Page 37 of Once Upon a Fake Date

“Okay,” she whispered, rising onto her tiptoes to press her lips against my cheek. “Thank you.”

A few other students passed by us on the sidewalk, and Audrey dropped back to her feet, waving hi to a few of the girls she must have known as they passed us.

She looked up at me, a curious expression on her face. “So, the season starts soon,” Audrey finally said. “How are you feeling?”

“Yep. Saturday. Coach has been drilling us hard the last week.” My muscles were a little sore, but mostly, I felt good. I was ready for this year. Ready to help lead the team to victory. I might not have been the captain, but damn if I wasn’t focused on getting everything right.

A light pink dotted her cheekbones, though it was probably just from the chill in the air. It wasn’t like she was affected by me. Well, not like that.

“Audrey,” I murmured the word, and her eyes darted to mine.

I knew her. I’d been studying her blush since I was too young to know what it meant. But she’d always been easily flustered. Easily embarrassed. I enjoyed teasing her because I loved those rosy cheeks.

Today, though? I hadn’t been teasing, which made that blush even more amusing.

“Huh?”

“What are you thinking about?”

Her face deepened in color even more. “Nothing.”

Maybe she was more affected by me than I’d thought. Maybe my attraction wasn’t completely one-sided.

But what was I going to do about that? No matter what, our friendship came first. I’d never do anything to jeopardize that.

Even if that meant accepting that Audrey Rose Ashford would never be mine.

CHAPTER 11

Audrey

Drilling us hard the last week.Innocent words. And yet, why did I blush at them? Why did my brain go down a dirty path that he clearly hadn’t meant?

“Audrey,” Parker said, his voice deep, distracting me from my thoughts.

I looked up at him, wishing the earth would swallow me whole. “Huh?”

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing.” I hid my face underneath my white fuzzy jacket, not wanting him to see how flustered I was. After we’d kissed the other day on his bed, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about his lips on mine. Wondering what I could do to get him to kiss me again.

To feel him—all of him—with his weight on top of me.

Even though it waswrong.We were best friends. He’d just kissed me as practice. It didn’t mean anything.

We got to the dining hall door, and Parker stopped in front of me to open it. He let me walk in first, then he slid behind me, hand on my back.

I didn’t know why my cheeks were on fire. Nothing about what we were doing was different than normal. It was just that I’d never gone to dinner with him thinking about him being my boyfriend, either. And suddenly, everything felt way more real. The way his hand burned through my sweater.

The way he’d slipped his fingers into my belt loops and tugged me closer to him.

He followed behind me in line as I grabbed food, carrying the tray with both of our meals after we’d ordered. Really, Parker would make someone the perfect boyfriend someday. But this was all fake. It was just an act.

After he’d paid and we found an empty booth, I slid into one side, expecting Parker to sit opposite me. Except… he sat right next to me, both of us sharing the same side.

He’d taken two bites before he said, “So… about my team.”

“Hmm?” I asked, looking up from my food.

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