Page 12 of Blindsided By the Enforcer

“Duh, I don’t have a car. I don’t really like to Uber. It’s only about a ten-minute walk,” she says like it’s no big deal.

“I’ll drive you. I have a car with winter tires.”

“Aw, that’s sweet of you. Thanks, Cade.”

“I’ll go throw on some pants and grab my keys,” I say since I am wearing a pair of shorts.

I head up to my room and change into a pair of jogging pants. I also put on my Riverside U hoodie. I grab my keys and bump into Luc at the top of the stairs.

“Annie’s here. That’s good,” he says with a stupid smile.

“Yeah, bro, I’m just going to take her home,” I explain.

“Okay, okay.” He nods his head repetitively and smiles. I don’t have energy for this nonsense. I don’t say anything. I just head out the door and give Annie a ride home. We are clearly on the same page, so this fake relationship is going to work out just fine for the both of us.

CHAPTER FOUR

Annie

“Hello,” Briar answers my call.

“Oh, thank goodness. I thought you would still be sleeping,” I say, thankful she answered the phone. “I’m low key freaking out. I’m meeting Cade’s parents in half an hour.”

“Um, what?” she asks, clearly confused.

Right, I didn’t tell her about my little plan.

“I kind of asked Cade to fake date me so I can get Ford off my back. He agreed because Scarlett was hounding him too,” I explain quickly because I don’t want to be late for breakfast with his parents. “The twist is, Cade was talking to his mother on the phone. I’m pretty sure she was giving him a hard time about the Scarlett breakup, like she was thinking it was his fault, so he told her Scarlett cheated and he and I are seeing each other.”

“Holy shit.”

“I need you to talk me down, Briar. The panic is real. I don’t like meeting parents. I’m awkward. I’ll say all the wrong things. This thing isn’t even real. How are we going to fool his parents? They’ll probably see right through our lies,” I splutter as I go on a word vomit rant.

“Calm down, you’re talking a mile a minute. Deep slow breaths. You’re sweet and beautiful. His parents will love you. And the great part is, you already know you guys have off-the-charts chemistry,” she adds.

I groan. “That kiss didn’t mean anything. It’s totally irrelevant right now.”

“That kiss was hot, and you know it,” she asserts.

“It was hot,” I concede. “But Cade and I have an arrangement. We aren’t interested in each other in that way.”

“He’s hot AF and you haven’t received a good screwing in forever,” she reminds.

“What a way to put it,” I scoff. Geez. “I’m not saying he isn’t good-looking, but I’m more than happy with my battery-operated friends,” I reply.

“See, there you go. You have everything figured out. There’s no need to panic,” Briar says.

“You’re so right. This is no big deal. Let’s just hope I don’t put my foot in my mouth.” I chew on my lip.

“Even if you do say something awkward, you’re so pretty it will be considered cute. Now, go charm the pants off his parents,” she pushes.

“Now I’m worried again.”

She groans.

“Go, you don’t want to be late. First impressions are everything,” she demands.

“He isn’t a real boyfriend. Does it really matter?” I ask.

---