Chapter 7
Nick
“Jesus, dude. Slow down. You’re gonna choke.”
I roll my eyes at Travis’s warning as I inhale the stack of pancakes in front of me.
“Can’t help it. I’m starving,” I say around a mouthful. I drain the rest of the orange juice in my glass. “That workout kicked my ass today.”
“Yeah, me too, but you don’t see me eating like a barbarian.” Travis makes a grossed-out face at me before digging back into his grilled chicken breast.
Travis, Blake, and I are sitting at our usual booth at the Mile High Diner, eating an early dinner after finishing our team conditioning session. The trainers had us doing deadlifts, sled pushes, box jumps, and broad jumps, and now all my leg muscles are dead.
When I finish my pancakes, I dig into the corned beef hash I ordered.
“Remind me never to enter into an eating contest with you,” Blake says to me.
I chuckle as I take a massive bite of hash. A second later, our teammate and roommate Leo walks over to our table and joins us. He sits down next to Travis and grabs a fork.
“What took you so long?” Blake asks.
Leo runs a hand through his black-brown hair that’s even messier than mine.
“Had to return a bunch of books at the library. Thanks for ordering for me,” Leo says before digging into his chicken fried steak.
Blake looks at him. “Sure thing. But now you have to clean the upstairs bathroom.”
Leo glares at him. “No way.”
“Fair’s fair,” Blake says, flashing a smartass grin at Leo.
“You ordered my food for me. Not like you donated your kidney. Don’t act like you’re some hero and I owe you,” Leo says.
Blake holds up a hand. “Have you seen you when you’re hangry? You’re a monster. I just saved the entire diner from the wrath of hangry Leo. That definitely makes me a hero.”
I laugh while Leo rolls his eyes.
“Besides, you and I share the upstairs bathroom. I’m neat. It won’t be so bad to clean,” Blake taunts.
Leo tosses his spoon at him, but Blake just laughs.
We’ve lived together in our house near campus since sophomore year. We were lucky to find a decent place at a good price. There’s a lot of student housing near the Hollis U campus, but some places are trash. Others are nice but overpriced.
We’re lucky too that we all get along so well. But I think that’s because we’re teammates. Playing together and living together, we know each other pretty well. We know each other’s moods, when to give each other space, and when to check in with each other.
The server drops off the check right as we finish up eating. We all toss cash onto the table and thank the server when she comes by to clear our plates.
“I should get going,” Leo says. “I’ve got a ton of reading to finish for tomorrow.”
“Yeah, me too,” Blake says.
They slide out of the booth, along with Travis.
“You coming?” Travis asks.
I shake my head. “Nope. I’m meeting my girlfriend here soon.”
The three of them whip their heads to me and gawk at me.
Travis frowns at me. “What?”
Blake chuckles. “Very funny.”
“I’m serious. I’m seeing someone.”
I do my best to keep my expression serious, despite how unnatural it feels to lie to my teammates.
They’re my closest friends. I’m always honest with them.
But I can’t tell them the truth, that this thing with Poppy is fake.
Poppy and I agreed not to tell anyone about our arrangement, and I don’t want to betray her trust.
The three of them stare at me for a solid ten seconds with the most confused expressions on their face.
“You have a girlfriend? You? The guy who hooked up with two women on our couch the other night? The guy who is known for never, ever wanting to be in a serious relationship ever?” Blake’s tone drips with disbelief.
“You’re fucking with us. There’s no way,” Travis says.
“I’m not fucking with you. Poppy Wylder is my girlfriend.”
Blake and Leo burst out laughing.
Travis raises an eyebrow at me. “Your sister’s best friend who hates you? The girl who only dates smart guys?”
“Now we know you’re fucking with us,” Blake says.
“No way would Poppy Wylder ever go out with you,” Leo says.
I grin and shrug. “Hate to break it to you guys, but she’s absolutely going out with me.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Travis mutters.
