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“Pretend to date?” She let out an uncomfortable laugh.

“Yeah. We can just act like we’re together until Jeremy gets the picture.

Technically you won’t be breaking your rule because we’re not really dating.

” The more I thought about it, the more appealing the idea became.

I got to date Violet without the risk of heartbreak that came with a real relationship.

She still didn’t look convinced, so I continued. “Seeing us together clearly drives Hoffman crazy. Isn’t there a small part of you that wants to make him pay for what he did to you?”

“No, of course not.”

“Really?”

“Okay, maybe a small part,” she admitted. “But what do you get out of pretending to date me?"

The simple truth: I wanted to help her. Plus, I’d also get to spend more time with her, and hopefully, I’d have a chance to show her I wasn’t the arrogant jock she thought I was. Of course, I couldn’t tell her that, so I racked my brains for a believable excuse.

“Being your friend isn’t reason enough?”

“We’ve met three times,” she replied. “We’re acquaintances, at best.”

I’d never hated a word so much in my life.

“You know you’d have to stop hooking up with other girls, right?” she said.

“You say that like I’m some kind of animal with no restraint.”

She lifted one shoulder like she thought perhaps I was.

Maybe it was going to take even more work than I first thought to shed my bad reputation in Violet’s eyes.

I glanced out the window as I tried to think of how I was going to dig my way out of the hole I’d been shoveling myself into so enthusiastically.

Violet wasn’t going to accept I was doing this out of pure kindness, and I could hardly admit something as crazy as the truth—that I liked her and wanted to date her for real.

She’d been more than clear she didn’t see me that way.

No, if she was going to buy into this fake relationship, I was going to have to give her an answer she’d believe.

She was already so convinced I was a serial womanizer.

Perhaps I needed to use that to my advantage.

I swallowed and tried to withhold a grimace as I played my hand. “Maybe you're right about the girls…”

“What do you mean?”

I slowly turned back to face her. “Well, this is going to sound a little conceited, but being captain of the hockey team comes with its fair share of… Uh, let’s call them distractions.”

She tilted her head at me. “A little conceited?”

“Okay, a lot.” I scratched the stubble on the side of my face as I tried to figure out how I could make this more plausible.

“It’s true though,” I started. “And it’s been worse lately because we have our winter formal coming up at school.

I haven’t asked anyone yet, so I can’t walk ten feet around Ransom without girls coming up and asking me who I’m going with or doing everything they can to get asked. ”

“That doesn’t really sound like a problem. Just ask someone and it will stop.”

“If only it were that easy,” I continued.

“This is my senior year. My final season playing high-school hockey. That needs to be my one and only focus right now, so I don’t have the time for girls, dating, or dances.

Plus, the winter formal’s a big deal for some people; I wouldn’t want to lead anyone on. ”

If my ultimate goal was to change Violet’s perception of me, I wasn’t making a very good start.

In my desperate efforts to keep her invested in this fake relationship, I was portraying myself as everything she despised—a hockey-obsessed manwhore.

Whether I liked it or not, it seemed to be working.

Violet was nodding along with my explanation like it all made perfect sense.

“So, you’re saying you’d take me to the winter formal?”

“Uh, yeah.” I liked the sound of that. “I know you’re not interested in me that way and I’m the last guy you’d want to date, so I won’t have to worry about you getting the wrong idea.”

“I suppose that’s true.” She laughed. “So, when is this dance?”

“Last weekend of November, so just a few weeks away.”

“Just a few weeks…” she murmured to herself as she considered it.

“Long enough to show Jeremy you’ve moved on but not so long you get sick of my face.”

She let out an easy laugh. “I’m sure that won’t happen.”

My heart leaped up like an overeager puppy. Down, boy, that doesn’t mean she likes us. It seemed she was beginning to come around to the whole idea though.

“So, what do you say? Want to be my fake girlfriend?”

She glanced into her open hands as if they held the answer to my question. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this.”

“That’s not a no.”

“It’s not,” she replied, finally lifting her eyes to meet mine. “Okay, let’s do this.”

“Really?” It was almost impossible to keep the shock from my voice, and I spluttered out a cough to try to hide the emotion “I mean, this is really going to help us both, I’m sure of it.”

She nodded in agreement, but her eyes held a hint of suspicion. “I hope so,” she said. “But after your winter formal, we’re ‘breaking up.’” She emphasized her point by making quotation marks in the air with her fingers. “And then you can return to being distracted by puck bunnies.”

“Sounds good to me,” I lied. I was already well and truly distracted by Violet, and a few weeks in a fake relationship with her was only going to cement that fact.

I was pleased I’d managed to get Violet to agree to a fake relationship and that I’d get to spend more time with her despite her reservations about me. But I was seriously concerned about the way I’d persuaded her.

If she hadn’t been completely convinced I was a player before this, surely there would be no doubt in her mind now.

The whole reason I wanted this fake relationship was so she could see the real me, beyond hockey and the Darling Devils’ infamous reputation.

She’d never give me a genuine chance if she thought I was anything like her ex.

“We should probably figure out how this is all going to work,” she said. “Like a game plan. I’m working tomorrow at Hug in a Mug, and it’s usually quiet on a Sunday morning. Why don’t you come by , and we can discuss the logistics.”

“Logistics? That doesn’t sound very romantic.” I was usually a big fan of having a well-thought-out game plan, but I much preferred how things had been working with Violet so far: kiss first and figure out the rest later.

“It’s not supposed to be romantic,” she replied with a smile. “Obviously.”

I was growing more and more concerned it was going to be impossible to swing this situation around in my favor. What if our fake relationship ended up putting me thoroughly in the friend zone. That would be even worse than Violet thinking I was a conceited arrogant jock.

“So, tomorrow morning?” she asked.

“Sure. I have something first thing, but I’ll come by after that.”

“Okay, great.” She reached for the door handle.

“Wait, I thought I was giving you a ride?”

“No need,” she replied, holding up her phone. “My cousin just sent me a message. She’s leaving now. Thanks anyway.

“Hold on a minute, Sunshine,” I said as she jumped from the truck. “One more thing. Weren’t you supposed to bring my jacket tonight?”

She shrugged, and a wry smile pulled at her lips. “I’m your girlfriend now, aren’t I? I think that means I get to keep it.”

With that, she closed the door and hurried off into the darkness. And I was left trying to ignore how much I’d enjoyed it when she called herself my girlfriend.