Page 54 of Once Upon a Fake Date

“Who said I was acting?” I said in a low voice against her ear, glad no one was around us for the moment.

Audrey blushed, and I chuckled. “Come on, let’s head out. I gotta get some food before practice.”

“Okay,” she murmured, letting me hold her hand as we headed to the student union to grab a bite to eat. Luckily, neither of us had to change—besides our shoes—so it was easy to put our street shoes on and then grab our bags.

“What were you thinking about earlier?” Audrey nudged me as we walked.

“You remember when we were… oh gosh, what was it, five and six? Maybe six and seven? You used to come over to my house after school was out and we’d watch movies.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Vaguely.”

I laughed. “Do you remember what your favorite one was?”

“The one where the handsome prince saved the day?”

That could have explained a thousand movies, but somehow, I knew we were thinking of the same movie.

“Yeah, Rosie Girl.” I slung an arm around her shoulder, tugging her tight to me. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I just smiled. “That’s the one.”

She hummed. “I hadn’t thought about that in a long time. It’s funny that we ended up doing a musical of it, huh? That we’re starring in it together?”

Funny? It felt a bit like fate. Like we were destined to end up here together, back in the same place.

“At least I don’t have to fight an actual dragon,” I said with a laugh as I wrapped my hands around her waist, pulling her in close to me and resting my forehead against hers.

Audrey bit her lip. “Yeah, that might have been a little harder.” I could hear her breathing change like she was affected by this. By me. “Parker,” she breathed out, standing up on her tiptoes, bringing her lips closer to mine. Like she wanted me to kiss her.

I dropped my head, about to press my lips against hers when—“Audrey!” A voice shouted, coming up behind us on the sidewalk.

My girl groaned, dropping back onto her feet as I let her go. She spun, coming face to face with two girls who I was pretty sure I recognized from her sorority house.

“Hey, guys.” She smiled at them. “What’s up?”

“Peggy and I were just heading to grab something to eat.” The girls barely even paid attention to me, all of their energy focused on their sorority sister. They’re both wearing their letters, Pi Rho Sigma embroidered onto a sweatshirt in flowers, and I curl a hand around her hip.

Peggy nods. “Are you hanging out at the house tonight? I think we’re having a movie night. Suzie and I were just discussing snack options.”

Audrey turns to look at me. “Oh. I don’t know. Parker and I were…”

“It’s okay, sunshine,” I offer. “You can go hang out with the girls. I don’t mind.” I press my face into her hair, inhaling her sweet strawberry scent. “Besides, I have practice later.”

“Alright. But we need food first.” She intertwines her fingers through mine. “See you later.”

I smiled when we resumed our walk, and she poked at my face. “What’s got you smiling like that?”

Her. Because she’d chosen me, and there was no denying the warmth in my chest that I felt from that.

“No reason,” I murmured. But I didn’t let her go. I just kept her next to me, enjoying the idea that, fake or not, she would choose me.

“You’re just full of secrets, aren’t you, Parker Maxwell.”

“Nah, Audrey Rose. I’m an open book, but only for you.” I winked at her, sliding my hand into her back pocket as we kept walking.

She laughed, pinching my side. “We’re not acting anymore, so you don’t need to be so sweet.”

I placed my lips against her ear. “But we’re always acting, aren’t we, sunshine?”

Or maybe it was the opposite. Maybe it was that we were never acting. Fake or not, musical or not, I just wanted to be by her side. To run my fingers through her beautiful, golden locks. To have those pretty eyes on me. To feel her dainty hand in mine, her fingers interwoven with mine. For her scent to surround me daily.

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