Page 19

18

CHARLOTTE

“Can we please go eat something?” I beg on the third mile of our run as trees pass by in a blur. Nausea rises, and I force it down.

Damn Noah for making me do cardio before breakfast.

It’s been a week since his nightmare, and I’ve slept over since. The fear in his eyes is embedded into my memory, and I never want him to experience that alone again. He’s always there for everyone else. Now he needs someone to support him. He needs me to support him.

“We’re almost there,” Noah says, not even slightly out of breath.

I huff loudly, keeping in stride, so focused on trying to stay awake, I can barely keep my eyes open. “Fine.” We run a few more minutes, and just as I think I’ll have to take a break, Noah stops abruptly.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

He grabs my shoulders, spinning me around to a sea of a million wildflowers. A beautiful blend of green, pink, orange, purple, and white is before me. In the distance, a few cabins and a goal post border the rolling field. Breathtaking. Noah walks forward and reaches down to pick something up. He spins to face me, holding out a tiny dandelion.

“For my soffione, ” he says with an unabashed smile.

“What does that mean?” I ask, unable to fight my curiosity any longer as I take it between my fingers.

“It’s Italian for ‘dandelion.’”

“Because I’m a weak little weed?” I tease, biting my lower lip, knowing that’s how he viewed them during the camping trip.

“No.” He pushes my hair behind my shoulder, cupping my neck. “Because you’re incredibly resilient.”

My cheeks flush pink. “I’m not.”

“You are,” he says, dragging his thumb along my jaw. “Whatever life throws at you, you just keep going. You don’t lose hope.” He presses a kiss on my lips. “You keep wishing on dandelions.”

I place my hand on his. “I’d argue you’re the soffione ,” I say in a terrible Italian accent.

Noah grins. “Sorry, the nickname has already been assigned.” He holds up his dandelion with a cocked brow. “Make a wish,” says the man who doesn’t believe in wishing, and my chest warms.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, then blow on the little flower. When my eyes pop open, I see he’s done the same, his gaze following the petals drifting in the wind.

“Look at you becoming a serial dandelion wisher,” I say.

“There’s a lot out of my control these days,” he replies, and we continue down the path.

Guilt surrounds me for being one of those unexpected things. “Like when your best friend volunteers you to be her fake boyfriend?”

“No,” he says quickly, relieving my anxiety. “You’re helping me too, remember?”

“How have I helped you so far?”

“The orgasms have been excellent ,” he says, and my jaw drops open. Given our new sleeping situation, we’ve been having some morning lessons. Which have, in fact, been excellent.

“Noah!” I push his shoulder. “Be serious.”

“I am,” he says, grabbing my wrist and pulling me to a stop, eyes holding mine. “I promise you this little arrangement is one of the only things not stressing me.”

“And what is?” I press. “Stressing you?”

Is he still worried about the nightmare?

“It’s not important.” He brushes a strand of hair behind my ear.

“That’s literally the point of this, remember? An even exchange?”

He rolls his eyes with a huff. “I’m fine.”

“And how are the punt bunnies doing?” I ask.

“Well, I haven’t posted anything with you yet,” he says as if I’m not acutely aware of this fact. “So… still pretty crazy.”

“Then post something?” I suggest, stomach in my throat. As if the thought of us officially hard-launching our relationship so publicly doesn’t scare the hell out of me. But we did agree to an even exchange.

“I don’t have any good pictures of us alone.”

“Then let’s take one,” I suggest, forcing my nerves to relax.

“You sure?” he asks, eyes hopeful.

“Absolutely.” Not at all.

“Great,” he says, pulling out his phone and holding the camera up for a selfie.

“Hey!”

I turn to find Andi running up to us, trailed by a shirtless Kensington Knox, defensive cornerback for the Tampa Barracudas. His muscles are huge, dark skin covered in tattoos, and he’s dripping in sweat.

Hot.

“Hey,” Noah says, waving to Andi and his new teammate who came to coach for a day of training.

“What’s up, rookie?” Knox asks.

“Just working on our cardio, old timer,” Noah replies, then turns his attention to Andi, holding his phone toward her. “Mind taking a picture of us?”

“Do I?!” she says, snatching it out of his hand.

Noah and I stand before the field. He puts his arm around me, and we smile towards the camera.

“Seriously?” Andi frowns. “You look like two dorks taking a yearbook photo. Kiss her.”

“Andi!” I squeal, risking a glance at Noah, and our eyes connect. They’re so damn green. Flashbacks of this morning’s lesson—Noah’s gaze locked on mine, pounding in and out of me—flicker in my mind.

Andi snaps her fingers, breaking my connection with Noah. “Earth to baby cakes?”

I blink back to reality. “Yeah?”

“What was that?” she asks, pointing between us with narrowed eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“That look… that ‘I’ve seen you naked’ look.”

“Whaaat?” I say a high-pitched voice.

She gasps, turning to Knox. “See, I told you they wouldn’t last a month.”

“You told him?” I squeak, skin flushing hot, and Noah squeezes my hip with a laugh.

