Page 13 of Foul & Fake
Good thing Eli finds him hilarious. “So you’re here for the show?”
“I’m definitely not here for the fresh air, thank you.” He nods behind Eli. “Spill. I know at least one of you is a little curious.”
And this is why I bring Josh. He’s my ice breaker, and my distraction when I’m trying not to die inside.
Eli glances over at the team and finds most of them standing around and watching us. “Oh, Luca isn’t curious, he knows what he likes. I can introduce you at some point, but if I drag him over here too, my captainandmy coach will kick my ass. Luca’s the shorter, skinny one with the fade. He’s wearing our scrimmagejersey.” He spins back around to look at me and steps in a little closer. “You came.”
“Thought I’d make it up to you since I ran my mouth so much.” Rocking on my toes, I cross my arms on the top of the fence. “Happy to see me?”
“Always. Come here.”
Eli leans in and kisses me on the cheek, far too close to my lips for comfort, and he sits there a second longer before pulling away. His teammates whoop and holler like children, but I can barely hear them over the beat of my own heart. “That burrito was a bad idea by the way.”
Wait, come back. Kiss me for real.
Exhaling, I nod. “Yeah? I’m sorry. It was really good, though.”
I can still smell his enticing cologne, but it’s mixed with the smells of nature and something uniquely him, pulling me in when I should be pulling away. “No regrets. I’ll just save that for after practice next time so I’m not so sluggish.”
“Okay,” I laugh as a giant with a British accent yells at him to hurry up. “You’d better get back over there, and I have a class to get to. But there. You can count me among the girlfriends who show up now.”
“Mmhm. I guess I can. I’ll text you later, cupcake. Go on so I can watch you walk away.”
Josh cackles at him and loops his arm with mine. “He’s a smooth one. You’re in trouble, Ri.”
I glance back over my shoulder as we walk away, and seeing Elias staring at my ass with his bottom lip between his teeth ruins me a little.
Yep. I’m in big trouble.
He only gaveme thirty minutes to prepare for our date, but at least it’s just a bonfire. I’m positive he’s already seen enough of my body to last us both several lifetimes, so I opt for jeans, my favorite booties, and an oversized burgundy sweater. Cute enough to look like I tried, but modest enough that hopefully, he won’t be thinking about my vagina all night.
Especially because that’s exactly what I want him to do.
He’s already getting to me.
The thought annoys me so much that when I open the door to let him in, I’m still frowning. “Hi.”
“Hi, frowny. You look cute.”
He kisses my cheek again and steps aside for me to exit, and my feet move on autopilot.
This is going to be a disaster.
“So how many people will be there?”
“No clue. Masters said it was going to be a chill night, but that doesn’t mean shit.” He nods in the direction we’re heading and leads the way, giving me an opportunity to check out how annoyingly good he looks in his dark-wash jeans and black henley with the sleeves rolled up. “Might be just the team and whoever they want to fuck tonight, or it might be a rager. Who knows.”
When he interlocks his fingers with mine, my heart rate kicks up a notch. It feels… good. Not forced, and not coercive. “Last chance to tell me anything I should know.”
“Well everyone knows about you now, so they might be a little annoying about it, but just stick to my lap. Do you drink or anything?”
We walk past a group of girls who all seem to be staring at our hands, making me wonder why. People hold hands on campus every day, so is it him? Is it… me?
We don’t look like we belong together, that’s for sure. I look like the naive daughter of some preacher in the Midwest, and he looks like he should be on the cover of a sports magazine. He looks… experienced, and I look like I’ve never seen a dick in my life.
I know that.
Wait, he asked me something. “What?”
