Page 39 of Dangerous Play

“I’m here too,” I muttered, giving a small wave before my mom hugged me.

“Aw, you found such a handsome boy. I was worried about you,” she muttered into my ear, and I almost gagged. Not the words I wanted to hear, but also exactly what I expected, hence the whole fake boyfriend.

Max threw me a glance that told me he heard her, and I exhaled as I hugged my mom back.

“Yeah, he is perfect.”

“I’m glad you and Daisy sorted it all out and the four of you get along,” she went on. “Ander told me you all went to a party together.”

I didn’t correct her.

“Lunch is ready, let’s get started. You might be able to catch some waves before dinner,” she said, making me smile. “Are you a surfer, Maximilian?”

Max grinned and his eyes locked with mine. “No, but I can’t wait for Blossom to teach me.”

“You play for the Titans, right? You won the cup the past four years in a row,” my dad said, since he was a great soccer fan, too.

“Yes, sir,” Max replied dutifully. “It’s my first year as a captain and I hope to guide my team to victory again.”

Ander snorted, clearly annoyed by not getting any attention.

“And you also played for the National Team,” my father went on, clearly doing his homework on Max.

“Yes, I do. I hope to play again this year.”

“You are coached by Sky McCarthy?”

I let out a frustrated groan with all his questions, but Max only bobbed his head again.

“He is the best midfielder and I can only hope to be half as good as him.”

Ander snorted again, catching Max’s attention.

“Heard your season is going well.” Max turned to my ex.

“Yeah,” Ander said it in a disgusted way. “Better than you guys. I heard you choked the first half time and didn’t take your shot. Must suck having your mind somewhere else.” The smile he flashed him was pure malice and it made me wonder how did I ever love him.

Max shrugged, but I knew it was still eating him up. My hand found his thighs under the table, and I gave him a gentle squeeze. “I take every opportunity to learn,“ he muttered. “And distractions happen, especially when your girl is watching you play. Guess, it went to my head.”

The words felt false as they left him. It wasn’t him, but he played the role I needed him and Ander was seeing exactly what I wanted him to see. A distracted, lovesick player.

Nausea hit me stronger this time and my appetite vanished as I stared at the steak and mashed potatoes.

Ander snickered at Max’s confession, and conversation moved from me back to Daisy and Ander who both enjoyed the spotlight.

Max leaned back and laid his arm across my chair, leaning in to kiss my cheek softly. I turned to face him, our noses brushing. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing you need to be sorry about,” he muttered, his lips brushing mine as he spoke. Electricity sizzled down my spine at the contact, and I desperately wanted to kiss him deeperand devour his soft lips. The side of his lip kicked up and the sexy smirk was driving me crazy.

Someone cleared their throat and our attention snapped back to the table. “Are we bothering?” my mom asked with a soft chuckle. “You love birds will be soon alone to devour each other. But if you are done... cake is coming.”

“I’m ready for dessert,” Max said, his gaze holding mine, and we both knew he wasn’t talking about cake.

Butterflies awoke and flapped their damned wings in my stomach. This was a dangerous game we were playing, but not one I wanted to stop.

Especially when he was looking at me like there was nothing and no one else in this world who mattered more than me.

“Yeah, cake sounds good,” I muttered, wetting my lips with the tip of my tongue and grinned when Max’s eyes darkened. There was always chemistry between us, but this was the first time we really used it to drive a point home and everyone at the table believed we were ready to rip each other’s clothes off. “Do you need help cleaning up?” I asked my mother, my eyes still on my fake boyfriend. “I can help.”

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