Page 171 of The Fake Date Agreement

I toe off my sneakers and face Theo. “Her initials are HS.”

Theo steps inside and pushes the door firmly closed behind him. “How long have you known?”

“That you’ve been making eyes at your best friend’s little sister?” I shrug. “Probably since she walked into the arena in her freshman year and you slammed into the side of the rink.”

He scowls at me. “I was hit.”

“By a Cupid’s arrow. And also, because you weren’t paying attention. You were too busy staring at Hallie, who was too busy making eyes at Coach Conner.” I snort a laugh and shake my head. “It’s like a fucking Shakespeare play.”

I walk over to my mini refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of water that I offer Theo. He refuses, and I shut the door, sitting at my desk with the bottle of water I twist open.

He lowers his voice. “Now you understand why I can’t tell her.”

“No, I understand why you’reafraidof telling her. What I don’t understand is thewhy. She’s an adult. So are you. Just tell her how you feel and take it from there.”

“Sweet won’t be feeling so sweet if he hears I want to fuck his little sister.”

I wince. “Yeah, when you tell him, maybe soften the language a little. That fuck is going to get you a broken nose if you’re lucky. A concussion if you’re not.”

“What’s the point? She hates me.”

“Because you’re nice to every single person except her. It’s a dead giveaway, you know.” I cross my arms and sit back in my seat, resting my feet on the side of my desk. “Reid said there was a girl he liked in fifth grade, and they spent an entire semester being sworn enemies and then dated for five years when they stopped pretending to hate each other.”

“It’s not the same thing. Reid and that girl were into each other. Hallie is into Coach Conner.”

“Have you seen Jase give her a single look back?”

His expression is thoughtful. “No.”

“Which means he’s not into her.” He turns to leave. “Yet.”

He freezes. “What do you mean, yet?”

“Hallie is determined. She knows what she wants. And she’s hot. Sooner rather than later, he’s going to open his eyes, and if you haven’t said how you feel…” I shake my head warningly.“An opportunity is an open window. Windows don’t always stay open. Someone can slam it shut anytime they want.”

Like this thing with Tobie.

Eventually, Marc is going to realize his mistake and grovel. If we haven’t told her that we want this relationship to be permanent, she’ll disappear out of our lives just as quickly as she entered it. It’s something that Caleb, Reid, and I have spent the last few days arguing about.

I want to tell her now.

Caleb is the planner. He wants to wait until spring break when we have time to sit and talk about how this unconventional relationship will work. I get that. There are aspects wedoneed time to really talk about—namely, our families. None of us have told them about Tobie. I don’t know what Tobie’s dad will think, but from what she’s said, they’re close. If her dad has a problem with our relationship, I can’t see her being happy.

Reid was ready to tell her a week ago, but she was still hurting from her breakup with Marc and wasn’t looking to jump into a relationship straightaway, least of all with three guys.

We’ve all slept with her. We all like her better than we have any other girl, but this relationship is as new to her as it is to us. None of us wants to be the one to fuck things up.

“Tell her, Theo. Sweet will understand it’s more than just wanting to fuck his sister.”

“What makes you think it isn’t?”

“You’ve been blind to the girls trying to catch your eye. It’s like they don’t exist for you. If this were just an itch, you’d have scratched it with some other girl long before now.”

“Do you think Lincoln knows?”

I arch my eyebrow. “Has he punched you in the face recently?”

He scowls at me.

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