Page 59 of In the Net
Blushing, Jamie nods.
Felix nods his head slowly, like he’s realizing he has a lot of work ahead of him. “Well, at least it wasn’t anuttercatastrophe. Like, you didn’t throw up on her. That’s gotta count for something.”
Jamie’s tall, good-looking, captain of the hockey team, and everyone who gets to know him loves him. It’s bizarre enough that he’s still a virgin as a college Junior. On top of that, of course the one girl I’ve seen him really interested in has a personality like she’s sculpted out of ice.
I reach over and snag Jamie’s muffin, pulling off a piece and popping it into my mouth.
“Mmm, chocolate chip,” I say through my chews.
“Hey, my muffin!”
“You didn’t even want it. Felix and I just made you get it as an excuse to talk to Carmen. Here, Felix, try some of our muffin.”
Felix munches on a piece. “Not bad.”
Jamie gives us a flat look. “This is no way to treat your captain.”
“Alright, Jamie, we don’t have a game next Saturday, so on Friday we’re hitting the club and I’m giving you more lessons on how to approach women,” Felix says.
As Jamie and Felix talk, a realization that should’ve been obvious hits me for the first time.
For the next month and a half, until after Harper’s cousin’s wedding, I’m not going to be able to be with a girl at all. No dates, no hooking up, no flirting in bars.
I can’t believe that fact didn’t even occur to me until now. It didn’t jump out as a reason why I should have never offered to be her wedding date the way I did.
But what’s really weird, is that as I think about the next fake date we’re going on tomorrow evening, I don’t even mind.
Harper’s eyebrowstug together in confusion after she pulls the door open. “Sebastian? What are you doing here?”
Wearing a teasing grin, I shrug. “Well, I remember how impatient you were for me to show up last time. Figured this time, you’d appreciate me being early.”
Her gaze narrows on me. “I was impatient because you were almost half an hour late.”
“And now I’m early, so you don’t have to sit in front of the clock and watch the seconds tick by with bated breath. You’re welcome.”
Harper is at a loss for words, so I brush right past her into her house.
With a sigh of defeat, she closes the door. “You’re, like, almost an hour early, Sebastian. You really don’t have anything better to do than inconvenience me with your presence?”
I guess I should have something better to do. But I’ve recently discovered that seeing Harper flustered is really entertaining, and I want to take advantage of it while this arrangement lasts.
“I should see your place, anyway,” I say. “What if at the wedding I make some quip about you being a clean freak when everyone knows you’re notoriously messy? I need to know how my girlfriend lives.”
Huh. It’s weird how nice it felt sayingmy girlfriendlike that. Really weird. Liking biting into a food you’ve never had before, that doesn’t look appealing, but when you taste it, it’s immediately a new favorite.
“You might be overthinking how good our cover needs to be,” Harper responds. “This isn’t a CIA mission.”
“We shouldn’t underestimate how eager Mackenzie might be to trip us up.”
Begrudging acknowledgement shines in her eyes. “I guess you’re right about that,” she sighs. She spreads her arms toward the interior of the house. “Well, here it is.”
I nod, like I’m taking everything in and silently judging. “Common areas are clean at least. But that’s not a surprise, since Maddie lives here. I’m sure your room upstairs is a disaster, and you wouldn’t want anyone seeing it on short notice. I understand.”
I don’t know why I’m goading her like this. I guess I just like the way it makes crimson seep into her cheeks and her brow furrow.
She props her hands on her hips. “If you want to see my bedroom so that you’ll have something to fill your depraved fantasies with later, just say so.”
My lips twitch, and they’re sure as hell not the only thing on my body that does. Especially since the way she has her armspropped has the fabric of her shirt pulled tighter over her pert, round tits.
