Speaking of, I glance around the room in hopes she came, but even before my eyes finish a once over of the room, I know she’s not here. When Chloe is around, I can feel it.
Gabby pulls me closer as she introduces herself. “I’m Gabby. Are you new?”
The girl nods and looks like she’s about to pass out from nerves. “Maureen.”
When I don’t speak up for myself, Gabby continues, “This is Nathan. So, Maureen, are you single? Do you think my friend here is cute?”
I take a sip of my beer and it goes down all wrong, making my throat burn and my eyes water. When I can speak, I say, “Excuse her, too much time sniffing glue as a kid melted her brain.”
“Whaaat?” Gabby asks innocently.
“You can’t ask people things like that,” I mutter and offer Maureen an apologetic smile.
She giggles, and I know she’s not for me. It’s not a sound I can imagine hearing every day. Probably petty, but shouldn’t a guy want to hear his girl laugh?
“At least she didn’t eat it,” Maureen says.
“I like her,” Gabby proclaims, her eyes not leaving Maureen. My best girl may have visions of braiding hair and naked pillow fights, but I have no such fantasies. I mean, well, okay, that’s a damn good visual regardless of my disinterest.
“And I’m single,” Maureen adds, interrupting me from mentally undressing her, except the naked vision of her isn’t her at all.
I can’t get Chloe off the brain no matter how hard I try. But she isn’t here and Maureen is, so the least I can do is be a gentleman and make a little small talk. “Where are you living?”
Before Maureen can answer, Gabby pulls away. “I’m going to get a drink.” She winks at me and then turns to Maureen. “Nice to meet you.”
“I live in Freddy. What about you?”
“I live here.”
“Really?” Her eyes are wide, and I swear she went from sort of interested to planning our destination wedding.
I’m about to tell her I need to take a piss just to get away without being rude, when she places a hand on my forearm. The nervous and shy girl is gone and replaced by one who wants to eat me alive. “Why don’t you show me around?”
I take her through the kitchen and outside. We’ve got a nice patio set up and a pool that several people have already jumped in.
“And this is the backyard,” I say because honest to God, I just don’t know what else to say. Clever, I am not.
“Oh, that pool is amazing!”
Dock another point for the high-pitched squeal that has me squeezing my eyes shut. “You like to swim?”
“I’m on the Valley swim team.”
“Ah.”
She slips off her shoes and then takes my hand as she heads toward the pool. She’s got a death grip on me, and she drags me behind her. I manage to slip out of her clutches as she steps down into the pool. It’s only a couple feet deep and her dress is plenty short enough to stay dry. I step back and watch as she twirls around and splashes in it.
I spot Shaw, who is also in the pool. He eyes Maureen with interest. She seems nice, I’m just not feeling it, so I motion with my head for him to go for it. It’s two seconds too late, though. Maureen uses those long legs to run and jump from where she stands in the shallow end to me on the top step. She flings her arms around my neck and I’m crashing forward, taking us both into the pool before I know what’s what.
Chloe
One step inside The White House and I understand why my roommates were so excited about coming. The house itself is huge and white… hence the name, I suppose. I try and act casual and like I’ve been here before as we step through the front door into a huge entryway.
The living room and kitchen are open concept and extend into one huge space. To the right is a staircase, and I’m guessing that’s where the bedrooms are. We pass by a theater room and a bathroom that already has a line of girls waiting their turn.
This place is extravagant. And I know extravagant.
“Who took Zeke and Wes’ spots in the house?” Sydney asks and they all look to me.
Emily and Sydney have dropped all pretenses of freezing me out now that they know my White House connection, but Bri is watching me like she’s waiting for me to screw up. I wish I didn’t feel like that’s exactly what I’m about to do. I don’t even know for sure if Nathan is here. He still hasn’t responded to my texts.
“I’m not sure,” I answer and keep moving. The place is packed just like Sydney said it would be. I need to find Nathan so I can… crap, what am I going to do when I find him?
