Page 4

4. Charlie :

(Charlie and Violet’s Rules for Fake Dating)

Glass of wine for Violet. Check.

Sparkling water for me (plus another for Violet). Check.

Far away from the fire. Check.

I lined up the edges of my notebook so they were perpendicular to the edges of the table, placed my pen on top and sat back to watch the door.

I’d never left training quite so fast. I’d showered, dressed and cycled to the Blue Oar in less than twenty minutes, and still managed to get here before Violet. It wasn’t quite eight yet, however, so she wasn’t technically late but I wasn’t holding onto the belief that she’d be on time.

Truth be told I kind of liked that I’d arrived first. I wasn’t quite as on edge as I’d been last week waiting for her, and this time I’d get to enjoy seeing her hurry in, remove 90 per cent of her clothing and drop down into the seat I’d moved so it was next to mine, instead of across the table.

I’d made the reasoning that couples sit next to each other, but really I just wanted to be close to her. There was something about being in her presence that made my entire nervous system relax.

Opening my notebook again, I looked at the top line.

Rules.

1. No kissing

2.

Christ I was bad at this. I’d come up with one lousy rule. And the only reason I’d added no kissing in the first place was because it was the only rule I needed to have.

It was the only one I wanted to break.

‘Hello.’

My eyes shot up and a split second later I sprang to my feet. I’d been so engrossed in my list I missed Violet walking in. I slammed the notebook shut.

‘Hey.’ I leaned in, just as she did. This time I narrowly avoided bashing her head with mine, and instead planted my lips on the edges of her open, smiling mouth. ‘Sorry.’

But she was too busy laughing as she removed her coat and sat down. It wasn’t her big Muppet coat from this afternoon; this one was a cream, fluffy number that made her look like a cloud, and I had a sudden desire to float away with her on it.

‘Stella was right. We do need to get better at this,’ I grumbled and sat back in my chair.

‘This for me?’ Violet asked, picking up the wine in front of her and taking a large sip before I had time to answer. ‘We will. Don’t worry. Evie will believe we’re a couple.’

I smiled over to her with more gratitude than I’d possibly ever felt. ‘Thanks.’

‘How was training?’ she asked, tucking her legs underneath herself and shifting her body to lean forward so that she was almost entirely in my space, like she’d done it a thousand times before.

It took me a second to blink through the closeness, to stop myself from focusing on the freckles sprinkled across her nose and the onyx flare of her pupils in their sea of azure, and realize what she was doing.

Being my fake girlfriend.

Anyone walking past would never question us not being a real couple, and I spent too long wondering if I should brush the strand of hair away from her forehead.

‘It was good,’ I replied eventually, clearing my throat. ‘Coach wanted to remind us that our spots on Blue Boat weren’t guaranteed.’

Her face screwed up in confusion. ‘Does that mean you might not be racing this year?’

‘No, we’re all going to be on Blue Boat. The only change we have this year is Marshy, because last year he’d broken his leg and couldn’t compete.’ Fuck it. I reached out and swept the strand away with my fingers before I could think any more about it. Except now she was rolling her lips and I caught a flash of her teeth as she worried them. I leaned back in my chair to create some space. That was better. Now I could focus. ‘How was the rest of your afternoon?’

‘Oh you know … essays, essays and more essays. I should probably make a start on learning lines, but I don’t want to jinx anything.’

‘Who else is up for the part?’ I asked, picking up my water to quench my suddenly dry mouth.

She shrugged, ‘I don’t know for certain. There were a couple of other girls I saw going into the auditions but that could have been for any of the parts. Cecily and Linus kept it all under wraps.’

‘Cecily and Linus?’

‘The producer/directors. They’re putting on the production. Cecily is one of my friends, but she likes to keep things professional, so she won’t tell me.’ She laughed.

‘Guess that means she won’t give you the part outright either.’

