Page 28 of The Fake Date Agreement

“And your cell?” Javier asks.

I reel off my number.

He taps it into his phone, saying, “I’m sending it to the others and sending you ours.”

When all our phones vibrate as Javier finishes sharing our numbers and my schedule with Reid and Caleb, I guess we’re really doing this.

This fake dating…

Situation?

Bet?

Experiment?

I have no clue what it is, but we’re doing it.

“Why’d you need my schedule?” I ask a question that if I were with it, I’d have asked before I let Javier take a picture of it.

“Your ex will know when you have free periods and days off, right?” Reid asks.

“So?”

“And you know when his free periods and days off are?” Javier asks.

I nod.

Reid sandwiches his fingers together. “Then we put the two together. He needs to see you with us and often. Does he go to any parties?”

“No…” Then I remember the arena. “But he was lying about going to hockey games by himself, so what do I know?” My voice is bitter.

“There’s a party at one of the biggest frat houses tomorrow night,” Caleb says.

I swear there’s a party every night of the week on fraternity and sorority row, and I’ve heard they can be wild. Going to one is enough to break me out in hives, but I agreed to this. “So?”

“If he goes to it, great. If he doesn’t, then whatever happens at those parties usually gets spread around campus pretty quickly. It’s a good opportunity to kick this off,” he says.

Reid eyes him closely. “You don’t go to parties.”

“I have better things to do with my time,” Caleb says.

It’s a relief to hear I’m not the only one who dodges parties like the plague.

Reid’s lips twitch. “All that’s missing is the slippers and the pipe before bed.”

Caleb doesn’t take his eyes off me. “The sooner people start seeing us together, the sooner girls can leave us alone to focus on what matters.”

“The championship,” I say.

He nods. “Practice at the rink usually draws a few girls. Some are fine. They’re dating other players, and they know the deal. Others sneak in or don’t seem to understand they’re a distraction. With you there, they’ll stop distracting me and us.”

He says it like people will buy our relationship. They won’t.

“No one is going to believe you’re interested in me,” I say.

It might work if it was just one of them, but three hot hockey players datingme?

“Maybe not at first.” Javier stands, and I jump when he gently nudges me aside so I’m not blocking the closet. “May I?”

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