Page 30 of Of Pranks and Passion

I walked away with him still spluttering. Maybe I’d be less of an ass if he stopped making it so much fun to mess with him. Surrounded by new people, he was too shy to argue with me right now.

“So, Gary… How do you know Phantom?” Angel asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, and propping his chin on his hand. He was too damn curious and that swell of possessiveness threatened to choke me.

“We’re in a couple of classes together,” Gary offered. That wasn’t it, though, and they needed to know. I grabbed two beers from the fridge, heading back to the living room with a scowl.

“He’s my boyfriend.”

Angel had passed the joint off to Smiley, and he was mid hit when I said it. He started coughing and choking like a newbie, and Coach had to pound on his back to get him to settle. All of them stared at me like I’d gone crazy. That was a done deal. I’d been crazy all my life.

Gary flushed bright red, his shoulders up by his ears. “He, uh… He agreed to be my pretend boyfriend when some people on campus started harassing me. We’re hoping if they think I’m with someone, they’ll leave me alone.”

Which probably meant hanging around campus more often, so we were seen. Ugh. That sounded boring.

“Who’s idea was this?” Angel prodded.

“Mine,” I said, offering Gary his beer. He looked confused, but I was pretty sure he was legal drinking age. I wouldn’t care if he wasn’t, but I pulled it back for a second with a frown. “How old are you?”

“Twenty four… I started college late…” he murmured.

Ah. Okay, good. For a minute there, I was worried. He had a baby face, it was hard to gauge his age. I handed him the beer, sitting on the arm of the couch beside him. My attention snagged on the television, and I raised an eyebrow.

“What the hell are you playing?”

“Not important,” Angel snapped, waving his hands wildly. “You, Phantom, the most unromantic person on the planet, got yourself a boyfriend, and it was entirely your idea.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “Is this a body snatchers situation? Should we be worried?”

My expression flattened. “Fake boyfriend. It’s not a romantic thing.”

“Uh huh,” Chuckles countered sarcastically. “So why does it look like his neck was mauled by a wild animal?”

Gary squeaked and blushed, yanking the hood up on the hoodie to hide the marks I left on him. I snatched it back down. He was supposed to show those off to keep people away from him.

“Boyfriends have sex. We’re selling the story,” I replied, frowning when Gary yanked the hood back up. They already saw it. He was wasting his time trying to hide it. I was thorough. The thought made me smirk.

“I feel like I’m having a bad trip,” Smiley commented. He shook his head like he was trying to dislodge the high a little. “Wait. Start again. How did this happen? And what’s the goal here?”

I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t a hard concept. Thankfully, Gary stepped in to explain, so I didn’t have to.

“My sister is…not a nice person. I’m pretty sure she’s being vindictive because it took me more than a day to send her the money she wanted. She is apparently telling people I’m…”

“Open for business,” I supplied when he whimpered. It was a fucked up rumor that was going to get him attacked if we weren’t careful.

“Right, that…” Gary agreed with a nod, his eyes locked on the untouched beer in his lap. “I’m not sure how she worded it exactly, but I’ve been approached a few times, and they’re really aggressive about it. Easton had to step in to protect me after one started threatening me. He pretended to be my boyfriend to get the guy to leave me alone, and after the guy left, he suggested countering her rumor with one that I was in a relationship. Not… available.”

Coach jerked around to look at me. “How bad?”

“Pretty sure she’s telling people he’ll act coy and to ignore his protests because he likes it like that. At least, that’s what the last asshole alluded to.”

Gary sank lower in on himself. To distract him, I tapped my bottle onto his, which made his foam over. He scrambled in panic and eventually stuck it in his mouth to avoid making more of a mess. I smirked when he swung around to glare at me.

“Distracted you, didn’t it?”

Once he was certain it wouldn’t keep foaming, he made a face at me. “I really don’t like you sometimes.”

“Liar,” I teased. He liked me plenty last night. And in the library before. He was just pouting.

When I looked up, my friends were all looking at me like I was crazy again. I scowled.

“A-Anyway,” Gary continued. “Easton punched the last guy in the nose. We’re hoping if people think I’m with him and that he’ll hurt them for approaching me, they’ll leave me alone.”

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