The door swings open, and Nathan appears. He smiles big, wearing his blue graduation cap from earlier today with his usual jeans and a plain t-shirt. His hair has grown out and is tucked behind his ears. Flashes of color dance around the room from the party lights hanging from the ceiling.
“What is this?” I ask, laughing as I look to the group. My graduation cap is forced onto my head by Gabby, who now wears hers as well.
“It’s our graduation party.”
“And what’s that downstairs?” I ask, amused. The house is jam-packed with people who came to celebrate the end of another school year.
“That,” Joel says, pointing down. “Is for them. This is our party.” The music gets louder, and he dances around. Katrina laughs at him until he sweeps an arm around her and then dips her backward.
A flask is pushed in front of me, and I quirk a brow at Nathan as I take a drink.
“Tequila?” I ask, coughing from the burn and handing the flask to Gabby.
“Someone let Vanessa choose,” Blair says and shudders to show how much she dislikes it, but she takes a drink when Gabby hands it to her anyway.
“Hey, Zeke,” I say to the big, quiet guy hanging back. He’s got a basketball in his hands and he and Wes are the only ones without caps since they graduated last year.
“Good to see you, Chloe.”
“Alright, are we doing this now that everyone is here?” Joel asks, taking the ball from Zeke.
I look around, trying to discern what this is as the guys huddle together.
“How are we dividing teams?” Wes asks. “Boys versus girls or are we splitting a couple to play five on five?”
“A basketball game is how we’re celebrating?” I question Blair.
She sighs, a dreamy look on her face. “It’s fitting, really. One last game before we all leave.”
“You and Wes are staying in Valley, right?”
Her eyes slowly meet mine and she nods. “Yeah, I’m going to grad school, and Wes signed a two-year assistant coach contract.” She shrugs. “It’s going to be sad with everyone leaving, but Gabby will only be a couple of hours away and with the wedding this summer, we’ll get to see everyone at least one more time. But I know these guys; they’ll be finding excuses to see each other and if they don’t, we will.” She hip checks me playfully.
“Definitely,” I agree.
“So, what do you say?” She nods her head toward the group.
“I’m awful at basketball.”
“I find that hard to believe, but you can be on my team because I’m the reigning PIG champion.”
She links her arm through mine, and we head toward the guys.
“Girls versus guys,” she states confidently. “We get the ball first.”
The girls spread out, and the guys match up to defend their respective partners. Nathan walks toward me, all swagger, with a competitive gleam in his eyes.
“You can’t handle this, Payne.”
“That so?”
I nod, head held high with false confidence.
Blair checks the ball to Wes and so it begins. I think the guys are going easy on us at first, but when Gabby and Blair pull off some pick and roll play and actually score, their shocked boyfriends up their defense.
Vanessa shoots and it bounces off the front of the rim. Zeke rebounds and tosses it with one hand to Nathan. I square off, blocking his direct path to the basket. He dribbles left to right, behind his back, between his legs. He’s showing off, and I’m enjoying every second of it. I lunge for the ball and come up empty, but instead of blowing by me, Nathan keeps taunting me.
I narrow my gaze and deepen my stance. I mean business. One side of his mouth pulls up, and he leans down so that our faces are only inches apart.
“I’m sorry to have to do this to you,” he says right before he spins to my left and takes the basketball to the hoop and scores.
The guys fist bump him, and I move to the top of the three-point line. “Give me the ball.”
“Ah, shit,” Blair says as she bounces it to me. “Chloe is pissed.”
Nathan walks up toward me with a rueful grin. “Sorry, princess, had to be done.”
“Mhmm, too late for apologies.”
Wes chuckles. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to let your girl beat you, Payne?”
“That’s not what you do, is it?” Blair asks, her voice going up an octave with each word.
Everyone laughs except Blair. Wes pulls her into a hug and shoots us all an “oh, shit” look over the top of her head. “Of course not.”
I dribble, concentrating hard. I don’t have any mad skills to do anything fancy, so I decide to go with brute force. I step on his left foot with my right and I may throw an elbow in the process. It all happens so fast it’s hard to say.
Whoopsies.
The rest of the guys part to let me through, and I manage to make a shot right under the basket. When I turn around, Nathan is sprawled out on the floor on his butt. He’s got both eyebrows raised, but he smiles as I approach. I offer him a hand, and he pulls me down on top of him.
“I scored.”
“Where was the back-up D?” Nathan asks the guys as he squeezes my waist.
“Everyone was afraid to get in her way.” Joel approaches, ball tucked into his side. “You’re dangerous, Macpherson. Let’s keep him in one piece.”
“Sara’ll kick your ass if you show up to train next week with an injury,” Zeke adds with a smirk.
