Chapter Nine Rowan #2
“That’s…” Her voice trails off and I hang on, waiting for her thoughts. Pathetic? A red flag? I’m starting to question a lot of things about my relationship with Amanda. I really fucked things up.
She shakes her head as if deciding not to share whatever she’s thinking. “What about an arm grab?”
“What the hell is that?” It doesn’t sound nearly as cool as a butt grab, which is all I can think about since she mentioned her ass. It is nice; Kevin was right. Now seems like a bad time to tell her that though.
Summer takes a step closer to me and links her arm through mine, then grabs my bicep.
The movement puts our…everything close, including our faces.
I peer down at her, gaze briefly roaming over her face and the light freckles that dot the bridge of her nose and fan out over her cheekbones. She smells like oranges and vanilla.
She lifts her brows in silent question.
I clear my throat, which is suddenly very dry. “Not bad. I think we can do better though.”
She unhooks her arm and moves back. “I’m open to ideas.”
“It’ll come to me.” I wave her off. “For now, I don’t think we need to sweat it. People might be more suspicious if we overdo it.”
“Okay.”
“Any other rules?” I ask with a hint of taunting in my tone.
“Don’t kiss me or grope me or call me ‘babe’ or ‘baby’ or ‘baby doll.’”
“Got it.” My lips twitch with amusement.
She looks like she’s still thinking, so I wait.
“No talking shit about my brother,” she adds.
“No problem. He’s the one who—”
“Ahhh…” She puts up a hand to stop me from saying more.
“All right, all right. No talking about Silas.”
She seems to relax a fraction, and it’s just in time. MJ and Rina approach. I open my stance and take a small step closer to Summer.
“I was hoping you’d be here,” Rina says to Summer.
“You were?” Summer asks her.
“Yes, you have to show me how you did that Ronaldo chop. I’ve been working on it since last season, and I can’t get it.”
I feel Summer relax beside me. Reminder: Soccer talk is the key to making her comfortable.
“Oh, it’s not hard at all. I can show you.”
“Really?” Rina eyes widen.
“Yeah, of course. Before practice tomorrow, I’ll—”
She doesn’t get to finish the sentence. Rina grabs her arm and pulls her with her.
“Show me now. I saw some of the guys with a ball. They’ll let us borrow it.”
“Oh. Umm…” Summer looks back at me almost like she’s asking permission.
“Don’t keep her away too long,” I say to them, then toss a wink at Summer. Predictably, she rolls her eyes so only I can see.
With Summer preoccupied, I head over to the guys. Vaughn and Austin have disentangled themselves from their girlfriends and are hanging out.
“Where are the wives?” I ask.
“Lacey is comforting a freshman cheerleader who locked herself in the bathroom and Claire went as backup,” Austin says.
“Yikes. Little early in the night for drama,” I say.
“Yeah, speaking of…” Vaughn turns his captain-like, smug, inquisitive gaze on me. “I guess congrats are in order.”
The statement comes out more like a question. I expected this.
I steal a page out of Summer’s book and roll my eyes. “Let’s hear it. Give me all your jokes now and let’s get them out of the way.”
“We’re just confused. You barely know this chick, and you show up holding hands.” Austin arches a brow. “When did this happen?”
“We’ve hung out a few times. Parties and the country club—she works there.
” I add the last part for authenticity. See, guys?
I know things about her. They don’t look any more convinced.
I point between them. “Maybe if you two weren’t sucking face with your girls twenty-four/seven you’d have noticed sooner. ”
“Noticed what?” Vaughn asks like he needs me to spell it out.
“That Summer and I are into each other.” It feels weird to say the words. Especially to these guys. I’ve never lied to them before. I rationalize it by telling myself I do like hanging out with her.
“You don’t do relationships,” Vaughn says.
“What are you talking about? I dated Amanda last year.”
“You and Amanda don’t count.”
“Why the hell not?” The question comes out with more bite than intended.
“For starters because neither of you would commit,” Vaughn says. “It was a constant back-and-forth based on boredom and wanting someone to hook up with at parties.”
“That is not true.”
“All he means to say is that you and Amanda were never a true couple. You talked on and off, hooked up sometimes, but you both hung out with other people too,” Austin says.
“Which was fine because as long as I’ve known you, you’ve said people were far too serious in high school and you didn’t want to miss out on all the fun and experiences by being tied to one person,” Vaughn says.
“And now you show up here with Summer Lindsey, of all fucking people, and say you’re together even though you’ve known her for five seconds. ”
“Jesus. You two need to lighten up. We’re dating, not getting engaged.” I laugh it off and avoid direct eye contact. I really didn’t expect them to have such strong opinions on my dating life.
“She’s Silas Lindsey’s sister,” Vaughn adds.
“So?”
“You don’t think it’s suspect?”
“What, like he’s trying to fuck with me through her?” That pulls a genuine laugh from me. The thought that Summer concocted this whole scheme is ironic, considering I talked her into it. “I don’t think even Silas is that manipulative.”
“So you two are really together then?” Austin asks. He sounds far less skeptical than Vaughn.
“Yeah.” I take another drink of my Sprite and try to appear calm.
I am in a relationship with Summer Lindsey.
Telling my friends and having this very painful conversation makes it all the more real.
Except not real because Summer and I aren’t really together.
Wow. This is a mindfuck already. No wonder I’ve never dated before.
My buddies are quiet and share some secret look that I can’t and don’t even try to decipher. Is it hot out here? I pull at the collar of my T-shirt.
“Then we’re happy for you,” Austin says.
Vaughn nods along and gives me a small smile. I wouldn’t say he’s convinced, but the fact he isn’t calling bullshit says he at least partially believes me. “At least it’s not Amanda.”
I don’t know what the fuck that means, but I’m ready for this conversation to be over.
* * *
I’m relieved when Summer finds me a little later. I’m still standing around with Vaughn and Austin, but their girlfriends have joined us. I’m back to being the fifth wheel but I care a lot less because they’ve stopped grilling me.
“Hey.” The smile I give her is genuine. She’s my only ally in this weird fake-dating thing. “Done already?”
“I tried to tell Rina it wasn’t that hard. She got it on like the fourth try.”
“Or maybe you’re just a good teacher.” I bump my shoulder against hers.
She laughs softly and then she must feel my friends staring at us because she glances around the circle and flushes.
“Oh my gosh.” Lacey steps forward and reaches for Summer’s left hand. “Is this a mood ring?”
“Yeah.” Summer graciously lets Lacey pull her hand so she can get a better look at it.
“I had one of these in middle school, and I loved it. Except it was always stuck on blue.”
“Because you are always happy.” Claire laughs.
“Really?” I ask, staring a little harder at the circle ring on Summer’s finger. It has a gold band and the center is purple. “Like it reads your mood?”
I think I remember the girls wearing these years ago, but I’d forgotten about them too.
Summer nods. “Allegedly. Really, I think it’s just reading body temperature.”
“What does purple mean?” I ask.
“Love,” Lacey answers for her. “Purple is love. Which makes sense because she’s next to you.”
Summer flushes brighter. “I was also just playing soccer.”
My brows lift and I cover a laugh with a cough. “You love soccer more than me, huh?”
“Definitely,” she says back and everyone around us laughs.
I hook a finger through one of her belt loops and tug her to me. The movement catches her off balance and she falls into me. That citrus-sweet scent hits me again, and my pulse races.
Lacey and Claire start reminiscing about other nostalgic things from middle school, and the conversation and attention shifts from me and Summer. But she stays close to me, and I keep my finger looped in her jeans.
This pretending thing isn’t so bad.