by Chloe Walsh
"He doesn’t," I replied. Walking into the kitchen, I dropped my bag on the counter before going in search of a snack. "I practically offered myself to Nathan on a plate and he turned me down." Stifling a groan, I pulled out a container with a salad I had prepped last night and grabbed a fork. "All I am to Nate is his best friend's little sister. He knows I like him and keeps letting me down gently. I need to get a grip on it…"
"That's because he's torn," Ivy shot back with a gleam in her eye. She hoisted herself onto one of the stools at the island and sighed. "I've seen the way Nathan Cole looks at you, Andi, and it's not in a brotherly way."
"I like him so much, Ives," I admitted with a groan. "It's not fair." Dropping my fork down, I exhaled heavily. "I can't stop thinking about him. He's literally on my mind all the time." Sulking, I picked up my fork and stabbed a piece of lettuce. "And Dallas is still calling him." Taking a bite of my salad, I chewed and swallowed quickly before adding, "She obviously wants him back, and it's inevitable that they'll get back together because, lets' face it, I can't compete with a girl who is that beautiful and experienced…"
I almost jumped clean out of my skin when I heard Jackson ask, "Who's beautiful and experienced?"
"God," I hissed, pressing a hand to my chest. "You scared the heck of me, Jackson."
"Sorry." Smiling wolfishly, he sauntered into the kitchen and picked a grape from the fruit bowl on the island. "So." Leaning his hip against the island, he winked at Ivy before popping the grape in his mouth. "Who's so beautiful and experienced that you can't compete?"
"Me," Ivy filled in smoothly with a chuckle. "Andi here was worried about the homecoming dance at the end of the month."
"Homecoming?" Jackson frowned. "You girls are worrying about that shit already?"
Smiling up at my brother, Ivy flicked her long dark hair and smiled. "Andi thinks because she's never been to a dance that she'll look silly." Shrugging, Ivy added with a sultry purr, "She's also seen what I'm wearing for homecoming and… well, let’s just say, it will hard to beat."
Jackson's brows shot up in surprise. "Oh, yeah?"
"Uh-huh." Ivy nodded innocently, batting her big brown eyes at my brother. "See, it's red and has a slit all the way up to my thigh. It's also low cut. Really low cut…"
Holding out his hand in front of his face, Jackson said, "Hold that thought," in a pained voice before turning his attention to me. "Someone ask you to the dance, Andi?"
"No," I muttered, blushing. "Not at all."
"Huh." Folding his arms across his broad chest, Jackson continued to study my face. "You want to go to homecoming?" he finally asked.
"As if," I shot back sarcastically, struggling to keep his stare. "Dad would have a coronary if I even asked for permission to go."
"Fuck dad," Jackson shot back, tone suddenly heated. "If you want to go then you can go."
Jackson had zero respect for either one of our parents.
'Pretentious pricks' was the expression Jackson's used to describe our mother and father, and it was with a heavy heart that I had to admit he wasn’t entirely wrong.
Professionally, our father was a shark. He owned his own law firm and was the go-to divorce attorney in the state of Alabama. Extremely well respected up and down the country, Clive Davis had amassed quite a reputation for himself, not to mention quite a lot of money. His shrewd business techniques and keen eye for the stock market kept his bed full with a different woman every night and our mother draped in diamonds.
Mom was no better. She'd had more affairs in the last three years than I cared to remember. She, like Nate's mom, had a fondness for alcohol and men; though our mother was much more discreet about it, choosing to take extended vacations and attend charity auctions.
To the outside world, we looked like a perfect family, but it was all an act. An act held together by the lack of a pre-nup and a solid reputation.
The sad truth of it all was that, along with the flavor of the week nanny – and those were a dime a dozen – Jackson and I had brought ourselves up.
Mom had given up hiring help when I turned eight. By then, Jackson was going on ten and more than capable of taking care of the both of us – and by then Dad had slept with pretty much every nanny listed with the agency.
Yeah, even at the ripe age of eight, I'd understood all about my father's extramarital habits. Jackson would try and shield me from it, but I knew. I had ears and eyes and our father wasn’t exactly discreet.
