Chapter 32
Dustin
We walked out of the classroom, and I wasn’t happy at the fresh turn things had taken.
What the fuck did I know about dating? And fake dating Peterson? This was going to go wrong. So wrong.
We checked the room Dante and Savvy had been in — it was empty. She’d be okay, and he would be taking care of her.
“Oh, one thing.” Hadley turned around to look at me critically. “Apart from our incident in the street, how are you with PDA?”
“PDA . . .”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Tell me you know what that is.”
“Of course I do,” I snapped at her and saw her eyebrow rise. “Fuck. Just . . . Today’s been a lot.”
Her expression softened, and she stepped into my space, her hand catching my hoodie when I went to step back.
“You’re going to have to get used to this,” she murmured.
“I just outed our relationship, people will expect us to be up close and personal. Don’t look like you want to run, and instead look like you want me in your space. ”
“Okay.” I nodded; it made sense. “But I’m usually . . . more discreet.”
“I know.” She tapped my phone in my pocket. “Contrary to the evidence, I do know that. But the more open we are, the more pics will be taken of us, and the pic in your pocket loses more and more of its potency.” She looked up at me. “Do you get what I’m saying?”
I did. She was right, and I was very grateful she was handling this entire shitty situation that way. I’d expected her to spiral. Instead, I got a problem solver running plays in real time.
“Hey.” I pulled her back when she went to step back. “You handled that well, Peterson.”
She smiled. “I know.” She went to move away again, and I kept hold of her. “What are you doing?”
“Getting used to public displays of affection,” I murmured, my hand sliding around her waist and resting just above her ass.
“We’re not in public,” she said, and I loved that despite her confidence, she looked nervous. “There’s no camera here.”
“Shut up, Peterson.” I kissed her softly, the way I had the first night, only with less intent to get into her bed.
I just wanted to kiss her. Her mouth opened, and I deepened the kiss; her hands linked around my neck, and my hand slipped lower to cup her ass.
The heat between us grew, and by the time I pulled back, her face was flushed, I had a semi, and I think if either of us suggested going back into that classroom, we’d have gone.
Hadley swallowed, looking away for a moment. “I think less intense going forward,” she said shakily. “We don’t want to forget we’re trying to save your image, not put the final nail in the coffin.”
I grinned. “No one will believe it if I’m only half-assing it.” I adjusted my dick in my pants; her eyes widened at my openness. “You did this,” I told her, barely holding back the smile. “You’re going to have to accept it.”
“I’m not actually going to have sex with you,” she hissed at me as we walked toward the exit.
“Don’t be too sure.” I grabbed her hand, fingers linking, and I kissed the back of it. “I’ll remind you that you said that when you’re on your back begging for more.”
“Slater!” she whisper-hissed as the sunshine hit us. “Will you listen?”
I pulled her into my side, noticing a few people were already looking.
“Play along.” I kissed her openly, just a brief brush of the lips, but it was new for me.
I was usually in a bar, or in a club, or at a football party.
Not in the quad in the middle of the morning, sober.
“I’ll see you later. This is a brilliant idea.
I need to tell the others so they don’t blow this up.
Okay?” I kissed her again. “Thanks, Peterson, I mean it.”
She smiled, one of resigned defeat and acceptance. “Only you could make this simple idea complicated.” She leaned up and kissed the corner of my mouth. “I’ll see you later. Remember, no flirting with other girls, I’m your girl for the moment, not your PITA.”
I snorted. “You’re my pain in the ass, you mean.”
“Goodbye, Slater.”
She walked away and was already on her phone, probably checking if Savvy was okay.
I needed to find Noah and see if he was alright.
Getting woken up suddenly and lashing out isn’t the reaction I’d have; I’d be confused and wondering where the hell I was.
But Noah was a bit of a wild card — he’s the guy who challenged his teammates because Dante was going to.
He was the guy who said ‘leave it with me’ when Dante said he was in trouble with some shady shit back home.
I know why Dante hit him, but again, it was not the reaction I would have had. Would I be pissed? Obviously. Would I know it was an accident? Of course. Mr. Cool-and-Calm QB was being too much of a hothead lately. I needed to calm him down.
I called Noah. He didn’t answer.
I called Dante. He didn’t answer.
I opened a group chat.
Me: So Peterson saw the pic, she didn’t freak out like I thought. She came up with a plan, a good one. She “outed” us as a couple on social media. So if anyone asks you, you knew we were together and keeping it under wraps.
