Page 27 of Scoring the Player
“There must be a hundred guys here.” He waves the hand holding his open beer toward the party in front of us. “You’re a beautiful girl. Any guy here would kill to take you home and kiss you until your lips hurt. Take your pick.” His stare drops to my mouth again, but I notice he didn’t lump himself into that category.
“Thanks.”
“I’m serious. You’re hot. I’m not the only one that’s noticed, trust me.”
He doesn’t get it. Of course, he doesn’t. He’s Felix Walters.
“And yet, no one else has asked me out.”
“Well, for the past couple weeks, you’ve been hiding. And before that, I rarely saw you out.”
“Parties are a little intimidating. I’m better in small groups.”
“So, then, we should do this again.”
“Do what again?” I ask because all we’ve done is talk for the past couple hours.
“Go out. There’s another party tomorrow night. I can introduce you to a bunch more people.”
“That’s nice of you, but—”
“But nothing, if you want this year to be different, then you have to try different things.”
“I know. I do. And I will.”
He runs his tongue along his bottom lip as he sits forward. “I have an idea.”
All the nerves I felt earlier tonight are back.
“What if we kept hanging out?”
“I would probably fall asleep eventually.” I cover a yawn that I’ve been holding back.
“I don’t mean tonight. Tomorrow, the next night, the day after that. People already think you’re my girlfriend. We just let them keep thinking that for a couple months.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Think about it. We hang out. I can introduce you to people, and you’ll get more comfortable. Plus, almost no one bothered you about the video when they thought we were out together. I’m good for your image.”
I roll my eyes playfully. “Conceited much?”
“It’s just facts.”
It is, dammit. “What do you get out of this scenario?”
“I’m not taking home random girls, for starters. That shit is getting old.”
“Your willpower is astounding,” I say with a dry chuckle.
“I dig your sarcasm.” He takes my hand and intertwines our fingers. My pulse picks up and the air suddenly feels muggy.
My mind reels. Does he realize what he’s suggesting?
“Seriously, I could be good for you,” he adds. “If people think we’re together, the video will be completely forgotten in a week or two, and in the meantime, I’ll help you do all the things you wanted to do but haven’t yet.”
“Help me?” My voice is shaky.
He nods. “Sure. Why not?”