As if right on cue, Poppy walks into the diner and glances around. I wave at her, then flash a smug grin at Travis. “You’re about to see it right now.”
I stand up right as Poppy walks over to the booth. I slide my arm around her waist. She instantly stiffens, and her eyes are big as she looks up at me, as if she’s silently saying, “what the fuck are you doing?”
I kiss her cheek. “Guys, you remember Poppy, right?”
They all nod with bewildered looks on their face. They’ve all met Poppy over the years since she’s best friends with my twin sister.
I grin down at her. “My teammates don’t believe that you and I are dating.”
The surprise fades from Poppy’s expression and she aims a pointed look at me. She quirks an eyebrow. “I can understand the shock.”
She turns to them and attempts a smile. “But it’s true. Nick and I are dating.”
Now the three of them are gawking at her in utter disbelief.
“No way,” Blake murmurs.
“Way,” I say through a chuckle. “I snagged my dream girl. Now if you guys will excuse us, I’d like to spend some alone time with my girlfriend.”
“Uh, yeah. Sure,” Travis mumbles.
He, Blake, and Leo walk out of the diner looking confused as ever.
Once they’re out of sight, I pull my hand away from Poppy and slide back into the booth. She sits across from me.
“That little show of PDA was a bit much,” she says. “This is exactly why we need rules.”
I frown at her, confused. “What, that hug I gave you? Or the kiss on the cheek?”
“Both.” Her lips scrunch like she’s annoyed. I can’t help but smile at how cute it is.
“Oh, come on, Poppy. If we’re going to pretend to be a couple, we need to act like it. Otherwise, no one is going to believe this thing is real.”
She sighs, and her expression eases. “You’re right.”
The server walks over and asks if Poppy wants anything. She orders a club sandwich. I order a piece of coconut cream pie.
“Okay, so, the rules,” Poppy says. “No PDA.”
I shake my head. “That’s not gonna work for me.”
She frowns.
“Poppy, I’m an affectionate guy. When I’m out with a girl, I’m all over them. No one’s going to believe I’m with you if I never touch you.”
Worry flashes through her hazel eyes. And that’s when I realize just how insensitive I’m being. She probably thinks I’m going to use our fake relationship as an excuse to grope her. My stomach churns.
“I don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable,” I say, softening my tone. “What makes you comfortable? What do you like to do with your partner when you’re in a relationship?”
“I like holding hands,” she says shyly.
I smile at the sweetness in her voice. “I like that too. So you’d be okay with me holding your hand when we’re in public together?”
She nods, looking more relaxed.
“What else do you like?” I ask.
She glances off to the side like she’s thinking hard. “Kisses on the cheek are nice.”
“You sure? You stiffened when I kissed you on the cheek a minute ago.”
“That’s because I was caught off guard. But now that we both agree, I’m fine with you kissing me on the cheek. Just no kisses on the mouth.”
“Okay. You can kiss me on the cheek too, whenever you feel like it.”
A soft smile plays on her lips. “We’ll see.”
“Hugs okay?”
“Yeah, I like hugs.”
I nod once. “Hugs, holding hands, and kisses on the cheek. That sounds good to me. You?”
She nods, then clears her throat. “Look, I know that you’re someone who hooks up a lot. And I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but if we want to be a convincing couple, you can’t hook up with anyone while we’re fake dating.”
“I know.”
She blinks at me. “You’re okay with that?”
“Yeah. I mean, I’m gonna be busy this semester studying a lot. I need to get my grades up if I want to keep my spot on the team. And now that you’re my tutor, I’m guessing you’re going to be giving me a lot of work. I won’t have time for hooking up.”
“Okay, yeah, you’re right. And I won’t be hooking up with anyone either, in case you were wondering.”
I smile. “I figured that. So how often should we get together?”
“I was thinking we could meet twice a week for tutor sessions.”
I shake my head. “I mean, yeah, I’m good with that for tutoring, but outside of that. We need to be seen in public as a couple going out on dates.”
