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“I know.”
“What if he...” I trail off as I feel my cheeks get warm. “You know?”
“Then I’ll handle it.”
“Just like that?”
“You’re supposed to be my girl, right?”
I nod. “But not really.”
“I know,” he says again, patiently. “But he needs to believe it, and if I was really dating you, I would defend you every time someone so much as looked at you the wrong way.”
Warmth blooms through me. “You’re a sweet talker, James Callahan.”
I let him lead me into the bar.
Chapter 12
James
As soon as we’re back inside, Bex is mobbed by a girl with dark curly hair and the most earsplitting scream I’ve heard outside of the movies. She hugs her tightly, smacking her cheek with a lipstick-covered kiss. “I thought you had work!”
“I convinced her to come spend some time with her boyfriend,” I say, holding up my hand.
Bex blushes scarlet. That makes me want to kiss her. Instead, I squeeze her hand. “Well...”
“No way,” the girl says. Her eyes light up as she takes in the fact Bex and I are holding hands. “Seriously?”
“It’s... complicated,” Bex says. “Right, babe?”
I shrug. “Not that complicated. She kissed me, I asked her out, she said no, then she reconsidered.”
Bex rolls her eyes, clearly fighting a smile at my recollection of how we struck this arrangement. “This is Laura, James. She’s my best friend, so she knows everything about me, don’t you, Laura?”
“I didn’t know this,” Laura says with a pout. “I can’t believe you didn’t mention you traded up to a good football boyfriend.”
But I get Bex’s drift; she’s about to tell Laura that we’re not dating for real. “Can I get you ladies something to drink?” I ask. “If you want to drink, princess, I can always drive you home later.”
Laura’s jaw drops. “You’re my new favorite person,” she says,looking at the guy standing at her shoulder. “Barry? Take notes, do whatever James does.”
Bex shakes her head fondly. “I guess I’ll take a rum and coke, if you don’t mind,” she says.
“Lime?”
“Of course.”
“Me too,” Laura pipes up.
“Coming right up.” I head to the bar, slowed by a couple guys who recognize me and want to chat about the game. By the time I look over my shoulder, Bex has dragged Laura into the far corner.
Hopefully Laura will still like me after she knows the truth. She seems like a firecracker; that Barry guy has his hands full.
At the bar I order the drinks and another non-alcoholic beer for myself. I continue to watch her as I lean against the bar to wait. Fuck, she’s pretty. If I had to pretend to date anyone, I’d choose her a hundred times over. Kissing her again, finally, set my skin on fire. I haven’t gotten stiff like that from a kiss in ages; the second I got her legs around my waist, I had to keep myself from deliberately pushing us both over the edge. She tasted like my beer and fruity lip balm and her cute, curvy body was so warm against my chest, even through her thick sweatshirt. It’s going to be a struggle not to take this thing too far.
It’s not like I have any other options, though; I need her help to pass the class. If this is what she wants in exchange for that, I’ll do it, and do it well. Darryl won’t know what hit him, other than the fact Bex has someone in her corner who will fuck up anyone who hurts her.
The bartender sets the drinks down at the exact moment I see Bex lift her sleeves, holding out her wrists to Laura.