Even though Jackson was only a year older than me, he took on the role of parent. He spent his childhood taking care of me and bossing me around.
Starved for parental authority, I had gladly accepted this from my brother…
Nodding in some sort of personal affirmation, Jackson said, "I'll take you myself."
"Oh yeah." I rolled my eyes. "Because that wouldn't be weird at all; showing up to homecoming with my brother."
"I didn’t mean I'd take you as my date," Jackson scoffed. Turning his head, he winked at Ivy and said, "That spot's filled," before looking back to me. "I meant you could ride with me."
"Dad would never go for it," I blurted out, trying to think of all the reasons why this was a terrible idea.
"And I told you; fuck Dad," Jackson shot back. "Prick can't keep you holed up in this house forever."
"I don’t have a dress."
"Buy one," Ivy piped up with a grin. "I'll take you shopping."
I turned and glared at her. "I don’t have a date."
Raising her brows, and the stakes, she suggested, "Ask Nate."
"What?" I hissed, shaking my head, begging Ivy not to say another word in front of Jackson. "No way!"
"Why not?" she replied in an innocent tone. "He and Dallas broke up months ago. Nate has no interest in getting back with her. If you ask me; you’d be doing each other a favor by going together."
"You're crazy," I growled, mortified. "Insane."
"Actually, I think it's pretty fucking genius," Jackson announced and I gaped. "You should go with Nate."
My first reaction when I heard those words come out of my brother's mouth was to laugh, followed very quickly with an overwhelming feeling of warmth in my core. "What?" I shook my head, unable to comprehend what was happening. "How?"
"Well," Jackson said slowly, as if he was figuring everything out as he spoke. "Nate's been trying to shake Dallas off since the summer. And if you're going to the dance, I need to know you'll be safe and not with some punk who'll try and get you drunk first chance he gets. Who better than Nate? He won't take advantage of you. He'd never look at you like that. Hell, you're practically his little sister."
"Nathan would never agree to this," I choked out.
"Why don’t we ask him?" With that, Jackson called out, "Nate? Can you come here for a sec?"
"He's here?" Oh sweet baby Jesus. I felt faint with fear and anticipation when Nathan walked into our kitchen a few minutes later with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.
"And naked!" Ivy squeaked.
"Yeah," Nate said gruffly. "The water's out at uh… at home." Shrugging, he added, "Jackson said it would be cool if I showered here." Water dripped from his hair to his hard, toned chest. "So, what's up?"
"Nate, my main man." Jackson grinned like a maniac. "How would you feel about taking my sister to the homecoming dance?"
Nathan stood stock still in the kitchen. His gaze flickered to my face for a brief moment before returning to Jackson's. "Is this a joke?"
"Actually, I'm serious," Jackson shot back. "Andi needs a date, someone I know won't take advantage of her, and you need help getting rid of Dallas." Smiling proudly, he added. "I'm a goddamn genius."
"Hey," Ivy chuckled. "It was my idea."
"No," Nathan barked, looking appalled. "No way in hell." Disgust laced his tone as he glared at my brother and in that moment a little piece of me died inside. "Have you gone insane, dude? You want to bait your sister out to Dallas?" Nate shook his head again. "No goddamn way."
"Nathan's right," I forced myself to say. I crossed my arms over my chest and forced myself to look at Nathan before quickly looking back at my brother. "I'm not getting involved in Dallas Holloway's business. No offense, Nate, but your girlfriend is seriously scary."
Dallas was from Riverside. She lived in the same trailer park as Nate, in a really bad area of Spring Hill. Stepping on Dallas's toes was not something girls like me did without suffering consequences – really painful consequences.
"Ex-girlfriend," Jackson chimed in before adding, "which is why you should take Andi. To help Dallas get it through her pretty, batshit crazy head that you are done, once and for all."
When Nathan didn’t reply, Ivy was quick to jump into the mix. "Look at her, Nate." She made a very embarrassing point of gesturing towards me. "My girl is off the charts beautiful. Dallas will die if she thinks you've hooked up with Andi."
