Page 28 of Ice Dance Hockey

I snap to attention. Right. Hadn’t thought of that, but we’ll need to show how loving we are or whatever. “Yeah. That’s fine,” I say and suddenly his lips become too interesting. I sip my water.

“Any requests from you?”

“I get requests?” Not that I was planning on obeying him like a mindless puppet, but I know this charade is going to require specifics that’ll convince his dad.

“You must have some kind of parameters.”

“Do we need to be exclusive?” I ask. It’s not like I’m going to have men lining the block for me, but maybe once I’m in New York I could convince someone suitable to sleep with me. I don’t want to die a virgin.

“Normally I don’t share my things—even fake things—but this could take a while and sometimes I need to blow off some steam via my dick in someone’s ass. If I’m going to do that, I can’t expect you to deny yourself, but my father will have spies everywhere. You’ve got to limit your interactions and be as discreet as possible.”

“Your father spies on you?”

“Well, he doesn’t call it spying. He considers it protection and precaution. He’s an important man, and any of the family’s missteps can affect him gravely; he needs to be aware of problems before they get the chance to percolate. Some might feel his actions …” He trails off, pausing. “… morally gray, but they’re a necessary evil.”

“You say morally gray; I say skeezy as fuck.” Rhett wrinkles his nose. “But what I think about him doesn’t matter. In fact, it only cements my commitment to deceiving a man like that.”

Wow. Being with Rhett’s going to be intense.

Our food comes, including the extra plate of steak that I know he ordered for me. “I’m not eating that.”

He smiles his panty-dropping smile and even I’m not immune when he does it so sincerely. “C’mon. Just one bite.”

It smells fucking succulent. It’s hard enough to be around decadent food like this without wanting just a bite, never mind being cajoled. The problem is that it’s never just a bite. Once you have a bite, you turn into a ravenous creature. It’s better to resist temptation altogether.

He’s already cutting a hearty chunk of the mouth-watering beef. I bet a place as swanky as this makes an outstanding steak.

Enjoy this. A fake boyfriend is all you’ll ever have.

That’s what boyfriends do, right? Feed each other. Merc and Jack do it all the time.

Leaning across the table with no idea as to what I’m doing, I open my mouth just enough, sure I’m making a fool out of myself. He has no such compunction. He grips my chin in one steady hand and slides the hot meat into my mouth.

I suck it off the fork. There’s an explosion of juicy succulence on my tongue. The meat is soft. It satisfies when it hits my stomach versus this useless lettuce that only fills me without gratification.

“You moaned,” he says.

“Did not.”Did I?I don’t know if that’s true, but I do want more of that fucking steak. It’s only a small one, I could work it off tomorrow if I did some extra training. Enough of him feeding me, though. I stab the steak with my fork to move it onto my plate. “All right, I’ll eat this, but I’m not touching those potatoes.”

“Suit yourself,” he says, taking a large fork full. “So, tell me, what do you need money for at the end of the summer?”

I glare. I said “might need” and he knows it. I’m tempted to tell him that it’s none of his business, but I guess it’s a little bit his business if he’s the one handing out the money.

“My scholarship doesn’t cover the mandatory housing costs. And before you judge me, I had the money. Mom lost it.”

It feels kinda good to get that off my chest to someone.

“No judgment but it’s irresponsible.”

“That’s judging, Rhett.”

He smirks and shrugs. “You’re angry about it, so you’re judging, too.”

“It’s mine to judge. But hopefully, we’ll be able to come up with the money.” Merc and I plan to work on a lot of cars. Ari’s going to paint a lot of houses. Bea’s taking on extra clients. Even Theo and Lorelei offered me their allowance money, which was sweet, but besides the fact I’m not taking their earnings, they get their allowance from Merc anyway. There was also talk about a Meyer family carwash fundraiser …

“I guess I don’t have to point out the obvious either.”

I know he means all Jack’s money. “You don’t. He’s already funding the New York apartment.”

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