Page 28

“Are you really going to eat all of that?” I asked as the server walked away.

“Sure, I’m starving.”

“You ordered enough to feed your entire hockey team,” I replied. “And then some.”

He laughed. “I’m pretty sure every guy on my team would eat at least that much at Nino’s, especially after a hard training session. Besides, pizza’s my favorite.”

“Yeah, me too.”

We shared a smile, but Reed’s brow began to crinkle as he looked up from our table.

Where the server had stood just moments ago, there were now two large guys at the edge of our booth.

They were both dressed in sweats that had the Ransom Devils logo across the front.

While I didn’t recognize them, I was guessing they were on Reed’s hockey team.

“Got room for a couple more?” one of them asked.

“Kinda on a date here, Matt,” Reed replied.

“Dude, you’re just saying that because you’re scared we’ll embarrass you. And you’d be right, but you can’t hide Violet from us forever.” Matt was grinning as he held out his hand to me. “I’m Matt Cleaver. Reed’s best friend.”

“Violet,” I replied, taking his hand.

“And this is my brother, Owen.” Matt waved at the guy standing next to him. “We’re on the team with Reed.”

“Hey,” Owen said. He greeted me with a warm smile, but his eyes betrayed a hint of nerves as he glanced at Reed. “I hope we’re not interrupting.”

“Don’t worry.” Matt brushed off his brother’s concern and didn’t give anyone a chance to respond as he slid into the booth beside Reed, gesturing for him to scoot farther around the circular booth to make space.

With a begrudging sigh, Reed started to shuffle toward me. Given the size of the two guys joining us at the table, Reed ended up pressed right against me.

“Is this okay?” he murmured softly in my ear so the other two wouldn’t hear.

“It’s fine,” I replied, trying to give him a smile.

He was talking about the fact his friends had crashed our dinner, but I was much more concerned about his sudden proximity.

Those butterflies were still fluttering wildly, and my skin tingled from his closeness.

It made me shift uneasily in my seat as I tried to forget the feeling, but that only made me more worried he’d notice.

That his friends would notice. Reed and I were supposed to be in a relationship, so I couldn’t let myself turn into a quivering mess just because he sat next to me.

I wasn’t even sure why I was feeling this way.

This was a fake relationship with an expiry date.

There was no flirting and no kissing, and of course, we had the golden rule: no feelings allowed.

Anything sweet that Reed said to me or any intimate looks he flashed my way were all just part of the act.

None of it was real. Once I remembered that, I started to calm, and the fluttering in my stomach eased.

Before the butterflies could return, I quickly turned my focus back to Matt and Owen. “So, guys, I was promised some embarrassment?” I said to Reed’s friends.

Matt’s eyes lit up while Reed started to groan. “One wrong word from either of you, and you’re getting booted from the table,” he warned.

Matt’s playful smile only grew wider. “You know that bad-temper shit doesn’t work on us,” he replied before speaking to me. “Did you know Reed used to bring an apple for our kindergarten teacher every day?”

"Aww.” I smiled in Reed’s direction. “That’s really sweet.”

The look Reed was giving his friend was downright terrifying.

Matt hardly noticed. “Sweet?” he repeated. “Okay, clearly, I need to dig a little deeper here… How about the time you called our teacher mom?”

“I was seven, and it was clearly an accident,” Reed growled.

“There was that time you fell off a treadmill?”

“And you just stood there and laughed. Truly a terrible friend.”

“Oh, I’ve got one.” Matt’s eyes lit up. “Remember the day you showed up to English to do your book report and pulled one of your mom’s dirty books from your bag.”

“Hey, that wasn’t my fault. Parker was playing a prank.”

“Sure, it was Parker .”

Anyone else would have been cowering under Reed’s glare, but it didn’t deter Matt, and even Owen, who seemed a lot quieter, was laughing along.

It appeared his friends knew Reed was all bark and no bite.

And the more I got to know him, the more I too was realizing his tough exterior was just a facade.

“I think I prefer these stories to the others I’ve been told about you, Reed,” I said.

Matt chuckled. “Heard a few of the rumors, have you?”

“Kinda hard not to,” I replied.

“Well, I’m impressed you were willing to give him a chance seeing as he spends his summers fighting bears in cages.”