"You do realize this is abnormal even for you," Nathan quipped, glaring at Jackson. "It isn't common practice to offer your younger sister as a pawn in your best friend's love life."
Jackson threw his head back and laughed. "Come on, Nate, we're talking about Andi here," he teased, ruffling my hair with his large callused hand. "She's like a sister to you." Sobering quickly, Jackson added, "Besides, you know she's off-limits."
"Obviously," Nate shot back, like the thought of being with me was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard.
"See!" Jackson announced. "The way you're looking at her now, like you're allergic or something, is exactly why this is such a fucking awesome idea."
"I don’t know about this, dude." Turning to look at me, Nate exhaled heavily and said, "What do you think?"
"I don’t know," I whispered, unsure and feeling wounded. Allergic to me…
"I won't force you," Nathan replied, brown eyes locked on my face and I couldn't look away. I was trapped in an internal battle and his brown eyes were winning me over. "It's your choice," he added gruffly. "Your decision."
I found myself looking into his brown eyes and nodding slowly. "Okay, I'll go with you to homecoming."
Nate stared hard at me then, hand tightening on his towel. "Okay." He nodded once before turning to leave.
"Wait, guys," Jackson called out. "I didn’t mean just homecoming. Andi needs to become your girlfriend."
"What?" I squeaked.
I watched as Nathan's large frame tensed. Turning slowly, he hissed, "What?"
"Yeah," Ivy added, eyes bulging. "What?"
"You know the saying; go hard or go home?" Jackson said with a dark smile as he rubbed his hands together. "Well, that's the approach we need to take with Dallas. It's not enough to go to homecoming together. She needs to believe you've moved on – that you're serious about Andi." Shrugging, Jackson added, "I say from tomorrow on, you two are officially a couple."
"This is insane," Nathan growled. "You've gone fucking crazy, Jackson."
"No," my brother corrected. "I've just figured out a way to get back at that bitch for what she did to us…"
Us?
As in plural?
I stared at Jackson. "Why? What did Dallas do to you?"
"Nate's my best friend," Jackson explained carefully, eyes locked on Nathan. "Dallas has been tormenting his ass for years now and I've finally found a way to shake her off. Is that so wrong?"
Ivy looked at me in horror. "Andi, you don’t have to do this." She knew exactly how I felt about Nathan Cole and the look in her eyes right now was sympathy. "Homecoming, fine, but this?" she shook her head. "This is twisted."
"Relax, Ives," Jackson piped up. "It's totally kosher. It's just a game," he added. "A little mind-fucking for Dallas's benefit. No one's getting hurt here."
"I don’t like this," Ivy announced, looking straight at me. The look in her eyes told me that she thought I was about to get hurt. "Andi," she whispered, concern in her eyes. "Are you sure you're cool with this?"
I didn’t know.
Was I?
I looked from Ivy to Jackson and then finally to Nathan. The moment my eyes landed on his face, my mind was made up.
"Okay, Nathan," I said shakily. "I'll be your fake girlfriend."
I knew I was getting myself into one hell of a ride.
But I couldn't stop myself from agreeing.
Deep down inside, I knew this was as close as I would ever come to being Nathan Cole's girlfriend.
****
Chapter Five
In the space of one week, I'd gone from being completely invisible to the most talked about girl at school. Being Nathan Cole's girlfriend did that to a girl's reputation.
Of course, I was under no illusions as to what the truth was. And the truth was, Nate wasn’t my boyfriend – far from it. It was a show, an act, one both of us were surprisingly good at.
He drove me to school every day and dropped me home afterwards.
He held my hand in the hallway and pulled me down to sit on his lap at lunch.
He walked me to most of my classes, and he made a point of waiting for me at my locker at the end of each day – knowing that I had trouble with opening and closing it.
I was surprised to realize just how in sync Nate and I were with one another. I'd watched him for years, knew his routine and habits like the back of my hand, but he surprised me by knowing mine, too.
Like the fact that I hated speed. He always slowed right down when I was in the truck with him.
Or the fact that I had a serious weakness for light popcorn. Every day since I'd become Nathan Cole's fake girlfriend, I'd received a little pouch of popcorn. It made me feel all warm and tingly inside to know that he had actually been taking note of my traits all these years.
