Page 27 of Second Down Fake

She rolled her eyes. “You think I didn’t read the comments already? Most of them are nice.”

I frowned. “For now. The tide’ll turn. It always does.”

“I won’t read the comments,” she said with the confidence of someone who never had to avoid comments before.

“And this’ll get back to your sister.”

“I’m not scared of Becca. Unlike like some people.”

“Becca is fucking terrifying, and you’ll never convince me otherwise.”

“She’s a pushover.”

I snorted. “If she thinks we’re dating, she’ll lose her mind. Maybe even stop training me during the off season.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes, downing the last of her martini. Lonny slid in and replaced the empty glass without the requisite ten-minute wait and angry growl. “She’ll understand. Besides, I’m the baby of the family. She lets me get away with murder. I’ll explain that you needed some friendly press. And since I’m feeling charitable this fall, taking over her apartment lease and everything, I thought I’d help you out, too.”

I sighed. “You won’t get anything out of this. It’ll be a huge amount of aggravation.”

“Aggravation? What’s aggravating about free stuff?”

Setting my elbow on the sticky bar, I leaned closer to Cassandra. Even in the dank and musty bar, I could only breathe in orange and clove. My eyes slid from her face down to her white button up blouse, the top two buttons open and just a hint of pink lace underneath. “This is a mistake, Cassandra.”

The edge of her lip lifted. “So, we make a couple of mistakes. Why not? It’ll be an adventure.”

An adventure in frustration. An adventure that would end with me royally pissing off my off-season trainer and maybe my fanbase if, god forbid, they found out. But an adventure that would have me spending a lot of time with Cassandra. An adventure that wasn’t mapped out. Where anything could happen. With a woman who seemed to make everything light and fun.

“I still think this is a lopsided deal,” I admitted.

“Says the man who’s frequented many swag rooms.”

“You’d have to come to some games too. I’ll ply you with free beer.”

“You had me at free beer.”

My chest tightened, and I pushed the feeling away, waving at Lonny for another drink. He narrowed his eyes and grumbled under his breath as he replaced the sudsy glass. “There’s something else that’d need to happen. If you really meant it. You can still back out.”

“If you don’t want me to do this, say the word. But I’m not backing out.”

“You’d need to sign a non-disclosure agreement and a contract.” I rushed out the words with a wince.

I’d called my agent on the ride over, mulling over the consequences of pretending to date Cassandra. He’d been thrilled, as long as she signed some paperwork.

“It’d be for your benefit, too. To make sure you’re compensated for your time.” Parroting James’ words back to Cassandra made my stomach turn.

“Wow. ‘Compensated for my time.’” She leaned back, assessing me with a grin. “Okay.”

“Okay? Just like that?”

She laughed, drawing the attention of Lonny and half the crabby patrons at the bar. “Free beer, swag rooms, travel, the opportunity to sign an NDA? What more could a girl ask for?”

A guy who wasn’t too much of a coward to ask her out on an actual date? Not that I’d offer her that solution.

“Give me your agent’s number. I’ll sign whatever.”

“Don’t ‘sign whatever,’” I chided her. “Read the contract. Make sure you’re happy with it.”

She rolled her eyes. “So serious. Were you this serious in college?”

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