Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 103721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Hell, I’m not even near Cameron, and my palms are itching for her.
“Are you coming tonight?” I find myself asking, and Quinn looks up. “To the home opener?”
Thinking of the opener has me thinking of the exchange Cameron and I have been having for the last couple days. We haven’t spoken outside of the BullieBoards, and I hate that, but I’m trying to be patient with this. While I want to follow her lead since this is her “project,” I also know I won’t be able to stick to what she wants. She wants this to be only on paper, wants it to be completely emotionless since that’s what she does. Or at least, that’s how she portrays herself.
Back when I had her in my arms on a regular basis, I could feel her emotions, her heart in her kisses, her eyes, in the way her hands slid across my body. She might not have wanted to feel things for me, but she did, and lord knows I felt a lot. I followed her lead last time, but maybe this time around, I shouldn’t.
But, well, this is supposed to be fake. She has a script and events planned.
The course of our six-month relationship is written out.
I hate it.
“Yeah, I’ll be up there with Mom and Dad,” he says around the bite he just took. I watch as Ava glances at him for a moment and then back at her food.
“Nice,” I say. “Ava, you’re welcome to come.”
They both shake their heads. “I’m leaving town,” she tells me, as Quinn says, “She’s going out of town.”
Convenient since coming would mean meeting Mom and Dad Adler, which obviously isn’t happening yet. I’m pretty sure Mom would call this what it is real fast: weird as fuck. Quinn looks over to me, “How did that meeting with Cameron go?”
“Good. We’re dating.”
His jaw goes slack. “No shit?”
“Yup,” I say, lowering my voice with a shit-eating grin on my face. “She’s doing a project on how a relationship can affect a person’s image, and she chose me. I’m the football player to her pop star.”
He gives me a sideways look. “Y’all both realize neither of you is anywhere near as cool or popular as they are?”
I snort. “Sure, but we’re a big deal around campus.” His eyes taunt me, and I grin. “Don’t be jealous that you aren’t all that and a bag of chips on Vandy’s campus.”
He laughs at that, and when Ava side-eyes him, I want to throw my bread at her. Yeah, Quinn’s laugh is loud, but that’s no reason to side-eye him. Hell, she better get used to it. She’s marrying this hyena-laughing idiot. As his laughter subsides, he asks, “You think this is a good idea with y’all’s history?”
I shrug. “She trusts me, and let’s be honest, I’m the hottest guy on campus.”
Ava looks up then, and her expression tells me she doesn’t find me attractive, which is cool. I’m not trying to get her attention. Quinn laughs at that. “You’re so full of yourself.” I shrug, and he shakes his head. “But I mean, on paper, yeah, you two could pull this off. What do you gain from this?”
A chance for her to choose me.
“Money.”
He gives me a dry look. “You don’t need money.”
I explain all the logistics she has planned, and he doesn’t seem impressed. I don’t even think Ava is listening. “She does know you’re beyond successful right now and don’t need her help? She may have more followers and more deals, but you’re sitting mighty pretty.”
“Apparently, she doesn’t, but I’m not going to correct her.”
He gives me a knowing look. “You’re wanting this to turn into a real thing.”
Well, look at him hitting the nail on the head. Since there is no reason to confirm or deny that, I am going to promptly ignore his accuracy. “So, when is the wedding?”
Quinn laughs at me as Ava looks from him to me. “Sometime in June.”
June? Jesus. Okay. “Wow, quick.”
“We wanted to do it sooner, but with, um, er, who’s getting married?” she asks him, and I make a face. She doesn’t even know his brother’s name?
“Evan,” Quinn supplies, and I gawk at him. “What?”
I look at Ava then. “You don’t know his siblings’ names?”
Her eyes darken. “There are a lot of them,” she says, like that’s an excuse.
I blink. “Um, no. Shelli, Posey, Evan, and Owen. It’s pretty simple.”
“For you, because you’ve been around us forever,” Quinn says, trying to laugh it off, but this is not okay. I can tell I’ve pissed her off because she drags her gaze from mine back to her food.
Quinn gives me a pointed look, and I mouth, “What the fuck?”
“Just let it be.”
Well, this is going great. When my phone sounds, I glance down to see it’s a message from Coach.