Page 32 of The Pretender

Vee laughs and shakes her head as she stands on her tiptoes to kiss him on his cheek. Turning, she looks at Aspen, “Will I see you tonight?”

Aspen grins but looks at Bennett who simply folds his arms and glares. “Depends.”

Yeah, depends on if she can get away from him. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a college dude so possessive about a girl. I thought Mav was being all weird with Ainsley, but Bennett acts like Aspen is the Hope Diamond and he’s the one entrusted to its care. The dude has the entire campus scared to even look at Aspen.

“Okay. Just text me so I know to lock the door if you’re not coming home.”

Wait, what? Is that why she leaves her keys in the door all the time? Because she doesn’t bother locking the door?

Bennett’s head whips to Vee, but he’s looking over her shoulder at me when he says, “You better handle that.”

I nod. I assume he means making sure she locks the door when I drop her off. I can do that. I tug Vee to the door and step outside when we hear Bennett growl out, “Are you fucking serious? Do you sleep with the door unlocked?”

Vee cringes, and we pull the door closed, leaving Aspen to fight her own battles. I exhale in the evening air as we walk back across the courtyard and to my Jeep. “You…uh…look.” I can’t even finish my sentence. Valentina Lambros looks… different.

“Shut up,” she barks, but it lacks her usual bite. She’s nervous.

“Beautiful. You look beautiful,” I add, when I can get my tongue to work correctly. “No flannel today?”

She tugs at the waist of her dress and grimaces. “I thought if we were really going to sell this thing, I needed to look the part.” She pulls her eyes from the ground and stops, facing me. “You would never be seen with someone in flannel.”

I nod, but I only do it because she expects me to. Truth is, I’m known for always being seen with the girl in the flannel shirt. It didn’t bother me then and it certainly doesn’t bother me now. “I’m okay if you want to keep the look. I think our viewers are used to your style.”

I don’t want her to change for me or this competition.

“It’s okay,” she says, walking forward, “We can try it and see. If the views are higher, I’ll take one for the team. If they’re lower, I’ll bring out the trusty flannel again.”

She’s hasn’t changed at all. Not that I expected her to act like a different person, but with our history, I wasn’t so sure.

Valentina Lambros is unpredictable.

The rumor around campus is no one is bold enough to date her. You would think it’s because of Bennett and Drew, but that’s not the case. The truth is, Valentina Lambros is too much for one man to handle. To date her, you need a good sense of humor and a hefty life insurance policy.

“Why are you staring at me?”

I flick my eyes to hers. “Was I staring?”

She nods and glances down at her chest. “Yeah, you were. Keep your eyes up top, playboy.”

I chuckle at her scolding. I wasn’t checking out her boobs since I already did that way back when she first became my neighbor. She may have worn flannel over the top of her tank tops, but nothing masked the curve of her tits. I know what she’s working with. I’m a dude. We know how to admire tits under layers.

“Okay, so where are we eating?” I push the start button and allow the rumble of the engine to relax me.

She shrugs. “Tacos?”

I nod my agreement. “Tacos sound good. Any place in particular?”

She grins and points to the street on the right. “Turn there. I know just the place.”

I ease off of the curb and follow her directions for a few minutes, until the silence becomes awkward.

“So…uh. Nice roommates you have.”

She cuts me a look that says she doesn’t approve of my sarcasm. “It was a bad day for Bennett. He usually isn’tthatbad.”

“What happened?”

I don’t really care about Bennett’s issues. I think it’s pretty evident he needs to bang the shit out of Aspen and loosen the fuck up.

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