Page 64 of Once Upon a Fake Date

Parker’s cheeks were tinged with the slightest shade of pink when I reopened them to take another bite, finishing the entire plate in no time.

Huh. I guess I had been starving. I hadn’t eaten at the game, too excited to leave my seat during the short intermission, and I’d only grabbed a granola bar at lunch today.

“Sorry,” I whispered, embarrassed at my display.

He crossed his leg over his knee, shaking his head as he took another bite of his dish. I assumed it was probably teriyaki chicken, because that was his favorite. “You don’t have to apologize to me.” His bore into mine and I swallowed, my mouth suddenly feeling dry.

I’d never felt like this before in all the time we’d spent alone, but I couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was tonight. The way his hair looked like he’d run his hands through it a few hundreds of times, his tight t-shirt that clung to all of those well-honed lacrosse muscles. His thighs, stretched and visible to me from the spot where I perched on his bed.

“I’m gonna… I’ll be right back,” I murmured, sliding off his bed, needing a moment to myself.

“What do you need?” Parker stood up, setting his plate aside. “I can go get you something.”

Shaking my head, I waved him back down. “It’s fine. I’m just gonna run to the bathroom and grab some water.”

And maybe some fresh air, too, because the heat I was feeling right now was unreal. Maybe if I cooled down, I wouldn’t feel like I wanted to straddle his lap and ride him until I came.

Fuck, it had been so long since I’d had a good, non-battery operated orgasm. My vibrator did the trick, but it didn’t compare to the real thing. Only my last boyfriend had been selfish and never cared about getting me off first, so I’d been taking care of myself longer than I could even recall.

“Okay.” He curled his finger around a strand of my hair before tugging on it slightly. “We should go rejoin the party, anyway.”

Now that he fed me, it made sense that he’d want to go join his friends. Even if I could have stayed up here alone with him all night. Listening to him talk about whatever book he was currently reading or the video game he’d been playing was infinitely more exciting to me than listening to his teammates, but I couldn’t exactly say that to him. He’d probably think it was weird.

Secretly, I liked that he loved swords and dragons, and always played the hero in any story. It shouldn’t have been sexy, but his secret nerdy side was absolutely attractive to me.

“Yeah.” My voice was breathy, and I hoped he didn’t notice. “Probably. Otherwise, your teammates are probably going to think we’re getting up to something in here.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And would that be so bad, Audrey?”

I didn’t know how to answer that. Would it be so bad if people thought that? Or would it be so bad if we didget up to something?

But I couldn’t clarify.

“See you down there,” I murmured instead, pushing his door open and leaving him inside his room.

The spring airand the bottle of water I’d snagged from the fridge instantly made me feel better, and I sat on the steps of the porch, enjoying the calm that was outside.

Inside, it was chaotic—lacrosse players everywhere, as well as god knew who else from campus. For a Wednesday night, there were a lot of students here.

All I wanted to do was disappear back into Parker’s room, but how could I after I’d practically run out of there like a scared kitten?

“This isn’t you, Audrey,” I scolded myself. Maybe someone would think it was weird if they walked by and saw me talking to myself, but for once, I didn’t really care what anyone else thought of me.

The only person whose opinion I cared about was Parker, and he’d made it clear time and time again that he liked me just the way I was.

“So, why are you being a coward?” I whispered to the night.

Because I was. I was too scared to admit what I was feeling was real, so I was hiding from the man who knew me best.

I sighed, staring up at the stars. Wishing I could ask them for help. Maybe tomorrow I’d call my mom. She always gave the best advice. Right now, I could use it.

My thoughts were so jumbled up, and I was so lost in them, that I didn’t hear the pair of footprints walking up the sidewalk until there was a pair of legs standing right in front of me.

“I’m sorry,” I squeaked. “I’ll move so you can get?—”

“No need.” The voice instantly sent my hackles rising, and I looked up to find the one person whose face I didn’t want to see tonight standing in front of me.

Duke.

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