Page 29

REED

I felt like such an idiot. I’d just arrived home after my date with Violet but couldn’t bring myself to get out of the truck.

Our first fake date had been somewhat successful, but I was still thinking about how she’d frozen up when I moved to sit closer to her in the booth at Nino’s.

She’d seemed fine when I put my arm around her at the ice rink in front of Jeremy.

I’d even got the impression she liked it.

But it must have just been a part of our act to show her ex we were serious.

An act she’d momentarily forgotten to continue in front of my friends at the pizza restaurant.

It felt like I’d seen her true feelings in that moment because as soon as our legs had brushed against each other she’d responded as if she wanted to get out of the booth and flee.

It was probably because she remembered I was just an arrogant, unappealing jock who she would otherwise be completely avoiding.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t get enough of her.

When she was close, like she had been at the restaurant, I found it almost impossible not to try to get closer still.

Every time she held my hand, touched my arm, or even just brushed against me, my stomach flipped, and every time I breathed in the sweet scent of her shampoo or watched her tuck her bright red hair behind her ear, I had to remind myself she wasn’t truly mine.

I hung off her every word when she spoke, and when she smiled, I could feel myself falling deeper and deeper.

I was in serious trouble because I was only becoming more certain she was never going to look at me the same way.

I sighed as I reluctantly summoned the energy to climb out of the safety of the truck and head inside.

“How was dinner with Violet?” Parker asked as I entered through the back door and came into the kitchen. It was a simple question, but Parker had somehow packed it full of suggestion and innuendo.

“Dinner was good,” I grunted, trying my best to ignore the smug grin on my brother’s face.

“Who’s Violet?” Cammie asked as she pulled her head out of the fridge and closed the door. I hadn’t even noticed she was there.

“Reed’s girlfriend,” Parker answered, his grin only growing smugger.

Cammie’s mouth dropped open as she turned to me. “ You have a girlfriend?”

“You don’t have to sound so surprised.”

“Of course, I do,” Cammie replied. “I thought you didn’t date. Who is this girl that’s finally tied you down?”

“She goes to Sunshine Prep,” Parker said. He was enjoying this all way too much.

“What?” Cammie gasped. “Why? Isn’t like every girl at Ransom chasing you?”

“No, of course not.”

She laughed. “Are you really that oblivious?”

“He’s not oblivious,” Grayson said, entering the kitchen. “Reed’s just too focused on hockey to worry about shit like that.”

“Oh god. Not you too,” I grumbled. Gray was, at least, coming to my defense, but I still didn’t feel like having a kitchen meeting with all my siblings to chat about my love life. Especially not when my relationship wasn’t real, and I was starting to lose hope it ever could be.

“Well, I’m just glad to see Reed’s finally focused on getting into someone’s pants,” Parker said.

“I’m not getting into anyone’s pants!” I yelled. It was bad enough people I didn’t know said that crap about me. I didn’t need to hear it from my family even if they were just winding me up.

To make things worse, my mom took that moment to enter the kitchen. “Glad to hear it, Reedy,” she said, giving me a pat on the shoulder as she grabbed her keys off the table and left the room again.

Silence followed, but then my siblings all burst into laughter once she was out the door. Even Grayson couldn’t contain himself. Parker was laughing so hard he was clutching his belly. I hoped it gave him a stomachache.

I glared at them all. “I don’t know how any of you have friends,” I said before following my mom out of the kitchen.

I headed straight for my room, desperate to get away from everyone, and flopped down on my bed. Unfortunately, Grayson didn’t get the message.

“You all right?” he asked, leaning against the doorway. I really should have closed the door.

With a sigh, I rolled to face him. It took a lot to make my brother smile, let alone laugh. But he was still smirking after Mom’s comment downstairs.

“I’ll survive,” I replied. It was hardly the worst thing my mom had heard come out of my mouth over the years.

If anything, she’d probably be disappointed by the idea I wasn’t intently pursuing women.

Our mom gave the Bennet mother in Pride and Prejudice a run for her money.

She was far too eager to see her kids in happy, meaningful relationships, and if we’d been born a few centuries ago, I had no doubt she’d have us all married off by now.