“Oh. Right.”
The server drops off our food. We thank her, and I dig into my pie while Poppy takes a small bite of her sandwich. She’s barely three bites in by the time I finish.
Her eyes go wide, staring at my empty plate. “Wow. You eat really fast. That was a huge slice of pie.”
“All the training I do for hockey makes me constantly hungry.” I pat my stomach. “It takes a lot to fuel this beautiful temple of a body.”
She rolls her eyes as she laughs. “God, you’re cocky.”
I don’t miss the way her gaze lingers on my chest and stomach, though.
She clears her throat. “I’m really busy with classes, my work at the Writing Center, and volunteering. I can probably only commit to one date a week with you.”
“That works for me. I’ll be slammed with hockey and school work.”
“Okay, so once a week we go on one date. I tutor you twice a week. We’ll keep this up for the rest of the semester, then when we come back from Winter Break, we’ll tell everyone we broke up.”
“Sounds good.” I glance at Poppy’s plate, which still has half of her giant club sandwich sitting on it. “You gonna finish that?”
She shakes her head. “Go ahead.”
I inhale a third of the sandwich in one bite and grin at her. “Look at us sharing food like a real couple,” I say with my mouth full.
She shakes her head and glances off to the side, like she’s annoyed with me, but she’s smiling too.
When the server walks by, I hand her cash for the bill.
“I can pay for my sandwich,” Poppy says, but I shake my head.
“No way. You’re my girlfriend now. My girlfriend doesn’t pay when we go out.”
She bites back a small smile, and her cheeks flush. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
When I finish eating, I wipe my mouth with a napkin and drop it on the empty plate. “I think our next date should be something big where lots of people can see us. Let’s go to a party together.”
She wrinkles her nose. “I don’t like parties.”
“Well, I do. And now that I’m your boyfriend, you should go to at least one party with me.”
She groans softly.
“Why do you hate parties so much?” I ask. I think back to high school. Poppy didn’t like going to parties then either. I think I saw her at one party at a mutual friend’s house during those four years.
“They’re all the things I hate. They’re loud and crowded.
The music is always deafening. I have to scream at the person standing next to me just so they can hear me.
And there’s always gross guys there who try to flirt with me and try to get me to drink till I pass out.
” She crosses her arms and stares down at her lap.
“And even when I told them I didn’t like drinking, they’d ignore me and try to get me to drink anyway. I hate that,” she says softly.
A sinking feeling lands in my stomach. That must have been what happened to her at that party in high school.
Protectiveness surges through me once more.
“I’d never pressure you like that, Poppy. I swear.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” she says.
“If we go to a party together, I’m not gonna let anyone near you. I’m not gonna let anyone make you uncomfortable.”
She looks at me. “Promise?”
I swallow hard. “Promise.”
“Okay. I’ll go to a party with you.”
“My teammate is throwing a house party next weekend. He’s cool. If the music is too loud, he’ll turn it down. And no one is going to make you drink if you don’t want to.”
Her smile is relieved. It makes my chest ache. I hate knowing that someone ignored her boundaries. If anyone ever tries to do that to her again, I’ll knock them the fuck out.
“One more thing,” Poppy says. “I know we said we’re going to keep the fact that this is fake between us, but we’re going to have to tell your sister the truth. She’s my best friend and your twin. She’ll know right away this is fake.”
I rub the back of my neck and exhale sharply. “Yeah, you’re right. Do you wanna tell her or should I?”
“I’ll tell her tomorrow.”
We stand up and walk out of the diner. It’s early evening, so it’s just starting to get dark.
“How far is your apartment?” I ask.
She points ahead. “Just a mile that way.”
“I’ll drive you.”
She tilts her head at me. “Nick, it’s only a mile.”
“You’re my girlfriend now. I’m not letting my girlfriend walk a mile in the dark. I’m going to drive her and drop her off at the door of her apartment.”
She fights a smile and rolls her eyes. “Fine.”