He chuckles, rubbing his jaw. “Zoey’s decent by now. Come on up.”
“Are you seriously inviting me inside after I just saw you and your girlfriend fucking?”
He narrows his eyes on me, and I have a feeling he’d punch if he could. “Do you want my help or not?”
“Fine,” I grumble, following him back up the stairs and into the apartment.
“Please tell me you got the key,” Zoey bursts out as soon as we step inside.
Cole holds it up triumphantly. “Yep.”
To me, Zoey points like a mother scolding her child—there’s a reason I call her mom. “Don’t you ever do anything like that ever again. I hope you’re good and truly scarred. You deserve it.”
With those parting words, she flounces out of the room, and the bedroom door shuts behind her.
Cole walks over to the refrigerator and offers me a small bottle of orange juice and takes a root beer for himself.
“Sit down and start talking.”
I gulp down half of the orange juice before laying down on the couch like I’m in a therapist’s office.
Then I start spilling my guts to Cole.
“Hold up,” he says from where he sits on the coffee table beside me, “you’re telling me you suckered this poor girl into being your pretend girlfriend and now you’ve fallen for her?”
“I didn’t sucker her,” I defend. “I asked, there’s a difference, Dad. And I haven’t fallen for her … yet, but I think I might be falling. It’s more than I’ve ever felt for a girl before. Normally I just want to pump and dump, but I haven’t even slept with her and I want…”
“You want?” He prompts.
“I want her, for real. I want what we have already, the friendship and banter, but more. I want the kisses and touches to be real too. What’s wrong with me?”
He grins slowly, his teeth blindingly white. “Looks to me like the player has lost.”
“Lost?” I snort. “Me, Teddy McCallister, never loses. The game changed, that’s all.”
He rubs a hand over his jaw. “So, what are you going to do about it?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet.”
He lets out an exasperated sigh. “You might want to figure that out.”
Rising from the couch, I say, “Don’t tell anyone about the fake-relationship crap. I don’t want them to know.”
“I won’t say a word.”
“Not even Zoey.”
He doesn’t have a chance to reply because she peeks her head around from the hall. “I heard everything anyway.”
“Dammit, Zoey,” I grumble, shaking my head. “You can’t tell anyone either.”
“My lips are sealed,” she promises. Sitting on the end of the couch, she gives me an amused look.
“What? I know you want to say something else.”
She laughs, exchanging a look with Cole—and I feel fucking pathetic that I feel a tug in my heart because I want that.
Me.
Teddy McCallister.
Who has never had, nor wanted a girlfriend.
Never pictured myself married or any of that shit.
Suddenly wants those looks where you say everything without opening your mouth. I want to cuddle, have inside jokes, hold hands, the whole fucking shebang.
Maybe I was abducted by aliens and my brain has been scrambled?
If that’s the case, then little green dudes, could you please return me to my normal state?
I feel a tingle down my spine with that thought, because I don’t want to go back to that.
“I just find it amusing you asked Vanessa, a girl you’d never met before, to do this for you when any girl on campus would’ve been happy to do it for you. No questions asked. No favors. Nada.”
I rub my fingers over my jaw, my stubble thicker than normal. Coach is going to give me hell if I don’t shave it soon. Even though she didn’t ask me a question, I say, “I don’t know. My gut seemed to know she was the one I needed.”
“Interesting,” she muses.
“Don’t be cryptic, Mom,” I snap, and Cole glares at me.
“Don’t talk to my girl in that tone.”
Zoey snickers. “I can handle him, babe.”
He gives her a heated look. “I know you can.”
“Oh, ew. Don’t make sex eyes in front of your child. I’m leaving now.”
Before I make it to the door, Zoey says, “We should have a movie night, and you bring Vanessa.”
I pause, sighing. “I’ll think about it.”
Then I slip out the door and down to my car.
18
Vanessa
I haven’t seen Teddy since our sleepover. After we both got off from freaking dry humping, we cleaned up and went to bed without saying another word.
He even slept on the floor without protest.
The next morning, he took me to breakfast, but barely spoke which was very un-Teddy-like.
And since then, it’s been only text messages, so color me surprised when there’s a knock on my door Friday morning just before I’m about to head to class.
He stands there without his trademark smirk, looking surprisingly awkward and unsure of himself.
I narrow my eyes in suspicion.
“What’s up?” I ask hesitantly.
Why does my fake-boyfriend look like he’s about to break up with me for real?
Despite his somberness, his eyes are zeroed in on my chest. The long-sleeve black shirt I yanked out of the drawer this morning is a little snug and definitely accentuates the girls. Clearing my throat, he jerks his head up at being caught and finally there’s a tiny grin from him.
“Hey.” His voice is deeper than normal, like it hasn’t been long since he woke up.
“Hey? I reply questioningly. “I was about to leave for class.”
“I won’t be long. I just wanted to drop this off.”
From behind his back, he pulls out a shirt and two tickets.
“What’s this?” I take it from him hesitantly. The fabric of the t-shirt is super soft like it’s been well-loved and washed many times.
“Tickets for you to come to my game.”
“There’s two,” I point out.
His green eyes shine with amusement. “I thought you might want to ask Danika.”
“Oh … that was nice of you. And the shirt?”
“It’s one of my baseball shirts. It has my number on the back. I want you to wear it.”
I bite my lip, leaning against the open doorway. “Are you sure you want me to come?”
His brows furrow. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“You’ve been avoiding me this week.”
He doesn’t even deny it. “I’ve been busy, that’s all.” I don’t believe him for a second. “And had a lot on my mind.” Running his fingers through his hair, he blows out a breath, “I want you to come. Okay?”
“Okay,” I repeat. “I’ll be there then.”
He smiles. “Good.” He lingers awkwardly in the doorway. “Are you leaving now?”
“I was grabbing my bag when you knocked.”