Page 20 of The Quarterback Sneak

Like a bulldozer through my thoughts, the crunching has irked me since I sat down. Running my fork through my salad, I spear a tomato, hoping it will calm my anger. Unfortunately, it reminds me that this is the only tasty thing in my salad and that once I’ve finished the three tomatoes, all I’ve got left is lettuce. No croutons, no dressing, just slightly soggy wet leaves.

Crunch.

My eye twitches, and I drag my gaze to look at the object of annoyance. Zach sits opposite me, his feet touching mine every now and again under the table while he slowly crunches on the largest bacon double cheeseburger I’ve ever seen. It should bea sin for the canteen to sell them when girls like me are only allowed the salad, but I guess they’ve got to make money too.

Zach’s oblivious to my growling stomach as he sits there taunting me with his burger. His jaw flexes as he takes another bite, and there’s a growing pile of ketchup dripping from the corner of his mouth, which I have no desire to tell him about because, frankly, he’s ticked me off.

Crunch.

I stare at my phone, trying my best to ignore him while savoring the taste of my final cherry tomato.

Crunch. Crunch. CRUNCH.

“Do you have to chew so loudly?” My eyes are screwed shut and my teeth clenched together when I realize what I blurted before any of the manners my mother taught me forced me to hold it back. I shouldn’t show weakness, let alone annoyance, but something about Zach’s chewing got me better than I’d like to admit.

Keeping my eyes closed, I wait to hear Zach’s laugh that will highlight how pathetic I sound, but I get nothing. When I open them, he’s staring straight at me with the faintest of smirks across his face, cooling the anger boiling in my veins.

Raising a brow, he presses his fingers into the burger’s bun, watching as it draws my attention to the sweet, succulent meat slathered with American cheese. It’s a processed nightmare, but I’m finding it hard to care when I think about how good it would taste.

Zach lets out a breathy laugh, pinging my attention back to him as he pokes his little pink tongue out to lick away the dollop of ketchup at the side. Grazing the soft skin there, his tongue snakes across his lips before retreating to his mouth, and the tiniest of shivers runs through my spine.

I’ve been able to avoid thinking about Zach’s mouth while in his presence for the weekend because I haven’t actually been inhis presence. Now that I am, I get a strange feeling when I look at him, which isn’t entirely the burger’s fault.

I’ve kissed those lips. The second pair of lips I’ve kissed beside Jamie’s, yet we aren’t into each other in the slightest. I’d always wondered what made girls kiss guys they weren’t interested in, and finally, I realized why on Friday night. Kissing Zach let go of a ton of adrenaline and made me feel stronger and more in control than I ever did with Jamie.

Zach’s kiss was different. He was challenging me but let me take the lead. For once, I didn’t have to be submissive or happy that I was even getting attention. Finally, I was the center of it for a reason beyond being the richest or bitchiest girl in school.

“Sorry, Love Bug.” Zach laughs, and when our eyes connect, I get this horrible feeling he could hear my every thought. “I’ll try to keep my chewing to a minimum.”

The corner of his lip faintly tips upward, emphasizing just how much his mouth borders on the right side of perfect. Shaped like a bow, his lips aren’t too big but just pouty enough they feel like velvet to the touch. My lips tingle at the memory, and as much as I hate to admit it, I really want to kiss him again and feel that same control I’ve been craving.

“Good,” I say, flipping my hair over my shoulder.

“I may not have the manners of a rich boy, but that’s not my appeal.” The amusement in his voice makes it clear he’s joking, but that sarcastic barb is just another reminder of how I come across to people. Bitchy and entitled. It doesn’t matter what I say or do, I will always sound like the snobby rich girl Jamie and my mom have pushed me to be.

Shaking my head, I drop my fork and force out a placid smile. “No. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overreact. It’s just there’s a lot of stuff running through my mind and… and… and I just can’t believe that I agreed to do this.” The words come stumbling outbecause I have no idea how to talk to Zach. I hardly know him, yet we’ve already kissed.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks.

I bite my bottom lip because telling him I can’t stop thinking about our kiss would be the wrong move. It’s not his fault Jamie forgot what the word foreplay meant once I agreed to sleep with him, and now I have some weird craving to just kiss.

I feel his eyes on me but don’t look up from my salad. Instead, I pull my hair into a tight bun to distract him from my heated cheeks. “Nothing much,” I mumble.

“Are you nervous about fake dating me?” I nod because that excuse sounds better than the truth. “Come on. It won’t be so bad. I’m a pretty good guy once you get to know me.” When I finally look up at him, he smiles awkwardly, and it’s kind of cute.

“Please. I already know that. You’re friends with Mike, and he only hangs out with people who have immaculate reputations.” Zach sits a little straighter, almost as if he’s proud of the endorsement.

“So, what’s the problem?” I shrug, not wanting to give him the real answer. I’ll never admit to anyone how pathetic this whole ordeal makes me feel. Not only did I find out Jamie dated me because he had to, but Brett and Kyle were only interested in me because of a bet. Not to mention the fact Zach is only talking to me because he wants cash. “Trust me, Love Bug, dating me is the best form of revenge against a guy like Jamie.”

I hum out a response, hoping it sounds positive enough.

“Revenge comes with a price, you know.”

“A price I already paid, remember?” I snort out. “Ten thousand dollars, to be precise.” Shaking my head, I drop my chin to my palm and trace the outline of the letters J and L carved into the table. I still can’t believe I was so desperate to take part in this I hawked one of my monogrammed handbags to get the money without my parents finding out. At least it was a gift fromJamie’s parents, so it wasn’t like I was getting rid of a bag I’d use again, but the desperation to get Jamie back is pathetic.

“Trust me, it’ll be worth it.” He drops the burger—the one I still can’t stop looking at—and rests his elbows on the table. “You’ll get twenty-five thousand to make up for the inconvenience.” Zach wipes his hands on the napkin, pulling out his school-supplied laptop. “Now that we’re on the topic of fake dating, we should probably talk about the parameters.”

Pushing my salad aside, I waffle my fingers together to hide my nervousness and nod. Fake dating Zach. Kissing Zach. Being close to Zach. All things we need to discuss and that I was more than willing to throw myself into on Friday, but now that we’re here, out in the open, I feel much more exposed.

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