She shook her head with a giggle, forcing the ends of her ponytail to flick over her shoulder. ‘God, no! Are you kidding? Otherwise Stella would have confirmed her part yonks ago.’

She picked up her wine again and for the first time I noticed she’d changed the colour of her nail polish. Last week it had been dark red, today it was pale pink. I couldn’t decide which I liked more.

A sharp breeze of cold air had my eyes flicking to the door and the large group which entered before returning to Violet and the reason she was here in the first place.

Rules.

‘Anyway, I know you have tons to do. I won’t keep you too long.’ My hand moved to the notebook.

‘What’s that?’

‘I started to write out some rules …’ I began before the notebook was snatched up, and Violet flicked through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

‘There’s only one rule.’ Her forehead creased deeply, ‘No kissing? But Charlie … we did already.’

My mouth held in a firm line. ‘Yeah, I know. But I think maybe we shouldn’t.’

‘Oh –’

‘Just because I don’t think Brooks would be too happy,’ I blurted before I could change my mind, especially given the look on Violet’s face, which kind of resembled disappointment. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. Because no one was more disappointed than me. ‘You’re his little sister.’

Violet rolled her eyes.

‘My brother needs to get over himself. No kissing isn’t exactly realistic,’ she replied, grabbing the pen and scribbling something on the page, though from the angle I couldn’t see what she’d written. ‘Okay, next rule. What have you been thinking about?’

I was not going to answer that question.

Instead, I went with, ‘How often we see each other?’

She took a deep breath. ‘If we’re talking realistically, we should probably do at least one more than just the class with Evie in it, and you ought to come and meet me at mine too otherwise it’s a little weird. If I was your actual girlfriend I wouldn’t be happy always meeting you if you didn’t come to meet me.’ Her eyes briefly flicked to mine, ‘And we need to be seen together outside of that too, like for coffee or something. What else can you think of?’

‘Um …’ my eyes widened, ‘what about coming to my races? That’s a girlfriend thing to do, right?’

She nodded, and I could tell she was trying not to laugh. ‘Yeah, that’s a girlfriend thing to do. When are they?’

‘Saturdays.’

‘Ah,’ she winced, ‘we’ll definitely have rehearsals on Saturdays, but I’ll try and make it when I can.’

‘That’s okay,’ I replied, hoping to keep the disappointment from my voice at losing a fleeting vision of having Violet cheer me on from the riverbank.

Another point was recorded in the notebook.

‘I could meet you after training sometimes.’

My heartbeat kicked up again. ‘That sounds good.’

‘Now what about touching?’

‘Touching?’

‘Yeah. We talked about it last week. Touching in public. We’re going to be seen out and about, so if we’re together we should be holding hands or something.’

She tapped the pen against her plump bottom lip, and it took all my energy to force my gaze away.

‘Holding hands is good,’ I managed eventually, ‘and that back pocket thing you did.’

Her eyes shot up, capturing my gaze so intently that I had to grip my fist around my glass to stop myself from pulling her into me and kissing her until we needed to come up for air.

What was wrong with me?

‘Yeah, I can do that again,’ she answered finally.

Down it went in the notepad.

‘Next one. Instagram.’

‘My Instagram’s private, and I never use it,’ I frowned.

I wasn’t sure whether it was wise to admit that the only reason I’d been on it recently was to check on what Violet was doing, because that sounded weird at best and voyeuristic at worst. But Violet’s Instagram was always filled with images of her on nights out with friends, or in the theatre, the Brooks family dog, or her gap year around the Southern Hemisphere with Stella.

What was more weird, scrolling through her pictures last week made me realize how many of them I’d already liked – except ones of her and other guys. None of those had been hearted, and they would stay that way.

‘But people still follow you, and pictures still get out. You’ll have to start using it,’ she replied simply. ‘There’s no way we wouldn’t be all over each other’s social media if we were together.’

