Page 80 of Fake Game

“Ifeel like that went pretty well!”

“It was passable.”

“Oh, come on. I’d give our performance a solid B.”

Actually, I’d give myself an A and Jackson a C—which is how we average a B. I definitely carried us through that lunch.

“Where the hell did you come from anyway?”

“Well, I went to an international high school in Washington before moving down to Cali. But if you want to get to the roots, then technically Carlingford in Ireland.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

I just grin.

He sighs, but I see the way the corner of his mouth ticks up slightly. It’s something most people would miss, but I’ve spent too much time watching him the last few weeks. I’ve committed every detail about Jackson Lau to memory so that I’ll never miss a beat.

“Thank you, by the way. The flowers were a nice touch.”

I shrug, sticking my arm out the window so I can play with the wind as he drives us back to the school parking lot. “I told you I’d help. It’s no biggie.”

Even though I’d spent the extra time looking up the meaning of flowers and their colors to make sure I was making the rightimpression. Turns out, yellow roses aren’t that easy to come by when you’re on a time crunch.

“How’d you know where I was?”

“Syd.”

In my periphery, Jackson whips his head toward me. “What? Seriously? Sydney signed off on this?”

“Signed off is a bit of a stretch. She wasn’t exactly thrilled when I first brought it up, but when I explained it to her, she agreed it was actually the lesser of two evils. She just said we need to keep it on the down-low unless we want a big fuss.”

“This is a lot to process.”

I use my free hand to reach over and pat him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, big boy. We’ve got this.”

“For the fifth time, I told you not to call me that,” he grunts.

I smile up at him. It was definitely a stressful lunch and not something I want to put myself through again any time soon, but it was worth it. The second I showed up, I could practically smell the tension in the air. I like to think I did a pretty good job wafting it away, but his family aren’t the easiest to read. Makes sense since I still feel like I’ve barely cracked the surface with Jackson. But the fissures I’ve created in his stoic exterior so far have given way to a mosaic, and like a dragon hoarding gold, I’ll keep all those shards to myself.

“You look different, by the way.”

I catch my reflection in the sideview mirror. “Syd suggested it. Plus, after meeting your aunt, I thought it would be smarter to tone it down. Like Aleks said, I didn’t want this to backfire and have them totally freaked, so they push the blind dates harder. That would be really sucky.” I look down at the white sundress, smoothing the fabric over my thighs. I’m not going to tell him that I bought it just for this lunch—I think he’ll feel bad. Jackson isn’t as much of a grump as he makes himself out to be. “What do you think of it?”

“All guys like sundresses.” He pauses for a beat, and I think that’s all I’m going to get from him, but he surprises me by adding, “I like your normal look, though.”

“My normal isn’t exactly other people’s normal.”

“Well, I like it.” His gaze lingers on me before turning back to the road, and heat licks across my skin. “I don’t want you changing yourself for my family. I would never ask my girlfriend to do anything like that.”

A full-on flame bursts in my chest, but I try to tamp it down, mentally imagining a million fans blasting the flush away as I keep my expression wry.

“We’ll see if you still say that when I rock up to the next family function in a bright pink mini skirt and go-go boots.”

He smirks. “I dare you.”

Something about the tilt of his lips has me wanting to lean forward to kiss the corner.

This issonot good.

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