Page 3

Chapter 3

Alexis

The text came only a few days later.

Lis

We found you a boyfriend. Meet us at The Crossroads at 7. Wear something pretty.

I groan as I glare at it, then drag my eyes towards the closet. Wear something pretty . What does that even mean? I like all of my clothes, but taste is subjective. How am I supposed to guess what a stranger thinks is pretty? And if this is all fake, why does it even matter?

Whatever. We have to make it look real, I suppose.

I settle for a skin-tight white top that shows a sliver of skin at my navel and my best pair of black skinny jeans, topping it with a loose-knit cardigan for comfort. It’s a pretty standard look for me, but no one bothered to mention a dress code and I don’t want to overdress and give my date any wrong ideas.

Oh god.

I have a date.

With a stranger.

A stranger who, if this goes well, will pretend to be my beloved boyfriend for the next couple of months. A stranger who, if they carry any ill will, has the chance to humiliate me in front of the entire school by admitting our charade.

My veins fill with lead as I let myself fall backward onto the floral bedspread, my face hidden behind my palms. A nightmare—this is just a nightmare.

What if I just…didn’t go? Stayed home. Locked myself in my room like a petulant child and researched getting a fake degree. Surely getting caught with one of those would be less embarrassing than getting caught with a fake boyfriend. At least with the degree, I was almost there.

No. I have to go, if only to keep from pissing off my siblings. They did promise to drop it if I didn’t like the guy, so really, what do I have to lose?

A lot, I remind myself.

I shrug on my coat and take my purse off the hanger, still dragging my feet on leaving the safe haven of my dorm. How do people do this? Do they actually like going on dates? The endless line of strangers, hoping to be loved instead of hurt? I have to trust my sister thoroughly vetted whoever they decided on, but some things you don’t know until they do them. And that makes it a whole lot worse.

It’s just one date. One measly little dinner of pleasantries, and then we can drop this whole thing.

I lock the door behind me and head for the stairs, keeping my head low and eyes on the shadows. I’ve just reached the sidewalk when I see it: a flash of broad shoulders and black hair trimmed short.

My keys clutched like weapons between my shaking fingers I break into a sprint, running as fast as these traitorous legs can take me. I feel my phone deep in my pocket, but there’s no one to call. Alissa has a late class and will barely make it to the restaurant on time, and Levi? Levi still doesn’t know.

And I can’t tell him, because if I do, he’ll take matters into his own hands and ruin his future. I adore my brother, but when it comes to family, he can get a bit hotheaded and overprotective. With him being so close to fulfilling his NHL dreams…it’s best to keep him in the dark.

The streets are quiet as I speed through, every shadow a threat as I run towards the restaurant. A car comes up behind me and I push myself to go even faster, not caring that the sweat and rain are ruining my makeup and I’ll be drenched by the time I get there. Because I won’t be meeting anyone tonight. When I get there, I will call Alissa from the parking lot and ask her to drive me home.

I get so lost in my panic and thoughts that I don’t register the car slowing down beside me until the driver honks, making me jump.

“Hey, do you need a ri—whoa, are you okay?”

I peer into the car, trying to put a face to the familiar voice. But the sun has gone down and the darkness is creeping in fast, making it hard to see.

“I’m fine!” I half-yell, embarrassingly out of breath, and wave a hand to brush them off. I turn on my heels to start running again before I can be dragged into this car and get myself killed.

“You’re Levi’s sister, right? Alexis?”

Slowly, I turn my head towards the car. If he knows my brother, it explains why his voice is so familiar. He’s probably on the hockey team. But to point it out in the first minute of talking? Those conversations rarely end well.

“Maybe,” I say. “Why do you need to know?”

In the dark, I can just make out his shrug. “I don’t. Just curious. Hop in, I’ll give you a ride.”

A strange feeling curls around my stomach and I step back, away from his reach. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

He could kidnap me, or lock me in the car and dump my body in the desert, or a myriad of different terrible things. So no, in this day and age, I know better than to get in some random guy’s beat-up car.

“Take a picture of my license plate and send it to your siblings. Better yet, call one of them and keep them on the line while we drive. I don’t mind, really.”

I glance around, cataloging every possible escape route in case things go south. “Why are you so insistent I get in your car? I don’t even know you.”

