Page 17 of Faking the Play

I saw now what I’d missed before. His arm was around Megan’s waist, hand resting possessively on her hip the way he’d always done it with me.

“And you are?” Ryan asked, pulling me against his side, as if he needed me in a place where he could put himself between me and danger if need be.

“Jason, Megan, meet Ryan.” My voice sounded strange in my ears. “Ryan, meet Jason and Megan.”

He squeezed my hand, but spoke to Jason. “Oh, you’re the ex.”

Megan’s eyes went wide as she realized who Ryan was, then narrowed as she focused on our joined hands. She put a hand on Jason’s chest, then slid it down his stomach.

What the hell? She would’ve been more subtle about marking her territory if she’d slapped a “Hands Off” sign on him. My stomach churned and I clenched my jaw to keep myself from saying something I’d regret. I could feel that edge to my emotions that meant they were getting closer to the surface than I liked.

“Aren’t you Amelia’s roommate?” Ryan asked Megan. “Her friend?”

The too-familiar burn of tears had returned, but I held them back through sheer willpower. I’d be damned if I let these two see how much this hurt me.

“The heart wants what the heart wants,” Jason said before leaning over and kissing Megan’s temple. She let out a giggle and leaned into him even more, making his hand slip from her hip to her ass.

I felt like I was in some weird movie where two couples were trying to one-up each other by getting more and more physical with their partner in some sort of weird competition.

“I know what you mean,” Ryan said, surprising me.

But what happened next surprised me even more.

Cupping my chin, Ryan tipped my head up and lowered his lips to mine. I went stiff for a moment, my brain screamingRYAN KISSES RYAN KISSES.Then the rest of me caught up and I kissed him back, my mouth eagerly moving with his. The tip of his tongue swiped along my bottom lip and I made a soft sound, my hands immediately going to his chest, the musclesfirm under my palms. I parted my lips and touched my tongue to his.

A loud crash broke us apart and I saw my own surprise reflected on Ryan’s face. He pushed it away before turning to Jason, who was now standing next to a tipped over garbage can.

“Problem?” Ryan asked.

“You can’t—she—don’t—what the hell?!” Jason sputtered.

“You fucked up,” Ryan said easily. “She’s not coming back to you. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from my girl.”

Then Ryan took my hand and pulled me after him.

His girl.

Even though I knew it was part of our plan, I liked the way those words sounded.

Chapter ten

Logan

“Okay, let me see if I have this straight,” I said as I tossed Ethan the game controller. “You and Amelia had a great time on your date. Then, just as you were about to bring her home, you ran into her ex, who was on a date with her roommate and best friend?”

“Pretty sure that’s going to be ex-best friend now,” Ryan said, resetting the video game. “But, yeah, that’s what happened.”

“Don’t forget the part where Ryan kissed her and told the asshole to stay away from her,” Ethan added.

Ryan had actually said that he’d called Amelia “his girl.” And she hadn’t argued. I’d known Ryan long enough and well enough to know that he hadn’t said it as part of our fake dating plan. He’d had a crush on Amelia since we were kids, and even though he hadn’t said it, Ethan and I both knew that those feelings were still there.

“I really want to beat the shit out of that asshole,” Ethan said darkly.

“Pretty sure there’s going to be a line for that,” I said. “I’d love to know what she saw in him.”

Ryan shrugged. “He’s smart. I mean, didn’t Amelia say he was second to her in all their classes?”

“You really think Amelia went out with him because he’s good at taking tests and remembering stupid shit?” Ethan asked.

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