Page 15 of Better Not Pout
“Okay, I am sorry for the fake boyfriend thing. Honestly, I just kind of started talking on the fly, but… tell me the look on his face wasn’t worth it?” His lips curl into a grin that has my stomach flipping and my heart pattering erratically in my chest.
God, he’s so annoying, but he’s also hot and sobigthat it’s just outrageous.
Despite trying to bite back my smile, it breaks through, and my eyes roll. “Fine. It felt slightly good.”
He chuckles, deep and low, so raspy that I canfeelthe sound.
My brow arches, and I lift a finger, poking it not so softly into his rock-hard chest. “Don’t laugh. It’s not funny.Stop laughing, Wells.”
Of course, he doesn’t listen. That only makes him laugh harder, like I’m an ant trying to poke a giant. His palms lift in surrender, another shrug lifting his thick shoulder. “It’s a little funny.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
Realizing I’m still touching him, I quickly yank my finger away from his chest before I drop my face into my hands, hanging my head with a low groan.
“The entire town is going to think we’re dating once word catches. Do you know how humiliating this is going to be for me when Bradley finds out that it was just a lie? He’ll think I’m even more pathetic for pretending to have a boyfriend. I’m sure, given the size of his ego, he’ll assume it’s because I still have feelings for him, Wells! Jesus, this is so embarrassing. Even seeing him today was horrifying, and this just makes it even worse.”
Just thinking about howthatwill unfold has my stomach clinching for an entirely different reason.
I have a lot of feelings when it comes to Bradley, just not the ones he’s going to assume when he finds out that I made up a fake boyfriend after seeing him for the first time in years.
“Okay, so what if we don’t tell everyone we’renotdating?” Wells’ gruff voice has me lifting my head and pinning him with a sharp glare.
“I mean, it’s going to be fairly obvious when we’re constantly bickering. Couples don’t argue 24/7.”
“Sure they do. Keeps things interesting.” He simply laughs, and I narrow my eyes at him, trying to take him out with the intensity of my glare.
“I have an idea. Just hear me out, okay? So people will think we’re dating… Okay? Fuck it, who cares? Your ex will think you’ve found someone way hotter, with a much bigger di—” I reach up and twist his nipple, and a strangled mixture of a groan and laughter spills past his lips. “Fuck, alright, alright. Alright. Look, what if we just fool everyone for a few weeks, until his party and the holidays are over. Then he’ll be gone, back to wherever the hell he came from, and will have no clue that he got played.”
I lift a brow and cross my arms over my chest. “Oh yeah? So you’d be fake dating me out of the goodness of your heart? Doubtful. The only thing in that big, ridiculously muscly chest of yours is coal, and we both know it, so why? What’s in it for you?”
His expression darkens for a moment before he finally says, “Might benefit from a fake girlfriend myself. Aholi-date, if you will.”
“That makes sense because the only girl who wouldwillinglydate you would have to be compensated in order to do so,” I smart back, a pleased smirk splitting my face. “Your sparkling personality and all.”
That is, until he steps closer, and every hard inch of him is pressed against me in a way that makes my throat feel tight, causing my hands to tighten into fists against my chest.
He dips his head slightly, holding my eyes. “Trust me when I say I don’t need to beg a woman for anything, Rosalie, unless she’s into that kind of thing, and then I can be averygood boy.”
The low timbre of his words slides over my skin, creating a buzz beneath the surface.
Shit, why does that make me want to press my thighs together and scream at the same time? I’m honestly not evensure what’s happening right now, but it feels like I’m having some type of out-of-body experience.
“Right,” I respond, my voice sounding nothing like my own, raspy and breathless. I take a step back and suck in a shaky breath, watching as he rolls his lips together. A knowing smile moves along his face, and for a second, I think about throttling him.
The only thing I need right now is space.
So I can freaking think straight.
“I realize it sounds a bit… bizarre, but I’m serious. Just think about it,” he says. “You need a fake boyfriend, and I need a fake girlfriend to solve our problems. The solution is easy: we fake it until after Christmas, and then you can go back to pretending you can’t stand me. Although I think we both know that’s not true.”
I roll my eyes and lift my chin. “You know, when you put it that way, it sounds so easy. God, why didn’t I think of this on my own? Oh, that’s right… because this is not a freakin’ Hallmark movie, Wells. Fake dating—fakeholi-dating—is not a real-life thing.”
Wells shrugs. “Could be.”
“Why is it that you evenneeda fake date for the holidays? Actually, what does that even mean?”
