Fake Game (The System #3)

Chapter Twenty-One

TWENTY-ONE

DEER

“ I feel like that went pretty well!”

“It was passable.”

“Oh, come on. I’d give our performance a solid B.”

Actually, I’d give myself an A and Jackson a C—which is how we average a B. I definitely carried us through that lunch.

“Where the hell did you come from anyway?”

“Well, I went to an international high school in Washington before moving down to Cali. But if you want to get to the roots, then technically Carlingford in Ireland.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

I just grin.

He sighs, but I see the way the corner of his mouth ticks up slightly. It’s something most people would miss, but I’ve spent too much time watching him the last few weeks. I’ve committed every detail about Jackson Lau to memory so that I’ll never miss a beat.

“Thank you, by the way. The flowers were a nice touch.”

I shrug, sticking my arm out the window so I can play with the wind as he drives us back to the school parking lot. “I told you I’d help. It’s no biggie.”

Even though I’d spent the extra time looking up the meaning of flowers and their colors to make sure I was making the right impression. Turns out, yellow roses aren’t that easy to come by when you’re on a time crunch.

“How’d you know where I was?”

“Syd.”

In my periphery, Jackson whips his head toward me. “What? Seriously? Sydney signed off on this?”

“Signed off is a bit of a stretch. She wasn’t exactly thrilled when I first brought it up, but when I explained it to her, she agreed it was actually the lesser of two evils. She just said we need to keep it on the down-low unless we want a big fuss.”

“This is a lot to process.”

I use my free hand to reach over and pat him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, big boy. We’ve got this.”

“For the fifth time, I told you not to call me that,” he grunts.

I smile up at him. It was definitely a stressful lunch and not something I want to put myself through again any time soon, but it was worth it. The second I showed up, I could practically smell the tension in the air. I like to think I did a pretty good job wafting it away, but his family aren’t the easiest to read. Makes sense since I still feel like I’ve barely cracked the surface with Jackson. But the fissures I’ve created in his stoic exterior so far have given way to a mosaic, and like a dragon hoarding gold, I’ll keep all those shards to myself.

“You look different, by the way.”

I catch my reflection in the sideview mirror. “Syd suggested it. Plus, after meeting your aunt, I thought it would be smarter to tone it down. Like Aleks said, I didn’t want this to backfire and have them totally freaked, so they push the blind dates harder. That would be really sucky.” I look down at the white sundress, smoothing the fabric over my thighs. I’m not going to tell him that I bought it just for this lunch—I think he’ll feel bad. Jackson isn’t as much of a grump as he makes himself out to be. “What do you think of it?”

“All guys like sundresses.” He pauses for a beat, and I think that’s all I’m going to get from him, but he surprises me by adding, “I like your normal look, though.”

“My normal isn’t exactly other people’s normal.”

“Well, I like it.” His gaze lingers on me before turning back to the road, and heat licks across my skin. “I don’t want you changing yourself for my family. I would never ask my girlfriend to do anything like that.”

A full-on flame bursts in my chest, but I try to tamp it down, mentally imagining a million fans blasting the flush away as I keep my expression wry.

“We’ll see if you still say that when I rock up to the next family function in a bright pink mini skirt and go-go boots.”

He smirks. “I dare you.”

Something about the tilt of his lips has me wanting to lean forward to kiss the corner.

This is so not good.

I want to help him out as his fake girlfriend because it is something a good person would do, not because of a crusty old crush that was supposed to have died months ago.

Oh Gods…what if my crush never died? What if it was just in hibernation? What if everything I’ve been doing has woken it back up?

This is very, very, very, very bad.

Jackson pulls into the parking lot, and I drag my arm back into the car so I can point to where my car is. It’s a bit moot since my convertible is the only vehicle left in the lot other than a pickup truck—and it doesn’t take a genius to guess which of the two is probably mine.

“I swear, you and Parker are so similar.”

“Says the guy with an Army green Jeep.”

“It came that way. I didn’t pay extra for it.”

“What makes you think I paid extra? How do you know mine didn’t come that way?”

“It’s bright fucking pink.”

“So judgy.”

Although, I did pay extra for it. Not to get it painted pink but because it was a limited edition and only a few were made. Definitely one of my more questionable purchases, but it wasn’t like I couldn’t afford it. Plus, despite his jab, I am nowhere near as bad as Parker and his obsessive blue sports car collection.

“Well, this was fun. I’ll see you later.” I pop the door open and go to hop out when Jackson’s hand shoots out to curl around my shoulder to stop me. “What?”

He frowns, staring at his own hand before releasing me. “Nothing. I’ll see you back at the apartment.” He turns away and begins fiddling with his navigation system.

“Okay. Bye.” I slip into my car and shut the door harder than I should.

Here I am doing something nice for him, and yet he still has this layer of ice around his heart. How freaking hard is it to melt that damn thing? I just want him to like me, dammit.

A bone deep awareness sinks in.

Fuck.

Fuckity fuck fuck.

My old crush is definitely out of hibernation.

I groan, leaning my head against the steering wheel. This is going to be a very long drive back to the apartment. A whole hour to stew in my thoughts—just lovely.

I start up the engine and blast my music loudly in an attempt to drown out my brain from straying to thoughts of Jackson. Anything to distract myself right now would be welcome.

As if the Gods hear my prayer, my music pauses to welcome an incoming call from Lee.

I hit answer and keep my voice light. “Hey, hey.”

“Hey, I see you’re headed back. How’d it go?”

I swear, Lee keeps track of my location like a mom whose teenager just left for college.

“Good, I think. They seem convinced for now.”

“Nice, knew you’d pull it off.”

“Obvi.”

“Think you’ll make it back in time for the party?”

I groan.

“Come on,” she whines. “Even Stevie said she’d come, and she’s been holed up in her place all week prepping for that art show.”

“That’s great! Means you don’t need me.”

“No, because Aleks is also coming, and that means that even though she says she’s going to keep me company, those two will end up abandoning me to go bang in a closet or something.”

“Not if you ask her nicely.”

“Deer, pleeease.”

“Fine.”

Crap. I hadn’t meant to say that.

I’m not sure how much social battery I have left. I am already emotionally exhausted from having to play a role for Jackson’s family. If I have to go to the party tonight, it means switching myself on for another couple of hours.

“Thanks, you’re the best. I’ll be over in like two hours, and then we can all catch a ride to the party together, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”