Page 19 of In the Net
“So we’d better get going,” Harper finishes. “See you around.”
She loops her arm around my side and pushes against my back, guiding me down the hall and away from her cousin.
Before we turn the corner, I look over my shoulder to see Mackenzie still looking at us, her face painted green with envy.
Mackenzie is the most status-obsessed person I’ve ever met. I just know that, in her mind, Harper “dating” me is an intolerable injustice to her sense of hierarchy.
Which is why faking it in front of her is so fun.
Harper may be a lot of things, but status-conscious isn’t one of them. If we actually were dating, that aspect of things wouldn’t even occur to her for a second. I’m sure Mackenzie is aware of that, and I’m sure it’s eating her up.
“You can stop touching me now,” Harper says once we’re outside the English building.
I realize I still have my arm slung around her, having made no move to remove it after we’ve escaped her cousin’s eyes.
I’m surprised by the reluctant feeling that makes it just a little difficult to pull my arm away from her. Almost like the slight resistance you feel when tugging a strong magnet off a refrigerator door.
My arm hangs by my side. Even though the air is warm, my palm and fingers that were just pressed against Harper’s shoulder feel cold.
The sensation makes me feel strangely off-balance. I shove my hands in my pockets, hoping that’ll chase it away.
“Admit it,” I say to Harper.
She lifts an eyebrow. “Admit what?”
“You enjoy seeing your cousin jealous of you.”
She blows a raspberry through her lips and rolls her eyes. “That would be so childish and silly.”
“Yeah, it would be,” I answer. “Now admit it.”
Her mouth bunches up on one side. “Fine. I enjoy it a little. If the trade-off was something better than having to pretend that I can tolerate you, maybe I’d enjoy it a lot.”
I huff a laugh. “Maybe you can ask Jamie to do a real fake relationship, then. Mackenzie would be just as jealous, and prolonged exposure to Jamie wouldn’t make you nauseous.”
Harper’s lips twitch. “Yeah, but Jamie’s too sweet. He’d never be able to keep up the lie.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “You’re probably right.”
Am I going crazy, or did Harper and I just have a short conversation where we were actually smiling and laughing, for real?
An eerie feeling slinks up my back, like I’m in a Twilight Zone episode.
Another feeling accompanies it, but for some reason, I feel wary of describing or analyzing it.
“How are you going to tell her we broke up?” I ask.
Harper’s eyebrows lift. “Oh, I have an idea in mind.”
“I’m sure I’ll come out looking fantastic in your made-up scenario,” I say sarcastically.
“You forfeited all rights to not look bad in my made-up stories about our breakup when you invented a bowel condition for me at the cocktail bar.”
Can’t deny there’s a certain fairness in that position.
“Well, I’d better get to practice,” I say. “If Mackenzie asks you, feel free to give lurid details about our fake sex life.”
“If I ever need to make myself throw up, I’ll think about it,” she replies.
