Page 67 of Love, Academically
Rhys performed the introductions, andwow. How would anyone believe that Rhys had gone from this absolutely stunning woman to dowdy old her, probably with something stuck in her teeth. Because Seren wasperfect. Hair, poise, face, figure. All perfect. She was sleek and elegant, petite and lithe and Lila’s face grew warm at her own inadequacy. Especially when Seren ran her assessing gaze over every inch of her.
“It’s lovely to meet you,” she said, her honey voice low and smooth.
“Yes,” Lila managed to squeak out, “and you.”
“Rhys, you’re looking terribly well,” Seren said, stepping ever so slightly too close to him.
Uh, no thank you, back off lady. Lila shifted in her heels and Rhys moved with her, because she was gripping his arm tighter than the Spanx she was wearing. Seren’s eyes flicked to her.
“Your new life suits you,” she said, almost wistfully.
“Yes, Seren. It does,” Rhys said with a satisfied smile and a quick glance down at Lila. Gosh, Rhys was good at this fake girlfriend/boyfriend stuff.
“I’ll catch up with you another time,” she said, giving them both a warm smile, before gliding away. Yes, sheglided.
“She won’t,” Rhys murmured. “I’ve got absolutely no desire to catch up with her.”
Lila watched as Seren started to look back over her shoulder and jumped into action. She had to hold up her part of this bargain. Shifting towards Rhys, she put both hands on his chest, smiling up at him. Rhys’s hands fell to her hips, tightened ever so slightly, and pulled her flush against him.
Yep, flush against him. Body to body. She could feeleverything. Every flex of muscle, every shallow breath. Every. Single. Thing.
“She’s looking,” Lila whispered, by way of explanation.
“I don’t care,” he whispered back.
A giggle escaped Lila’s throat, but glancing up, she could see that he wasn’t joking. Not in the slightest. He was looking down at her, earnestly, a slight pink flush creeping above the collar of his pristine shirt.
Something shifted between them. Something hot and deliberate uncoiled itself low in her belly and she became soawareof every stitch of fabric on her skin, of how it pressed into her where Rhys’s hands held her possessively.
Breaking eye contact with Rhys, she focused on his bow tie, tugging at it gently, even though it was already straight.
Seren the supermodel. Elin the powerhouse businesswoman. Cerys the commander of the room. And her, Lila, a little goldfish, who felt like she was dressing up in Jasmeet’s clothes. Let’s face it, Rhys couldn’t even bring himself to tell her she looked nice.
Lila let out a sigh.
“What?” Rhys asked, squeezing her hips gently.
Lila pasted a smile on her face. Tonight was about Rhys, not her, so she would put all that aside and wallow in ice cream tomorrow.
“Nothing.”
Rhys
It was going extremely well. Rhys had managed to avoid his father at all costs, avoided his uncle Rhydian and his insipid cousin Madoc.
His mother was overjoyed that he was there. Elin had been excellent. James had been, well, James.
It was all down to Lila, he knew it was. Lila, with her perfect dress, secret smiles, and unwavering support next to him, was literally propping him up.
Pulling her against him had been a mistake but he couldn’t help it. A mistake because his dick didn’t realise that was as much as he was going to get and was making its displeasure known by being particularly troublesome in his tight-fitting tux trousers. They were just a fractiontootight.
“Here,” Rhys said, as he refilled Lila’s water glass. They were sat at the ridiculous round table, filled with low glass vases overflowing with pink and white flowers. His mother must have thought they were at a society wedding, because the white covered chairs and gauzy bows were just too much.
“Thanks,” Lila took a sip. “Everything okay?”
“Everything is perfect, Lila,” he said, shuffling his chair closer to hers. He rested his arm across the back of her chair, just like he had on that first night he had pretended to be her boyfriend, and rested his leg against hers.
“Is this okay?” he whispered, leaning towards her.
