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I wondered if Violet was thinking the same thing because she quickly cleared her throat and glanced away. “I should probably take my turn,” she said, facing the lane once more.

I wasn’t ready for the moment to be over, so I stepped up to stand at her side. “How about I give you a few pointers?”

She lifted one eyebrow as she glanced up at me. “Are you saying I need help?”

“No, not at all,” I replied. “I just think it’s a good opportunity to put on a bit of a show for our onlookers here.” I kept my voice low although there was no chance of anyone hearing us. There was also little chance anyone was watching us, but I needed to find some reason to stay close to her.

“Right,” she whispered. Her gaze briefly darted around the bowling alley, but she didn’t protest. Maybe she hadn’t noticed that everyone else here was far too busy with their own game to take any interest in what we were doing. Or, maybe, she didn’t care.

I lined myself up behind her and gently placed one hand on her waist, using the other to help guide the ball. “Is this okay?”

“Uh-huh.” Her voice was a little softer. A little higher. Did my closeness affect her as much as it did me? The subtle scent of her sweet shampoo was intoxicating and making me feel slightly lightheaded. It took all of my self-control not to dip my head closer so I could breathe it in more deeply.

“So, we line the ball up with the pins,” I said, my voice sounding far rougher than I intended. “And then use a steady and straight swing before you make sure to release the ball smoothly.”

She peered up at me over her shoulder. Her face was so close to mine, and it would have been so easy for us to kiss. It had been far too long since the first and only time I’d felt her lips against mine, and I desperately wanted to kiss her again.

“It actually sounds like you know what you’re talking about,” she said with half a smile.

“Not really.” I smirked. “I’m just making it up as I go. To be honest, the Reed Darling bowling method is a bit less refined. Just swing your arm, release the ball, and hope it goes where you want.”

A laugh escaped her lips, and I felt her body gently shaking against mine. “The Reed Darling method does seem more like my style.”

She was still looking up at me, her beautiful blue eyes sparkling as she smiled. I wished I could lean closer to her, and the way she was looking at me was almost urging me to do so, pulling me in like a doomed moth enchanted by a bright but fatal flame.

“Uh, should I give it a go then?” Violet’s whispered words shook me out of my trance, and I feared I’d been staring at her in silence for too long.

“Sure,” I mumbled. “Let’s see it.”

I let her step away from me, and I instantly missed having her in my arms.

She took a dramatically deep breath and nodded at me firmly.

There was a focused look in her eyes as she turned to face the lane.

She positioned herself carefully, adjusting the grip on her ball before swinging it swiftly and releasing it from her fingertips in one smooth motion.

We both watched in nervous excitement as it barreled down the lane, heading directly for the middle pin.

The ball connected with a resounding crash and sent the pins flying in every direction. She’d bowled a strike.

Violet’s hands shot up into the air as she squealed with excitement, and I couldn’t seem to help myself. One minute, I was standing behind her, and the next, she was back in my arms. I lifted her up and spun her around in celebration. She laughed freely as I cheered along with her.

It was only as the shock and elation began to wear off that we both seemed to realize the intimacy of what we were doing.

I slowly lowered her to the ground, but that only seemed to heighten the intensity of the moment as she slipped through my arms. Every brush of her body against mine was pure torture.

She didn’t jump away from me as soon as her feet touched down on the floor like I expected.

Instead, she stood there, staring up into my eyes once again.

I was back where I wanted to be, and I knew I could have stayed standing there with her forever.

How could my heart be beating so fast when all we were doing was looking at each other?

And how could the connection between us feel so real when this was all supposed to be fake?

Surely this wasn’t completely one-sided?

“Are we interrupting something?” Paige asked, causing Violet to finally break away from me.

“No,” Violet squeaked.

Yes, my thoughts screamed. I shot Paige my dirtiest scowl, but she took a sip of soda through her straw like she was completely innocent of any wrongdoing. Grayson was smirking slightly from behind her, so I gave him an equally hard look. He was no longer my favorite wingman.

I didn’t know if I would have another chance to get close to Violet tonight, but it didn’t matter to me.

I just liked spending time with her. As the night went on, it felt more and more natural, like we’d known each other for years rather than mere weeks.

We finished our game, which I inevitably won, but it swelled my heart to see Violet celebrating her second-place finish and have her thank me for my excellent coaching.

