Page 32 of The Quarterback Sneak

I turn my attention to the large coastal mansion in front of us. Decked out with figurines haunting the lawn and cobwebs stretched across the porch, it’s the perfect setting for a Halloween party and where Zach and I intend to make our official debut as a couple.

South Point students trickle out of the house, dressed as every character you can think of. Most of them are in drunken embraces, barely noticing their expansive surroundings.

“I’ve only been to Eric’s a couple of times for some business dinners, but I think it’s got nine bedrooms and probably like eleven bathrooms.”

Grunting something inaudible, he shakes his head and sinks into the seat. I resist the urge to stop his bobbing knee and inwardly curse because it’s obvious Zach is uncomfortable around all this wealth. I shouldn’t have suggested this as our first outing.

“You’ll stay by my side, right?” I ask, to make it clear that I need him as much as he needs me.

Finally, he turns, his emerald eyes twinkling. “Of course,” he says, and that large confident smile I’m familiar with returns.

His gaze snaps to Eric’s house, then to me before he sinks his teeth into his bottom lip. “Yeah, but before we go in there, I think we need to loosen up.”

“Loosen up?” I lean over the console, waiting for him to explain.

“Yeah, after yesterday’s more than stilted performance, I think we need to get comfortable with each other.” His eyes flick down to my lips, his face giving nothing away. “We need to kiss.”

Silence.

He licks his lips, then I realize he’s being serious. Bursting out in laughter, I swing my head back against the headrest. “Right now?” He nods. “But we can kiss in there. We don’t need to practice.”

“Okay.” Shrugging, he leans against the passenger door to get a better look at me. “But everyone in there”—he gestures with his brows toward Eric’s front door—“thinks we’ve been dating for the better part of three weeks now, which is fine. But we’ve only kissed once in that time.”

“Why does that matter?”

“Isn’t it obvious? If we were actually dating, then we would have probably gone a lot further than kissing in the football tunnel by now.”

Lolling my head to the side, my breath catches in my throat when I see Jamie walking into Eric’s party, and my pulse pounds. McKenna is tucked under his shoulder, holding onto his shirt like the dutiful girlfriend she’s become. Then he kisses her on the cheek with a satisfied, content smile which makes me feel sad and somewhat pathetic because here I am pretending to date a guy when Jamie’s already moved on.

“If you want them to believe we’re dating.” Zach’s face is beside mine now. He must have moved toward me to see what I was looking at. “Then we need to make sure you aren’t repulsed by my touch.”

His palms graze my thighs, his fingers dancing across my skin. I startle at the tingles driving up to my core, a feeling I’m not used to. “See,” he says with a chuckle. “You can barely stomach me, and that doesn’t exactly look good if we’re trying to convince people we’re screwing on my off days.” He’s so lighthearted with the words, but they stick in my head. That’s not why I jumped, but I’m not about to admit that his touch felt good.

“It’s not that I can’t stomach you,” I say, looking down at my lap. “It’s that…” I pause, unsure how much I should tell him. He watches me expectantly. “It’s that I’ve only been intimate with Jamie.” The words feel like tar coming out of my mouth, but Zach doesn’t falter. He remains expressionless, waiting for me to finish. “It feels a little weird when it’s not his touch,” I spit out, and turn away.

The silence is so loud I can’t hear myself think. I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have said anything. I should have just gone with Zach’s assumption and not embarrassed myself.

“I’m sorry that my lips feel weird.” I can hear the amusement laced in his voice, and when I look over at him, he’s grinningwildly. “But I’m sure once you kiss me some more, you’ll start to feel differently about it.”

He licks his lips, and my stomach flips, so I blow out a nervous breath. “I mean, you didn’t seem to mind kissing me at the football game a couple weeks ago. What changed?”

I changed. I started to feel like this was a stupid idea and that I should give myself time to get over Jamie instead of fake dating you.

I keep the thoughts to myself because fake breaking up with Zach would be worse than going through with this. Besides, having twenty-five grand that my parents can’t track could come in handy.

“It was different then.” It’s what I settle with.

“Why was it different? Maybe we can recreate it, and I can help make you more comfortable.” Zach stares at me, and I know if I want this to work, I need to be honest, but it’s getting increasingly difficult. How do I tell my fake boyfriend I still think about my cheating ex? Maybe it’s only because the thought of Jamie is comfortable. I’m used to him, and even though he wasn’t great, he was familiar. Zach is anything but that.

“I guess I was just overexcited. I had adrenaline pumping through my body then, and I’m just not feeling that right now.”

Looking me up and down, he grins. “You know, I know some other ways to get your adrenaline pumping if that’s what you need help with?”

He pops an unambiguous brow, making me laugh. “Zach, are you propositioning your fake girlfriend?”

He chuckles with me. “Hey, you’re the one who said you needed to be overexcited to kiss me. I’m just the one offering solutions.”

Glancing at the mansion, I see more students walk into the party. “How about we go in there and see how things go?”

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