Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 124005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
I drop my hand and cement this new lie. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”
His smile is radiant, and my heart feels like it’s splitting in two.
We’ll disappoint so many people when this charade ends.
His parents, my moms, our families, our friends—I’m already devastated for all of them. And most of all for me. Because the prom king just asked the nerdy girl to marry him, and it’s all a tragic farce. Echoes of pain from all those years ago surface.
He slides the rock on my finger. It fits perfectly, and it’s just so beautiful, and I’m just so angry at him. He doesn’t love me. He doesn’t want to marry me. It’s just another game. Another win.
“She said yes!” He pushes to his feet and hands the microphone to Flip, who’s standing beside me, mouth agape.
Dallas pushes my hair over my shoulder. I try not to react, to keep the smile plastered on my face as I speak through gritted teeth. “I’m going to kill you. You know that, right? You think clowns and sauerkraut were bad, just you wait.” I want to punch that gorgeous smile right off his face.
“Can you stop giving me shit for a second so I can kiss you?”
“Wh—”
He cups my face in his palms and presses his lips to mine. I make a shocked sound and grab his wrists. His tongue pushes past my lips, not aggressively, but in the gentlest of sweeps.
My head swims, and fire rushes through my veins. It has to be shock. That’s what this is. That’s the only explanation as I fist his jersey and he tips his head. Every line of his hard body melds to mine. And it doesn’t feel close enough. His lips meet mine, so soft, and warm, and firm. Dallas’s thumb grazes the edge of my jaw as he explores my mouth with a sureness that makes my knees wobble and the most embarrassing moan tumble from my lips.
“Damn, that’s some chemistry,” Flip mutters.
The arena is cheering and screaming.
Dallas breaks the kiss—thank God, because I clearly don’t have the ability to make rational decisions. One corner of his mouth quirks up as his hot, knowing gaze meets mine. “I’m convinced.”
With those two words, my bruised heart drops to my toes. It’s all just a show.
He threads our fingers together and raises our hands in the air. “She said yes!”
I stand there, shocked beyond belief.
Dallas kissed me.
He kissed me.
And based on the way my body is reacting, that was the best kiss of my life.
This is really bad news for me.
Because he’s not just my fake boyfriend anymore; now he’s my fake fiancé.
CHAPTER 12
DALLAS
As soon as I enter the locker room, my entire team is on me with back pats, “way to gos,” and “I had no idea this was as serious as it is.” Ash stands off to the side with his eyebrow quirked. He told me not to do this and I did it anyway.
We both know Willy will make my life a living hell for this. But I will absolutely take any and all of her anger because we just pulled the rug out from under Brooklyn and Sean’s decade long power trip. They’ve been putting up passive aggressive posts lately. When Brooklyn mentioned something about it being “too bad” one of our classmate’s partners cheated on them, I lost it. Those two assholes getting engaged isn’t nearly as exciting as the pro hockey player proposing to his high school crush in an arena full of people. Petty? Definitely. But what’s the point of all this power if I can’t use it for good. Now no one can question the seriousness of our relationship. Not when my ring is on her finger. I’m running on a wicked adrenaline high.
“I just booked the Rose Room,” Flip announces. “Everyone’s invited for dinner, including your parents and whoever else wants to come.” He drops his phone in his cubby and claps me on the back. “We need to celebrate the hell out of this.”
“How did you manage that?” That place is usually booked weeks in advance.
“Connections. I have lots.” Flip winks and heads for the showers.
I get additional back pats and hair ruffles as my teammates pass me, whooping it up. Nothing says celebration like booking one of the most expensive restaurants in town for the entire team.
I take my time getting undressed, and so does Ash. Neither of us says anything until we’re alone.
“When we talked about the time being right, I didn’t actually think the time would be tonight,” he murmurs as he unclips his pads.
“I wasn’t planning on it, but then I saw Willy’s face when Sean and Brooklyn appeared on the Jumbotron.” She looked like she wanted to throw down, which is something I’d pay to see.
“So you proposed,” he finishes.
“Yeah.” Was it a little impulsive? Sure. But fuck those two and their insidious behavior. I see their passive aggressive comments. I’ll protect Wills however I can, whatever it takes. This is my penance in a diamond ring.