Nathan’s signed with Zeke’s agent, Sara Icoa, and he and Joel are heading to a training facility in Phoenix this weekend. I’ll be traveling the world playing volleyball while he’s there and then meeting him in New York for the draft. Then? Who knows? I’d follow him anywhere, which is the plan. It’s as good a plan as I can imagine. I can get a job pretty much everywhere, but there’s only one Nathan Payne.
We don’t continue the game after that. Sitting on the hardwood floor, we pass the flask around and share memories from college. They have more stories with one another than I do, but I love listening to every one of them, even the ones I’ve heard a dozen times before. Their friendships and relationships have withstood a lot, and this may be the end of one story, but it’s just the start, really. Our happily ever after is just beginning.
Nathan
One Month Later
“There’s a Chinese place two blocks away that delivers or we could try that Italian place that has the toasted ravioli.” Chloe shuffles through a stack of takeout menus and produces the one she’s talking about. My mouth waters.
“Whichever can get here the fastest. I’m starving.”
She calls and places our order while I dig through a box. One of three we still haven’t unpacked. We arrived yesterday in Florida with six boxes between the two of us—mostly hers, and the floral chair from her dorm.
The apartment came furnished, courtesy of my new team, but Chloe wouldn’t move without it. And let’s be honest, I’d have bought and packed anything she wanted to have her with me. I still can’t believe we did it. I got picked up early in the second round of the NBA draft, and Chloe has two interviews next week before she heads back out for another month abroad playing volleyball.
“Do you know which box has my phone charger in it? I’m at five percent, and I want to call Heath.”
“I think all the cords ended up in the box with your clothes, but isn’t he working at that hockey camp in Wisconsin?”
I nod. “Yeah, I want to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.”
Chloe raises an eyebrow like I’m being overbearing. My job with Lincoln turned into a friendship, and he got Heath the assistant coach position at a youth hockey camp this summer to help with expenses before he goes to college.
Money isn’t an issue anymore, but I think it’ll be good for him. He’s heading to Valley and it’s sorta trippy to picture him on my old stomping grounds.
“Lincoln has done a lot for me and him, I just want to make sure he respects that.”
“Lincoln and Heath can take care of themselves.”
I find the charger buried at the bottom of the box and plug in my phone before I join my girl on the couch. She climbs onto my lap and straddles me and any ideas I had of talking to anyone are forgotten.
“Food will be here in twenty minutes.”
“How do you suggest we kill the time, princess?”
She leans forward, her blonde hair tickling my face as she presses her lips to mine. “Should probably unpack the last of the boxes.”
“Absolutely,” I agree between kisses as I move both hands to her hips and slide them up under her tank. I move to stand, and she wraps her arms around my neck and legs around my waist.
“Where are we going this time?” she asks with a note of humor.
“We haven’t christened the bed yet.”
“The three times last night didn’t count?”
“I meant in the daytime.”
Walking her to our room, I lay her on the bed. She props herself up on both elbows to look at me. “Well, in that case.”
I get rid of my shoes, shirt, and shorts in that order. Grabbing her ankle, I tug gently so she falls back flat and climb over her.
“You’re not naked, and we’re down to eighteen minutes before the food gets here.”
“Guess you better undress me quickly then.” Her eyes glimmer with excitement and want.
I’m not above showing how eager I am. I strip her down like my life depends on it. My next orgasm does, so close enough.
There’s something supremely satisfying about making love to her in this bed, the first one we’ve shared in a place for just the two of us. It’s only been a day of living together, but it feels so good and right to share our lives totally and completely like this.
I want to wake up and watch her drink coffee while sitting on our small balcony. I want to come home every night and order takeout and hear about her day. Weekends exploring our new town, sex in every room and on every surface of the apartment, days that start and end with her. The sweetest dreams and an even sweeter reality.
When I push inside her, those green eyes lock onto mine. She takes another little piece of my soul every time she looks at me like this. Love and respect and strength reflect back at me and somehow seeing right to the very core of me, too.
I handed her my heart long ago, but I won’t be satisfied until I’ve given her all of me and anything else she wants in this life and the next.
The past few days driving across the country and taking on all these new experiences together has been its own brand of foreplay. Each of the half dozen or so times we’ve had sex since we arrived has been frantic and quick, and this one is no different. Pumping my hips faster as her moans get more desperate, I watch her unravel beneath me.
Stunning. Perfection. Home.
My release follows hers, and we’re just limbs and panting breaths as we lie together sprawled out on top of the comforter.
The doorbell rings, and I groan even as my stomach growls in anticipation. “I think this is the first time ever I’ve been disappointed the takeout arrived so fast.”
“I’ll get it.” She sits up and starts to get dressed.
“Let’s take it to the beach.”
“Craving a little sand in your General Tso? It’ll take us forty-five minutes to get there.”
“Someplace else to be?”
She rolls her eyes and then brushes a kiss onto my lips. “No, I just thought you were starving,” she mocks before jogging out to get our food.
We decide to eat first and then drive to the beach, which has us arriving right at sunset.