“Ladies.” A guy with dark hair sticking out around a red beer helmet steps in front of us with cups. “Welcome. Keg and liquor are in the kitchen.”
The girls all take a cup and head in the direction of the booze and I hang back.
“Hey, have you seen Nathan?” I ask him quietly.
“Pool,” he offers as he places a cup in my hand.
“Thanks.” I exhale a sigh of relief that Nathan is here, but then that starts off a whole new set of emotions—namely excitement at seeing him again. And crap, I need to reel it in. Friends… we’re just going to be friends.
I slip past Bri and Emily without them noticing. Sydney and I make eye contact and I mouth, “Be right back.”
The outside is as nice as the rest of the house. The yard is bigger than I expected with a large patio that is partially covered. The pool is the real showstopper, though. There are a dozen cushioned lounge chairs placed around it, all filled with people.
Quite a few people are in the pool, too, and my gaze flits over the girls lying in neon light-up floaties and snags on a couple in the shallow end coming out of the pool fully dressed. The girl is giggling at the state of them. Her dress is molded to her skin, leaving very little to the imagination, but she doesn’t care. She’s holding on to the guy and he’s… breathtaking.
I know because I inhale sharply and forget to breathe as I take him in. Desire, panic, jealousy—I feel all of those things and nothing at all because the guy… the freaking guy is my fake boyfriend.
9
Chloe
I watch in what feels like slow motion as Nathan pulls himself out of the pool. The pretty blonde attached to him is all smiles. Well, this is spectacularly awful. The guy my friends think I’m dating is here with someone else and my roommates are about to find out I’m a big fat liar.
Also, I think I might be disappointed, which is ridiculous. We’re just friends. Friends who slept together once after a drunken night of secret sharing.
“Is that Nathan?” Sydney’s voice is right behind me and the claustrophobic feeling that tightens my chest tells me Bri and Emily are also near and watching the foray between Nathan and his actual date for the night.
“Yep.”
Sydney scoffs. “What a ho. You should go tell that girl to get her mitts off your man.”
I resist laughing at this totally messed up situation but just barely.
When Nathan turns so I can get a good look at his face, it doesn’t look altogether pleased, which makes me feel a teensy bit better. He looks up and directly at me like he knew exactly where to find me. My pulse quickens, and I break eye contact first, staring at my feet and wishing I’d never agreed to come here tonight.
Did I really think I could waltz in here and he’d snap to my side and pretend to be my boyfriend while I win over my teammates?
When I look back up, he’s coming my way with a sexy smirk. He’s completely soaked. The white t-shirt he’s wearing clings to him and if there were such a thing as a male wet t-shirt contest, he’d win. Hands down. Cut abs that I’ve seen, felt, licked—oh, my freaking God—are clearly visible. I’m making my way down his body, trying not to ogle and failing miserably, when he gets to us. The blonde is two steps behind, not letting my man, correction, her man, get away.
“Hey, Surfer Princess, you came.” He briefly looks to each of my roommates and nods.
I hear Bri scoff and repe
at the nickname like it annoys her.
The blonde catches up and stands next to him, wringing out her hair. “Oh, my God, I’m soaked.”
Nathan stands in front of me, dripping wet but smiling like he’s happy to see me and not the least bit bothered by his drenched clothes. I’m not sure how long we stand there just staring at one another before the blonde interrupts.
“Do you think I could borrow some dry clothes?” She bites at her bottom lip and looks up at Nathan innocently. I know that look and I cannot let her go with him. If he were my boyfriend, I’d be crazy jealous right now. In fact, my fake feelings are confusing the hell out of my body because I am jealous right now.
Sydney elbows me and I stumble forward. I’m standing so close I can see drops of water running down from his hairline. I reach out and place a hand on his hard, cold chest without thinking. “Hey.”
I’m too breathless. Too scatterbrained. Too affected by him. And he freaking knows it.
“Hey,” he parrots.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Mhmm.” His smile is filled with innuendo.
