Page 35 of My Fake Relationship With the Popular Boy
He snorted. “Sure you don’t.”
Jaxon kicked off his shoes and threw himself on the bed. He stretched and groaned again.
“I want to sleep for ten years,” he said.
“Me too,” I murmured. I laid down next to him, still fully clothed and over the covers. I knew it was probably a bad idea to lay down before getting ready for bed because it would be hard to convince myself to stand up again, but I couldn’t help it. I turned my head to look at him, my fiery red hair spreading outover the pillow, and watched him for a minute. His eyes were closed and he looked so peaceful. I felt bad for bothering him.
“Hey, Jaxon?” I whispered.
With his eyes still closed, he murmured back, “Yeah?”
“I had a really good time today.”
He hummed. “I’m glad.”
I sighed and let my eyes drift closed. I couldn’t fall asleep yet. I still had to get changed into those… horribly inappropriate pyjamas and… okay, maybe falling asleep fully clothed was actually the better option after all.
“We can’t fall asleep yet,” Jaxon mumbled as if he read my mind.
“I know,” I mumbled back. My face was smashed into the pillow, muffling my voice a little. “But it’s so hard to care.”
“Mh-hm.”
I forced my eyes open again. “Hey Jaxon… would you really have fought Lewis if it came down to it?”
There was a beat of silence. “Yeah. Probably.”
I wasn’t surprised by the response. I’d seen the anger in his eyes that afternoon.
“Honestly, I’m surprised I’ve never heard of the two of you fighting before this.”
“Trust me, there were many times I wanted to,” he said. He rubbed a hand over his face. “Somanytimes.”
I rolled onto my side and propped my head up with my hand. “Why didn’t you do it, then?”
“Because of you,” he said simply.
“I feel like you’re using me as a reason a lot today.”
“Well, to be fair, they’re related issues.” He finally opened his eyes again, blinking at the harsh hotel lighting. He rolled onto his side to face me. Our faces were inches apart, reminding me of all the photos we had taken that day. I wasn’t sure how tofeel about that. “You and Lewis were friends and I knew you wouldn’t like me fighting him, so I didn’t.”
“But… you and I were never friends before this,” I said, waggling my finger between us. “So why did you care what I thought?”
He grinned. “You’re forgetting that I practically worshipped the ground you walked on in the ninth grade.”
I rolled my eyes. Sure, he was into me but not to that extent.
“I’m sure that’s an extreme exaggeration of your feelings toward me, Andrews,” I said. “But still, that doesn’t explain everything — you said you’re not into me anymore, so what changed?”
Jaxon shrugged. “It still just didn’t sit right. Even if you and I weren’t friends, I didn’t want to hurt you by fighting your best friend.”
“So what was different today then?” I asked. I traced a circle on the bedsheet with my finger. “After years of restraint, why were you suddenly so willing to fight him?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Jaxon asked. I frowned. Did he mean that because we were “dating” he should suddenly be willing to fight for me?
I shook my head slightly. “No.”
Jaxon frowned. “You and Lewis aren’t friends anymore. I didn’t think you’d be very angry if I punched him.”
