Page 76 of The Game We Played

“Are you challenging me? You know what happens when you challenge me.”

“I do?” I bat my eyelashes. “What?”

He growls. “Do not tempt me, gorgeous.”

“Why not?”

He scowls. “Belinda tipped off some paparazzi about the barbecue. She wants us to be photographed on the beach together.”

I frown. “This is a PR stunt? I thought…” I blow out a breath. I am not telling him how I thought this was just for fun, the way the bowling alley was.

After he thanked me for defending him to his family by dropping to his knees and worshipping my body, I thought things might change. But they obviously haven’t.

This is fake, Alaia. Fake. Fake. Fake.

My heart protests. It doesn’t want my relationship with Tanner to be fake. Me neither, heart. Me neither.

But it’s better this way. This way, I can continue to believe Tanner is a great guy. If things change, he might turn out the same as all the other men in my life. I’m better off not knowing.

“I’m sorry. I should have warned you. But I didn’t want the vultures to ruin our fun.”

Our fun? Maybe he doesn’t want our relationship to be fake anymore either.

“It’s okay. I agreed to be photographed together.”

He tucks a strand of wayward hair behind my ear. “I know, gorgeous. But I’d prefer to have you all to myself.”

I shiver. Me too, Tanner. Me too.

I manage to keep those words inside. I don’t know if Tanner and I are speaking the same language. He wants to be friends with benefits. I want more. Way more. More than Tanner is willing to give.

I grab my bags from the trunk. I hitch one over my shoulder but Tanner snatches it from me.

“I can carry my own bag, charmer.”

“You can, but you don’t have to.”

He laces his fingers through mine and leads me around the resort toward the beach. A group of his teammates is already gathered around a fire pit.

My feet slow. I don’t want to share Tanner with anyone. I want to enjoy a lazy day on the beach with him. Swimming in the ocean with him. Laying on the sand with him.

Tanner stops. “If you don’t want to go to the barbecue, we won’t go.”

“But Belinda will cover you in blood and throw you to the sharks if you miss a PR obligation.”

He shivers. “Cover me in blood first? The twins are rubbing off on you.”

“I didn’t say I’d be the one covering you in blood.”

“I don’t care about Belinda. If you want to skip the barbecue and do something with the two of us, we can. Rumor has it there’s an amusement park on the island.”

I groan. “Mermaid Mystical Gardensis supposed to be for kids.”

“Sounds fun.”

I rake my gaze over him. “You can’t fit into the seats of most of the rides.”

He grunts. “Bummer. We could always go on the ghost tour of the bank.”