Me: Also, why are you both not answering? You need to communicate better, rather than throwing fists.
Me: Is Savvy okay? Noah, are you okay? Is anyone reading these?
Noah: What pic?
Me: I got a message earlier with me and Peterson in the street, it wasn’t good. It was from an unknown. We think they wanted to use it. So Peterson took one look at it, had a mini panic, and then came up with a plan.
Spence: I just saw her social media post tagging her “boo.” what the fuck is a boo and why is it you?
Noah: Tell Dante a boo is a boyfriend or girlfriend.
I rolled my eyes.
Me: He’s in the group chat, Matthews, he can read the message.
Noah: Can he? He’s a bit shit at reading the room if you ask me
Spence: You punched my girlfriend! She’s going to have two black eyes. How the fuck do I read the fucking room when I see her covered in blood and on the floor crying?????
Noah: You think “what the fuck happened here” before you swing
Spence: What? Like you did?
Silence by text message is cold. I waited another minute.
Me: So . . . if you’re asked, you both okay to say you knew me and Peterson where a thing?
Neither of them replied.
Fantastic.
My phone rang, and I answered without looking.
“You have a girlfriend, and I find out on social media?”
“Hey, Mom.” I closed my eyes. “How are you doing?”
“You have a girlfriend, and I find out on social media.” I heard movement in the background. “Your father said she’s very pretty, but wants to know what’s wrong with her?”
I let out a low laugh. “Nothing, she’s great.” She really was. No one else was appreciating that she’d just taken all of this in stride, spun it to our advantage, and then walked off like it was no big deal.
“Well, I want to meet her.”
My mom’s ridiculous demand brought my attention back to the phone. “No. What? Why?”
“Dustin Nathaniel Slater, you’ve never had a girlfriend in the twenty-one years I’ve known you. You have gone public. That means you are serious about this girl. You will bring her home on Sunday. We’ll have lunch.”
Fuck.
“Mom, it’s a bit early.”
“Don’t make me come down there.”
I sighed. “We’ll see you on Sunday.”
I stood in the quad, knowing this was my fault because I’d woken up happy this morning.
Me: You need to come to my parents’ house for lunch on Sunday.
Peterson: You’re funny
Me: I’m serious. She wants to meet you.
Peterson: Are you serious?
Me: Unfortunately
Peterson: Tell her it’s a front
Me: So I explain to her it’s a way to stop a pic of you about to suck my dick from being leaked???
Peterson: FFS. What time on Sunday and what do I wear?
I sat in my next class very conscious of the fact that I was getting more attention than usual.
Is this how Dante felt when he and Savvy started dating?
Why can’t anyone mind their own business?
My mind wandered as the lecturer began to talk about market trends.
The only person I wanted to talk to about that message — besides Hadley, of course — was Briar.
I’d met her that night, right after Hadley and I were in the street.
I’d suspected that she may have seen us.
But she had that image of the football stadium .
. . I hadn’t taken a note of the time then.
Was it feasible that she’d done both in the short time frame?
I needed to talk to her. Really needed to talk to her. I was sure it was her.
After my class finished, I headed to the dining hall for lunch. I sat at our table alone. No Noah. No Dante. God, those two were going to make it a thing. I picked my food up and headed to the dorm room. One or both may be there. If they were brawling it out, at least I had snacks.
When I got into the apartment, Dante’s door was open, but the room was empty. I went to Noah’s room. He was lying on his bed, tossing a stress ball up in the air and catching it.
“Yo.” I leaned against the doorframe, eating my wrap. “You okay?”
“Sure.”
“You missed lunch.”
“Not hungry.” He put the ball on his chest and never moved. “So . . . you and the reporter.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “It went too far the other night in the street. I lost control a little bit. The one night I fuck up, they have to be watching.”
Noah sat up. “Which means they were either always watching you, or you just got really unlucky.” His eyebrows lifted. “I’d say the former.”
I nodded. “Yeah, me too.” I walked farther into his room. “He knows it was a mistake. He’ll apologize.”
Noah shook his head. “No, he won’t. Because he’s a dick. That’s the second time he’s punched me over Savvy. The first time was because I got to call her Savvy, and he didn’t. He’s a possessive asshole.”
“He can be a little out there,” I conceded, feeling uncomfortable. “But he’s under a lot of strain—”