Page 23

VIOLET

“Is he here yet?” Mia asked as she came out of the back room.

I was beginning to regret telling her about my agreement with Reed.

She’d been asking me about it all morning while we worked at Hug in a Mug.

I was already on edge as I waited for him to arrive for our logistics meeting, but the more Mia talked about it, the more nervous I became.

What if this was all a terrible mistake?

Was I just setting myself up to get screwed over by another jock?

And where the hell was Reed? Maybe he’d changed his mind and wasn’t going to show at all.

If he took much longer, I was going to talk myself out of the whole crazy idea.

“We didn’t agree on a time,” I replied, doing my best not to glance at the clock.

I was getting seriously worked up, and I felt my heart skip a beat every time the bell above the front door chimed and a new customer came in.

All Reed and I were doing was meeting to discuss our fake relationship, so there was no reason for me to be this anxious.

I hadn’t even felt this way on my first few dates with Jeremy.

“I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Nicole said.

She’d also heard about my deal with the devil.

While Mia, at least, seemed excited by the potential for drama it might cause, Nicole couldn’t see any positives.

She was probably right. But I had to keep reminding myself that I’d done this for a good reason.

To keep my sleezy ex-boyfriend off my back.

And I had to believe it was going to work even if my friends thought that was delusional.

“Aren’t you worried about him?” Nicole continued. “Like, being alone with him?”

I shrugged. “I’ve been alone with him before, and nothing bad happened.”

“I guess.” Nicole wasn’t convinced. “But we’re talking about a guy who apparently intimidated his math teacher into giving him an A last year. A guy who got caught stealing a car in sixth grade. We’re talking about a Darling Devil.”

I was starting to lose track of all the different rumors I’d heard about Reed.

None of them were good, and while he’d only ever been nice to me, the constant barrage of shocking stories that swirled around about him kept me uncertain.

Perhaps now that I was his fake girlfriend, it was time I got to the bottom of some of this gossip and worked out who the real man behind the myth was.

I shrugged at Nicole. “People seem to have a lot to say about Reed and his family. I’m not really sure what to believe. It can’t all be true, can it?”

Nicole pursed her lips like she thought I was being naive. “I’m just trying to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. Some of it’s definitely true. Like, you can see the scar on his neck. He got that in an underground street fight, you know.”

“I thought he got it in a bar brawl,” Mia said.

“Is there a difference?” I asked.

“If you’re talking about Reed Darling, you’re both wrong about the scar.

” A girl I recognized from school had just come up to return her empty coffee mug.

She leaned across the counter and lowered her voice as if she were about to reveal some big secret.

“My mom works at the hospital. She told me he came in because a girl threw an ice skate at him and there wasn’t a cover on the blade. ”

“Oh my gosh,” Mia’s eyes went wide, and from the look on her face, it seemed as though she much preferred this version of the story.

Of all the rumors I’d heard, Reed’s scar was probably the one that intrigued me the most. Nicole was right.

You could clearly see the evidence of the scar on his neck and shoulder, so there was no doubting its existence.

But no one could agree on its origin. Clearly only one of the girls’ explanations could be true.

“Ouch,” Nicole added. “Why would she do that?”

“Probably an angry ex,” Mia suggested.

“Couldn’t be,” the girl replied. “Everyone knows the Darling Devils don’t date.

My bet is he led her on and broke her heart.

That boy’s a total player.” I couldn’t deny the girl’s theory made sense.

Reed had pretty much admitted that his reputation as a player was accurate when he’d told me about the scores of girls “distracting” him from hockey.

Jeremy had also seemed shocked by the concept of Reed having a girlfriend.

Probably because they ended up throwing ice skates at him.

I looked between Nicole and Mia as the other girl turned and left the café. “He doesn’t even go to our school or live in Sunshine Hills. How does everyone know this stuff about him?”

“It’s Reed Darling,” Mia said as if that alone were answer enough.

“He’s captain of the enemy,” Nicole clarified. “Not to mention, he’s one of the best hockey players in the state. And you know by now how much this place cares about hockey.”

“When you add on top of that the way he acts and the way he looks,” Mia continued, “people are naturally going to want to talk about him. And now, I guess, they’ll want to talk about you too.”

