Page 56 of Fake Game

I let out a huff and turn my body away from her, pulling out my phone and opening a gaming app to pass the time. I don’t understand this woman. Her emotions change more often than the wind.

I shouldn’t be surprised though. She said her makeup was a mask, and that is clearly the case.

“Hey, what’s up?”

I glance at Deer to see her shoving her phone between her ear and shoulder before she riffles through her handbag.

“Mm, I’m fine. Just headed to the nail salon. Thanks for checking in though.”

She pulls out a lip gloss and swipes on the sparkly pink color. My attention zeroes in on her plush lips, a thirst growing within me. I don’t know what’s going on with me.

At first, I thought I was just drawn to her because of a sense of protective duty, like how the guys and I are with Lee—but it’s becoming something more than that. She sucks me into her orbit without even trying.

When I look at Deer, there’s nothing PG about the way my brain conjures up scenarios of stripping her bare. Even now, I see those lips and instantly imagine the way they would look pursed around my cock.

“I appreciate it, Rick, but don’t worry, I’m being safe. Shield is with me.”

My hackles rise at the sound of another man's name slipping from her tongue.

Deer laughs at something the person on the other side of the phone says, and my upper lip curls slightly.

I seriously need to get my shit together.

I flip my gaze back to my phone and force myself to get lost in the game, zoning out anything and everything with regard to the woman next to me.

It works for a while, the LA traffic buzzing around me as I focus on shooting my enemies.

That is until a tendril of pink hair suddenly dangles in my periphery.

“ThatKill Strike?” Deer’s sweet tone shatters through my concentration like a hammer on glass.

“Does it look likeKill Strike?” My words come off a little gruff, my earlier annoyance still peeking through.

She leans closer, her brown sugar scent cloying the air. There is no personal space with her sometimes.

“Mm, yeah it does.”

“Then there’s your answer.”

“Cool. I’m playingLove LovePassion School 4: The Idol Chapter. The mobile version isn’t as good as the Switch one, but it’s still pretty fun.” She moves her phone into my line of vision, effectively blocking my phone screen with her otome game.

I’m stuck looking at some anime dude with red hair and a headset mic.

“This guy is the one I think I want my girl to end up with in this playthrough. He is the leader of the rock band, so he is technically one of the harder characters to win over, but I already have three of the five hearts filled. I’m thinking I’ll be able to have his storyline done within the next day or so.” She doesn’t even take a breath before continuing to ramble. “I read on a forum that there’s a secret love interest you can unlock once you win each of the original four love interests on hard mode. I think it’s going to be the rival lead singer, which would be cool. Although, winning him over will be even harder than any of the others, but I like the challenge. Hang on, let me see if I can show you…” she trails off, her delicate hands tapping across the small screen until she pulls up some online diary with character profiles. Her nail clicks on the screen as she gestures to the white-blond character. “Ah, there, see? He’s the one I think will be the secret love interest.”

“Riveting,” I drawl, trying to keep up with the bombardment of information she is littering me with.

I like to think I have a pretty good read on Deer; most of the time she is this damn Energizer Bunny, but every once in a while, there is a crack in the wall where I see through to a more muted version of herself. I want to know how much of what she shows to the world is really her. I want to know what side of herself she would show me—just me.

Deer lets out a deep sigh before slumping back in her seat. “You can be a real stick-in-the-mud, ya know. You could at least pretend to be a smidge interested.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re the one imposing on my nail appointment.” She uses her phone to point at me, the little charm attached to the corner swaying. “If you’re going to be all Grumpy Cat, you shoulda stayed home.”

I should have.

But I can’t stay away.

---