Sometimes, when Nate was in fake boyfriend mode, I would let my mind wander.
I would allow my imagination to stray dangerously close to the lines I wasn't supposed to cross.
Sitting on his lap during lunch, reveling when he called me baby around other people, and the way my skin came alive when our bodies brushed...
It was the worst form of pleasure because it was one sided and forbidden.
I knew I was setting myself up for the ultimate rejection, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t pull away and I couldn’t stay away from him. I was completely caught up in my brother's best friend and nothing I did seemed to change it.
"Andi, did you hear me?" Ivy's voice penetrated my thoughts and I shook my head, forcing a sheepish smile.
"Sorry," I offered up as I rolled the food on my plate around with my fork. "I'm not with it today."
We were sitting in our usual booth in Daisy's Diner on the main street. We'd been coming here since as far back as I could remember. The guys in Daisy's made the best food, and even catered for my diet, but tonight I couldn’t eat a bite. Ivy and I were waiting on Jackson and Nate to come meet us and I was nervous. Those nerves had attacked my ability to consume food…
According to Jackson, Nate and I needed to be seen outside of school to really grate on Dallas's nerves. I didn’t understand his obsession with tormenting Dallas, but since I was getting what I wanted out of the deal by getting to spend time with Nathan, I did as I was told.
"You're never with it," Ivy shot back with a smirk. "At least not since you've become Nate and Jackson's pet project."
"I'm not their pet project," I shot back. "Don't judge me, okay. I know how this looks to you, but you don’t understand. You don’t get how much I like that boy." Rubbing my brow with my hand, I exhaled a sigh. "It's sad and pathetic and completely unhealthy, but I want him so damn much."
"And there's nothing I can say to make you change your mind on this, is there?"
I shook my head.
Sadly, there wasn’t a damn thing that would or could change my mind on this. I was reeking with desperation, it was obvious, and still I didn’t have enough self-respect to stop myself.
Ivy exhaled heavily. "Then go for it."
My brows shot up. "What?"
"You heard me," she shot back. "I told
you to go for it."
"But I thought you said this was too twisted?" I gaped at my best friend. "What about all that stuff you said about me getting hurt and this being a really bad idea?"
"It is a bad idea," she countered quickly. "And you will get hurt. But if you're not willing to listen to the voice of reason, which, FYI, is my voice, then what the hell. You might as well enjoy yourself!" Shrugging, Ivy leaned across the table towards me and smiled deviously. "You've wanted that boy since forever." She waggled her perfectly defined brows. "And trust me when I tell you he most definitely wants you too."
"I don’t think so, Ives," I mumbled.
"Well, I know so," Ivy countered with a smirk. "I know boys, Andi, and believe me; Nathan Cole wants you. Badly." Her attention flickered to behind me then and her eyes lit up. "They're here," she whispered in a hushed tone. "Get him girl."
My eyes immediately honed in on my brother and Nathan who had just walked through the door of Daisy's diner with another girl. The moment I recognized the girl whose hand Nate was holding, my heart warmed.
"Sorry we're late," Jackson announced when he reached out table. "Coach busted my balls at practice." Sliding into the booth alongside Ivy, he wrapped his arm around her and yawned loudly. "Have you guys ordered?"
"You hungry, Callie?" Nate asked, tone soft, as he ushered his niece into the booth. Instantly, Callie squeezed into the seat next to Jackson. "You want a burger or something?" he asked, frowning at his niece who was looking up at my brother like he hung the moon.
"I'll have a milkshake, Uncle Nate," Callie replied in her sweet little voice. "Strawberry please."
"I'm on it." Nodding gruffly, Nate looked to me. "You want something, Andi?"
"No thanks," I managed to whisper, feeling heated and flushed from having his eyes on me.
Nate nodded once more before disappearing to the counter.
He returned a few minutes later with two milkshakes. Sliding into the booth beside me, he slid one glass to his niece.
"Sorry," he whispered to me, tone low. "Kim had to work late. She needed someone to watch Callie."
