Page 36 of Foolish Games

“Sure,” she says. “And I’ll decorate your locker on game days, just like the other girls.”

“With sexy pictures?”

She swallows and narrows her eyes. “Is that what they do?”

“Yep,” I say.

“Are you messing with me?”

“If you don’t believe me, I’ve got a stack of pictures at home I’ve collected over the years.”

She wrinkles her nose. “Gross.”

“Trust me, not a single one of them is gross.”

“I think I’d rather pretend to like Jerome than be a girl on your stack.”

“Aww, are you jealous?” I ask. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep yours on the top of the pile.”

“Not helping.”

“Hey, would you rather I kept them in my locker and traded them like baseball cards? Because that’s what a lot of the guys do.”

She holds up a hand. “I don’t need to know.”

“So, you gonna do it or what?” I ask. “Because from where I’m sitting, you’re getting a whole lot out of this, and I’m not sure what I’m getting, except used. I like to have fun and yeah, most of my relationships haven’t lasted longer than a few months, but that doesn’t mean I’m some escort you can just rent out like a waiter whenever you need me for your next event. If we’re not fucking, what’s in it for me?”

I wait for her back down, but she nods, a determined fire in her eyes that makes me want to see exactly how she’ll rise to the challenge. “You’re right,” she says. “I’m sorry. I was bugging about Chaz, and you’d already offered… I don’t want you to feel used, though. I want it to be fair. I’ll put a few pictures in, but I’m not promising full frontal nudity, and you cannot share them with anyone. You have to burn them when we ‘break up’ too.”

“Hm, not your best offer, but I accept for now.”

“Okay,” she says, sounding relieved. “So that’s all the girlfriend stuff I have to do. But we can’t have it look like I’m just chasing after you. So what are you going to do, besides letting me use your social status to make Chaz think I can do better than him, and apparently look at scantily clad pictures of me?”

“I could come to your… I don’t know. Quiz bowls? Mathlete meets? Debate… Debates?”

“It’s a debate tournament,” she says. “And I’m not in mathletes. That’s my weak subject.”

“Aren’t you afraid of telling me your weaknesses? I might exploit them for my own gain.”

“I think I’ll survive,” she says, rolling her eyes. “And no one comes to those things except our parents. But I also play violin. You could come to my recital next month.”

“Princess, you underestimate me,” I say, swiping my t-shirt off the floor and turning it right-side out. “If you really want that dweeb back, I can get it done in under a week. But there’s one more thing I’m going to need from you if we’re doing this.”

“If you say sex, I swear I’ll scream.”

“As tempting as that is, I’d rather hear you scream during sex,” I say, dragging my t-shirt over my head and pushing my arms through the sleeves. “But no. We can fake this thing for the whole school, but I’m not losing my best friend for you. Which means we’re going to have to let Rob in on it.”

“Deal,” she says, holding out her hand. As I take her small, delicate hand in my rough one, I wonder if I’m even dumber than she thinks I am, because I just keep getting myself in deeper and deeper. If this blows up in our faces, Viv looks like a fool. But I could lose so much more—not just Viv, but my best friend, the respect of all the friends we’re about to lie to… Hell, if I’m not careful and I have to pay that five hundred, I could lose our fucking house.

How’s that for being man of the house, Dad?

twelve

#1 at the Box Office: Starship Troopers

Vivienne Delacroix

After hearing about Chaz’s betrayal, Robert begrudgingly gives his approval for the plan with Sebastian. Not that I’m seeking the approval of my little brother, but it just makes everything less complicated if he knows. That way, he won’t try to kick my fake boyfriend’s ass every day or lecture me on what guys are like and how I should pick better ones.

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