Chapter 14
Blake
Calla Becker makes me feel like I’m going insane.
She has my insides twisting up, my heart skipping a beat and my mouth opening before I’ve even realised what I’m saying.
Shit.
I wasn’t even aware of what I’d said before it was too late.
Too late to take it back or pretend I hadn’t agreed to being Calla’s fake boyfriend in order to get Thomas fucking McAvoy away from her.
Not that she’d even asked, or that I wanted to take back my offer.
I didn’t
I don’t.
I just… she caught me off guard, is all.
Showing up at my apartment, unexpectedly. Flirting with me. Smiling. Spinning around to showcase her tight little body wrapped up in even tighter active wear. Even worse when I know exactly what she looks like underneath her clothes; big tits, curvy hips and the prettiest pussy I’ve ever seen.
Meeting Calla Becker wasn’t a part of my plan, in fact, it feels like I haven’t had a moment’s reprieve since I met her. But now I can’t seem to see my plan without her in it. Even if it is only a short time, while we play pretend, and that’s if she says yes.
Any time with Calla that I can get, I’ll take it, because there’s just something about her.
Something that has my heart pounding and the treadmill of thoughts in my brain quieting down.
Something that has my lips curving up in a permanent smile, cheeks aching.
Something that has me wanting to step out of my familiar comfort zone, to reach out and match Calla’s crazy.
What the hell is happening to me?
“Okay.”
“Hm?” I blink against the full force of Calla’s stare. God, she’s a knockout. No makeup, baby hairs sticking to her temples, the column of her throat working on a swallow.
I have to clench my jaw to resist leaning over and sinking my teeth into the soft flesh there.
“Okay,” she repeats. “If you wanna play pretend, Blake, then let’s play pretend.”
Is this really happening?
“You wanna—”
“Yep.” Calla nods, her knee bumping into mine. She laces her fingers together, folding them in her lap, while straightening her back. This is Miss Becker; the one who ensnares clients until they fall at her feet. I can’t say I’m any different. Nor do I want to be.
“Do you think we’ll need rules?”
“Rules.”
She raises a manicured eyebrow independently. “Are you just going to repeat everything I say?”
“No,” I cough, clearing my throat. “I don’t think we’ll need rules, do you? It seems pretty self-explanatory to me.”
“I would have thought you’d want to make a list and stick it to your fridge – dos and don’ts – but I guess I’m wrong.” She shrugs. “So, when do we start?”
My heart rams against my ribcage, as if trying to break free, vehemently protesting the deal I’ve proposed to Calla.
The tip of my tongue sticks to the ladder-like roof of my mouth, which is silly, I know, seeing as how I’m the one who offered myself as a sacrifice for this whole situation, but still…
Swallowing dryly, I push the words from my tongue until they have no choice but to escape. “Whenever you’d like.”
“Mhm.” I watch as Calla licks her lips and shoves her tongue into the flesh of her cheek, creating a bulge that looks very similar too—
“Today?”
I swallow harshly again. “Sounds good.”
What the fuck have I agreed to?
“I think we should pretend to be together for a couple of months, by which point I’m hoping Thomas will have found someone else – poor girl – and then we can announce an amicable breakup. How does that sound?”
It’s all I can do but nod.
“We’re allowed to tell one other person. One.” Calla holds up a single finger. “So, we’re not completely going around the twist.”
“Sure.”
“Sex?”
I swear my eyes nearly bug out of my head. “What?”
“Sex,” Calla repeats. “Are we having it or not?”
“As in…”
“As in… are we sleeping together or not?”
I desperately try to school my features into nonchalance. “Whatever makes the storyline more believable.”
Calla shakes her head, blonde ponytail swishes behind her. I close my fingers to form a fist when I have the sudden urge to reach over and yank on it. “Sex makes things too complicated… but it also makes the chemistry more believable. Hm.”
She makes a little humming noise at the back of her throat. Something that only further drives me to the brink of insanity.
Is this a dream?
A nightmare?
Am I hallucinating?
“Let’s shelve the idea for the time being, okay? We can just… see where we go from here.”
Have I mentioned that isn’t my usual style – spontaneity, impulsivity, spur-of-the-moment?
But the idea doesn’t seem as daunting with Calla by my side.
“We’ll have to post each other on social media. Just a few pictures here and there. We don’t need to go overboard.”
Of course. Because pretending to be dating simply to get another man away from Calla isn’t overboard.
But who am I to say no? In fact, I’m the idiot who brought it up in the first place and now look what’s happening.
“We should check in with each other once a week.”
“Good idea,” Calla agrees with a pat to my knee. “Make sure we’re both still on the same page. When should our first date be?”
“This weekend?” I suggest. “Friday?”
“Works for me.” Calla rises to her full height, peering down at me. “I have to get going. Big work presentation tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep, but call me, okay?”
I hardly get a word in edgeways before Calla is pressing her smooth lips to mine.
A satisfied groan escapes me, my hands coming up to tangle in her hair, keeping her close by.
Sliding the tip of my tongue against the seam of her lips, I dive inside when Calla parts her mouth on a whimper, tilting her head to the left to allow me to deepen our kiss.
I take my chance; devouring Calla until she pulls back, cheeks flushed, chest heaving.
“You’re entirely too good at that.”
