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“Uh, yeah, thanks.” Then I reach out to smack his arm lightly. “And thanks for making me cry, you jerk.”
He chuckles. “I was hoping we’d get in one last interaction that ended with me making an ass of myself and you in tears, just for old time’s sake.”
I laugh. “Of course. Classic Blake and Loren, right?”
He continues smiling at me, and my stomach dips in a way that makes me more anxious than before. Then the rest of our class begins shuffling around, and everyone sorts themselves into the right order again. I take my place at the end of the line, and the “Pomp and Circumstance March” plays in the background. I inhale deeply and lift my chin high as I follow Blake down the aisle, gulping when I notice how nice his shoulders look from behind despite the frumpy graduation gown he’s wearing.
We take our seats at the edge of the stage, where I tune out most of the first half of the ceremony in lieu of practicing my speech in my mind. But then I realize Blake is speaking, so I give him my attention for a second, only to catch him delivering a line that makes the audience laugh.
“… And sometimes life happens, and our plans change. Maybe we don’t accomplish every one of our goals, or maybe the outcome doesn’t look exactly the way we think it should, but I believe there’s always an opportunity to learn and grow from our experiences. In fact, I wish you were all lucky enough to get repeatedly bested by Loren Reed, since it’s always been such an effective reminder to keep my pride in check,” he says, beaming. Then he turns and aims that perfect grin at me, and I swallow hard and squirm in my seat. “Thank God she was there, you know, to stop me from putting thedickinvaledictorian.”
I press my lips together, stifling a smile of my own. He turns back to the audience, but I’m unable to focus on anything but his useless shoulder muscles for the rest of his speech.
The next thing I know, he’s thanking everyone and ignoring the crowd’s standing ovation as he struts over to take his seat beside me. Allison rises for my introduction, but she has to wait for the crowd to finish murmuring their approval of Blake’s charming, self-deprecating address before she can speak. My eyes dart to him when he leans back in his chair, and he’s already staring back at me.
He winks secretively and whispers, “Your turn, Reed. Got ‘em all warmed up for you.”
And I nod curtly, trying to hide my blush before I amble over to the podium. I hear a few good-natured laughs when I pull out my step stool, and then I begin.
CHAPTER 24
Blake
“Landry knows,”Loren blurts out as soon as I open the passenger door. We’re parked in the driveway at her dad’s house.
My eyebrows shoot up. “He knows you’re pregnant?”
“No. He and Lilley just think we’re dating … and sleeping together.”
“Oh,” I reply. “He didn’t give you too much of a hard time, did he?” I can already feel my blood pressure rising.
She shrugs coyly. “He received the news as well as I thought he might, but I probably made it worse by oversharing and cracking a few suggestive jokes at his expense. By the way, if Lilley is overly flirty with you, it’s probably because I’ve been talking you up a bit, mostly just to mess with Landry. I hope that doesn’t make you feel too uncomfortable.”
I shake my head and smile. “Gossip doesn’t bother me anymore. And I’m not afraid of Landry Reed, babe.”
“Good, because I also implied that I find your propensity to not give a rat’s behind about what my brother thinks to be the most attractive of your desirable qualities and the one which ultimately induced me to fall for you.” I nearly choke on my spit, but she corrects herself quickly. “I mean, you know, because faux-Lo would totally be into the one guy who would piss off Landry the most, right? And I figured it would make things simpler if I just embraced my alter ego for the duration of this fake relationship, at least when I’m in front of my family.”
“Uh, right.” I hate the way I’ve started blushing since this whole thing with Loren began, and I scramble to hide my face. My cheeks feel warm after hearing her talk about falling for me, even though I know she’s not serious. I just wish I could say my reaction is purely due to discomfort and not because I liked the way it sounded entirely too much.
“Blake,” she calls, bringing me back.
“Yeah?” I hope my face has cleared up by now or that she’ll at least assume I’m nervous about telling her family we’re having two babies together.
“Thanks for doing this, for being here with me today,” she says, her voice low. Then she looks up at me with an expression that has me wanting to pull her in for a hug if not a kiss.
I settle for reaching out to interlace our fingers before I bring her hand up to my lips. “You don’t have to thank me. We made these babies together, and I fully intend for us to go through the rest of this together too.”
She nods. “Okay.”
I swallow hard and turn away before I say or do something else too mushy.
She knocks when we reach the front door before letting us both in, though it appears that most of her family is outside in the backyard. We pass through the house, stopping to put her sister’s birthday cake down in the kitchen before we meet them on the patio, and we’re ambushed by Lilley’s two kids first.
I assume her brother has already forewarned her dad about me, because he barely bats an eye when I greet him with a firm handshake. “Coach Reed,” I begin. “Thanks for having me over today.”
He nods, mumbling something in return. Loren’s dad has never been a man of many words, unless he’s explaining something on the football field. And even though I’d once considered myself to be one of his favorites, back when he’d given me his attention and made me the starting quarterback as a freshman, his favor was short-lived. I’d been just as easily replaced by a shiny, new toy with the same last name, and after that I was only as good as the passes I completed to JD.
“Blake Bourgeois,” Landry drawls, waiting patiently to receive me next. “What a pleasure.”