“Oh shit, you can’t see me, can you?” I hear the click of his seatbelt before the door opens, a tall and broad shadow draping himself over it. His hand moves to his pocket and for a moment I fear the worst, but within seconds a blinding light cuts through the dark—it’s just his phone. He points it at his face, bright blue eyes squinting against the light, brown curls framing his face. “It’s me, Blake. Your brother’s friend slash teammate slash housemate? We’ve hung out a couple of times.”

Right, that’s why his voice was so familiar. I see Blake every time I hang out at Levi’s dorm or get dragged to his games. I don’t know him very well, but he’s not a total stranger. I know Blake likes peanut puffs, beer, and random hookups. But he’s also respectful, occasionally hilarious, and, according to my brother, a good guy.

He is also, more often than not, the lead in my most private fantasies, and the first–and only–crush I've had since coming to Brookside.

I could keep running, ruin my outfit, and put myself in exactly the kind of danger I’m running away from. Or I can get in his car, call Alissa, and hope Blake isn’t an ax murderer in his spare time.

My legs burn so much they’re shaking and my chest has never felt tighter, making it hard to breathe.

“Okay,” I say through gritted teeth. “Thank you, Blake.”

“Anytime.” He rounds the car before beckoning me to the other side and holding open the door for me, closing it gently after I’ve slid into the torn leather seat.

I call Alissa immediately.

I unbuckle my seatbelt the moment we pull into the parking lot.

“Thanks!” I say, the door already open and my feet hovering above the moving ground. “This was very kind. I’ll make it up to you, get you some gas money or something.”

I jump out and shut the door before he can answer, landing on swaying feet before rushing into the restaurant. Alissa and Levi are already seated with no fake boyfriend in sight, so I keep my head low as I make a beeline for the restroom. Thankfully, neither of my siblings spot me.

The Crossroads, a restaurant sitting right at the edge of town, is one of those places that isn’t sure what it wants to be, so it becomes a bit of everything. You can get five-course dinners or order a burger to go. The walls are pristine white, but the wooden slats that cover half the walls are navy blue. The pillars are covered in bamboo sticks, and the restroom is so void of personality it’s a jarring contrast.

But the restroom door is solid and reassuring as I slump against it, trying to steady my breathing. Hudson isn’t here, I remind myself. And if he is, my siblings will protect me.

It takes a few minutes and a stern talking to before I manage to convince myself I’m safe here. That there is no bogeyman hiding behind the door, no monster lurking in the shadows waiting to snatch me because I smiled at it once. I am in a public space, with plenty of people looking out for me. I’ll be okay.

But only if I can pull my shit together.

Putting one foot in front of the other I drag myself to the small round mirror above the sink.

I try to fix my hair, the blond puffs having escaped their confinement, but end up putting it into a high ponytail when it doesn’t cooperate. I wet a tissue to remove any lingering sweat from my body, and another to remove the bleeding mascara on my pale cheeks before reapplying a fresh coat. I’m not sure how long I’ve been in there, trying to mask the cracks in my armor, but when I come out I want to jump right back in.

Because sitting at the table, chatting comfortably with my siblings, is Blake Taylor.

Yes. That Blake Taylor.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Don’t tell me you’re my date, please. Anyone but you.

A lazy grin spreads on Blake’s face as he leans back, one muscled arm draped lazily over the back of the only empty chair. My chair. “Take a wild guess, Sunshine.”

“Fuck…” I whisper to myself. If anyone hears, they don’t show it. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He shrugs, and bright-blue eyes hold mine as he says, “I thought you knew. At least, I did until you jumped out of my still-moving car and made a break for it.”

“You jumped out of a moving car?!” my siblings yell in unison, and I roll my eyes.

“Get that look off your faces, it wasn’t going that fast.”

Levi and Alissa look to Blake for confirmation, but he doesn’t give them a glance as he keeps his eyes on me, tilting his face as he looks me up and down like he can still see the cracks in my armor.

His smile widens as he rises, pulling out my chair and motioning for me to sit. I tense as I comply, feeling every pair of eyes in the restaurant trained on me, and watch him like a hawk until he scoots his chair closer to the table.

Two waiters appear with plates balanced in their hands, and despite having yet to order anything they set one of them in front of me. The sight of the massive steak and fries pulls at my stomach and I look at my siblings, brow raised in silent question. They better be the ones paying for this; this meal costs about the same as my weekly budget.

“Get that look off your face,” Levi says, echoing my earlier words. “Lis told me about your extreme budgeting. Dad will kill me if he sees you like this.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lie, my mouth filling with saliva at the mere sight of all this food. It takes a tremendous amount of effort not to scarf it down in one go right this minute.

