Page 34 of The Quarterback Sneak

“Honey?” Zach squeezes my hand, and I shake the thoughts out of my head.

I’m not falling for him. If anything, the feelings I have are similar to a rebound. He’s the second guy I’ve kissed, so I’m bound to feel something.

“Mm-hm?”

“You ready to go in there and give them hell?” His fingers waffle with mine as he shuts the door with his hip. I give him a curt nod, still watching the ground and pretending it’s because I can’t balance in heels, which is the biggest lie in history. My mom taught me to walk in heels before I could say the word shoe, but it feels easier than looking into his eyes and seeing nothing but a small friendly smile. How tragic would that be when inside, my heart is bursting?

I can already hear the whispers from other students as we walk to the porch, and Zach pulls me in under his shoulder, holding me close to him.

Here goes nothing.

“It’s not so bad, is it?” I whisper in Zach’s ear. With his lips trained flat, he pulls me into his side, nearly knocking me against one of Eric’s dining room chairs to sit me on his lap. After walking into silent glares, we found the quietest room to get some respite.

Once I’m seated on his lap, I wrap my arm around his neck and relax. Jamie and I were never much for PDA; I realize now that’s probably because he was sleeping with half the school, but with Zach, it feels comfortable.

Nuzzling into my hair, Zach’s breath tickles my neck, causing me to let out a breathless giggle. “Did I forget to tell you how hot you looked tonight?” His hand squeezes my bare thigh,tracing the edges of my tight black dress. It’s a pathetic attempt to look like Rizzo from Grease to match his Kenickie outfit, but neither of us made much effort. Olivia told us we’d need to wear matching costumes for this stupid party, and I didn’t want Zach to have to buy anything.

What I didn’t consider was how good Zach would look in said white shirt. I’d only ever seen him in his blazer, but now, seeing him dressed down, I realize why all the girls in our school are interested in him.

Zach is stacked. The white shirt only emphasizes the bulges that his blazer usually hides.

“Thanks. You don’t look too bad yourself.” I smile, and as he adjusts his leather jacket, I get the tiniest peek underneath. Yep, his pecs are outlined perfectly in the shirt.

Football players walk past us, giving Zach nods of approval and fist bumps as they go. “Do you see that?” he says into my ear. “They’re all jealous that I’m the one that brought you here.”

“Yeah, because of that stupid bet.”

“No. It’s because you’re the hottest girl in the school.”

Slapping him lightly in the chest, I laugh but then pause because this whole thing feels weird.

“What’s wrong?” Zach’s eyes search mine.

I look up and swallow. “I don’t know. This feels different than I thought it would.”

“In what way?” I don’t know how to answer, so he does it for me. “Do you mean the same way kissing me felt different from Jamie?” His fingers press my side as he gives me a small, reassuring smile. The words spike in my throat because, yeah, that kiss is part of the reason I’m feeling weird. Because even though the point was to prove to everyone that we’re dating, all I want to do is go straight back into that car and kiss him some more.

“I guess so. I just thought that doing this would feel a lot more like revenge. It kind of feels like we’re fooling around more than anything.” It’s the closest he’ll get to me admitting that I’ve liked being touched by him.

Zach pulls me in a little closer and turns me to face him. “Well, hey, if you want to make fooling around part of the deal, I’m more than happy to negotiate,” he says with the hint of a smile. It’s contagious, and all that nervous energy I was feeling eases the longer he looks at me.

Before I can answer, the door bangs open with a loud thud and all I see is Jamie.

My heart turns to stone as he drags McKenna into the room, directing her to a quiet corner. I’ve never seen him smiling so broadly as when he pulls her into him and kisses her forehead.

“Boo?” Zach whispers into my ear, but I don’t respond because the beating of my heart is too loud.

Jamie’s hands are all over McKenna, stroking her in ways only I could imagine.

He’s doing this on purpose. He doesn’t need to be here. The house has fourteen rooms downstairs, so if he didn’t want me to see him, I wouldn’t. Hell, he could have taken her to one of the thousands of bedrooms in this place to save me from any more embarrassment. But he came in here.

He scouted me out.

He wanted me to see this because, apparently, a viral video wasn’t enough. After our chat the other day, he wants to make sure I see it in person.

“Funny. I thought you hated my nicknames, Boo?” Zach singsongs, and his arm holds me tight, but that doesn’t stop the huge weight in my stomach.

I can’t keep my eyes off Jamie. The way his hands rub the small of McKenna’s back, the way she shifts her hair to one side so he can kiss her softly on the neck. It’s so tender it hurts.

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