“Think I’m just glad she didn’t hear the part about the girlfriend,” I said as Grayson entered the room and sat on my desk chair.

“Yeah, she’d be planning the wedding already.” Gray chuckled under his breath. “At the very least, you’d be forced to bring her to family dinner on Sunday night.”

“I really don’t want to subject Violet to that.”

“I wouldn’t either although Paige would probably like someone to keep her company. Darling family dinners can be a lot.”

“Nah, Paige loves it.” She had been coming to our family dinners every Sunday for years. She was the only one of our friends Mom allowed us to invite, and I was convinced it was because she was secretly trying to get Grayson and Paige together.

“Well, maybe you’ll think about bringing Violet when you’ve been dating a little longer,” Grayson added. “Though, I think you’ll struggle to avoid it once Mom finds out about her. It’s a miracle she hasn’t heard already.”

I nodded, but I was struggling to meet his eyes because I hated lying to Gray.

Parker might be a loudmouth, but I knew Gray would keep it to himself if I told him the truth.

I wasn’t really sure why I hadn’t just been straight with him from the beginning.

Probably because I didn’t want to admit I was living a lie.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide it from him for long, so I drew in a breath and finally came out with the truth. “We’re not really dating.”

“What?”

I slowly sat up straight on my bed. “Violet and me. We’re not really dating. Our relationship isn’t real.”

Grayson’s eyebrows pulled together. “What are you talking about?”

I took my time as I tried my best to explain how Violet and I had come to our arrangement.

I told him what really happened at the bonfire.

How Violet wanted to get Hoffman off her back and how I’d pretended I wanted to stop girls from throwing themselves at me when in reality I just wanted to spend more time with her.

However, I almost immediately regretted opening up to Grayson because the judgment in his eyes was clear.

“This can only end badly. You know that, right?” My brother had never been one to sugarcoat things.

“Probably not my best idea,” I agreed. “But I really like her. And with her refusing to date hockey players and all the crap people say about me, this is the only way I’d ever have a chance with her.”

Grayson rubbed his fingers along the ridge of his nose as though he was regretting his decision to follow me in here. “I thought Parker was the only brother I had to worry about,” he finally said.

“You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve got a handle on the situation.”

“A handle on the situation? It sounds like you’re already half in love with the girl.”

His words struck me silent because I wasn’t sure I could deny them.

Grayson must have realized that because he let out a weary sigh. “Just don’t get your heart broken. You didn’t do too well the last time…”

I narrowed my eyes on him, and Grayson lifted his hands to signal he wouldn’t go any further down that road.

“All I’m saying is be careful” he added before he stood and started from the room.

“Gray?”

He paused by the door.

“Please don’t mention this to anyone. I feel stupid enough as it is chasing a girl like this.”

He gave me a brief nod, turned, and left.

Once he was gone, I collapsed back down onto the bed.

I hated that Grayson had brought up Natalie, but he was right about me needing to be careful.

I hadn’t let myself feel this way about a girl in a long time, and now I finally had, I’d unfortunately fallen for a girl who was adamant I was the wrong guy for her.

I could only hope things ended differently this time than they did in freshman year.

* * *

At school the next day, I noticed a lot of people giving me curious looks.

The attention wasn’t entirely unusual, but I had a feeling the hushed whispers that followed me today had little to do with a ridiculous new rumor or my latest performance on the ice.

I suspected it was because I’d been seen out on a date with Violet last night.

“I don’t know why you’re surprised.” Matt said when I brought it up with him.

“Of course, people are going to talk.” We were slowly making our way to our lockers after lunch, where it had felt like the entire cafeteria was focused on me.

“Showing up at Nino’s with Violet last night was about as official as you can get.

You might as well have thrown your jersey on her. ”

“Yeah, Violet isn’t really into hockey, so I can’t imagine she’d be too keen on that.”

Matt laughed. “Well, hockey aversion aside, she seems cool. And by the way she was looking at you last night, I’d say she’s really into you.”

I tried my best to ignore his comment. Matt didn’t know my relationship with Violet wasn’t real. Whatever he thought he saw in her eyes when she looked at me couldn’t be real either.