I furrow my brow. “Thanks?”
“You’re welcome.” Calla smacks her lips together loudly. “See you.”
I turn my head to watch her flounce out of the door, before I exhale shakily, leaning my forearms on my knees and catching my head in my hands.
What the fuck have I done?
Buzz!
Unknown: It’s me. Calla. I got your number from the paperwork you sent in. Be a doll and save my number in your phone, won’t you? X
Me: Aren’t those papers I sent in supposed to be confidential? X
Calla: Maybe ;) but how else was I supposed to find your address? X
Me: Stalker much ?? lol x
Calla: that’s me see you Friday x
I throw my phone off to the side, probably to be eaten by the sofa cushions, and head into the kitchen.
If there’s any reason to drink another cold beer on a school night, it’s this, because somehow, I’ve found myself pretending to be the boyfriend to a woman I’ve slept with twice.
Not to mention the fact that I’m still attracted to her, and she willingly wants to sleep with me again to ensure our chemistry is believable.
Whatever the fuck that means…
“Run me through it once more.”
Knocking past the rest of my protein shake, tasting sweet strawberries on my tongue, I run through Calla and I’s plan for the third time, keeping my voice low so the rest of the gym doesn’t accidentally overhear.
It’s been three days since Calla waltzed into my apartment.
Three days of my overactive mind keeping me both awake and distracted; running through everything I said, exhausting me, until I can hardly sleep.
After another night of tossing and turning, the sheet sticking to my sweat coated skin, I shot a text to my brothers asking to meet at the gym.
Maybe getting everything off my chest, not to mention a particularly gruelling session on the treadmill, will finally clear my head.
My brother, Grey, squints at nothing in particular in the distance while I talk, leaving Hudson, my youngest brother, to stare at me outright, his jaw hanging open.
“And you’ve agreed?” he asks, brows raised.
I stretch out my aching legs. “Mhm.”
“Sounds like the sort of trouble you would have gotten yourself into, H.” Grey nudges our brother’s shoulder. “I’m kinda surprised Blakey boy over here has it in him.”
Hudson winks, sipping his own half drank protein shake. “It’s always the quiet ones. Always.”
Rolling my eyes, I cross my arms over my body. “I’ve already broken one of the rules by telling the two of you. We agreed we’d only tell one person, so you’d better keep your mouth shut.”
“Me?” Grey points to himself.
“Not you.” I shake my head, before tipping my chin in Hudson’s direction. “You.”
He spreads his palms. “What about me?”
“You can’t tell Gee.”
He whips his head around to check down the corridor where I know Gee to be teaching a dance class, thankfully finding it empty, before he turns back around. “You can’t expect me to lie to my girlfriend for fuck’s sake!”
“I’m not asking you to lie. I’m simply asking you not to say anything.”
The sullen frown on my youngest brother’s face tells me he’s not happy, but he stays quiet.
“Don’t you think this is a total recipe for disaster?” Grey presses his lips together. “You still like her. Why don’t you just ask her out?”
“I’m not what she needs.”
Hudson frowns. “It doesn’t sound that way.”
“I mean in the long run, idiot. I can’t give Calla what she deserves.”
“Which is…”
“Calla’s a free spirit, she probably wants to travel the world, sample everything it has to offer.
Run free. I don’t. I want children, somewhere to put my roots down like Mum and Dad, a forever home.
It would never work. I’m too structured, an overthinker, a planner.
Calla isn’t. I’ll do for now, but in the long run I can’t give her what she needs. What she deserves.”
My brothers share a look, before Grey leans his elbows upon the rack of weights.
“So how are you going to fare when she eventually cuts this fake shit off and disappears into the sunset?”
I can’t answer him, mainly because he’s right. That’s exactly the question ruminating around my own brain. What am I going to do?
“I just need to keep up my walls,” I bite. “I can’t get too involved. Too familiar.”
“I think we’re past that,” Hudson mutters darkly.
Grey takes a drag from the lid of his smoothie. “I really don’t know about this Blake, what—”
“I’ve accepted now.” I shrug. “I’m not backing out.”
Hudson raises his brows. “I wonder why…”
“Shut up.”
Glancing between the two of us, Grey, ever the peacemaker, tries to steer the conversation in a different direction. “So, when are you seeing her next?”
“Friday.”
“For your date.”
“Fake date.”
“Why are you going out in public, dating, anyway?” Hudson pipes up. “I thought the whole thing was just to get her sleazy co-worker from her back. It’s hardly like he’s going to be at the pub you’re both at on Friday night.”
I pop my shoulders. “That part was Calla’s idea. She wants to check in weekly, to make sure we’re both on the same page. I guess going out in the real world together makes it look more believable.”
“If you say so.”
I narrow my eyes at Hudson’s tone.
“What—”
“Stop bickering,” Grey orders in that teacher tone of his. “We’re brothers; Hudson and I support you in whatever you decide to do in life. Even if we think it’s stupid.”
Hudson nods along. “Idiotic, almost.”
“Thanks,” I mutter sarcastically.
Grey stands, slapping me on the back, before he lumbers off to grab a dumbbell.
“Do you really think it’s that bad of a decision, H?”
My youngest brother shrugs. “Only time will tell, mate. Only time will tell. Just don’t… get your head too in the game, you know. Because that’s what this is. A game.”