Page 19 of Going All In

“Are you serious?”

His head shot up at Darcy’s voice.

“Hey, Darcy.”

“What are you doing here, Jake?” she asked, her eyes narrowed.

“Thought I’d take a walk around campus. I’ve never been here before,” he said, pushing off the wall and walking toward her.

“What? Only familiar with sorority row?” she taunted.

“Very funny.”

“I hear that you get around.”

“Have you been researching me? You could’ve just asked. I’m an open book.” He wasn’t, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Why are you here?” she repeated.

“I was thinking we should give it a try,” he said.

“Give what a try?” She fiddled with the strap of her messenger bag, holding it close to her body.

“The fake relationship.”

She sputtered and laughed. “Is this a prank? I know you hockey players love a good joke. Baz was telling me the other night about what they do to welcome players to the team.”

Jake shuddered. It’d taken him multiple loads of laundry to get the noxious smell out of his jockstraps. Fucking Baz.

“Let’s not talk about that. I want to talk about us.”

“There is no us. What is going on?”

“But there could be. Why don’t we grab a cup of coffee and talk about it,” he said, trying not to think about how her eyes almost sparkled when she laughed.

“Actually, I have to go to work at the coffee shop right off campus, so now isn’t a good time. Although I’m not sure there is a good time to have whatever discussion you think we need to have. Did you hit your head or something?”

“No. Look, we both need something that pretending to date could solve.” He pushed through. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. At least as much as fake dating could make sense.

“Right. Like you have trouble finding a date.” She scoffed.

“Just hear me out. Come on, let’s sit. I’ll make it quick and then drive you over to the coffee shop.”

“Fine, but only because I’m curious. Although curiosity killed the cat, so I should probably…” she trailed off when he grabbed her hand.

He heard the hitch in her voice and couldn’t deny how that pleased him.

They settled on a nearby bench and she pulled her hand free. He resisted the urge to grab it again.

“Explain.”

“You need your mother to back off so you can focus on school. And I’m in the process of trying to sign a deal with the Strikers, and let’s just say that my behavior hasn’t been the best. On and off the ice.”

He didn’t need to tell her about New York. Hell, if she was interested, most of it was available with a quick Google search.

“And dating me does what for you?”

“You’re a good girl. I’m guessing you’ve never been in trouble. Super smart. Planning to go for your doctorate, right?”

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