Chapter 6
Nick
Iwatch as Poppy walks over to me, a concerned look on her face.
I was low-key watching her and her ex during their whole conversation, and it seemed to go okay. She didn’t look happy to talk to him, but she didn’t look upset. And she didn’t look over to me for help, so I figured she was okay.
But she looks downright panicked right now.
Before I can ask if she’s alright, she speaks.
“We need to talk,” she says.
“Okay, sure.” I gesture to the empty seat next to me, but she shakes her head.
“Someplace quiet. And private.”
I stand up and follow her out of the crowded seating area to a darkened hallway. She opens a random door to an empty room and closes it behind her.
She lets out a shaky breath, her delicate shoulders rising and falling with the movement.
“I just did something really crazy. It involves you.”
Amusement flickers inside of me. “That sounds like fun.”
“No, Nick. It’s not fun. It’s actually kind of messed up.”
She tugs at the end of her ponytail and sinks her teeth into her plump bottom lip. I try not to stare. She’s really damn cute when she’s all flustered like this.
“I told Brody a lie about you and me.” She pauses. “I told him you and I were dating to make him jealous.”
I grin. “Did it work?”
Her perfectly shaped eyebrows furrow in confusion. “What?”
“Was he jealous?”
“Yeah. Very.”
I nod. “Nice.”
Her perfectly shaped eyebrows furrow together like she’s confused. “Wait, you’re not mad?”
“Why would I be mad?”
“I used you to lie to my ex.”
I shrug and chuckle. “That’s okay. From the way you talked about him earlier, it sounds like he was a jerk to you.”
Her shoulders fall, and she glances down at her shoes. “He was a jerk. He, um, cheated on me when we were together. That’s why we broke up.”
Anger spikes through me, along with a protective feeling. What kind of a dipshit would cheat on a sweet, beautiful girl like Poppy?
“What an asshole,” I mutter.
“We both interviewed for this really competitive internship at this law firm this summer. I just found out he got it over me,” she says, her voice soft like she’s embarrassed.
“Fucking prick,” I say without missing a beat. “He probably cheated somehow to get it. You’re way smarter than he is.”
Her mouth curves up in a shy smile. “You don’t even know him.”
“I don’t need to. You’re the smartest person I know.”
Her smile turns warm. A second later, it fades, and she goes back to looking concerned again.
“That’s why I lied to him and told him that you and I were together. He doesn’t like you. He thinks you’re a cocky athlete.”
“He’s not wrong.”
A chuckle slips from her lush mouth. She bites her bottom lip, and her expression turns serious. “I wanted to get back at him by telling him that I was hooking up with the hottest athlete on campus. And it worked. He was pissed.”
That smug feeling amplifies. I don’t give a fuck what her ex thinks about me. But the fact that Poppy wanted to use me to make him jealous is pretty hot.
She gnaws at her bottom lip. “I want my ex to keep thinking that we’re together.” She hesitates for a moment. “I think we should pretend to date.”
I blink at her, shocked at what she just suggested.
“Wait, seriously?”
She nods. “I have a class with him this semester. I’ll have to keep seeing him. And I just…”
She huffs out a breath, closes her eyes, and leans her head back for a second.
“Look, I know it’s petty. And childish too. But I don’t want to have to tell him the truth about us. I don’t want to feel humiliated in front of him again.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “You must think I’m such a loser,” she says softly.
“I don’t. I get it. And I’m on board.”
Her brow lifts. “Really?”
“Yeah. That asshole deserves to suffer for hurting you.” I grin. “And I’m happy to be the reason he’s suffering.”
She lets out a soft chuckle.
“It would just be for this semester. That’s how long the class I have with him is,” she says. “We can say we broke up over winter break and be done with it.”
I hold her gaze. “That’s good with me. But I want something from you too.”
“Okay…”
“I want you to be my tutor this semester.”
She sighs. “Really?”
“Yeah. I need to get my grades up, and you’re the only one I want tutoring me.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
I pump my fist, happy that Poppy finally agreed to help me.
She checks the time on her phone. “I need to get going, or I’ll be late for my study group. We need to meet to go over the rules.”
“What rules?”
“The rules of our fake relationship,” she says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
I start to laugh. “Poppy, this isn’t some test you have to study for. I don’t think we need rules. We just pretend to act like a couple in public. That’s it.”
She arches her eyebrow at me. “I’ve seen the way you act with women, Nick. You’re very handsy.”
I grin. “I sure am.”
“We’re not a real couple, so you can’t act like that with me. So that’s why we need to sit down and come up with rules. We need to figure out what exactly we’re comfortable doing with each other.”
“I’m comfortable with you doing whatever you want with me, hot tutor,” I say smugly.
She rolls her eyes.
“I’m just kidding,” I say. “Are you free to meet up tonight for dinner, and we can talk?”
“Yeah, that should work.”
“Great. Let’s meet at Mile High Diner on the edge of campus. Say around six?”
“Okay. See you then.”
She walks out of the room while I stand there, smiling like an idiot.
I can’t help it, though. Poppy Wylder is my fake girlfriend. And my new tutor. I’m one lucky bastard.