20. Alana
ALANA
Everyone was staring at me.
These past weeks, it was a miracle if I’d been seen by myself. Eden and I were practically attached by the hip. He had walked me to my classes even if that meant he was late for his own.
Each time someone attempted to speak to me, Eden was right there to shoo them away.
I was just glad the majority of my classes had been canceled today, otherwise, I probably would’ve skipped the entire day. It was scary going to a place where now almost everyone knew your name, alone this time.
With Eden there, I at least had him to shield me. He’d known how to keep my head occupied—well, kind of. Eden always talked such nonsense when he realized all those eyes and the attention were getting to me. In the end, he’d manage to distract me.
During classes, he was constantly spamming my phone with messages, sending me funny videos or calling me over and over again to annoy me.
While I got mad sometimes that he’d do such things, I now realized that his efforts kept my mind from spiraling.
I’d never missed someone’s annoying habits as much as I did right now.
At least I felt surprisingly comfortable in today’s outfit, even though it wasn’t what I normally would’ve worn. Sure, it was more on the casual side, but seriously, who dressed up for college every single day?
I’d gotten pretty unnoticed through the halls, but my luck ran out when fewer people were blocking the way.
A few girls waved at me before giggling to each other.
Some guy who I’d never seen before nodded at me right before he winked.
Another one stared at me for a solid ten seconds before heading into his classroom.
But the most shocking of them all was Austin standing right in front of me as I was about to walk inside my lecture hall.
“You’re Alana, right?” He spoke delicately, a faint smile painting his beautiful features. He cut his hair—far too short for my taste—but I guess he could still pull it off. He was Austin; he could pull everything off.
My voice was stuck in my throat so all I managed to do was nod in response as I tried not to blush.
“Eden King’s new fling.” He said it like it was supposed to be an insult. Maybe it was.
I didn’t know what came over me, but for just a moment, I forgot Austin Bennett was the love of my goddamn life. Perhaps it was the strange tone in his voice when he said Eden’s name or the way he emphasized the word “fling” like it was degrading.
“It’s Eden Desrosiers-King, actually,” I said, ripping my eyes away from Austin’s face and focusing on the door behind him. “Only his friends are allowed to shorten his last name.”
I wasn’t exactly sure if that was true. His hockey jersey had his full last name on it, and I only ever heard his friends call him just King. All of his “fans” called him Eden or used his whole name.
“Oh, I know. Eden and I go way back.”
Did they, though?
Eden and I never talked about it before. Granted, we hadn’t done the whole fake dating thing for long yet, let alone known each other for longer than a hot second. But I had never seen Austin talk to Eden before. And as far as I knew, Eden wasn’t very fond of him either.
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I just thought I might come talk to you,” Austin said, putting his signature smile back onto his face. God, he looked so good when he smiled, and he smelled so nice, and his voice was an actual dream.
But he was talking bullshit.
Now, that was disappointing.
“My friends are throwing a party next weekend, and I thought you might want to come.” His charming smile disappeared for a second when I hesitated to reply. “You could bring Eden, but I suppose he’ll be too busy.”
“How do you know that?” I asked, forcing myself not to reach for my necklace to play with it. The last thing I wanted was to appear nervous in front of Austin Bennett.
Austin chuckled. “Doesn’t he have a game next weekend? Their finals or something.”
Did he? I really wasn’t sure.
Wait, no… I knew the answer to that. Eden and I were just talking about it. “They’re not even in the playoffs yet,” I told him. “But I guess you’re right. He is busy that weekend.”
Though Eden promised he’d be back on Saturday morning, we also had plans to go to his dad’s friend’s charity event on Sunday.
Austin shrugged. “You can still come. I can keep you company.”
I had no idea what possessed me at that very moment, but before I could even think about his intentions, my mouth already opened. “I don’t think my boyfriend would like that.”
His smile faltered immediately, though once again, it quickly recovered. It almost seemed like Austin wasn’t used to rejection, wasn’t used to hearing anyone say no to him.
It didn’t surprise me.
If he had asked me to come to his party a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have gotten a single word past my lips. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t have hesitated to say yes.
But as it seemed, things had changed. And while Austin was still very much my main goal, it didn’t hurt to see him fight for me at least a little bit, right?
Besides, for all he knew, I was in a relationship… why was he acting and talking so strangely?
Austin’s eyes flickered with a hint of something unreadable before he chuckled softly. “Ah, I see. The same boyfriend who can’t keep a girlfriend for longer than two months, right?”
But that wasn’t Eden’s fault.
For whatever reason, I tensed at his words, feeling as if I had to get defensive on Eden’s behalf.
Sure, I knew Eden had been in a bunch of relationships before, and was kind of seen as a player, but nobody knew the real reasons why. Honestly, it really wasn’t Eden’s fault that every single person he liked ended up wanting nothing but fame from him.
Either way, I straightened up and met Austin’s gaze. “Eden’s nothing like you think he is,” I said firmly. “And since you go way back, shouldn’t you know that?”
Austin’s eyes darkened, and this time, they didn’t seem to recover again. “Well, if you do change your mind, you’re always welcome in my house.”
What was that even supposed to mean?
I mean, I had an idea, but I wasn’t going to entertain that thought.
I thought our conversation was over, that we’d leave it at that, but Austin had different plans.
He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper that sent an unwelcoming shiver down my spine. “You know, I fuck way better than King ever could. So you’d be missing out if you don’t find me next weekend.”
I took a step back, shocked and disgusted by his audacity.
How could someone look so great and be so arrogant and disrespectful?
My initial infatuation began crumbling right in front of my eyes, slowly replaced with revulsion. All the charm that I thought he had, all the sweet things I imagined he’d say in my head, were an illusion, I realized.
But that couldn’t have been the truth, right?
Austin was… sweet. He was an amazing guy who was respectful and considerate. This cruel version of him couldn’t have been real.
“You know what, I’ll make an exception for you,” he added, a smirk pulling at his lips. “Why don’t you come find me in a week or two when your relationship ends because you realized how awful your boyfriend really is? I’ll fuck you so good, you won’t even remember who he is.”
“I…” I froze on the spot, my mind having a hard time processing what he just said. “Uh… I should go.”