Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
juniper
Iwas not expecting Mikey Tucker to beg me to have sex with him. Making him watch was just a bluff, but for some reason, it worked.
What I was really not expecting was for him to stop me at the door to his trailer after.
I assumed he’d want to skip all the awkward post-hookup talk.
He didn’t seem like the kind to want to cuddle, either.
Based on what I’d heard from Liv, he was a one-night-stand-only guy.
No strings attached, never see you again, type of thing.
“Wait, you’re telling me you want me to be your girlfriend?” I cocked my head to the side, raising an eyebrow.
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Fake girlfriend, but yes.”
Why the hell does he need a fake girlfriend?
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
I thought about it for a second, though, and something dawned on me.
Yes, being able to say I hooked up with the bull rider Ava had so desperately wanted a chance with was great, but showing up on his arm?
That was even better revenge. Even though we would know it was fake, no one else would, so she’d think he chose me and not her.
It was brilliant.
I wasn’t just going to agree to this arrangement, though.
“What’s in it for me?” I crossed my arms, knowing full well what I was going to be getting out of this but not willing to show all my cards.
“Whatever you want.” He shrugged at first then backtracked. “Within reason. Don’t go asking me to write a check with more than two zeros. I may be a bull rider, but I’m not loaded.”
“Make an appearance with me at an event this summer in Goldfinch.” It would have to be summertime for it to be an event that both Ava and Brady would be at, but if I was doing this for Mikey now, I felt like it was reasonable for him to return the favor later.
He nodded without hesitation. “Deal. I just need you to do this for a couple weeks. A month or two tops. Nothing serious.”
“Before we shake on this, we need to set some ground rules,” I pointed out.
“Do you have a pen and paper anywhere?” I looked around the trailer and pursed my lips, finally noticing the disarray.
It looked like a tornado of frat boys had rolled through.
I fought the urge to gag, instead focusing my eyes on the ceiling.
“Here.” Mikey handed me a piece of notebook paper with a stain I hoped was coffee and a pen.
“Okay. First rule: both of us, obviously, have to stay single. No bringing other girls home. No going out with anyone else. If this is going to work, we have to be exclusive. Agreed?”
He nodded, and I wrote it down.
“What’s next?”
“Make it believable, but nothing extra. No offense, but I don’t want to be spending money on fancy jewelry or shit like that.”
I rolled my eyes but wrote down the second rule. “I don’t want your money, Casanova. But I agree. This isn’t real, so there’s no need to be flashy with it. Third rule: no kissing in private. There’s no reason for us to do that.”
“What about sex?” he asked, because of course he did.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. However, if we’re going to be kissing and pretending to be intimate, I do think you should get tested.
You know, in case something does happen again, which it won’t, but in case.
” In hindsight, I probably should have brought up his sexual health before we hooked up, but I wasn’t exactly thinking logically in the heat of the moment.
I wouldn’t be making that mistake again.
“I’ll get tested, too, and share the results if it makes you feel better.
” I’d gotten a test shortly after I caught Brady and Ava, because if he was so quick to cheat on me with her, then I had to assume he was cheating on me with others.
I knew I was in the clear then, but the last thing I wanted was to catch something—especially now—so even if Mikey insisted I didn’t need to, I’d be going.
Offering to get tested and share the outcome made my request feel more fair, too.
I expected him to complain, to protest and say he was fine, but he simply replied, “Whatever you want, Peach.”
I raised a brow at the name he’d called me four times now before scribbling NO SEX next to No kissing.
Normally, I’d find something like that annoying, but coming from him, it was almost sweet.
Endearing in an odd way, if you could even describe strangers who’d just hooked up as that.
It’d work just fine to make our relationship look believable, so I didn’t want to tell him to stop.
“Final rule, but arguably the most important.” I looked up at him from the paper to make sure he was paying close attention.
“Absolutely no—under any circumstances—falling in love with each other.” I finished writing, underlining the bullet point a few times for emphasis, and slapped down the pen. “Sound good?”
“That shouldn’t be an issue. No feelings and no one gets hurt. Sounds perfect to me.”
“Great.” I picked up the pen that I so dramatically threw down a few seconds earlier and signed my name under the rules. I handed him the pen, and he scribbled his signature next to mine. “Do you want me to keep it or do you want to?”
His eyes made a quick sweep over his trailer. “Uh, you keep it.”
“I figured.” I folded up the agreement and put it in my pocket. “Oh, I didn’t think about this until now, but what happens if your friends expect me to stay at your place?”
“You can park your car here, and I’ll drive you back to yours. Then pick you up to get your car the next day or something,” he offered.
“What about your neighbors?” I’d noticed a couple other trailers in the horseshoe court when we pulled in. Word tended to get around fast, and while I didn’t know if the people in Silver Creek liked to gossip, I usually assumed residents of a small town would.