It’s all too new for us to be annoyed by the tourists or the traffic and chaos of trying to find a place to park. I take her hand and we walk along the water’s edge and watch the sun start to descend. Chloe takes off her shoes and smiles as her feet squish in the sand.
“I’m glad we ended up so close to an ocean,” she says.
She pauses and closes her eyes like she’s trying to capture the moment. The salt air kissing her lips, the breeze off the water whipping blonde hair around her face, sand and waves and love. So much love. I never thought it was possible to feel this way.
I couldn’t have planned a better moment, but I definitely imagined it just like this. I drop to one knee with my heart racing like hurricane winds. It’s only part nerves; mostly I’m just so anxious for everything that comes next.
When her eyes open and she finds me kneeling in front of her, she looks confused until I take the ring box from my pocket. Her eyes sparkle and her mouth opens to speak but she just closes it and pulls it back into a big smile instead.
“It had to be on the beach,” I tell her.
Tears fill her eyes, and she nods.
Emotion deepens my voice and makes it hard to remember all the things I want to say to her. The things I want to promise. The life I want to build with her. It’s all clear and yet so hard to describe. The words aren’t enough. It’s moments and glances and every second in between all the important ones. Days counting down the seconds until I can see her when I get home and nights tangled up together. It’s just life, and I want to spend mine with her.
“Chloe, I… fuck.” I grimace. “Shit, I mean…” I groan low in my throat. I’m bungling this spectacularly. I flash a sheepish smile. “Of all times to be at a loss for words.”
“I don’t need the words. I just need you.”
The confirmation of her love and devotion gives me new purpose to tell her just how important she is to me.
“The first time I saw you, you were wearing a red dress and standing alone in a crowd of people. You looked so gorgeous. Part surfer girl part princess. I don’t think I ever would have had the balls to approach you if I hadn’t recognized something in you. You were hiding away just like me and that made me feel less alone. I was trying to escape my life that night and instead, I stumbled into it. You changed my life and then became it. I love you. Marry me?”
She laughs as she nods but doesn’t speak.
“And no pressure, but if you say no, I’m probably going to take off swimming. Find a nice island to live on, grow a beard.”
“Yes,” she says, and it sets my soul on fire.
I stand and frame her face with my hands as I kiss her.
“Say it again.”
“Yes, I’ll marry you, Nathan Payne, or we can swim out to that island together. Me and you. Forever.”
THE END
Thank you for reading The Fake!
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Playlist
“Simple Things” by Miguel feat. Chris Brown & Future
“Ghost” by Badflower
“Nights Like This” by Kehlani feat. Ty Dolla $ign
“Let Me Go” by Hailee Steinfeld feat. Alesso, Florida Georgia Line & watt
“Heroine” by Marc E. Bassy
“Undrunk” by Fletcher
“I’m So Tired” by Lauv feat. Troye Sivan
“If You’re Gonna Lie” by Fletcher
“Wow.” by Post Malone
“Hate Me” by Elle Goulding feat. Juice WRLD
“Takeaway” by The Chainsmokers feat. ILLENIUM and Lennon Stella
“Wasted Youth” by Fletcher
“Woke Up Late” by Drax Project feat. Hailee Steinfeld
“Goodbyes” by Post Malone feat. Young Thug
“Cold” by Maroon 5 feat. Future
“Fuk, I’m Lonely” by Lauv feat. Anne-Marie
“How Do You Sleep?” by Sam Smith
“Easier” by 5 Seconds of Summer
“The Way I Are” by Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson and D.O.E.
“Co
me As You Are” by Nirvana
“Creep” by Stone Temple Pilots
“Call You Mine” by The Chainsmokers feat. Bebe Rexha
“One Thing Right” by Marshmello feat. Kane Brown
“You Need To Calm Down” by Taylor Swift
“Rescue Me” by OneRepublic
“I.F.L.Y” by Bazzi
“Post Malone” by Sam Feldt feat. RANI
“Sunshine” by Charlie Heat feat. Ant Beale
“Cross Me” by Ed Sheeran feat. Chance the Rapper & PnB Rock
Acknowledgments
A massive thank you to everyone who took a chance on this series. I hope the Smart Jocks felt like putting on Jock Jams and having a dance party with friends.
I LOVE sports. All of them, really, but especially college basketball. I did a ton of research while writing this series and injected some of my own collegiate experiences, but at the end of the day—it’s fiction, baby! Thank you for letting me take liberties like having Spring Break in April (because, come on, it’s only fair that my NCAA champs get a spring break too!) and making every guy on campus insanely hot. Creating the Valley U world was an absolute blast and I never want to leave.
So many people had a hand in helping me along the way. Special thanks to Amy, Ann, Brooke, and Louise for beta reading throughout the series. ALL the love to the bloggers, bookstagrammers, and readers who read, loved, shared, and reviewed.
XOXO
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