Page 23 of The Quarterback Sneak

“I’d feel terrible if I didn’t let my new girlfriend have a little bite of my meat.” He jokes. My cheeks flush, but the urge to eat the burger trumps that emotion, so I do it. I let Zach feed me his burger, sinking my teeth into the succulent beef.

An explosion of fat, ketchup, and cheese bursts through my mouth, and I close my eyes, swallowing the textures and enjoying every moment of it. God, it tastes so much better than those tofu burgers my mom buys.

When I swallow down the first few morsels, I open my eyes to Zach staring at me with his mouth slacked open. “That was possibly one of the most erotic things I’ve ever seen.” His words are flat, and he drops the burger back onto his plate before scanning the yard and blowing out a sobered breath.

Slowing my chews, I swallow, realizing that moan I thought was in my head was actually audible. “Just keeping up thefaçade,” I answer as I continue chewing. “Is McKenna still watching?” Zach stays facing me but checks out of the corner of his eye and nods. “Good. Let her tell Jamie that you fed me a burger during lunch. He tried to convince me to eat his meat several times, but I never gave in. I’m sure this will piss him off.”

Zach smiles at my innuendo and reaches forward, swiping the little bit of ketchup off my face. Then he brings his thumb to his mouth and licks off the sauce. That move was hotter than I expected.

“You can’t fall in love with me,” I blurt without thinking. The thought of us flirting, of me feeling something more than I should, sends a chill down my spine because I can’t have another footballer take advantage of me. Not after the whole Jamie fiasco. I close my eyes and breathe so the next words out of my mouth sound more composed while Zach watches with a furrowed brow. “We need to figure out the parameters of our fake relationship. Set up some rules, if you will. I think the first one should be that we can’t fall in love with each other.”

There. I got it out, and it sounded a lot more composed.

Zach cricks his neck, shuffling a little bit away from me. “We’re back to that? Okay…” He drags his laptop over to us, opens a document, and starts typing. “No falling in love. That should be easy since you’re still in love with Jamie, and I’ve got my own life besides football.”

I focus on the taps of the keyboard instead of correcting him, because I don’t see the point. In love with Jamie? Had someone asked me that a month ago, I would have said yes, but now that I’ve had time to think about it, I realize I was fooling myself the whole time. I wasn’t in love; more like I was infatuated with Jamie because he happened to be nearby. The only real thing I feel for Jamie now is sadness and a deep, urgent need for revenge.

“You’ll have to come to my home games, obviously, but that shouldn’t be an issue since you were always there before.”How did he know that?“We’ll also probably have to pretend we know each other in the classes we share. So maybe we should think about sitting together in history, English, and math. Might even need to hold hands in the hallway.”

“You’ve been thinking about this a lot, haven’t you?”

He looks at me from the corner of his eye. “Yeah. I’m the type of guy who goes all in once he’s committed to something. Once you agreed, you had no chance. We have to be on the same page because if anyone finds out what I’ve done, there will be hell to pay.”

“I doubt they’d care.”

“Oh, they’d care. It would hurt their pride more than anything. I’d probably end up tied to a goal post, naked, tarred, and feathered before the championship game so the entire student body would see me. Really I’m doing this to save myself.”

“Fair enough.” I shuffle closer, reading the words as he types. “I guess we’ll have to kiss every now and again too.” That suggestion makes his fingers stop, and he smiles.

“Oh yeah?”

“Well, isn’t that what couples in love do?”

“Sure.” His fingers type faster than his old laptop allows, but he’s used to it. He types his sentence and patiently waits for it to appear on the screen. “Is there anything you want me to do as your new fake boyfriend? I’ll admit, I’m pretty crappy at responses because I’m busy with school, football, and some commitments at home, but I promise I’ll make an effort with you.”

His crooked smile comes out, and a part of me wants to ask him if he’ll take me to the debutante ball so I don’t have to go alone, but that’s after football season, and I doubt Zach will want to drag this out for longer than necessary.

“Nope, nothing that I can think of.” Strangely, my voice is lighter than usual and I feel calmer than I have in a long time. Zach’s thigh grazes mine, and I giggle at the touch.

“You’ve got a cute laugh,” he says while he types. I look around and breathe in. He was right. We’re being watched by a lot of people, and apparently, that little giggle drew even more attention. Usually, I hate being the center of attention, but there’s something about sitting here with Zach that gives me a little more confidence.

I decide to give everyone a show by snuggling into his side while he reads out the stipulations. He’s not fazed by my sudden touch; instead, he wraps his arm around my shoulder, squishing me closer to his side.

“Are you happy with this?” He turns to face me, and we’re now only a few inches apart, with his lemongrass scent wafting in the air.

I nod, and he grins. “Great. How about we give these guys something more to talk about?” he asks with a wicked glint in his eyes. Nervousness creeps into my stomach as he inches toward me, but I hold my ground. As he scoots closer, I inhale sharply because I’m not ready to kiss him again. I’m not ready for the conflicting emotions, but knowing people are watching us makes me more inclined to push through and do it anyway.

“Do you dare, Honey?” Zach teases, our breaths mingling. His fingers tickle the top of my hand, teasing me into a decision.

What a question to ask. Do I want to kiss Zach again and feel his lips against mine?

He leans in, his lips achingly close. Mint fans my face, tingling my lips. Anticipation builds in my bones.

Do I want this?

Closer still.

Yeah, I think I do.

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