“There are like three other people who live in this park. We’re spaced out, so the odds of them noticing are slim. Besides, they’re all older and they mind their own business. We’ll figure it out. It’ll be fine.”
“Right. We’ll figure it out. It’s not that long anyway, it’ll be no big deal,” I agreed, unsure if I was trying to convince him or myself more that this arrangement wouldn’t go south.
“Can I have your phone?” he asked, catching me off guard. When I didn’t respond, he explained. “My fake girlfriend should probably have my phone number.”
I blinked a few times. “Right, right. Sure. Here.” I unlocked it, handing it to him.
Mikey went straight to the contacts, not taking any time to snoop or invade my privacy. After typing a few things then sending himself a text, he gave the phone back to me.
“B.D.E.?” I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean? Big Dick Energy?” That would be getting changed later.
“Or Best Dick Ever. Whatever you want it to mean.”
“How about Biggest Disappointment Ever?”
He shrugged, a goofy smile on his face. “It was worth a shot.”
“Don’t give yourself too much credit.” I smacked him lightly on the chest.
My comment only made him smirk even more. “I mean, you seemed to be enjoying yourself, so I think I’m crediting myself appropriately.”
Images of him fucking me from behind, face contorted into pleasure and breathy moans falling from his lips, flashed through my mind, and I was sure my face had turned red as a tomato.
“I-I should probably get back. I don’t want my roommate to think I got murdered by a serial killer or something,” I mumbled.
I reached for the door handle, but he beat me to it, following me out of the trailer.
“What are you—” I started to ask before I remembered that he drove me here and my car was still at Rudy’s.
“Come on, Peach.” He laughed as he opened the passenger side door and guided me up into his truck.
The house was dark when I pulled into the driveway. Careful not to wake Natalie, I crept through the front door, expecting to disappear into my room like any normal night. Instead, an amused voice greeted me from the couch.
“Fun night?”
I spun around, attempting to make my expression as neutral as possible, knowing damn well I got caught like a teenager sneaking in after curfew. “Yeah, you could say that.” I wasn’t even going to try lying to her.
“Liv told me you left the bar early.” Natalie chuckled. “Do I want to know who the guy was?”
“Probably not,” I admitted with a scoff.
“Just be careful, okay, June? I know you’re smart, but make sure you take time to heal. I know you want to make it seem like the breakup was no big deal, but I don’t want you to do anything you might regret later.”
“Thanks, Nat.” I started walking toward my bedroom, but then stopped. “Hey, my coworker invited us out to a bonfire this weekend. I wasn’t going to go, but maybe it would be fun?”
As much as I wanted to lie low and keep to myself, it would have been a mistake not to make some friends. Especially since I didn’t know how long I would be living here. And Nico and Liv were cool.
“I think that would be great! I know you don’t plan to be here for a long time, but it wouldn’t hurt to have some fun.”
“Great. Well, I’m going to head to bed then. Night.” I gave her a half-hearted wave then disappeared into my room, shutting the door and immediately tossing my phone onto the bed so I could get changed.
My phone buzzed next to me, the screen lighting up with a text message notification.
B.D.E.
Sweet dreams Peach
I huffed out a soft laugh, opening my messages.
Before responding, I changed the name in my contacts to Tucker.
Mikey would have been too obvious if anyone got ahold of my phone, and despite our fake-dating arrangement, I wasn’t in a rush to have to explain to Natalie why I was in Mikey Tucker’s bed.
She knew his reputation better than I did and would almost certainly consider hooking up with him a regrettable decision.
After brushing my teeth and pulling my hair up into a messy bun, I typed out a quick text to Mikey, so he wouldn’t think I was ignoring him.
Good night
My phone buzzed again, but I didn’t check it as I put it on the nightstand and crawled under the covers, succumbing to slumber almost immediately.
Rudy’s Angels
NiCool
Sup Junie
Don’t call me that
Why are you in my phone as “NiCool”?
Liv
Because he’s dumb lol
NiCool
Took you long enough to notice
Are you coming to the bonfire?
Liv
Omg please Juniper?
Hmm
NiCool
She’s totally going to say yes
Well now I don’t want to
Liv
Ignore him
It wouldn’t be the same without you
Pleeeeeaaaaseeee?
Okay
NiCool
I can give you three reasons why you should come
Wait
OKAY?
SHE SAID YES
Liv
You act like she just accepted your marriage proposal lol
Can my friend Natalie come?
Liv
Wait that’s the friend you’re living with? Of course! I love Natalie.
NiCool
The more the merrier Junie
I’ll send you the address
Don’t call me that
But thanks. I’ll see you guys
Liv
See you!!
NiCool