“Relax.” She waves me off. “Knox is good at keeping secrets.”

“And apparently you’re not!”

“I mean, I figured it anyway since you’ve been sleeping over, but this totally confirms it,” she says, wagging a finger between me and Noah. “Nice.”

“It’s not what you think,” I assure her, while Noah remains suspiciously quiet. “Right?” I say to him for backup.

“Right,” he agrees.

An awkward silence surrounds us.

“He’s giving me sex lessons,” I blurt.

Knox fights a smile, and Andi laughs. She actually laughs out loud.

“Now that’s a class I’d take,” Andi tells me. “I think I could use a bit of coaching . Don’t you?” she asks Knox, who grins. I can’t say I’m surprised. Photos of the two of them were all over the news after Christmas, and she basically admitted to sleeping with him—although she was cagey on the details.

“That could be arranged,” Knox replies, and my eyes bounce between them.

“Okay,” Andi says, holding the phone back up. “But this is good. Now take a picture like two people who actually are into each other.”

Noah turns me to face him, slides a hand into my hair, and yanks it down, angling my mouth to his. Our lips are a breath apart.

“You certainly were into me this morning,” Noah murmurs teasingly, for our ears only, and we both fight a smile.

“I’d dare to say you were into me .”

“Good, got it,” Andi says, and Noah waits a beat, presses a kiss to my mouth that steals all my oxygen, then releases me.

“Thanks,” he says, taking the phone from Andi.

“Will we see you two at the gala next week?” Knox asks.

My brows furrow, and I look up to Noah. “Gala?”

“It’s this fancy thing for work,” Noah says, glancing at Knox, then back at me. “I hadn’t gotten the chance to invite you yet.”

“But you wanted to?” I ask, holding his eye contact.

“Of course. Wouldn’t it make sense for my girlfriend to be there?”

“Right.” I nod. That would make sense.

“Come on,” Andi chimes in. “It’ll be fun!”

Noah grins at me, eyes hopeful.

“I don’t have anything to wear here,” I say. “My cheer uniform is about the fanciest thing I brought.”

“Don’t worry.” Noah smirks, eyes lit with mischief. “I’ll take care of it.”

“I do look great in pink,” I tell him.

“Yes!” Andi says, throwing an arm around my shoulders and dragging me away. “Then let’s talk details.”

“I said I’ll take care of the wardrobe,” Noah shouts from behind me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I give him a wink. “Then we’ve got to take care of what’s underneath.”

* * *

“This selection is garbage,” I tell Andi as we sift through racks of lingerie at a discount shopping center. Camp Dickson is in the middle of nowhere, so our options are limited. And I’ve found nothing, which is very bad news considering the gala is tomorrow.

There’s a nightgown that definitely won’t work, but I rub the silk between my fingertips anyways, imagining Noah’s hands sliding it up and off my body. When I flip over the price tag, my eyes bulge. $39.99 .

And that’s a discount?

I groan internally.

This is the problem. Lingerie costs an arm and a leg, just for it to get ripped off after thirty seconds anyways. Total waste.

Especially since my parents have frozen my cards and I’m using the money from my very limited savings for this. My mind wanders back to the daydream of Noah’s gaze searing into me as he takes in the little nightgown, undressing me with his eyes.

Fine. Worth it.

“Oh my gosh,” Andi says, pulling me back to the present. She holds out a black lacy set. “Noah would die if you wore this.”

“I don’t want to kill the poor man,” I say with a smirk.

She shoves it towards me, and I peek at the price tag. $19.99 for the tiny bra and panties. That I could definitely swing.

“Fine,” I concede, grabbing the same set in a lighter color since I don’t know what dress Noah’s getting me yet.

“Yes, girl!” Andi says as we head towards the register. “Make that man drool.”

“Did you find anything?” I ask her.

“A few little sets,” she says, arms full.

“Knox is going to love those.”

“Yep.” She nods.

We check out, get in Andi’s car, and head back to camp.

“So how are you feeling, all things Noah considered?” she asks.

I rest my head against the seat, memories of our sex lessons fresh. My body is light. Weightless. Pleasantly sore.

“Good,” I say with a satisfied smile.

“Are you two still pretending it’s all fake?”

“Andi!” I snap my gaze to her. “We are not pretending.”

“So you’re not faking that you’re faking it?”

“We’re not…” My brows pull together. “Huh?”

She rolls her eyes with a laugh. “And this, my friend, is what they call idiots to lovers.”

“Idiots to what?”

She waves me off. “You’ll realize what I mean soon enough.”

We roll under the wooden sign for Camp Dickson and quickly find a spot. I glance at my phone.

Noah

I’ve gotta leave in twenty, you back yet?

Me

Yes, where are you?

Noah

Heading to my cabin

“Would you mind taking my stuff?” I ask Andi as we get out of the car. “I want to catch Noah before he leaves for a meeting in Tampa.”

“No problem,” she says, and I hand her the small bag.

The sun shines on my face, and I can’t help but smile.

Sure, my boyfriend’s fake and the sex is just lessons.

But if this is an illusion, I hope we stay in it forever.