Page 30 of Once Upon a Fake Date

“Maxwell.” He had his arms crossed over his chest as I rushed into the locker room to change. “You’re late.”

“I know, I’m sorry—it won’t happen again.”

Coach dipped his head. “Remember what we said? No distractions?”

I cleared my throat. I needed to tell him about the musical. That I’d done all of this for Audrey as a favor. But nothing came out. “Right,” I finally said. “I know.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not a distraction, I promise. Just doing a favor for a friend.”

After studying me for a moment, he dipped his head, heading out to the practice field.

I pulled off my sweater and dropped it onto the bench. My jeans quickly followed as I dressed in all of my gear.

There was one thing I knew for sure—this was going to be a long season.

CHAPTER 9

Audrey

There was a new skip in my step. Maybe I was still on cloud nine after signing with Parker the other day, but everything had felt easier. Lighter.

I still couldn’t stop thinking about his offer.Date me.I’ll be your boyfriend.

Your fake boyfriend.

All I wanted to do was talk about it with Ella and ask her opinion, but every time I opened my mouth, nothing came out. It wasn’t like I was intentionally keeping it from her—especially when I knew she’d understand the reasoning behind it. She’d seen Duke’s behavior on Halloween weekend firsthand, after all. But this was different. Especially when she was so happy with Cam. The two of them spent all their free time together these days, and I was so happy for her. She had found her Prince Charming; even if she was still dancing around her feelings, it was clear how much they cared about each other.

How could I tell my sister that I was so pathetic I needed my best friend to pretend to date me to get my ex to leave me alone? Part of me still couldn’t believe I’d let that slip out to him or how easily Parker had agreed to it.

Surely, there was someone on campus he wanted to date instead offaking itwith his best friend. The thought made me scrunch up my face, even though I didn’t have any feelings for him. Sure, I found him attractive, but that was as far as it went.

It wasn’t real. That was what I had to keep reminding myself. Even if he’d offered to get Duke to leave me alone, he didn’t have feelings for me. He probably still saw me as a little sister, like the little girl who’d followed him around the neighborhood like she had nothing better to do. Who cried when she scraped her knees after falling off her pretty pink princess bike. I grimaced, thinking about how annoying I’d probably been.

He seemed to regret the nine years where we didn’t talk now, but maybe back then, he’d been relieved to have some distance from me.

“You’re just being dramatic,” I muttered to myself as I walked across campus, bundled up from the cold January weather. I couldn’t wait for it to get warmer. I thrived in dresses and though I had several pairs of fleece-lined tights, winter had never been my favorite season. Spring would be here before I knew it, though, and so would the musical.

I hid my face in my hands as I thought about how quickly Parker had agreed to be in the musical. That he’d auditioned forme.Even if he was busy with lacrosse and his studies, and definitely would not have time for this.

Finally at the theater building as I headed in for my next class, the billboard in the lobby caught my eye. Leah and Mary, two other girls who were in the musical with me, were also looking at it.

A new piece of light pink paper had been added: the updated cast list.I sucked in a breath. Technically, they’d been required to open up auditions for everyone to fill the role, so there was always a chance that I’d be acting with someone else.

“Hey, Audrey,” Laura said with a smile, blocking my view of the list. “Did you see they posted the new cast list? It’s such a bummer that Will’s on probation, huh? Disrupting everything, and we haven’t even started running lines yet.” She frowned.

“Better now than in two months, though, right?” I asked. Certainly, it was better that we’d gotten this news with enough advanced notice to replace him.

“Sure, sure.” Laura agreed.

Meri nudged her with an elbow and then turned to me. “Do you know the new guy? Haven’t seen his name on any casting sheets before.”

My heart sped up. New guy. And right there on the list, the second name under mine it was printed,Parker Maxwell.

“Yeah.” I nodded, a smile lighting up my face. “He’s my best friend.”

“Oh?” Mari quirked an eyebrow. “How come we’ve never heard of him before?” She and Laura were both seniors in the theater department, and they’d taken me under their wing my freshman year. Florence was the other member of their trio, though she was currently absent.

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