Page 40 of Once Upon a Fake Date

He furrowed his brow. “You’re always wearing pink. Even if it’s just the scrunchie that’s always on your wrist.”

Oh. He’d noticed that?

“I’m still wearing pink,” I mumbled.

“Where?” He raised an eyebrow.

I blushed. “Somewhere you can’t see?”

“Is that a question, Audrey?” There was a hint of amusement in his eyes, like he knew exactly what I was saying. Like he had x-ray vision and could, in fact, see where the pink was.

“No,” I murmured, shaking my head.

Parker chuckled, grabbing my hand and interlacing our fingers. “Come on. I want you to meet the guys.”

“Okay.”

And then I followed him into the lacrosse house, holding tight to his hand, feeling like he was my lifeline in this brand new world.

CHAPTER 12

Parker

She had no idea how adorable she was. No fucking clue.

Nor did she know how much it affected me to know she was wearing pink fucking panties. I held back a groan, holding her hand tighter as I brought her into the living room, where the rest of my teammates were gathered.

Though we didn’t all live in the house, it made sense that we’d all hang out here after games. The underclassmen mostly lived in the dorms, while some juniors and seniors were in apartments off campus, making this the easiest place for all of us to gather.

“Hey, everyone,” I called to the room, all eyes turning to Audrey and me. “Want you to meet someone.” I squeezed her hand as she stood at my side, giving a small wave to my teammates. “This is Audrey Rose. My girlfriend.” Looking down at her, I winked, and she gave me a small smile back.

“Hey,” Audrey said, any hint of shyness gone. Of course, she was the extroverted one in our relationship. I’d always been the quiet guy. Only now was I feeling more comfortable with the team. “You guys played great today.”

Samuel grinned. “You watched the game?” He was sitting on the couch, a pretty brunette draped over his lap.

She nodded. “Yeah. It was fun.” Looking at me, she cocked her head. “Though I’ll admit, I didn’t really know what was happening.”

Taylor piped up with, “I’m sure we could teach you.”

I hated that idea. Because if anyone was going to teach my girl the rules, it would be me. I wasn’t letting any of these fuckers do it. I grumbled, close to her ear, “I’ll teach you. Because you’remygirl.”

Audrey just nodded, and I tried to ignore the flare of possession I felt running through me. She wasn’t really mine, so I had no right to be territorial over her time. But after last year, the last thing I wanted was for my girlfriend to spend an extended amount of time with my teammates. Call me paranoid, but I wanted her all to myself.

“I liked watching you,” she whispered, standing up on tiptoes so her mouth was level with my ear.

Fuck yeah. My chest puffed out, feeling pleased to know that she’d watched me. I didn’t think I’d mistaken the way her eyes had roamed over my body as I walked away from her earlier on the field, but this was practically a confirmation.

Derek, the team captain, stood up, extending his hand towards my girl. “It’s nice to meet you, Audrey.” He was a senior, graduating this year, which meant the position would go to someone else next year. Maybe that someone would be me if I didn’t fuck everything up. I was pretty sure that was why our coach had been so hard on me.

She accepted his handshake. “Hi. Thank you for letting me come.”

“Of course. We told Maxwell he couldn’t hide you away forever. Besides, everyone’s welcome.” There were plenty of people here who weren’t on the team. Friends, girlfriends, and other university students. We were celebrating, so plenty of people were drinking, but it wasn’t so loud yet that we couldn’t hear each other talk. Though it was still early. I was sure the music would be louder in a few hours.

“Do you want a drink?” I snaked an arm around Audrey’s midriff, tugging her closer to me.

She nodded. “Sure.”

I tugged her into the kitchen, grateful there was no one else around, as I grabbed myself a beer. There was a six-pack of hard strawberry lemonade in the fridge, and I held up a bottle for her. “How’s this?”

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