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“No cameras, huh?”
“Hell yes. I have an early shift at the bar, and I’m off at seven. I’ll come pick you up and we’ll go down into Boulder, and walk around town. I’ve got something to prove to you, now.”
I bit my lip. “You are going to kill me.”
“No, but I’m definitely going to kiss you,” he said, cocking his head to one side. “And take you out on the town. And hopefully do a lot more than that later on after our date, because I already can’t stop thinking about your tongue on my cock.”
I let out a helpless groan.
“The bad news is that right now, we really should get back out to the party,” he told me. “I heard at least three people saying they wanted to talk to you when I walked through the crowd. You’re a little bit famous, and very desirable, whether you like it or not. ”
I sucked in a breath. “I really don’t feel like going back out there. But I definitely know I have to.”
He gave me a nod. “Let’s do it. You’ve got this. I’ll be right there with you.”
It felt like a simple miracle, being told something like that and actually letting myself believe it.
There was still a small, screaming part of me that thought I was totally screwed, that all of this would blow up in my face, and that danger was ahead.
But I was starting to think that fearful part of me was nothing but a big, fat fucking liar.
Just like I had been, every time I’d told Jax I hated him.
10
JAX
“Where are you off to, bro?” Stevie said to me, giving me a little slap on the back as I made my way to the front door of the frat house. “You’re looking all dressed up.”
I swore lightly under my breath, turning to see Stevie leaning on the wall behind me, arms crossed, with his characteristic grin plastered on his face. I’d almost been able to get out of the house without any of the guys noticing me, but Stevie tended to know everything that went on in this house. He hovered around like a mother hen, checking in on all of us all the time.
Usually, I found it endearing. But right now I needed to jet.
“Shift at the bar.”
“Usually you bartend in, like, a T-shirt and a pair of jeans,” Stevie said. “I didn’t even know you owned a scarf, let alone a nice sweater like that. You look like you belong in a catalog.”
I’d put on the tan-colored cashmere sweater that my mom had gotten me last Christmas. When I’d gone to the fall festival with Charlie, he’d really seemed to like my other sweater, and tonight I was aiming to please. This sweater always felt too fancy for me, but for our first date night, I’d wanted something more than my typical athletic wear.
“Well, uh, after my shift I’m going on a date,” I said, opting to tell the truth. “And I’m already late, because my tutoring session with Maggie ran long, so I’m out of here.”
“A date? Did I hear that right?” another voice came from down the hall, and Aaron appeared, clearly about to head out for a workout. “My man Jax is finally out on the playing field. Good for you.”
“Get it, man. Who’s the lucky lady?” Stevie continued.
“If it’s Jax, she’s probably a model,” Aaron said with a wink. “Pretty boys attract pretty girls, you know what I mean?”
With each passing day, I expected one of the guys to finally come up to me in the house and ask about my fake relationship with Charlie. But every time I saw them, it didn’t happen. It turned out that none of my fraternity brothers watched any home renovation shows, and the only social media they cared about had to do with sports or other fraternities. Most of the time when I came back to the house, everyone was drinking beer and watching comedy shows around the flatscreen or gathering around the giant wooden table in the kitchen, wolfing down food.
One of these days, one of them was going to catch a clip of me and Charlie online. But so far, nobody had said shit, and I was so busy I barely had time to chat these days, anyway.
“If the date goes well, I’ll tell you all about it,” I told them. “I promise.”
“She a student here?” Aaron asked.
Stevie waggled his eyebrows. “Or a hot older woman from an app?”
The truth burned inside me, hot as flame.
It’s not a woman. I’m going on a date with a guy, and I’m really fucking excited for it.
But for some reason, I couldn’t get myself to say it. None of the dudes here were homophobic at all, from anything I’d ever heard. There was no reason that I had to be ashamed. Hell, I wasn’t ashamed. I was really proud to be going out with someone as cool as Charlie.