My brother shoots me a look that says he knows I’m lying, but thankfully doesn’t dwell on it. Instead, he digs into his chicken and places his focus on Blake, talking about something related to hockey. Though, I can’t be sure what, as any mention of the sport makes me tune out immediately.

Alissa’s hand finds mine under the table, giving it a light squeeze. Even without saying it she knows what just happened, why I'm acting this way. As Hudson’s former friend and with his future on the line, I can’t bring myself to tell Levi what’s been going on. But Alissa is my roommate, and as she often wakes up before I do to go to practice or the batting cage, there was no hiding the gifts and notes stuck to our door. She had to know; there was simply no way to hide it.

Besides, Alissa is my twin, my best friend. I need her love and support like I need air.

I’m halfway through my plate when I notice all eyes are on me.

“What?” I mumble, half a fry still sticking out of my mouth. I had of course completely forgotten this is technically a really weird date, and that I should probably eat like I’ve seen food before. But something about today makes all reason fly out the window.

Besides, I’ve seen my date do worse. Like the time he smeared barbecue sauce on his torso in a way that made it look like he had abs.

To my left, Blake is grinning, but Levi just shakes his head. “You truly have the manners of a desert rat.”

Oddly specific.

“I was just asking about your major,” Blake says calmly. “You strike me as someone creative, but too fearful to pursue that…is it English?”

Levi or Alissa must have told him, or he looked me up because no one is this good at guessing. And while I’ve chatted about classes with Levi at the house before, I highly doubt any of them remember my name, let alone pay attention to what I say or do. There’s no way he knew it without being clued in.

Or maybe I’m just that obvious. “You Googled me before this date, didn’t you?”

“So I was right?” Blake’s face erupts into a dazzling, slightly cocky smile. It’s a curse, really, that it only makes him more handsome. If it didn’t, I might have found an excuse to drop this plan altogether.

It was a lot easier to ignore Blake when he was just my brother’s teammate. But now that he’s my date and potential fake boyfriend, I have no choice but to pay attention to every part of him. Like the way his scruff is just the perfect length to be sexy or the way he has put more effort into the way he’s dressed tonight than he usually does.

There’s no backward cap, no hoodie or sweatpants in sight. Instead, there are dress shoes, normal black pants and a navy button-up with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. Blake catches me staring at them—I have a thing for muscled arms, let me be—and I quickly take a sip of water to play it off.

“Yes, you were right. What about you?”

“History. Not sure what I’ll do with this degree, but there’s no rush to figure it out.” He must see my confusion in my face, as he leans in with a laugh to say, “It’s one of the perks of being a trust-fund asshole: complete and total freedom.”

The brutal honesty and self-awareness in his answer puts me at ease. A lot can be said about Blake, but it is clear he is trying his hardest to make this work. “Must be nice.”

“Oh, it is. Which is why, if you want to, say, borrow the money—no interest of course—you can, and you don’t have to play alone with these Panem et circenses .”

Oh, he’s a history major for sure. Only a nerd would phrase it like that.

“That’s a kind offer, truly, but I can’t accept it.”

My siblings cover their eyes in unison, shielding themselves from the train wreck of my decision-making. “I cannot be in your debt. I’d much rather drop out of school than be in anyone’s debt. So if this isn’t something you can go through with I fully understand, and I won’t take it personally. But I can’t take your money.”

Blake holds my gaze for a long moment, the ghost of a smile playing on his lips. Taking his glass off the table, he winks. “Oh, I do love a challenge.”

“Taylor,” Levi says in a warning tone.

Blake laughs. “I meant the competition, of course.”

His eyes slid to mine, smirk still in place, and for a second I swear I see him wink again, making it clear he wasn’t talking about the competition at all.

So the great Blake Taylor wants to get into my pants. Not a revelation I expected from today. Still, I take it as a compliment. He can have any girl he wants, whenever he wants, and yet if only for a moment he set his sights on me. He won’t get me, of course, but it is nice to feel desired just the same.

It also doesn’t hurt that Blake is built like a damn house. If anyone can keep me safe, or even give me the illusion of safety, it’s him. And in the end that might be more important than any of this.

So at the end of the night, when my siblings are long gone and the servers are itching for us to leave, I ask him, “What do you think? Are you ready to fall in love with me?”

“I am yours, Alexis. And yours alone.” Blake smiles, and I silently curse my traitorous heart for skipping a beat.