Chapter 5
five
My skin crawls, and I feel the urge to shiver. Not because I’m cold, but because I can feel everyone staring. As soon as the professor turns his back, people turn and look my way. I thought I knew attention before from when I was with Kyle, but it has nothing on what I’m experiencing now.
Everyone is staring, whispering, and speculating about me. As soon as I stepped foot on campus this morning, it started. Girls were looking at me with jealousy in their eyes, and men were looking at me like they had never seen me before.
It’s insane. If I didn’t know better, I would think Kyle did something, but I know it’s because of Wyatt.
It’s only Monday morning, less than seventy-two hours since he claimed me in front of a house party full of people, and now it’s like I’m the “it girl” on campus.
Again, it’s wild.
Avoiding everyone, I look down at my phone to check the time. As soon as my screen lights up, I bite back a smile.
Wyatt’s hair is messy, his eyes are still a little sleepy, and he’s shirtless, lying in bed as he smiles at the camera.
It should piss me off that he changed my background without asking, but it didn’t.
Before it was a photo of the girls I thought were my friends. Then they ditched me because of Kyle.
Fuck them.
They don’t deserve a spot on my background. Then again, I’m not quite sure Wyatt does either, but at the same time, he’s never done anything to betray me. Not yet, at least.
“All right, class, you’re free to go. Remember, we have a test next class. Make sure you study!” the professor calls out.
Leaning down, I grab my bag and my laptop, slipping it inside.
“She’s fucking hot.”
“I wonder how long they’ve been together…”
“Do you think he grunts at her too or, like, actually talks?”
People whisper, making me roll my eyes.
Fucking nosy assholes.
“Lyla!” Kasey calls out.
I look over as I stand and watch her fight her way through the crowd, heading my way.
“Hi,” I say reluctantly.
“How are you?” she asks as she comes to a stop next to me.
I should walk away, but I don’t. The people pleaser in me has me responding instead.
“Good, you?”
“I’m so good, but not as good as you.” She winks, making my stomach sink.
“Oh, why do you say that?” I ask, playing naive.
“Because you landed a big fish, silly. Way to snap back. A hockey player is a big upgrade from a football player. Especially that particular hockey player.” She winks at me.
Son of a bitch.
Disgust fills me as I look at someone I used to consider a friend. Someone I used to spend all my time with. Has Kasey always been this shallow and I never realized it, or is this new?
“I’m not with Wyatt because he’s an upgrade,” I mutter.
“No, you wouldn’t do that. Has he talked to you about this season, though?
How many tickets is he giving you for games?
The girls and I would love to go with you.
Or the games you have to miss because of your dad, we could go cheer him on for you.
Be good friends and all.” She rattles on, completely unaware that I’ve caught on to her game.
Fuck her.
Without saying another word, I turn and head out of the room, leaving her behind.
I don’t need people like her in my life.
As soon as I step out into the hall, though, I come to a stop.
“What are you doing here?” I stutter over my words.
Wyatt smiles as he walks toward me.
“Hi, baby,” he murmurs as he kisses my cheek.
I blindly take the rose and the cup from him as he steps back.
“What are you doing here?” I repeat.
“I wanted to walk you to class.” He shrugs.
“You do?”
I can’t hide the bewilderment from my tone. I knew he started gossip that spread like wildfire, but I didn’t actually expect him to start showing up. Kyle never even did things like this, and he was actually my boyfriend.
“Yeah.” The little smirk on his face has my heart beating faster in my chest.
I stare at him for a moment, speechless. I don’t think anyone has walked me to class since my parents dropped me off on my very first day of elementary school.
Before I can figure out what to say, Wyatt places his hand on my lower back and ushers me outside.
“What’s all this?” I ask, holding up the flower and cup.
“The rose is because I wanted to. The cup was because I figured you could use a boost.” He pulls me closer to his side, moving his arm to lay across my shoulders.
“That’s sweet of you, but I don’t drink coffee.”
I feel like a dick for pointing it out, but I can’t pretend to like coffee. It’s gross to me and always upsets my stomach.
He shakes his head as I try to hand it back.
“It’s not coffee. It’s a chai tea with a soy milk and honey blend,” he says as he looks down at me.
I freeze, my eyes widening.
Did he just rattle off my usual order?
“How did you know this was my favorite?” I whisper, unsure what world I am even in anymore.
