Page 22 of Fake Dates and Home Plates
My stomach drops.
The hoodie is one of ours. The girl is tall, blonde, and easy to recognize, even in poor lighting.
Maddie.
A sophomore. Talented. Fast.
“The audacity of him to yell at me about Theo when he’s trying to run through my fucking team,” I start.
Lily nods grimly. “They definitely hooked up, according to Jess.”
Jess is another one of our teammates. She’s a junior but has a class with Lily.
The silence around the table is deafening.
Lily bites her lip. “You okay?”
I don’t answer right away. I blink down at the screen, willing myself to feel something other than numbness.
“I mean,” I say finally, voice even, “I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Still,” Lily says, “it’s low.”
“It’sDakota,” I say with a forced laugh. “His bar is in hell. Just sucks Maddie would go there.”
I shake my head and read the email from my professor about ten times before my brain decides to focus on my work instead.
What else can I do?
Staying angry feels like giving him power. So, I smile, sip my iced coffee, and pretend it doesn’t bother me that a girl I’ve trained with for almost two years stabbed me in the back.
The drink tastes bitter as I realize she might not even be the first, depending on when their little game started.
Chapter Ten
Theo
It’s almost a week before I see my fake girlfriend again. Henley’s training schedule and our classes have kept us both busy.
Plus, we’ve finally started up baseball practices again, which means my afternoons are spent on the field or doing conditioning with the team.
Somehow, I convinced her to come to Bash and Sunny’s game night with me. The twins usually team up to save us from their overcompetitive sibling rivalry.
Being an only child, I grew up wishing for a sibling, mainly because it meant someone to hang out with while my parents were busy attending galas and making their tee time with business partners rather than parenting.
But watching my teammate and his sister threaten to end each other over a board game makes me think I’m lucky.
“If things get too intense, give me a signal, and I’ll make up an excuse to leave,” I say as we walk down the hall.
Bash and Sunny share an apartment. Apparently, a contract had to be drawn up and signed prior to moving in because they both have very similar social lives.
She can’t fuck any of his teammates.
He isn’t allowed to fuck her friends.
Neither of them is permitted to make the other witness or hear their…activities.
Henley eyes me curiously when I reach for her hand.
