to our table with an easy smile, but his eyes are a stormy blue. He’s trying hard not to show his agitation, but I see it. He’s probably not all that pumped about having to spend an extra night with his fake girlfriend.
Since the kiss and our talk on Saturday, we’ve both been treading a little more carefully around each other. Our touches and interactions feel more intentional and less intimate.
He’s a loyal friend, even a loyal fake boyfriend, and I doubt he likes lying to his friends any more than I do. It doesn’t stop me from being excited to see him.
He grabs a chair from a vacant table and pulls it up between me and Wes.
“What’s up?” He and Wes give each other a nod before Nathan turns to me. “Hey, babe.”
“Hey, babe.” As soon as I use the endearment, I laugh. He leans in to cover my amusement at the pet name. He’s so not a babe. “Promise never to use that one again,” I say. “Too weird.”
“You can call me whatever you want.” He winks as he extends an arm around the back of my chair.
“I’m gonna grab a pitcher,” Wes says to Nathan. “Need a glass?”
“Not drinking tonight.” Nathan rubs his thumb along my shoulder.
I don’t miss the raised eyebrow Wes shoots in Nathan’s direction.
“I’ll help you.” Joel stands and goes with Wes to the bar.
“Nathan Payne, I’m so mad at you,” Gabby yells across the table, smiling.
“Uh-oh, what’d I do this time?” His tone is down despite the playful way I know Gabby meant the jab.
“You’ve been keeping Chloe all to yourself. We love her.”
I fidget nervously at her kind words. Nathan plays the doting boyfriend well, looking down at me with a smile on his lips, his eyes still troubled.
I glance at my cell, eyeing the time.
“You have early class tomorrow?” he asks quietly.
“No, early morning workout.”
“You ready to go?”
I nod, partly because of the guilt I feel for sliding into their group under false pretenses and in part, I want to give him an easy out. “Yeah, I should get to bed early tonight.”
“Gotta cut and run, guys,” Nathan announces. “Need some time with my girl.” He drops a kiss to my temple.
“What? You just got here!” Gabby protests.
Joel and Wes come back with the pitcher and cups.
“Catch you guys in the morning,” Nathan says without meeting anyone’s gaze.
We stand, and I give Gabby a genuine smile. “Thank you for inviting me out. I had a really good time.”
“Of course. Consider yourself invited for every future girls’ night. I’ll text you.”
When we get outside, Nathan asks, “Need a ride?”
I glance at my car but know I’ve had too many to get behind the wheel. “Yeah. I was going to call an Uber though if you want to stay.”
He shakes his head. “Nah, I don’t really wanna be here.”
He leads me to his car and opens the passenger door for me. I give him a rueful smile at the unnecessary gesture until he adds, “Handle st
icks.”
He closes me in and rounds the car to hop in the driver’s seat.
“This isn’t what I pictured you driving,” I tell him, glancing around the car and noting the hot pink flower-shaped air freshener hanging from the rear-view mirror. I tap the flower and I catch a whiff of the fruity smell—strawberries, I think.
“Are you suggesting a handsome, rugged guy like myself can’t also enjoy a pale red hue?”
“Pale red?” My lips turn up at his description. “That is Barbie-vomit pink.”
“Don’t play Barbie like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you didn’t have the dream house, the convertible, and the portable closet.”
“Did you?” I ask, amused at his knowledge of Barbie accessories.
“Nah, this was Gabby’s car. She wrecked mine last semester and then Zeke bought her a new one, soooo she gave me this.”
“Wow.”
He nods, and we fall silent for the rest of the ride.
“Do you want to come in?” I ask when he pulls into the parking lot behind Freddy.
He searches my face before responding, “I don’t think so.”
I’m slow to move, delaying leaving him. Despite not wanting to get too involved, I really enjoy being with him. “I’m sorry if it was weird to have me hanging with your friends. Gabby is…”
He smiles. “I know. Gabby is unrelenting. She wouldn’t have taken no for an answer. And it’s fine. More than fine. I’m glad you’re getting to know them.”
I open the door. “See you tomorrow?”
“Busy day tomorrow, but definitely Wednesday in class.”
Another car pulls up behind us, forcing me out. “See you then.”
19
Chloe
The weeks pass in a blur of school and practices.
“We’re going to The Hideout for dinner if you want to come,” Emily says as we’re leaving the locker room on Friday night.
“I gotta pass. I need to pack. Heading to California early tomorrow for the long weekend.”
“Oh,” she says. “That sounds fun. Well, maybe next time.”
“Definitely,” I add, hoping there’s an offer next time.
I head back to the dorm, not stopping to shower first. Nathan and Shaw are exiting Freddy as I walk up.
“What are you doing here?” I ask. With the exception of class, which he mostly sleeps through these days, we haven’t hung out much. Once or twice to work on the project, but that’s been it. I’ve been legitimately busy enough that even the roommates haven’t questioned his absence.
“Shaw needed to get the last of his stuff from the dorm.” Nathan’s got a small box tucked under one arm.
I glance at Shaw, who is holding a much larger box labeled Porn.
“Nice.”
“Wouldn’t want to make it awkward.” He smirks.
“What are you doing?” Nathan asks me. He glances at Shaw before adding, “Want to come over?”
“Actually, I need to pack.”
He tilts his head and stares at me with confusion.
“I’m heading to California for the weekend.”
“You are?”
Shaw laughs. “Do you two ever talk or just bang?” He shrugs his shoulders which lifts the box. “No judgment. My kind of relationship.”