Grayson, of course, wasn’t quite as happy.

After the four of us had grabbed a bite to eat, I gave Violet a ride home, and the hardest part of the night arrived.

We pulled up outside her house, and, yet again, I was thinking about kissing her.

I was chafing at the restraints of our fake relationship, and a part of me wanted to call the whole thing off, admit I’d made up all that stuff about girls chasing me to be their formal date, and tell her how I truly felt.

But I couldn’t stop worrying I might scare her off if I did. The thought was enough to hold me back.

“So, be honest,” Violet said. “Was tonight really the emergency you made it out to be? Because your friends never showed up, and despite what you and Grayson said, I didn’t see a single person our age at the bowling alley.”

I considered trying to convince her once again and cover up how tragic I was, but I didn’t have it in me. I was starting to hate this whole arrangement, but I was still too scared to blow it up.

“Reed?” she asked when I didn’t answer right away.

I had to say something quick. Surely a little bit of truth wouldn’t hurt, right? “Okay,” I said. “I guess there wasn’t really a fake dating emergency.”

Her eyes widened with surprise like she hadn’t actually expected me to admit it.

“So, why did you drag me bowling?”

“Because I missed you.” The words were out of my mouth before I could consider them. Before I could realize how risky they were. Tonight had been great, and while my heart kept telling me there was a chance Violet would return my feelings, my head was in firm disagreement.

She frowned and shook her head so slightly I wasn’t sure if I’d really seen it. “You’re not allowed to miss me.”

Her response was like a dagger to the chest. Why would she say that if she had feelings for me? If she wasn’t still fully focused on our arrangement?

“Can’t a guy miss his fake girlfriend?” I said it more with hope than anything else.

“Reed…” Her gaze fell to the floor. “We agreed we wouldn’t let feelings get in the way of this.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“You’re not feeling anything for me, are you?” I really wished she didn’t sound quite so disapproving. She slowly peered up at me, her eyes wide and studying me closely as she waited for my response.

It should have been the easiest question in the world. The answer was a resounding yes, but I knew that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. The way she’d reacted to being told I missed her had made that very clear.

“No, no, of course not,” I replied.

“But you miss me?”

“Yeah, uh, no,” I stammered. “What I meant was I just wanted to see you. We’ve been having fun hanging out these last couple of weeks. It was Friday night, and I had nothing to do.”

I thought I’d made some progress with Violet tonight, but I could feel it all slipping quickly through my fingers as I rambled on.

Each time I opened my mouth, I seemed to be making things worse, and I was internally screaming at myself to stop talking, rewind, and take the opportunity to tell Violet everything I wanted to.

But it was too late. And I was too pathetic.

Apparently, I had no problem facing off against 200-pound hockey players on the ice, but when it came to exposing my heart, I was a complete and total coward.

I’d never been badly injured on the ice though, and I guessed I was still recovering from the pain I’d experienced off it.

“Oh,” she whispered. “Okay.” She looked thoughtful but then shot me a weak smile. “You’re right, it has been fun. And tonight was fun too. Thanks for inviting me.”

“You’re welcome,” I replied. “We still on for tomorrow night?” I hoped I didn’t sound too eager, but she was acting slightly cagey, and I was genuinely starting to worry she might be reconsidering our whole agreement. She was far too attached to her stupid golden rule.

“The victory party? Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Great.” My shoulders relaxed as relief pulsed through me. “I’ll see you then.”

The words were barely from my mouth before she’d jumped from the car. She was up the driveway and into the house before I could even consider getting out and walking with her.

“Nice going, Reed,” I grumbled to myself. Not for the first time, as soon as things started feeling even a little bit real, she literally fled the scene.

I’d tried my best not to come on too strong. I’d sent out the tiniest of feelers to try to get a sense of what was going on inside her head without revealing too much of what was going on in mine. But even that had freaked her out.

Something had inspired me to test Violet’s feelings tonight though. I hadn’t risked it all without thinking. When she’d been in my arms in the bowling alley and was gazing up at me, there was no mistaking the look in her eyes. She’d been thinking about kissing me. I knew it.

Maybe I hadn’t completely screwed this up just yet. We still had one more week as a fake couple. But if I was going to win Violet over, I needed to make her realize some rules were meant to be broken—even golden ones.