Page 71 of The Game

“Thirty to the lovely lady in orange.”

“Fifty!” The color drains out of Cole’s face, and I search the crowd to find the source of the bid. It’s his ex. Everything hasgone so well tonight, something had to happen to throw it off. I was really hoping she wouldn’t come. She’s still been showing up at his games but hasn’t made any other kind of moves since she confronted us at the first one. I kind of thought maybe the fake dating thing was working, and she was backing off. Apparently, I was wrong, and he’s the one who’s going to pay for my mistake.

“Fifty to the lady in red. Can I hear sixty?”

Amira turns to me with wide eyes.

“Sixty,” I call out, already higher than I was hoping to go, but he looks so desperate up there.

“Sixty-five.” Charlene has got a malicious gleam in her eyes when she turns to me. Does she really think that winning him in an auction will do anything for her cause? He’s not going to suddenly fall back in love with her because he’s forced to spend a single date with him. It’ll probably have the opposite effect.

“Seventy.” I say, already thinking about the ramen I’m going to have to eat for a couple of weeks if I have to put that much money out.

“Seventy-five.” Amira can’t even keep up with the bidding. She’s just nodding and pointing at us in turn.

“Eighty.” I close my eyes and pray. That’s it. That’s the highest I can go, even if I dip into my saved tips from All Capps.

“Eighty-five.” Charlene pipes in right away.

The silence following her bid is heavy. Guilt weighing on me that I’m letting Cole down.

Amira focuses back on me, but I shake my head at her. She knows I can’t do any more than that, so she turns backto the crowd, and I rush off, blinking away tears. Why is this affecting me so much?

It’s only one date. He’ll be ok. I’ll make it up to him somehow. There are a couple more shouts behind me, but I don’t turn around to see what’s going on. Apparently, someone else has joined the bidding, but I’m sure Charlene will not let this opportunity slip through her fingers.

Beau is shifting from one foot to the other when I get back to him.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have left you here by yourself.”

“It’s fine. I’ll be fine,” he says.

I’m not sure I believe him. There’s a slight hitch in his voice and he’s tapping his fingers on his thighs in a repeating rhythm.

I reach up, placing a hand on his shoulder. “If this isn’t ok with you, you can back out. No hard feelings. The last thing I want is to make you feel uncomfortable.”

He shakes his head at me. “It’s fine. I have to go to all kinds of events like this for my family. I can handle it.”

Save me from stoic boys who have to tough it out regardless of how they’re feeling, but he’s a grownup. He can make his own decisions.

I send him off with an encouraging smile. “You got this.”

Bidding starts out high for the golden boy hockey captain. He’s the whole package, athletic talent, good lucks, and a trust fund that would set him up for life even if the hockey career doesn’t pan out. But that’s not who I’m looking for. I search the crowd for the dark hair that I know feels impossibly soft under my fingertips.

The bachelors are back in the crowd, mingling with everyone else now that the evening is almost at a close. Something dark unfurls, spreading its vines through my soul when I do spot him. There’s a tic in his tight jaw, and he’s leaning away from Charlene. Her fingers rest on his arm, and she’s leaning in. One of the invasive vines twists tighter around my heart. It’s jealousy. I’m jealous of this girl who has her claws on my boyfriend. A decidedly real kind of anger has me marching over to them.

“Hey, hon,” I say, stepping in beside him and slipping an arm around his waist.

The urge to kiss him is strong. Make my public claim and warn this other girl away from my man. The taut coil of possessiveness is uncomfortable. Is this not the very thing I freaked out on him about?

I lean in closer, and a wash of the spicy musk of his cologne engulfs me. That does it for me. I stretch up on my toes to plant a kiss on his cheek, but he turns his head at the last moment, and our lips clash in an awkward touch that melts into something sweet. It sure feels real to me whenever we’re joined like this.

He steps in closer, lifting a hand to the back of my head, random girl forgotten.

She huffs and steps away, but I don’t pull back even though my point has been made. I can’t. He’s my new addiction, and I can’t get enough of him. His fingers tangle in my hair, pulling me into him, and our tongues meet at the same time, like we’ve got a connection deeper than surface. Like we can read each other’s thoughts and needs.

A wave of loud applause breaks out around us, shattering the moment. The illusion of privacy I had when the world faded away at the touch of our lips.

I pull away, wincing at the pain in my scalp when he can’t untangle his fingers in time.

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