Page 29 of Falling

“I mean, I’m usually more put together than this,” she explains, grimacing at herself. I nod in understanding, not sure what else to say. I don’t care if she’s messy or not put together. I think it’s one of the most admirable things about her.

Maybe lettingWren shower here wasn’t the best idea.

It was an even worse idea letting her borrow my clothes because she looks too good in them, and she smells like me. My shirt clings to her body in places that haven’t dried properly, and I can see through it.

Rightthrough it.

She walked out, crossed her arms against her chest, and told me not to laugh. I don’t think I could even get any words out with how hard I am. This celibacy is not doing me any favors the more that I think about it.

Now, she’s sitting beside me on the bed, and I was smart enough to put a pillow in my lap.

“No one can know that this is fake apart from our closest friends,” Wren says, writing down another rule in her notebook. We could have just typed them up, but she says this will help her remember better. “Scarlett and Kennedy only know because they suggested it.”

“Fair enough,” I say. “Xavier will probably figure it out eventually, and I trust him to keep quiet about it.”

She hums, writing that down too.

We’ve agreed to do this whole fake dating thing until her showcase at the end of December, which gives us around two months. If it doesn’t work, we’ll reevaluate to prepare to get me into some of the winter games so I can help get us into the regional semis and the finals. The hockey season is just beginning, and the quicker I can get myself back into training, the faster I can get back on the ice. I’ve got more than enough time to convince Coach Tucker to let me back onto the team.

“Okay, so what about our families? Are we fooling them, too, or should we rule that out?” she asks.

My body stiffens, and I shrug. “We can come to it when the time comes.”

Her eyes soften, and she nods. “My mom kind of already knows. I didn’t even tell her anything; she just knows these things. My dad is probably going to be interested, too, and I haven’t caught up with him in a while. Are you okay with that?”

I nod. “The last time I spoke to your mom, she was close to kicking me out, so I’m sure she’ll be thrilled that I’m dating her daughter.”

“Trust me, no one is going to live up to her precious Augustus,” she mumbles, and I pretend that the comment doesn’t get to me. From what I’ve gathered, the guy is a dick. He was stupid enough to let go of the best thing that probably ever happened to him. “We should make a big deal of us hanging out a few times a week and staying over at each other’s houses. It just shows it’s more serious than casual sex. If we go to parties, we need to attendandleave together to give no one a reason to suspect anything is wrong.”

“That’s good,” I say.

This whole thing is making me feel stupid. I have no clue what’s on-and-off limits, but Wren has been taking the lead on it. I’ve just been agreeing to everything and trying not to look at the outline of her tits under her shirt.

“What about PDA?” I ask, clearly thinking with my dick.

“What about it?”

“Is it going to be a problem?” I ask. She continues writing whatever it is in her journal. “I’m an affectionate person, princess.” Again, she doesn’t say anything. “Okay, so I’m just going to assume that making out, hand-holding, ass-grabbing, and anything up to second base is on the table.”

That grabs her attention. Her head shoots up, her cheeks flushed, and I can’t help but smirk to myself.

“Only if absolutely necessary,” she says, pulling down the shirt to cover more of her thighs. “And we don’t need to be affectionate with each other if we’re alone unless we’re taking photos. Got it?”

I ignore her last addition as she writes it down. “Shouldn’t we at least kiss once so we know what we’re doing?”

I press my hand to her knee, and she tenses beneath my touch. Her skin is warm and smooth and so fucking tempting. She closes her eyes, taking in a deep breath before placing her hand over mine. She lets out a noise between a groan and a laugh as she takes my hand off her.

“Have you ever kissed a girl before?”

“Plenty.”

“Then we should be fine.” I roll my eyes, pushing myself up against the wall beside my bed. “Okay, my last and most important rule.” I dip my head to her to continue. “Rule number five. If things get too real for either of us, we have to tell each other. I meanrealfeelings beyond attraction. It could mess things up, and that’s the last thing either of us need.”

A wicked grin spreads across my face as her cheeks heat up again. “Worried you’ll fall in love with me, Wrenny girl?”

“No, Miles. It’s you that I’m worried about,” she replies.

I hate how right she is. All she has to do is look at me and I’m a goner. One look and I’d devour her. If she wasn’t so committed to keeping our friendship purely platonic, we wouldn’t be sitting on my bedtalkingright now.

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