I’m pretty sure he thinks talk means take off all our clothes, but I don’t have time or the privacy to correct him. I need to get him alone and beg him not to out me.
A guy wearing hot pink swim trunks with little alligators on them slung low on his hips joins us. He looks familiar, but I can’t place him. “Dude, that was hilarious. You should have seen your face when she pulled you in.” He looks to me. “Hey, you’re the girl from Comm class.”
Nathan tips his head toward the guy. “Chloe, this is my teammate Tanner Shaw.”
Tanner lifts his chin. “And roomie.”
“He and John Datson moved in today,” Nathan clarifies. “Shaw, can you lend Maureen some dry clothes?”
“Definitely,” Shaw responds and wraps an arm around her shoulders. Maureen only looks disappointed for a second before she recovers and bats her eyelashes at Shaw.
I remove my hand from Nathan’s chest, but he grabs it now, sending a possessive thrill through me.
Sydney steps toward us, takes my elbow, and whispers, “Don’t disappear all night. This is a good opportunity to spend time with the team.”
I nod, and then she adds, “And bring your man and his new roomie with you.”
Nathan leads me back into the house. He pushes through the crowd, never dropping my hand and tugging me with him. I follow behind, watching his shoulder and back muscles work under the thin, wet material of his shirt. I’m aware that people are staring at him and saying things, but his touch—even cold and damp—makes it hard to concentrate on anything else. The way I feel when he’s around makes it easy to remember how I ended up drunk and naked the first time we met.
He leads me up the stairs, past a basketball court and a couple of bedrooms before he steps inside a room and flips on the light. “This is me.”
The room is a decent size, but the contrast to the rest of the house is apparent. A simple bed and desk are the only furniture and there isn’t a single thing hanging on the wall. He strips off his t-shirt and holds it in his hand. “So…”
“Sooo,” I mimic, and he grins.
“You said you wanted to talk to me or was that code for get naked because you’re still fully clothed?”
“Oh, right.” I walk around his room to avoid staring at him, taking in details about him. Detail one, his phone is on his desk so maybe he wasn’t ignoring me. Detail two, there are no less than five half-empty Powerade bottles also on the desk, but no laptop or books. “Sorry to just drop in. I tried to text.”
“It’s a party. No need to RSVP, sweetheart.”
“My roommates still think we’re together.”
“Yeah, I got that from the death glares they were sending me and Maureen.”
“Sorry if I ruined your date for the night.” I turn to face him so he can see I mean it. He’s dropped his jeans and only wears a pair of wet black boxer briefs that do nothing to hide… well, everything. I quickly turn back around, heat flooding my face. “I’ll go down there and tell them the truth. This whole charade has gone on long enough. You must think I’m crazy.”
His phone rings, cutting off any response he might have been about to say. He picks it up and looks at the screen, his brows pulling together as he says, “Sorry, I gotta get this. Can we talk later?”
“Of course.” I move to the door. “Is there a bathroom up here I could use?”
He points. “Across the hall.”
“Thanks.”
He nods as he puts the phone to his ear and answers.
I let myself out and find the bathroom. Inside, I splash my face and search for the words to try and explain this to my roommates, but I’m at a total loss. The little bit of ground I won tonight is going to be pulled out from under me when they find out I made the whole thing up.
Why couldn’t I have just owned up to my one night with Nathan? Looking back, I don’t think it’s possible that my roommates could have possibly disliked me any more than they already did just because I got drunk and slept with the first person who was nice to me. I think it’s because I could see it in their eyes—acceptance. They couldn’t believe he was with me and dammit, why wouldn’t he be? I’m pretty fantastic.
Acceptance. I sigh. Isn’t that what led me to sleep with him in the first place? He looked at me like I was just me and not the girl who was shrouded in scandal. I wasn’t lying when I told him I don’t do that. The blackout drunk or the one-night stand.
I’m so embarrassed I threw myself at him only a few hours after we met. And yes, I threw myself at him. I remember that much very clearly. He kissed me and then I practically ripped my clothes off.
