Page 31 of The Midseason Fakeout

“We’re going upstairs.”

She peers around, watching the other people around us, and if I’m not mistaken, hesitancy has set in. “That’s a…terrible idea.”

I step toward her again. “I think it’ll be anexperience.”

Kenna laughs, and Bailey looks at her and then back at me, a gleam in her eye. “You know what? I should go see what my brother is up to.”

I corner her against the group of people we’re all dancing with, trapping her against a wall of undulating bodies who are oblivious to anything else going on. “You know you want to…” I sing-song, threading my fingers through hers. I lean in close and whisper, “It’ll seem very out of the ordinary if the quarterback doesn’t take his girl upstairs at some point.” I rock back onto my heels. “Plus, your brother is off dancing with the same girl he left us for when we first got here. He’s preoccupied.”

Just like we should be, I think before immediately dismissing it. This is all a show. I need to hammer that into my brain.

“Well, he might need me,” Bailey says, her futile excuses only making this much more fun.

“Nope.”

She presses her lips together to keep from laughing. “Then I have to pee.”

Enough with this game. Without warning, I scoop her up in my arms. She squeals when I toss her over my shoulder but throws her hands up in triumph when she manages to not drop her water bottle. Mine, however, goes everywhere, but I don’t care. I smack Bails’s ass, and laughter erupts around us.

We pass Kenna and West, and Kenna shakes her head. “He’s smitten. It’s written all over his face.”

West only grunts in response, smirking.

Ignoring their commentary, I carry Bailey up the stairs. They have no idea how wrong they are, and it’s kind of fun fooling everyone, especially Mr. Know It All.

A guy in a “Stephen King Rules” shirt raises his cup as we pass him. Upstairs, the noise from the party is subdued, tamer.

Bails starts to wiggle. “Put me down.”

“Not yet.”

“Aidan,” she warns. “You had your fun.”

Where did my fun, adventurous girl go? It’s like she thinks I’m actually going to do something to her. “Stop moving,” I tell her, giving her another smack. The leggings leave nothing to the imagination, and damn, her ass is tight.

If I don’t stop thinking about it, I’m bound to get hard again.

At the end of the hall, I spot an open door. It just so happens that it used to be Reid Parker’s old room—the best room in the whole house. Peeking inside, I find it empty, so I move in and set her down on her feet while locking the door behind us.

Flustered, Bailey moves her hair out of the way and straightens out her shirt. “What was that about?”

“We’re at a college party.”

“Yeah, and the party is downstairs.”

I laugh at her. “If you were an expert college student, you would know that the fun is all up here.”

She shakes her head. “I can’t tell who you are right now.”

I cock my head at her. “Why are you mad?”

“I’m…not,” she says, rubbing at her forearms.

Clearly, she is. “What did I do?”

She makes a noise in frustration. “I guess I got self-conscious when you picked me up. It’s fine.”

I chuckle, and this seems to make her even more mad.

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