My initial infatuation began crumbling right in front of my eyes, slowly replaced with revulsion. All the charm that I thought he had, all the sweet things I imagined he’d say in my head, were an illusion, I realized.
But that couldn’t have been the truth, right?
Austin was… sweet. He was an amazing guy who was respectful and considerate. This cruel version of him couldn’t have been real.
“You know what, I’ll make an exception for you,” he added, a smirk pulling at his lips. “Why don’t you come find me in a week or two when your relationship ends because you realized how awful yourboyfriendreally is? I’ll fuck you so good, you won’t even remember who he is.”
“I…” I froze on the spot, my mind having a hard time processing what he just said. “Uh… I should go.”
21
EDEN
After our win and therefore taking another step toward the upcoming playoffs, I thought I was going to be a lot more nervous about the upcoming game next week.
It was quite a surprise to realize that seeing Alana after almost two whole days of not seeing her at all was much more nerve-wracking.
How was I supposed to greet her? Surely a simple “Hi, how are you?” won’t do it since we were supposed to convince everyone that we were happily in love—or newly in love. Whatever we were.
Couples hugged and kissed, didn’t they? But Alana and I never discussed how we were going to handlethatpart of our fake relationship.
Ever since the news was out that we were “dating,” we hadn’t once been spotted doing anything remotely coupley. Somehow, I convinced Sharma and Balik to believe that I just didn’t want to put my relationship with Alana up for failure, like I did with my previous relationships. When I used to not care about kissing my girlfriend in public before or doing something as simple as holding her hand, I didn’t want to do this with Alana.
Honestly, I had no clue why they thought it was a plausible excuse. Part of me was sure they didn’t even care at all, and I was just making a fool of myself by overexplaining.
But I mean, I’d been gone fortwodays—and most of today.
Perhaps instead of breaking my head over this for the entire ride from Boston back to New City, I should’ve asked Alana what we were going to do. Unfortunately, I came to that realization a little too late.
By alittletoo late, I mean, the bus had just gotten onto the parking lot back at home.
Through the window, I spotted Alana waiting in front of the entrance of the arena, her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket. Her hair was carefully styled, and she looked like she belonged on the cover of a fashion magazine rather than standing in front of an ice hockey arena, waiting for her alleged boyfriend to arrive.
It was a little strange seeing her all dressed up—especially on a Saturday evening—when she was only here to pick me up because it would’ve been strange if she didn’t. But I was also glad she wasn’t hiding in the way too oversized outfits anymore. Tonight, she wore one of her librarian-like outfits. However, the skirt was shorter than usual. She tugged her shirt into her skirt, which happened rarely, and she wore shoes other than sneakers. It was a miracle, especially since I hadn’t once reminded her to wear something out of her comfort zone today.
As soon as the bus came to a stop, I took a deep breath and stood up from my seat, my heart pounding in my chest.
“Got places to be, King?” Kaan slapped his hand onto my shoulder, laughing.
“Yes,” I replied, keeping my eyes on Alana even though she hadn’t yet bothered looking up from her phone.
I was usually the last to leave the bus since it really didn’t matter. We were all getting off anyway, so why rush it? But tonight, for whatever reason, Ihadto get out as soon as possible.
“I’m sure you do.” Sharma smirked at me knowingly as he suddenly stood right in front of me. “Newfound love is so adorable.”
“It makes me want to puke,” Kaan added.
“Yes, yes, whatever. Can I please go now?” I squeezed past my best friends, walking down the steps of the bus with shaky legs.
Should I grab my bag and stick first or rush to Alana? I didn’t know, but it seemed my legs were deciding for me.
As I reached the bottom step of the bus, my feet carried me right in Alana’s direction. The cold air wrapped around my body like a second skin, but the sight of Alana warmed something inside me.
And then she looked up, her eyes meeting mine, and it was as if my entire world stopped spinning for a nanosecond.
Fuck.
I was indeepshit.
