Page 9 of Dangerous Play

“You give me way too much credit. We are opponents.”

“No, all he talks about is you. Always. It’s like… he wants to be you,” I insisted, remembering the endless nights when Ander ranted about Max. “He really does hate you.”

“Not good enough, babe.”

“Just tell me your price,” I called after him when he took off once again, as we reached the sandy beach. “Max!”

He ran across the sand, as if he was running on the pavement. I watched his quad muscles flex as he kept on moving toward the water. He only stopped when he reached the shallow, wetting the bottom of his shoes, removing the sand.

I walked across the unsteady sand and joined him, panting.

“I’m just a pawn in the game, so tell me, what’s in it for me.”

“What do you want?” I asked. “You told me you want to stay away from girls anyway. Having a girlfriend, even if fake, keeps them away.”

“What about my needs?” He wiggled his brows. “Are you going to be taking care of them or am I supposed to be cheating on you?”

If he was caught cheating on me, it would have been the same shame as my ex dating my sister. I was equally screwed unless he remained faithful and in love with me all the way. Something that was difficult to fake, and I desperately needed him for that awkward Christmas and my big twenty-first birthday celebration.

“I mean,” I sighed, stepping up next to him.

Max smirked at me. “You didn’t come that far in your planning, right?”

“To be honest, no,” I admitted, squatting and touching the water. It was still warm, as the strong wind from the past couple of days couldn’t beat the early September sunshine. “I had everything else planned, though. But… I just thought it was going to be easy to convince you, and you would want to do that.”

“I’m not really a person who holds grudges or hates anyone. Some people are not worth my energy and Ander Sanchez is one of them.” Max shrugged. “I would love to help you. But I’m notsure I can do this whole fake boyfriend thing. It’s just not who I am.”

“I understand. I guess… I’ll just have to do this on your terms.”

“We can be friends. If you ever need buffer, I can come in, but I’m not sure I can do the kissing and hugging and pretending. It would take way too much from me, and my focus needs to be on my game.”

He was letting me down in the gentlest way ever. He was being kind about it, and nice. Even offering to help. I almost felt bad for believing the rumors I heard about him.

I nodded, disappointed. “I hope you don’t think I’m…”

“Desperate?” Max offered with a sweet smile. “Anyone would be in your position. But people like Ander get the most annoyed when you ignore them… try doing that and watch him come knocking. You don’t need me there for that.”

“Yeah, easier said than done.”

“I’m sorry.” His hand found my shoulder and squeezed it. “I wish I could do more.”

“Well… you can.” I scoffed, ignoring the annoying little butterflies that surprisingly sprung up in my stomach. “You just choose not to.”

“You can see it that way. I need to do what’s best for me. But I wish you all the best, Ivy. You deserve someone who truly sees your worth.”

I felt the weight of his hand lift from my shoulder and the sand by my side dipped as he turned to walk away.

“Max?” I called after him, my eyes still trained on the waves licking the sand in front of me. “What if I give you sex? We can be hooking up… during the fake arrangement.”

Max remained quiet for a long second, before his laughter echoed through the beach.

“Now… you are desperate. I don’t need you to pay me with sex, Ivy. If I was going to do it, I would have done it out of the goodness of my heart.”

“Guess, you don’t have a heart then.”

“You will thank me one day. I’m keeping you from making a mistake.”

“From where I’m standing, it doesn’t look like that,” I muttered bitterly.

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