In three years, Kyle couldn’t tell you what I drank, but after seventy-two hours of dating Wyatt, he knows without me having to even tell him. He’s my fake boyfriend, but if I’m not careful, I could easily fall for a man like him. Where Kyle lacked, Wyatt makes up tenfold.
It makes me wonder if he is acting this way because this is fake and what he thinks he is supposed to do or if this is how he always is. What would Wyatt be like as a real boyfriend?
Wyatt winks. “I have my ways, now come on. We don’t need you to be late.”
We start walking again and I can’t help but steal little glances at him.
Has he always been this sweet, or is this all for show? The thought keeps running through my head.
“So how was class?” he asks.
“It was good,” I mumble.
“Is anyone giving you trouble?”
“I mean, besides the obnoxious staring, no.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch the corner of his mouth tip up into a smile. I have heard all about the grumpy goalie who doesn’t talk or smile like ever. Yet around me he isn’t like that. It makes me wonder if all rumors are just that.
Someone gasps as we pass by, shocked by the sight.
Or maybe he doesn’t smile for his adoring fans. I don’t blame them. Half of them are fake.
“You should put that smile away. It’s dangerous,” I hiss at him.
Wyatt looks down at me and smiles fully. “But where’s the fun in that?”
“Hey, personally I like it, but you almost took out that girl back there. Has the staring always been this bad for you?”
He shrugs. “You get used to it.”
“I don’t know about that,” I say under my breath.
“Hey, if it becomes too much, tell me. I’ll tell them to leave you alone. The last thing I want is people bothering you while trying to get to me. You’re my girl now. I protect what’s mine.”
Those words send a shiver down my spine. I know it’s all for show, but fuck if I don’t want that. It’s crazy how I went from accepting the scraps Kyle was leaving for me to being fully immersed in a fake relationship that feeds my soul somehow.
Too bad it’s too late about people bothering me. While I don’t think strangers will bother me too much, I know my old crew will, and that’s not something he needs to deal with. No, my old friends are my responsibility, and I’ll handle them when I have to.
“Do you have class this afternoon?” I ask, changing the subject.
“I do. I have a sports nutrition class.”
“Then you have practice?” I probe.
Wyatt nods. “Yeah, we work out in the morning as a team, or those of us who don’t have a class at the time, and then we have practice in the afternoon.”
So it’s the opposite of the football guys, but I don’t tell him that.
Wyatt pulls me to the side and we stop in front of the building my next class is in.
“How did you know where I needed to go?” I look over to him.
“Like I said, I have my ways.”
“I have a feeling you know a lot more than you let on,” I mutter, making him smile.
Wyatt leans down and kisses my cheek, next to the corner of my mouth. “Have a good day. I’ll talk to you later, sweetheart.”
As he walks away, I can’t help but shake my head as my thoughts echo from earlier.
If this is how Wyatt Scott is when he’s fake dating, I’d hate to know how good he is when it’s real.
Coach blows the whistle, and the guys come to a stop. Groaning, I stand up straight, stretching my back out. Even though I’m still in my early twenties, there are days that I feel like I’m in my sixties after spending hours in the net.
“That’s what I like to see, boys. Keep it up, and we just might bring the trophy home at the end of the season. Make sure you ice and talk to the trainers if you need help before heading out,” Coach says.
Kellan glides up next to me as we leave the ice. “You were looking good out there.”
He nudges my shoulder, making me wince.
“Thanks. You too,” I tell him.
“I’m fucking starving,” Pender groans as we step into the locker room.
“I told you that you should have eaten before practice,” Calvin tells him.
I sit down on the bench and start working on my laces as I listen to everyone chatter around me. The team is used to me not contributing to the conversation.
“Hey, the guys texted. They want us to call when we get home,” Kellan tells me.
I grunt, letting him know I heard him.
The last thing I want to do is a video call with the guys, but I know it needs to be done. Shit, I’m lucky that they’ve held off as long as they have. Hell, now that I think about it, I’m surprised that Grace and Peyton haven’t dropped by to ask what the fuck is happening.
After an ice bath and a shower, Kellan and I head out.
“Pender and Calvin said they were going to go out for a bite to eat,” Kellan tells me.
“They need to cut that shit out. They need to clean up their diet before the season starts. Otherwise they will be slow as shit on the ice and that’s the last thing we need,” I mutter.
“They know. I’ve already told them,” he says, proving why he was chosen as captain.
Not only that, but it proves that he’s grown up since he first joined the team. Baby Kellan could have given two fucks about those around him. He was all “me, me, me.” Now he is a true leader of the team.