Page 57 of Faking It For Real

The pressure built relentlessly. I felt the familiar tightening, the inevitable surge. "Mia, I'm going to..."

She quickened her pace, her mouth moving expertly, drawing out my release until I couldn't hold back any longer. With a ragged cry, I came, spilling my cum into her mouth, the release blindingly intense. She didn't stop until the last pulses faded, then slowly lifted her head, her lips glistening, a look of profound satisfaction on her face.

We collapsed together then, limbs tangled, sweat-slicked skin clinging. My heart hammered against my ribs, echoing hers. I pulled her close, burying my face between her tits, breathing her in.

As Mia slept peacefully beside me, her dark hair spilling across my pillow, I stared at the ceiling and tried to remind myself that this was all for show—a mutually beneficial agreement with an expiration date.

But the memory of her naked body fitting perfectly against mine, the way she'd whispered my name in the darkness of my room, the trust in her eyes as she'd let me see all of her—those things felt anything but fake.

I was in dangerous territory, and I had no idea how to find my way back. Or if I even wanted to.

Chapter 14: Mia

"Christmas with his family?" Olivia's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. “Isn’t that taking the fake-girlfriend gig a bit too far?”

I carefully folded a sweater and tucked it into my overnight bag, avoiding her gaze. "It's just one night. His father is suspicious about our relationship, so Ethan thinks this will help sell the story."

"Uh-huh," Olivia crossed her arms, leaning against my doorframe. "And the fact that you two have been practically inseparable since the Winter Formal has nothing to do with it."

Heat instantly flooded my cheeks. The two weeks since the formal had been a minefield. Ethan and I had irrevocably crossed a line that night, tangled sheets and breathless moments transforming our carefully constructed fake relationship into something messy and undefined.

The aftermath had been jarring. We'd woken in the quiet dawn, the reality of it settling between us like dust motes in the air, only for his phone to buzz with brutal timing – Coach Alvarez, demanding an urgent team meeting. He’d scrambled for his clothes, pausing only long enough to murmur a rushed, "Mia, I... shit. I shouldn't have—that crossed a line. I'm sorry," before practically bolting out the door. Caught completely off guard, I’d managed only a weak, "It's okay, it's not a big deal," to his retreating back.

And we hadn't spoken about it since. Not one word. We’d slipped back into our routine, but now layered with this thick, vibrating tension. He hadn't pushed, and frankly, I was relieved. I'd decided then and there, in the echoing silence after he left, that itwasn'tgoing to be a big deal. It was a moment, fueled by swirling emotions. An anomaly.

“Honestly, it’s no big deal,” I said, the words sounding flimsy even to my own ears. I was trying to convince myself as much as Olivia.

She rolled her eyes and jabbed the air with her fingers. “‘No big deal’—the completely professional, zero-feelings arrangement that just happens to come with sleepovers every weekend and now invites to join my family for the holidays.”

"Olivia," I sighed, sitting on the edge of my bed. "It's complicated."

"It's really not," she countered, her expression softening. "You're into him. He's into you. The only complicated part is that you're both pretending this is still just a business deal."

I buried my face in my hands. "The arrangement has an expiration date, remember? Hockey season ends, he gets drafted, I hopefully get my opportunity withSports Illustrations, and we both move on. That's the deal."

The memory of his skin against mine, the intensity in his eyes just moments before his phone rang, made that 'deal' feel suddenly, terrifyingly fragile.

"Says who?" Olivia challenged. "Those were the original terms, sure. But circumstances change. Feelings change."

"That's the problem," I admitted quietly. "I can't afford for circumstances to change. I need thatSports Illustrationsconnection. My scholarship—"

"I know," Olivia interrupted gently. "But have you considered that maybe you can have both? The career opportunity and the guy?"

I looked up at her, surprised by the suggestion. "You think so? You're usually the one warning me away from entitled athletes."

She shrugged. "What can I say? Your hockey captain has grown on me. Like a fungus, but still." She sat beside me on the bed. "Besides, I've seen how he looks at you when he thinks no one's watching. That's not a guy who's just playing pretend."

Her words awakened a dangerous hope in my chest that I quickly suppressed. "Even if that were true—and I'm not saying it is—his career is taking him away after graduation. NHL draft, remember? He'll be going wherever they send him. I can't build my future around someone else's uncertain path."

"Having feelings for someone doesn't mean sacrificing your career," Olivia pointed out. "It just means you might have to work a little harder to find a way forward together."

I zipped my overnight bag with more force than necessary. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's one Christmas dinner with his family, not a proposal."

"Fine, fine," Olivia raised her hands in surrender. "But for what it's worth, I think you should at least consider having an honest conversation with him before the season ends. Clear the air about what's really happening between you two."

I nodded noncommittally, but her suggestion lodged itself in my mind as I finished packing.

Ethan picked me up the next morning for the drive to his parents' suburban home. He seemed uncharacteristically nervous, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and checking his mirrors more often than necessary.

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