I place my hand over top hers on my cheek. “I just want to get away.”
“I’m in this with you.”
Because she feels indebted to me.
“You don’t have to do this.”
I know our whole agreement was so I would look like I have my shit together to my dad. A girlfriend makes me look like I’m taking life seriously and settling down from my wild ways, but fuck, I didn’t think he’d treat her so poorly. So, yeah, I’m giving her an out.
She rolls her eyes. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, and we’re not letting your dad win either.” She snorts and lets her hands fall from my face. I’m forced to let go of her, and I miss the warmth of her hand beneath mine.
What the hell is happening to me?
I can’t go catching feelings like some goddamn virus and definitely not for the girl already pretending to be mine.
Oh shit.
“What is it?” Vanessa probably senses the internal panic raging through my body.
“Nothing,” I mutter, glancing out the rearview mirror before I pull back onto the road. “It’s nothing.”
10
Vanessa
I pick at a dry turkey sandwich from Aldridge’s dining hall. It’s after one, so it’s quieter in here than usual and I use it as an opportunity to work on a paper I have due next week for my Communications Theory class. Honestly it might be the worst class I’ve ever taken.
Ignoring the stares from people I don’t know, I get a paragraph written before I’m interrupted by a text message.
Teddy: Where are you?
Me: The dining hall.
Teddy: Be there in a few.
It’s Wednesday, days after the fiasco of a dinner with his parents, and I can tell he’s still tense from it, which saddens me because he’s known for being such a happy go lucky kind of guy. It’s awful that anyone, especially his own parent, can suck the happiness out of him.
The whispers start up, and I stiffen a little in response, knowing he’s entered the building.
I know we’re early into this arrangement, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the attention he draws from everyone. After what happened to me with Tristan, I didn’t put much stock into the popular crowd and never understood why people acted as if they were gods and not the normal mortals that they are. It’s even weirder now that I’m associated with that crowd through Teddy.
His shadow falls over the table I secured in a corner, and I jolt when he bends, kissing my cheek. Affection seems to come so easy to him, which surprises me considering his upbringing.
“Hey,” he says, a little breathless like perhaps he jogged from wherever he’d been when he texted me. He drops a baggy onto the table before he pulls out the chair across from me and plops into it. His hair is the tiniest bit windblown, his cheeks red from the crisp air.
“What’s this?” I pick up the baggy of cookies. “Are these snickerdoodles?”
“I was stress baking.” He sets his backpack in the chair beside him. “And you said they’re your favorite, so…” He gestures lazily at the bag clasped in my hands.
“So, you made me cookies?”
“Um…” I swear his cheeks get even redder. “Yes.”
“Hmm,” I hum and take one out, biting into it. “Oh my God. Teddy.” Cookie crumbles from my mouth onto the table. “These are delicious.”
He grins from ear to ear, his whole face lighting up. “You like them?”
“Um, like?” I look from the cookie in my hand to the bag. “I fucking love them.”
“Good.” He sits back in the chair. He eyes my dry turkey sandwich. “You know what,” he slams his hands down on the table suddenly, startling me, “I’m going to get something to eat. You’ve gotta have something better than that. This place has way better stuff than the prepackaged shit at the front.”
I don’t have a chance to tell him I opt for those because it costs less than the others, because he’s already walking away.
“He’s so hot.” A girl at a nearby table gushes to her friend.
She blushes when she catches my gaze, ducking her head to face the table.
“It’s okay.” I smile at her before glancing over my shoulder at Teddy in line and sue me, but I do ogle his ass for a second. “I get it. He’s hot. Look all you want but no touching.”
She laughs lightly and leans closer to my table. “How did you two meet?”
I give her the same spiel we came up with that we’ve been telling everyone.
“Aw.” She clutches her chest, positively swooning. “That’s so cute. I wish something like that would happen to me.”
“It will,” I assure her. “One day. We all deserve our great love.”
The words burn my tongue, because I know she thinks Teddy is my great love I’m talking about.
He returns to the table and sets down two trays, his eyes roaming from me to the girls I was speaking to and back. A mischievous smile dances across his lips, and I have no warning before he’s lowering his head, and instead of his typical kiss on my cheek, or the one that grazes the corner of my mouth, he goes full on.
He hasn’t kissed me like this since Harvey’s, and I squeak in surprise since I wasn’t expecting that, but the high-pitched sound quickly lowers to a moan. My body responds to his like he’s a conductor and I’m the orchestra. His tongue slides past my lips, and I taste a hint of coffee on his tongue. At some point his hand slides around the back of my neck, holding me in place, and damn if it isn’t the sexiest thing a man has ever done when kissing me.
Suddenly it’s over, and I feel cold from the lack of his touch.
Clearing his throat, he sits back down like nothing ever happened and his tongue wasn’t just in my mouth, and slides the one tray nearer to me. “Try it.”
“What is that?” I ask in shock, not because it looks terrible but because it looks like something you’d find in a gourmet restaurant.
“Steak frites.”
“You rich pricks,” I mutter, but I say it with a smile so he knows I’m joking.
I push my mostly uneaten turkey sandwich out of the way and dig in.
“You like it?” He inquires a minute later.
“It’s delicious.”
“Here.” He shoves his hand in his pocket and yanks out a card. He passes it to me, and I see that it’s his student ID. “Use it any time you want something.”
“Um … Teddy, you kind of need this.”
He shrugs. “I’ll tell Mrs. Jostin I lost it like usual.”
I snort. “How does that poor woman deal with you?”
I eye the card on the table, my teeth digging into my bottom lip because I realize Teddy actually knew why I had chosen my pathetic turkey sandwich, but he played dumb about it to not make me feel bad, and now he’s offering me his student ID so I can get whatever I want and not have to worry about the cost. He plays the dumb jock role well, but Teddy McCallister is the furthest thing from stupid.
“Ah, she loves me. She just pretends to be irritated by my presence.”
“Yeah,” I suppress a smile as I grab his card and slip it in my backpack, “I’m sure it’s all pretend.”