“Me either.” She sits back down at her desk at her open laptop. “I have to work on this paper some more. It’ll probably be an hour before I can even think about sleep.” She sighs and glares at the screen. I kick off my shoes and drop my bag on the floor before flopping on her bed. She laughs. “I’d tell you to make yourself at home but you already have.”
I cross my arms behind my head and smirk. “I thought you letting me stay was invitation enough.” I wiggle around.
She shakes her head. “Don’t distract me, this is important.”
“You do realize that fuels me to distract you.”
She
narrows her green eyes on me. “Go get me a cupcake then, Bennett.”
“Why?”
“Because that means you’ll be gone long enough for me to almost finish this and I’ll have a sweet when I’m done. It’s a win-win.”
“Yeah, a win-win where I don’t win,” I counter. I stand, though, and put my shoes back on. “I’ll get you a cupcake, because I’m the best fake boyfriend ever.” I bend down and kiss her temple. Her breath catches and she looks at me with surprised eyes. I quickly step away and open her door. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”
“Mmhmm,” she hums, turning her gaze back to her computer but I don’t miss the flush in her cheeks.
I ease the door closed behind me and head down the hall to the elevator.
“Hey, Bennett,” a pretty blond says when I stop beside her to wait for the elevator doors to open.
“Hi,” I say, giving her a quick-once over and then training my eyes back on the elevator doors.
Guys with girlfriends don’t check out other girls—even when your fake dating. Pretty sure it’s a law or something.
“I’m Beth,” she says.
“Okay.” I know I sound cold and I don’t mean to, but if she’s expecting me to flirt it’s not going to happen.
The doors open and we step onto the elevator together.
“What are you doing in the girls’ dorm?” she asks, flipping her blond hair over her shoulder so that I can get a better shot of her cleavage. I force myself not to look, but it’s really fucking hard when there’s a pair of tits right beside you. I mean, I’m a guy, we like to look. It’s a fact of life.
“Visiting Grace,” I bite out between my teeth.
She lets out a musical laugh. “And leaving so early?”
I know what she’s implying but I don’t bite. The doors open and I step out into the hallway. “See you later, Barb.”
“It’s Beth!” she calls after me.
I disappear outside, and Beth, thankfully, doesn’t follow.
I head across campus to get Grace’s cupcake. I choose the chocolate one with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles. My girl likes chocolate.
Holy fucking shit. Did I just address Grace as my girl? What the fuck has gotten into me? She’s not my girl. She never will be. I don’t want her to be.
I stop in my tracks in the middle of campus. I don’t know why I keep lying to myself. I do want Grace. For the first time in my life I actually want a girlfriend, but the timing … The timing fucking sucks. With everything going on with my team and coach I can’t afford any distractions and Grace would be a distraction.
I breathe out and watch my breath fog the air.
I’ve never felt so conflicted and at a loss as to what to do.
I know I can’t tell Grace how I feel, though. She’s as affected by me as I am by her and I don’t want to give her false hope that something more will ever come of this. I can’t promise her a real relationship. Not while my career is on the line.
I walk around campus for a while, just thinking, before I finally make my way back to her dorm. I don’t bother knocking and let myself in.