Page 27 of Foul & Fake
“And you sound like you’re grasping, but hey. I don’t give a fuck what you do, I just don’t like being lied to. Get your shit together, Reyes. It’s affecting your game.” Gomez flips me off with both hands and a sarcastic smirk, then disappears into the kitchen to grab a beer.
“So, what?” I follow him with our British ass captain on my heels, too pissed off to let this go yet. “You think I convinced this random girl that has nothing to do with our tradition to fake date me, all so I don’t have to haze Oakley?” Because that’s exactly what I did. “Why the fuck would I do that? I had good pranks for that shit. Remember my idea to give her crabs?”
“You’reonefucking idea this whole time.” he mutters. “She’s Oakley’s roommate, right? You think those crabs would’ve stayed on Oakley’s side?”
“So what you’re saying is she’s playing me?”
And now I’m a gaslighter. Fuck, I’m so fake, and it’s getting harder to hide my anger.
“Alright,” O’Neill cuts in from the living room. “Just take a breath, Reyes, damn. You’re sounding really defensive here.”
“No shit.”
Mads puts a hand on my shoulder, and tells us all to calm down, and I spin around to face him with the intention of telling our captain to fuck off too. He’s right though, I need to take a breath or I’m going to blow this whole thing up and there will be no going back.
Gomez raises his hands. “Chill out, man. You just seem pretty miserable for a guy who supposedly has a girlfriend he’s crazy about. We’re just lookin’ out for you.”
He’s right too, and I hate them all. I’m miserable because I’ve gone weeks without getting laid, weeks of feeling rejected. This isn’t working, and I need to fix it. “Whatever, I’m going on a walk. Have fun playing with each other’s dicks,” I tease, cracking a small smile when most of them laugh.
“You sure you don’t wanna stick around for that?” Vito asks. “We’ll play with yours too.”
“Your hands are too big, Gomez’s hands are too rough, O’Neill likes too much eye contact, and Mads…” I trail off and pretend to think about it, because he’s actually kind of pretty. “Nah, he talks like he’s narrating a fantasy novel. I’ll pass.”
I toss them a middle finger and take my leave just as they all start fake dirty talking in British accents, pulling out my phone before I hit the next street to call her. Unsurprisingly, she doesn’t answer. In fact, I’m pretty sure she ignored it because thelast ring cut off a little too abruptly for my tastes, and all it does is piss me off more.
I was good to her. Yeah, it wasn’t officially real, but I treated her like it was. I was trying to make this enjoyable for the both of us, and she’s actively fighting against it. Why?
My mind spirals the entire time I walk across campus to her dorm, and when I walk into her room without knocking, I find her hunched over her desk typing furiously. “Oh good, you’re back,” she says without looking. “Can you please go do your laundry? Your socks reek.”
“Probably because they’re filled with cum,” I grumble, slamming her door harder than intended so I can pace her dorm and figure out what the fuck I’m doing here. “You ignored my call again.”
Her body goes taut, and as she faces me, she actually looks a little scared. “And you can clearly see I’m busy,” she says slowly.
“Busy doing what? What’s more important than what we’re doing to keep my team off of both our backs? Enlighten me, Riley.”
She screws up her nose. “Everything, Elias. Literally everything involving my future, my life, or my sanity is more important than you not hazing my roommate. What’s wrong with you?”
I growl and spin away, I can’t help it, but she has me wanting to rip my hair out. This is why dudes like me stay away from the good girls, we’ll always be last to their ambitions.
So I’ll just have to fight dirty to win.
Chapter 11
Dig A Little Deeper
RILEY
My heart beats wildly as I watch him pace. He’s angrier than I’ve ever seen him, and why? Because I ignored a phone call? Because I stuck to the ground rules he told me were okay? Yes, I slipped that night. I won’t blame it on the booze because I wasn’t drunk and I did want it, but I still shouldn’t have done it. Clearly.
“Elias, you should go. Maybe we should just call this quits and I’ll deal with whatever you do to my dorm.”
“Oh, hell no. So now you want me to look stupid? You don’t even know the argument I just had with the guys, made hella excuses for you and now you’re just going to fake break up with me?”
He steps closer with a look of anger and disbelief on his normally beautiful face, his dimples dangerous now, not playful.
Standing up, I square my shoulders even though he’s a foot taller than me. I won’t cower. “Today, New Year’s Day, what’s the difference? I’ve come to all your stupid games, I’ve sat on your lap at bonfires and parties and team dinners. I’ve held your hand, looked at you like I cared. If our story isn’t selling anymore, it’s your fault, Elias. Not mine.”
“No, it’s yours because it’s fake as fuck. Everyone can see how stiff you are, especially after how we were at that first party. I get it, you got me out of your system, but you need to work on your poker face. It’s like you’re pulling away because you know I’ll pull you in. We’re magnets, and you hate it, so you twist away trying to repel me, but I won’t let you. You’re mine, remember?”
