Page 94 of Betting on You

“With bullshit,” Scott said.

And my mom added around a laugh, “Withtotalbullshit.”

“Maybe,” Charlie said, looking at them, “but the bottom line is, now that I’ve seen what Bay could be to me, seeing her as just a friend is impossible.”

Ifelthis words, felt the power of their potential as we walked. My stomach flipped over as I breathed in his cologne and felt his warm arm, anchoring me against him.

I allowed myself for a half second to pretend he meant what he’d said.

My mom’s voice crooning “Awwww” pulled my eyes wide open.

“Wow,” I whispered sarcastically to Charlie, hoping he hadn’t noticed the way I’d melted into him. “So good.”

But. Was it strange that at that moment, I wanted his words to be true? This whole thing was just a game, and the real Charlie Sampson was a huge pain in the ass, but in that mountain moment, under the gorgeous moonlight, I wanted fake Charlie to be real and to mean what he’d just said.

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.

I needed to get myself together.

None of this was real, and I needed to stop forgetting that.

“Right?” he said to me, but his mouth was straight, his eyes serious before he pulled them away and turned his head.

When we got to the town square ice rink, my mom and Scott decided they wanted to skate, even though they totally weren’t dressed for it. Charlie and I stood off to the side and watched them for a few minutes, skating in dress clothes and looking fairly adorable in spite of their age.

“I don’t think our fake dating is having an effect at all,” I said, watching Scott gesturing wildly while my mom laughed.

“We just need to go harder,” Charlie replied. “Cause more friction.”

“Do you really think it matters?” I asked, feeling discouraged as I stared at the old people having more fun than me.

“Would you rather do nothing?” he asked.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

“Seriously. Risk versus reward,” he said, sounding very sure of himself. “The risk isn’t high—unless kissing is risky business—so why not keep trying?”

I tilted my head and turned to him. “So you’re saying—”

“We could stand here and watch them skate, or we could stick with the plan and make them uncomfortable.”

Did he want to kiss me again?

“Let’s do that,” I said, a little too quickly, but the truth was thatIwas dying to kisshimagain.

Actually, I assured myself as I let my eyes wander over the dimple in his chin, kissing Charlie was a great idea. Because there were always sparks when you kissed someone new the first few times; that was natural.

So it stood to reason that the more I kissed Charlie and made the newness wear off, the less sparky it would be and the more clinical it would become.

This, I thought as he looked down at me,thiswas a plan.

“Atta girl.” Charlie grabbed my hand and led me over to a huge pine tree. We were still in public, but the tree gave us a little privacy. I felt the trunk against my back as he lowered his mouth toward mine, so close that our breath mingled, and then he stopped.

Hovered, his dark eyes hot on mine.

Sending electricity to every nerve ending in my body as he waited for me to make a move.

I set my hands on his chest, feeling bold as I caught his lower lip between my teeth and dragged them along the edge. His breathingwas a little ragged when I licked at the corner of his mouth, and then I angled my head the tiniest amount and closed my eyes, feeling a wild confidence that was new and downright intoxicating.

---