Page 28 of Lessons in Faking
When he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper. “I think,” he began, his lips hovering right by my ear. “I think you might’ve forgotten you’re supposed to be my girlfriend.Not his.” The little nod in Blake’s direction had his lips graze my skin. A subtle touch. Nothing major. I ignored the goose bumps running down my neck when his hot breath tickled it. And I ignored the urge to lean into his tall frame behind me. One of his fingers absentmindedly trailed along the dip of my waist, though the fabric dampened most of the impact it would’ve made.
Listen.It’s been a while. This was not about who did it, and more the fact it was being done in the first place.
The light scent of beer mixed with his cologne, and I wanted to shove him off me just to feel like I could breathe in something other than his intoxicating scent. Instead, my eyes closed for a brief second so I could get it together, then I turned around.
I didn’t realize how close that would leave us standing. A few inches, not more. His face, his eyes, his lips, all right there. Trying to get just a bit of distance between us, I hit the bar half an inch behind me, my head still angled up to catch his eyes.
They were rapidly taking in every part of my face. Drinking in every faint freckle along and around my nose, the green eyes I’d inherited from Dad, and the flushed cheeks I blamed on the stuffy air in here.
Remembering his words, I scrambled for a reply before the silence became deafening. “I’m bonding with your best friend,” I gasped in irony, my voice low. “You should be thrilled. At least we get along.” My eyes moved to Wren, still immersed in her conversation with Laila, and he caught my drift without having to follow my gaze.
A smirk formed on his lips, and his head tilted slightly. With a raised brow and a know-it-all tone, he said, “My best friend, who’s had a thing for you since you picked your brother up from practice the first time?” His lips were by my ear again to make sure no one would hear his next words. “And proceeded to chew off the entire team’s ear about it? I’m just telling you what it looks like to them.” He shrugged when he brought much-needed distance between us.
“All right, all right, cool it.” I rolled my eyes, hands flying up in playful defeat. The urge to rest them on his chest came up. Briefly. Kind of. I mean, it was right there. Instead, I lowered them. Before he could say anything else, I made sure I had the next word. “So...” I trailed off, finger tapping the menu. “Nachos?” I looked up at him through mascara-covered lashes.
McCarthy tried his best to suppress a smile. He searched for the bartender—Gene—behind me, then let his hand slip from my hip to my hand, tugging it lightly to get me in front of Gene and my nachos ordered.
By the time I turned around, Blake was long gone, sitting in his previous spot at the table behind us. Five minutes after that, I was back on McCarthy’s lap, both of us unbothered by the other’s presence, maybe for the first time.
Chapter 14
I stood in front of our lecture hall, in the middle of a busy corridor. Glued into place. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me” slipped past my lips, and I refused to take another step. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shift my gaze. Couldn’t do anything beyond staring.
Like he was a car crash you desperately wanted to look away from but couldn’t.
In all his glory, there he stood. Wearing sweats and a white compression shirt, every muscle in his upper body outlined. Shamelessly put on display. Leaning against the wall opposite our lecture hall, McCarthy’s arms were crossed lazily. The red rose between his fingers stuck out like a sore thumb.
Various insults crossed my mind when I closed the few feet between us.
McCarthy smiled brightly, tongue between his teeth and the dimple in his cheek prominent.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
“You are unbelievable.” My voice was hushed, laced with annoyance.
“I got this for you.” Extending the single red rose toward me, he decided to play dumb. “I remember you told me they were your favorite.” The cruel smile on his lips made this worse. “Or was it your least favorite? Ah, damn. I can’t remember now.”
I tried not to follow the bobbing of his Adam’s apple when he swallowed heavily, stalling for time. His teeth latched onto his bottom lip as he looked back at me, trying his best to hide the insufferable grin threatening to spill across his features.
He was failing. Miserably.
“Doesn’t matter now, does it?”
Groaning, I finally plucked the rose out of his hand, managing to dig my thumb into not one, but two thorns on first contact. Two seconds, and I wanted to throw the thing back in his face.
“God,” I pretended to swoon instead. “What did I do to deserve such an attentive boyfriend?” My voice was laced with loving kindness. My face basically told him to go fuck himself.
“All the right things,” he said with a wink. His shoulder gently bumped mine when he brushed past me toward the lecture hall, which was beginning to fill up. He lingered in front of it until I decided to follow his lead, and I managed to catch a last glimpse of the back of Henry’s head as he rushed into the room.
“You know why I don’t like them?” I asked rhetorically,attention on the rose as I twirled it between my fingers. He shuffled into the same row as if it was second nature—normal, even, for us to sit next to each other.
“Oh, oh, let me guess!” Mocking excitement played in his voice. Letting himself fall into the seat beside me, he went on. “They’re basic, boring, cheap?” He quickly shook his head. “No!I’ve got it. That one time in your least favorite summer house in the south of France, your brother picked one of the roses off the bushes and blamed it on you. Your allowance was cut in half as a punishment, and how would you be able to survive off a thousand dollars a week, right?” His tone had become even more mocking, trying his best to mimic my voice.
“I sound nothing like that.”
“I mean,the audacity,” McCarthy went on, still grinning widely. “I totally understand why that would put you off them forever.”
My eyes rolled so forcefully I feared they might get stuck. I didn’t know why I still struggled to keep a smile off my lips. “No,” I sighed theatrically, attention shifting from his dimples when Professor Carter walked into the hall. She closed the doors behind her with a forceful thud, and I shook my head. “But he did push me into a bush when we were summering in the Hamptons. Consider me traumatized for life.”