I sighed. This was becoming way more real than anything I’d been expecting and I was once again reminded of how a) incredibly na?ve I was to think I could keep Violet as my fake girlfriend under wraps, and b) this was absolutely not the best idea I’d ever had, but I was in far too deep to be able to do anything about it.

‘Okay,’ I conceded.

Maybe I could just leave it up to Instagram to remind Brooks about what was going on.

‘And you have to like and comment on every single picture of mine,’ she pinned me with a determined glare, ‘and they need to be good comments, none of that Y R U SO HOT? shit. Use proper words, not letters.’

I laughed loudly, because I didn’t think I’d ever heard a more girlfriend-style comment. ‘I can do that. Words not letters, only the best for an English student.’

‘Great.’ She grinned, pushing the notebook over to me, and tapping the bottom. ‘Sign next to my name, I’m just popping to the loo.’

She jumped up, her hand draping along my shoulder as she walked off, sending goosebumps flurrying down my spine. The kind of goosebumps I hadn’t had in a very long time. It was only when I lost her in the crowds by the bar that I looked down.

No kissing. Kissing only when appropriate.

Violet to meet Charlie after a minimum of two classes (inc. Evie’s).

Charlie to meet Violet after a minimum of two classes on different days.

Violet to attend rowing meets when she can or after training.

Violet and Charlie to meet for coffee/lunch a minimum of twice a week.

Touching in public always. This includes hand-holding, hugging, hands in pockets, etc.

Instagram posts must be liked and commented on properly. One post a week featuring Violet and Charlie together on either Instagram.

My eyes scanned down the lines, and I debated hard on whether to add ‘no tongues’ next to the first point Violet had amended. I probably should, but if we were only kissing when appropriate then maybe that also included tongues when appropriate.

The pen hovered over the first line as my brain whirred and whirred with inappropriate thoughts of kissing her, how I would kiss her, when I would kiss her … until I ignored the hammering of my heart against my ribs, picked up the pen and signed my name next to Violet’s, just as she returned to the table.

Instead of sitting back in her chair, she pulled her phone from her pocket. Before I had a chance to ask what she was doing, she dropped into my lap. I wasn’t any more prepared for it this time than I’d been the first time, nor was my dick, providing me with the unwanted reminder that Violet Brooks fitted perfectly against me.

‘Wh … what are you doing?’

Slinging her arm over my shoulder, she replied, ‘Photo for Insta.’

My entire body tensed as she wriggled around, leaning back into my chest until she was comfortable. Another five seconds of holding her before my dick joined in the action.

Finally, she stopped moving and opened up her camera. ‘Okay. Now, kiss my cheek.’

‘What?’

‘Kiss my cheek, we need to look cute.’

I’d long passed the point of questioning Violet. It was clear she was the expert when it came to this sort of shit, so again I did as I was told. Moving the ends of her ponytail away from her shoulder, I wrapped my arms around her and leaned in. Her scent still lingered on her skin from earlier in the day, and I breathed in as deeply as I could without making it weird.

Her cheeks were warm and soft against my lips. Holding still, I was unsure of how long I was supposed to stay in this position and whether my eyes should be open or closed. Or if I should tilt my head to where the camera was raised, but she was done before I could think any more about it.

‘Oh, it’s cute. Look.’ She held the screen in front of me. ‘Yeah, I like that one.’

Reluctantly I loosened my hold on her and turned to see what she’d snapped. I had to admit, it was cute. She’d managed to capture us perfectly.

Her broad smile, her cheek slightly squashed from my lips pressing into it, her freckles and the amusement sparkling in her eyes. Even the smile curving my mouth was visible. The happiness was there for all to see.

It looked real. Too real.

I didn’t need to worry about fooling everyone else, when I could almost fool myself.

‘I’ll post it later, and don’t forget to write something underneath it.’

‘I won’t,’ I chuckled, again. ‘I’ll make it good, just for you.’

