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“Everyone, I’d like you to properly meet Juniper, my girlfriend.”

Conrad gives a sly grin and shakes his head. He smiles, his gaze on me, not on Myles. “Glad your date worked out. You have me to thank, am I right?”

“Don’t let it go to this guy’s head,” Myles says, jabbing a thumb in Conrad’s direction. He pulls out a chair, offering me a place to sit, and then grabs himself another chair, sitting beside me.

Rowan stands there for about half a second. “Should I get you a chair?” Conrad asks, glancing up at her as she hovers over him.

“No, I can take care of myself, thank you.” Rowan steals a chair from another table and slides it between Conrad and me.

Myles naturally rests his arm on the back of my chair. It’s a bit of a possessive gesture, but he doesn’t touch me. He doesn’t have to for everyone to know that I’m taken.

Archer is seated next to Conrad, and he keeps glancing at me, his eyes tight, like he has something he wants to say but is holding himself back.

Good.

Myles doesn’t need any more drama, and I don’t need Archer growing suspicious about Myles and me dating.

“I suppose I have you to thank,” I say, feeling several sets of eyes on me, but my focus is momentarily on Conrad. “If you hadn’t pushed me into going out with this ogre—” I joke, jabbing a thumb toward Myles, and he interrupts me.

“Ogre?” Myles mocks. “Come on, I’m not that uncivilized. I knew to pull out your chair.”

“You’re trainable,” I tease, smiling brightly up at him.

His eyes glint, and I have a feeling he’s going to get me back for that comment, eventually.

“Gosh, you two are sickening,” Reid says, coming over to our table. “So, you finally locked her down, Myles?”

“Locked her down? This isn’t an engagement, Reid, but yes, we’re officially dating.” Myles has a bit of a deer in headlights look from his teammate’s question.

I playfully elbow Myles. “Don’t go getting any ideas. I am not impulsive by nature. Dating you took a lot of convincing.”

“Vice versa,” Myles quips, and we both stare at one another for a little too long.

“So!” Rowan squeals excitedly. “When did you guys first start to like each other, because it seems like whenever you’re together, you’re always ready to chop off each other’s heads.”

I press my lips together, remembering what Myles and I had briefly discussed, keeping the lies to a minimum and covering them in an as much truth as possible.

“There is almost always a lot of tension between us,” I say, and his eyes widen as I grin at Myles, “but we both realize most of the tension between us is sexual, not just annoyance. And a bit of miscommunication, with the dating app, and then the hockey game. We just really got off on the wrong foot trying to get to know one another.”

His jaw tightens and he forces a smile that I can’t quite read, but I’m concerned his friends might recognize it for what it is—all of this one big lie.

I do the only thing I know how: I rest my hand on his and lean in, kissing him quickly on the lips, trying to distract him. “Once we got over the fact that we don’t hate one another, it made us realize there are a lot of feelings there.”

Out of nowhere, his hand that was on the chair is in my hair, his fingers on the back of my neck, and he brings his mouth over mine, silencing me.

That’s one way to make sure I don’t say something asinine or give it away that we’re not a real couple.

The cool winter air in the bar heats up with his hand in my hair and his mouth on mine. The world fades, the music is nothing more than a slight thumping, the same rhythm of my heart. One kiss with Myles and I take another, needing more.

I shift in my seat, turning slightly to face him, my body wanting to climb onto his lap, claw at his clothes, feel over his skin.

I’m touch deprived.

His lips, his breath, his mouth—it’s all overwhelming, but in a good way.

What the hell am I doing?

I pull back, breathless.