Page 73 of Once Upon a Fake Date

CHAPTER 22

Parker

Maxwell. Late again.” He looked up at me from his watch as I jogged onto the field, in full practice gear.

Shit. “Sorry, coach. Rehearsals ran long.”

I’d already been benched once—having to sit out the entire last game—and I felt like shit for letting my team down. But I knew coach’s zero-tolerance policy on violence, and yet it was hard to regret it after what he’d done to Audrey.

It was worth missing a game, though, considering he was now facing suspension and had been removed from the musical cast completely. The school had also received information about some of the other girls he’d been harassing, a packet of information that had been slipped anonymously under the door of the disciplinary department’s door.

“If you can’t keep up with the team, Parker, you’ll lose your scholarship. Want you at the top of your game for the away game next week.”

I gritted my teeth, holding back the words I wanted to say. Because it hadn’t been affecting my game. We’d still been winning. “I know, coach. I’ll be better.”

He slapped my shoulder, and I jogged on the field, joining my team for warm-ups before taking my place in mid-field for scrimmages.

Stephens gave me a nod, and I felt myself relax. Maybe it was because I’d been spending more time with the team, but I had grown closer to the guys over the last few months. Now, instead of strangers, they felt like friends.

It was a good feeling.

Now, I just needed to make it through the performance weekend, and then all of this would be over. We had less than a month until then, and that also meant Audrey and I’s fake dating deadline was rapidly approaching.

But I couldn’t lose her. After the other night, I knew our attraction was mutual. The way she’d come apart in my arms, how she’d been comfortable enough with me to let go. How she could be herself with me.

I wanted everything with her. Wanted this to be real. But I couldn’t fuck this up. Not with the musical, and not when I could lose her. I was completely in over my head, and yet not one piece of me regretted this.

God,I was fucking exhausted. We’d played hard and won our game tonight, but it had been a close call there. I wasn’t playing at the top of my game, and I knew it. My mind was a jumble of thoughts. Everything felt so insurmountable. My feelings for Audrey, and whatever was going on between us, were more important to me than lacrosse. Thankfully, my grades weren’t slipping, and I’d stayed on top of my studies.

The real problem was how I was going to juggle games and dress rehearsals as we got closer to the musical. It was getting more demanding, even if I had the entire script memorized practically forwards and backwards.

Sighing, I plopped my earbuds in, putting on the playlist Audrey had made on my phone as the bus drove back to Castleton’s campus.

Back to my girl. I hadn’t told her we weren’t spending the night tonight, because I was hoping to surprise her with dinner.

I’d put a stop to going any further the other night, and I owed her an explanation for that. She deserved to knowwhy. Not that I didn’t want to—Idid, more than ever, but I had no experience. Besides kissing, I’d never gone farther than second base. Audrey and I dry humping till we came the other night was the most erotic experience of my life.

And we hadn’t even taken our clothes off.

But I wanted her to know what it meant to me before she did. Because if she gave me that—letting me worship her body—I wanted it to mean something to her. It meant everything to me.

Trying not to think about those perfect tits underneath my jersey, I distracted myself by going through our plays tonight in my mind, thinking about what I could have done better, so I’d be more prepared for the next game. Anything was better than being hard on a bus full of my teammates.

Our bus was just pulling back onto campus when my phone buzzed.

Audrey

Hey, Dream Boy.

Parker

Dream Boy?

Mhmmmm. You have a silly nickname for me, so that’s my silly nickname for you.

Audrey.

Are you drunk?

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