I stare at my reflection in the mirror above the sink. I look the same as the girl who was living in California, the girl who had very few cares in the world, but I can’t tell the real from the fake anymore. Who am I if I’m not the girl who was given a full-ride scholarship to Golden to play volleyball? Did I deserve that spot or, like everything else, was it bought for me by parents who love me maybe a little too much to see how doing such a thing could be worse for me than letting me fail?
Letting out a deep breath, I shake my head and decide that it doesn’t matter. All I can do now is focus on showing my new teammates that I deserve to be here. This is my chance.
Out in the hallway, I take a step toward the stairs, but Nathan’s voice grabs my attention. Even in a hushed tone, I can tell he’s upset.
“How could you be so fucking stupid?”
I freeze and press myself against the hallway wall. It sounds like something is thrown to the floor before he speaks again. “It’s stupid and reckless. You’re not Vin Diesel, bro. Quit tearing up the road like you’re auditioning for the next Fast and Furious spinoff. Fuck, Heath. You gotta help me out here, I’m doing the best that I can.”
I’m holding my breath, heart racing. I know I should stop listening, but I cannot make my feet move.
“Yeah, alright,” his gruff voice comes once more followed by silence like he’s hung up the phone. I start down the stairs when he calls out, “FUCK!”
I glance back just as he exits his room. He doesn’t see me, but I can’t miss the wild intensity of his blue eyes. He takes off in the opposite direction, and I follow after him. He looks like a man about to make very bad decisions.
I hurry to keep up, which is no easy task in these heels. He heads down the hall and enters another bedroom. This one is bigger and looks a lot more lived in. He doesn’t touch anything in the room, though. He moves to a slider and opens it to a small balcony that overlooks the backyard and the party below.
He’s pacing, running both hands through his hair. He looks like a caged animal. Finally, he lights up a cigarette and closes his eyes as he inhales. When he opens them, he glances over to me like he knew I’d be standing there, though I don’t think he saw me follow him.
“Wanna talk about it?”
“It’s fi
ne.” He blows out a cloud of smoke and shakes his head. He doesn’t look like he’s going to be sharing his troubles anytime soon so I lean my hip against the railing and we stand like that in our own quiet bubble away from the noise and chaos below. We’ve got a bird’s eye view of the party, but Nathan stares straight ahead into the night. I don’t know what I expected by following him out here, but he looks like he could use a friend.
I’m starting to get cold and wondering how much longer we’re going to stand out here when he says, “I don’t think you’re crazy.”
It takes me a minute to realize he’s referring to our talk earlier. “That makes one of us. I don’t recognize myself anymore. Crazy is probably the nicest way to describe sleeping with you, freaking out, and then conning my roommates into thinking you’re my boyfriend.”
“I think it’s the first time anyone has ever used me to get ahead.” He chuckles. “I kinda liked it. I’m usually the guy girls use to piss off their nice conservative fathers or boyfriends.”
“Well, if I’m ever looking to piss off my dad, I’ll keep you in mind.” He’s smiling and I feel good about that. “Alright. I should get down there and see if I can get my teammates drunk enough that they like me after they find out I made up a boyfriend to win them over. You’re good?”
He nods, and I turn to leave. I’m only a step away when he says my name quietly—rough like sandpaper. “Chloe.”
“Yeah?”
“It was fun being your fake boyfriend. Just be yourself. They’ll come around. And if you ever wanna go out again for real…” He trails off with a shrug.
“Thank you, I’m just not in a place to date for real right now.” He nods in understanding, puts his cigarette out, and we walk back into the house, passing through the bedroom and into the hallway. “And you? Everything going to be okay with you? It was hard not to overhear.”
He lets out a small chuckle. “Little brother.” He shakes his head. “God, he makes me so mad sometimes. The idiot got two speeding tickets in the same fucking week.”
The Fake: A College Sports Romance (Smart Jocks #4) Page 6