“Lucky me,” I grumbled. I wanted to curse myself for acting so rashly last night.

I’d done the sensible thing and told Reed we couldn’t be friends.

But then I’d gone and kissed him and gotten myself into this whole mess.

I couldn’t quite bring myself to regret the kiss though.

I kept thinking about the way it had made my heart flutter and skin tingle.

The look on Jeremy’s face hadn’t hurt either.

My heart leaped again as the café’s front doorbell rang once more, and the door opened.

This time, Reed stepped inside. It was as if he’d known we were talking about him, and he’d chosen that exact moment to make his appearance.

The sight of him caused nerves to ripple through my entire body.

But it wasn’t for any of the reasons I’d been anxious before.

His face was dark as he stood in the doorway, his huge frame almost obscuring the entire entrance.

His eyes were narrowed as if he was staring down the entire café.

He was just as intimidating and overwhelming as he had been when he’d arrived at Summer’s party with his brothers.

Maybe Mia was right. I probably should have been running in the opposite direction as fast as my legs could carry me.

But then his gaze landed on me, and his icy exterior thawed.

Amusement played across his lips and danced in his eyes.

Suddenly, it was hard to remember why I’d felt intimidated at all.

I drew in a deep breath, giving myself a moment to settle my jittering nerves, and went to meet him at the counter. “You came,” I said, releasing a near silent sigh.

“You don’t need to sound quite so surprised. I take dates with my girlfriend extremely seriously.”

“Fake girlfriend,” I muttered.

He grinned, making his lone dimple pop. I did my best not to frown at the small indent in his cheek. Why couldn’t he be just a touch less appealing?

I was distracted because there were a couple of girls sitting at a table behind Reed.

They kept laughing and shooting Reed flirtatious smiles.

Was this an example of the reception he received everywhere he went?

It seemed people were either fleeing from him, brandishing their pitchforks, or throwing themselves at his feet in the hopes they’d catch his attention.

“So, you ready to get logistical?” he asked.

“Logistical?” I looked at him once more, but it took me a moment to remember what he was talking about. It was a little hard to focus when I could still hear the girls whispering about him just a few feet away.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat before lowering his voice. “You know, about our relationship.”

“Right. Yes.”

“Is now a good time?” he added.

“Yeah, just give me a sec. Why don’t you go grab a seat, and I’ll bring you over a coffee. How do you take it?”

“You should know my coffee order, babe .” He gave me a wink before walking over to one of the booths.

I glared at the back of his neck as he moved away from the counter.

How was I supposed to know how a Darling Devil liked his coffee?

Probably tall, dark, and strong. That was no fun though, and I grinned as an image of the perfect drink for Reed formed in my mind.

As his fake girlfriend, I knew just what he needed.

“I’m going to take a quick break,” I told Mia and Nicole once I’d finished making Reed’s coffee.

“No problem,” Nicole said. “It’s very slow in here.”

“True.” It had been quiet all morning, but I was hardly going to complain. I loved it when I got to work with my two best friends—and it was especially fun when we weren’t too busy.

“I won’t be long,” I said before I headed over to meet Reed with his drink in hand. I placed it down on the table before him, and his eyes widened with shock.

“What on earth is that?”

“It’s your favorite,” I said as sweetly as I could. “A strawberry Frappuccino with whipped cream, marshmallows, and sprinkles on top.”

“You know I have a reputation to uphold…” he murmured, keeping his voice low.

“I thought it couldn’t get any worse.”

“I guess that’s true.” He laughed before lifting the tall glass and putting the rainbow-colored straw to his lips. He looked pleasantly surprised as he took a sip.

"Well, it might look like a unicorn threw up in my glass, but it tastes pretty good,” he said as he went back for more. “I do love strawberries, and you can’t go wrong with sprinkles.”

I laughed at his description. When I’d come up with the concoction, I’d been going for something a five-year-old girl might serve up to her imaginary pet unicorn, so unicorn vomit wasn’t exactly far off. I was surprised he’d even given it a go, let alone liked it.

“Not too sweet?” I asked.

“Nope.” He flashed me a smile even though the straw was still firmly stuck between his lips. “This is exactly what I wanted.”