‘Are you going to tell anyone about this?’ asked Violet, placing her phone back down and making no move to stand up. Not that I wanted her to. I could stay like this all day, even though I was acutely aware of my hand spread along the curve of her waist, almost spanning her stomach. Inches away from the swell of her boob.

‘About us fake dating?’

She nodded.

I shrugged. ‘Not if I can help it. Your brother and Oz know, obviously. Though seeing as he’s not mentioned it once, I think your brother’s forgotten.’

‘Not for long once he sees this.’ Violet tapped her phone.

‘No. And if we’re all over Instagram I’m probably going to have to tell some of the guys at the boathouse, and swear them to secrecy. But the fewer who know the better. Evie can’t find out.’

‘She won’t.’

‘Are you telling anyone? Apart from Stella, that is?’

‘Nope. No reason to.’ She shook her head. ‘It can stay our secret.’

‘Okay,’ I replied, reaching for the ends of her ponytail because it counted towards rule 6 – always touching in public – the one I’d already memorized, and had nothing to do with the fact I wanted to see what it would feel like twisting between my fingers. Good, it turns out. ‘Thank you, Violet. I know I’ve said it before, but I really appreciate you helping me out.’

She opened her mouth to answer, but instead of her usual dulcet tones a much much deeper voice sounded out.

‘Hi, mate.’

I glanced up to find Bitters – one of my nosier crewmates – peering down at me with an ill-concealed grin. In fact, it wasn’t ill-concealed. He hadn’t made the slightest effort to conceal it at all. It was right there out in the open for everyone to see exactly why he was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Of all my crewmates to discover me in the pub with Violet on my lap, it had to be him. Of course it bloody did. Though on the plus side I wouldn’t have to break it to anyone else – including Brooks – because they’d all know I was dating someone before Violet had gotten off my lap.

Bitters moved faster than a rocket at take-off when it came to gossip.

‘What’s going on here, then?’

In an ideal situation I would have preferred a little more notice before going public. Especially as the ink hadn’t yet dried on our agreement, but at least the notebook was shut.

‘Just taking a study break.’

Bitters raised one thick eyebrow. ‘A study break?’

I waited a beat, not daring to look at Violet in case I bottled it, and I could sense she was waiting to see what I would do. Here goes nothing.

‘Yes, a study break. With my girlfriend, Violet.’ Before Bitters could jump in with one of his trademark borderline inappropriate comments I added, ‘Violet, meet Otis Bitterson, one of my crewmates. Bitters, Violet.’

‘Only my grandmother calls me Otis. Call me Bitters.’ He thrust his hand out for Violet to shake, and she took it.

‘Hello.’

He turned to me, though I didn’t fail to notice he was yet to release Violet’s hand. ‘Now I understand why you rushed off from training.’

‘I didn’t want to be late,’ I answered truthfully.

I glanced from him to Violet and back, expecting Bitters to realize she was Brooks’ sister any second. But we were now two minutes in, and it didn’t appear he was going to recognize her any time soon. I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing. It probably was.

‘Anyway,’ he thumbed behind him, ‘I should go and join my friends. Nice to meet you, Violet. Charlie, see you bright and early.’

‘See you, mate,’ I replied, watching him walk off, slowly taking one backward step after another. The second Violet looked away his two thumbs shot up and he mouthed ‘NICE!’ before disappearing out of sight.

‘So that’s Bitters.’

‘Yes. Do you know him?’

Violet shook her head. ‘No, just heard Huey talking about him.’

‘I thought he might have known you, but I guarantee he’ll have texted everyone before he’s even sat down.’

In fact, I thought I could already feel my phone vibrating with messages.

‘Oh well, like my granny used to say, “better to rip it off all at once than do it slowly”.’

‘Is that what we’ve done? Ripped it all off.’

‘Yes,’ she laughed, her deep gravelly tone warming my skin until I questioned whether we were still too close to the fire. ‘Do you need me to kiss it better for you?’

I stayed quiet. I figured it was better all round if I didn’t answer that.