Page 35 of Fake Skating

Alec’s friends seemed to be addicted to gambling, because they couldn’t play a single game without wagering something.

At first it was a couple of bucks, plus they kept buying tickets for a meat raffle (a bizarre fundraiser that’s apparently common in Minnesota in which people try to win a package of meat) when the board came around, but then they all agreed that they didn’t have any more money to throw away.

So they started betting absurd things.

Loser of the next game has to take a sip out of someone’s drink without them noticing.

Loser of the next game has to do a cartwheel.

Loser of the next game has to freestyle dance for two minutes without stopping.

Alec lost that one just as my grandpa walked in.

And yes—he stared at Alec like he was a moron.

I couldn’t stop cackling as Alec continued dancing, his cheeks red, and my grandpa continued scowling at him.

“I officially request that someone kill me,” he said when he walked back over to the table where I was sitting with his friends, “because my soul has already left my body.”

“I cannot believe you just danced for Mick Fucking Boche,” Richie said.

“Yeah, I definitely want him to forget he ever saw that,” Alec said, shaking his head.

My phone lit up from where it was sitting in the center of the table, and every single person in our group looked at it as the words BEN WORTHINGTON showed up on the screen.

“You’re getting a text from Worthington?” Vinny said, looking at me like I’d just gotten a text from Ted Bundy.

“What the hell is that about?” Kyle said, looking at Alec.

“No—he’s my next-door neighbor,” I said defensively. “Sometimes. I mean, he lives with his mom most of the time—”

“That doesn’t explain why he’s texting you,” Vinny said.

“It really doesn’t,” Alec said, looking… so serious all of a sudden.

“Wait—how do you guys even know him?” I asked Vinny. “He goes to school at—”

“St. John’s. Yeah, he’s a fucking Cadet, we know,” Richie said.

“Everyone hates Ben,” Cassie said, as if that explained everything.

“Feel free to read the message,” Alec said to me, his face very unreadable (but definitely not happy). “Go ahead.”

The entire group was watching me like they suspected me of… something . “You guys, my mom made me put his number in my contacts, but I don’t ever text with Benji—”

“You should read it,” Cassie said, “so it doesn’t drive these guys nuts. They really hate Ben. We all do, after what he did.”

“What’d he do?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Alec said. “It doesn’t matter.”

I could tell it absolutely did matter, but I could also tell no one was going to share because Alec had told them not to. I grabbed my phone and held it out to Cassie. “You can read it. I honestly barely know the guy.”

She gave me a look that said good move before taking my phone and reading his text aloud. “?‘FYI big party in Mendota Heights tonight. I’ll drop the address if you and your friends are looking for something to do.’?”

“Gross,” Kyle said.

“Can I respond?” Richie asked with a grin. “Pretty please?”

“I’m on it,” Cassie said, reading out loud as she texted: “?‘No thanks, too busy celebrating with our hockey boys.’ And… send.”

And that was it. The group went back to their silly games instead of looking at me like I was colluding with Satan.

“Okay, all or nothing,” Cassie said. “Loser of this last one is at the mercy of the winner of this game.”

Everyone let out a collective “oooh,” as if this was a very big deal.

All I knew was that I did not want to be the loser.

And I wasn’t.

But my fake boyfriend was not so lucky.

He was the loser, and Richie the Obnoxious was the winner.

“Zeus, Zeus, Zeus,” Richie said, grinning as he looked at Alec.

I giggled.

Which made Richie look at me .

His mischievous grin kicked up a little higher as he looked back and forth between the two of us, and a niggling of unease settled into the pit of my stomach.

“I dare you to kiss her for thirty seconds,” he said to Alec, pointing at me. “Right here, right now.”

“What?” I said, or kind of squealed, actually.

No. No. No. No. No. NO.

“How is that a punishment?” Alec said casually, as if he really were my boyfriend and didn’t understand the stupid request. “I actually like kissing her, and though I appreciate you thinking of me, I don’t understand why you’d choose this as my punishment.”

He was so cool that I almost believed his act.

But gahhhhhhh what the hell what the hell??

I’d barely recovered from the driveway kiss, and that had only lasted for a heartbeat.

I wasn’t sure my heart could take a real kiss.

Also, I was not about PDA.

No, thank you.

Richie said, “I dare you to kiss her right here—”

“Yes, I got that part,” Alec interrupted.

“—where you are directly in a certain someone’s line of sight.”

The entire group turned their heads in unison and saw my grandpa sitting at the table just behind ours, his chair directly facing us.

“Where Mick Boche can see you,” Richie said, smiling like he was supremely proud of himself.

“No way,” Alec said definitively, looking offended by the suggestion. “I don’t have a death wish.”

“But you lost,” Richie said. “Rules are rules.”

“I don’t care, I’m not doing it,” Alec insisted, which I understood, but it also made me feel a little rejected for no intelligent reason whatsoever.

“Come on, you wimp,” Kyle said quietly. “What do you think is going to happen—he’s going to punch you in the face? You played your ass off tonight, and we need you for the postseason. He won’t do dick.”

“So why do you want me to do it, then, Kyle?” Alec asked. “Why do you care?”

I expected Kyle to say to show you have big balls or something stupidly macho, but he said with the utmost sincerity, “Because you’ve never reneged on a game challenge before. Can’t start now. Not sure why you’re even questioning it, to be honest.”

Kyle’s eyebrow rose, and Alec’s mouth closed as if what Kyle said was worthy of consideration.

“Zeus doesn’t back out on anything. Hasn’t ever . Period. Aren’t you worried about messing up the team’s mojo?” Richie pressed on.

As if that reaction weren’t weird enough, the rest of the group all nodded as if this was something important that needed to be factored in.

And they collectively said, “Ooh.”

“Wait. What does that mean?” I asked.

“Zeus here, our captain , hasn’t reneged on a game challenge the entire time we’ve been undefeated,” Kyle explained. “He can’t start now when we’re looking at the tournament. When we have a legitimate shot at finally going all the way.”

“It’s true,” Cassie added. “We’ve made the state tournament more than any other team in the state. For years . And now the odds are in our favor.”

Why is it suddenly getting so heavy in here? I looked at the group around me—their faces were as serious as ever.

“You aren’t kidding, are you?” I said, glancing back and forth between Alec, who wouldn’t meet my eyes, and his friends, who were staring me down as if my decision was of the utmost importance.

“She doesn’t have to do it,” Alec said to his friends, but he wasn’t smiling. He looked… uncomfortable as he threw me a lifeline.“Seriously.”

I wanted to laugh, because it was ridiculous the way they were all behaving as if this were a logical concern. But I couldn’t, because Alec’s face was all tension as he watched me, and also my stomach was filling with raucous butterflies at the thought of what the punishment entailed.

Kissing Alec.

For thirty seconds.

Here and now.

I must’ve waited too long to answer, because he glanced at me, swallowed, then said, “We’re not doing it.”

My mind was racing, my heart beating fast. Alec’s eyes were pleading, and my whole face felt like it was on fire. And before my brain could stop my lips from moving, I heard the words “I think we have to” escape from my mouth.

Ohhhhh, holy shit, we were doing it.