“It is pretty impressive that he can bench press over four hundred pounds,” Owen added with a sarcastic smirk.

“Bullshit,” Matt laughed. “That one definitely isn’t true. Reed can barely lift his own arm.”

Reed sighed and lowered his head into his hands, but his two friends just laughed harder. It was difficult not to get caught up and smile along with them. Considering how deliberately Reed shut out most people, moments like these made me feel privileged he let his guard down around me.

“It sounds like you guys have been friends a while,” I said.

“Yep, best friends since our first day of school,” Matt replied. “We both had the same Spider-Man lunchboxes, and I simply can’t ignore a sign from fate.”

“How cute,” I said.

“Not cute. Manly. Totally manly,” Matt replied, making me laugh. Even Reed had managed to break into a slight smile.

“What about you, Violet?” Owen asked. “You’re new to the area, right?”

I’d been briefly distracted while we were chatting and joking about Reed, but now they were all focused on me, I felt slightly nervous again. These boys were all very big and very good-looking. It was a little overwhelming to have their full attention on me.

“Where are you from originally?” Matt asked.

“California, and I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the cold.”

“Oh yeah, I imagine it must be brutal if you grew up in California,” Owen said. “How’d you end up in Minnesota?”

“Uh.” I hesitated. Generally, I liked to avoid getting into that sob story. I gave the quickest explanation I could. “My mom’s working overseas this year,” I explained. “I came up here to live with my uncle. Well, I was dropped off up here.”

I couldn’t help but sound bitter and twisted about the whole thing. I guessed that was because I was bitter and twisted about the whole thing. Reed’s face was serious now as he looked at me with concern in his eyes.

“Well,” Matt said, breaking the silence. “It won’t be long before you’ve got ice in your veins like the rest of us.”

I was only too grateful that the pizza arrived, and the boys turned their attention to the food.

I didn’t feel like unloading about my mom to these guys.

I’d been doing so well at keeping my feelings of disappointment and abandonment all bottled up since I arrived in Sunshine Hills.

They were always there though, lurking beneath the surface.

Even Mia didn’t truly know how I felt. She was my cousin, and I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t grateful to be living with her this year—because I was.

I guessed, sometimes, it was easier to talk to strangers about these things.

Reed was still watching me closely, and I wondered if perhaps he could see that I was still thinking about my mom. I quickly turned to my own food. “This looks great.”

“It is,” Reed replied before he quickly swatted Matt’s hand away. “Hands off.”

Reed started to eat his pizza in a rush, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he was trying to make sure his friends didn’t steal his food, if he was desperate to get me out of there, or if that was simply how he ate.

We were both finished before his friends’ food arrived, and Reed excused us from the table. “We should probably head out,” he said, glancing at me to check I was okay with it.

I gave him a small nod before turning to Matt and Owen. “It was nice to meet you guys.”

“You too,” they replied.

Reed insisted on paying for our meal, and as much as I wanted to object, I knew I probably couldn’t protest too much in front of his friends. I waited until we were back in his truck before I said anything.

“I can transfer you the money for dinner,” I said.

“Don’t be silly. It’s the least I can do after my friends gate-crashed our date.”

“Fake date,” I corrected. “And I didn’t mind. Your friends are nice.”

“They’re okay.” It sounded as though he was struggling to agree right now. “Owen can be a bit quiet around new people, and Matt’s great when he’s not trying to embarrass me.”

“Well, I don’t think he was trying too hard. He was hardly spilling terrible, dark secrets from your past.”

“For now,” he grumbled.

As he went to turn on the ignition, I reached out and rested my hand on his arm. “Thanks again for tonight, Reed.”

“Seriously, it’s fine,” he said. “I’m glad I got to introduce you to Nino’s. And, I guess, Matt and Owen too.”

I laughed. “No, I don’t mean that. Thank you again for being there when Jeremy confronted me. I really appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem,” he replied. “I’m just doing my job.”

“Right.” Of course . I gave a quick shake of my head, feeling silly for thinking there had been anything more behind his actions than that.

When I was around Reed, it was easy to get caught up in the moment and forget this wasn’t a normal situation.

I guessed he was just better than me at playing the part of a doting partner.

He’d done exactly what I needed from him. What I wanted. So why did a part of me feel disappointed?