I might need to let Sydney in on that tidbit. She hasn’t said a lot, but any time I mention Shaw, The White House, or the basketball team, she gets hearts in her eyes.
“Yeah, sorry, I was going to tell you. It’s Camila’s birthday. We made the plans a while back.” Is it weird that I feel guilty for not actually telling him?
“You’re gonna miss a hell of a party tomorrow night,” Shaw says. “We’ve got the entire weekend basketball free, and I am making the most of it.”
“You don’t have practice this weekend?” I ask, acknowledging that Shaw is right, and it looks like we never talk… because we’re in a fake relationship. I bet Shaw would find that hilarious.
Nathan shakes his head. “Last free weekend for a while.”
“So, go with her,” Shaw states like that’s the logical conclusion to our situation.
Nathan is shaking his head again before I can respond. “It’s a little early to be meeting the family. It’s cool.”
“Actually, I’m not staying with my parents.” I mull over the idea of Nathan coming with me and I have to say I don’t hate it. In fact, I’ve missed spending time with him. “Come. It’ll be fun. I can introduce you to my friends, and we can hang on the beach.”
Shaw shifts the box. “Good, it’s settled. Now, can we get these boxes to the car? Mine isn’t light.”
“Call ya later,” Nathan calls over his shoulder.
Inside, I shower, field texts from Camila about the weekend, and then start to pack. Nathan texts as I’m trying to zip up my overflowing suitcase.
Nathan: Have a good weekend. Don’t worry, I’ll tell the guys I stayed so you could have time with your friends.
Disappointment creeps in making me realize just how much I liked the idea of him coming along. I’ve missed spending time with him outside of class and our project.
Me: Offer stands to come with. Could be fun.
He doesn’t respond right away, and I decide to further plead my case.
Me: Ocean is great this time of year. There’s lots of cheesy, touristy stuff or we can just hang at the beach, surf, whatever. My friends are dying to meet you.
I don’t know why I add the last part, but I know once I tell Camila, the statement will be true.
I drop my phone on my bed and scroll through videos on my laptop to kill the time. The longer it takes him to respond, the more I’m convinced he’s wording a very nice letdown text. When my phone pings, I brace myself for the disappointment.
Nathan: Alright. I’m in. Let’s do this.
“What year is this?” Nathan asks from the passenger seat of my car. We’ve been driving for a little over an hour and already blown through small talk on the weather and school.
“Uhhh…”
He lifts a brow. “You don’t even know, do you?”
“It’s new. This year or last, I think.” I shrug. “I got it for my twenty-first.”
“When’s your birthday?” he asks, side-stepping the conversation. That’s the thing about Nathan, he never makes me feel weird about having nice things or money even though I know he probably thinks it’s over the top.
“December twentieth. Yours?”
“December first.”
“Fellow Sagittarius.” I glance over. The freeway is quiet this early, something I love about Arizona. Traffic in Southern California never seems to let up. “Tell me about your twenty-first.”
He gives me a look that says it’s too early for storytime.
“We’ve got five more hours to kill. Entertain me. What did you do? Did you do the obligatory twenty-one shots?”
“It was actually quite the night, from what I hear.”
“Ominous.”
“We went to The Hideout. I didn’t do twenty-one shots, but I did a lot. About the time I passed out, Wes got in a brawl with Blair’s ex over some naked photos.”
“Wes got in a brawl?”
Nathan smirks. “You’ve never said that word in a sentence before, have you?”
“Sure, I have,” I say with a laugh. “I’ve been in all sorts of brawls.” Rolling my eyes, I try out the word again. “Brawl, brawl, brawl.”
He claps. “Very convincing, Surfer Princess.”
“Well, I spent mine mostly sober. I had an early flight the next morning, so Camila took me to the bar and we ordered two shots of tequila and then went home.”
“Well, we’ll have a do-over for your twenty-second.”
I nod. By the time my birthday rolls around, I don’t even know if we’ll be speaking. I don’t mention that, though. We haven’t talked about what happens when this whole thing is over.
We switch seats after another hou
r, and Nathan drives while I flip through the radio. I prefer it over a playlist. Randoming onto a song you haven’t thought about, but it’s just perfect for the moment… I love that about scanning through the radio.
I sit back after settling on a classic rock station, Stevie Nicks croons about love. I look over at Nathan behind the wheel, looking too good for words the way he rests his left hand at the top of the wheel.
“You look good driving my car. I could get used to being chauffeured around.”
He looks me over carefully, blue eyes scanning me from head to toe. My pulse quickens, but I don’t dare move a muscle as he stares at me like he’s really seeing me. Like he always does. “I think I could get used to this, too.”
Nathan
Chloe hadn’t really told me anything about Camila other than she’s like a sister to her so when a girl with dark brown skin and black hair with short bangs comes running out to the car to greet us, I can’t help but note all the ways they look nothing alike.
They’re about the same height, but that’s where the similarity ends. Camila is dark where my surfer princess is light and where Chloe is more reserved, Camila fills every second of silence with her excited chatter about our arrival.
Camila’s vibe actually reminds me of Gabby, and that makes me smile to think Chloe might have someone like my best friend looking out for her.
Camila ushers us inside her apartment.
“I still haven’t found a new roommate,” she whines and gives Chloe a pouty lip.
“You lived here?” I ask.
“Yep.” She looks around the place like she’s missed it.
I didn’t ask Chloe what she told Camila about me or our weird situation, but when she leads us to the guest room, or Chloe’s old room, and disappears to give us a chance to settle in, I finally question my role for the weekend.
The Fake: A College Sports Romance (Smart Jocks #4) Page 13
