Worth the Chance (Watertown University #2)

8. Eliza

Chapter 8

Eliza

I ’m stunned speechless as I drive home. So stunned that I opt for silence instead of one of the dozens of playlists I have on my phone, which is extremely unlike me. What the heck just happened? One moment I was talking to Sam, or more like getting talked at by Sam, and the next I had a muscular arm that’s attached to a fit frame wrapped around me, calling me cupcake. Not just cupcake either though he also finally said El. For a while there I thought he was against nicknames so much so that I texted Emilia and asked her if he ever called her Emi or Em. She confirmed he did and I wasn’t sure what to think after that.

When I park my car in the driveway I’m still confused and speechless. I wanted to be mad at him for inserting himself into the conversation but how can I be when he rescued me from utter disaster? I haven’t talked to Sam in nearly three years and while I’m not the girl I was then, there’s something about the first guy you thought you loved that can draw you right back in.

I also can’t believe I said Garrett would fall in love with me? Where the hell did that confidence come from? I used to be a semi-confident person, I had some sass and was good at making friends but that all changed when I got sick. My anxiety tore down my confidence one shred at a time but today there was a hint of myself I haven’t seen in years. I kept the sass up with my family but to the outside world I have become more reserved.

Anyways, I’m most certain he would never fall in love with me. He’s a walking model with his deep brown eyes, slightly tanned skin, and biceps for days. While I’m just average. My thighs are thick, my middle has a little more than I want and I personally feel like I have one of those faces you wouldn’t be able to recognize in a crowd. I try not to get down on myself, there’s still plenty about myself that I like, for example my hazel eyes that reflect flecks of green, gold and shades of brown.

Unsure what to do with myself while Garrett’s in class I head to the kitchen. Whenever my mind is a mess, baking helps ease the anxiety that courses through me. I flip through the recipe book I’ve been making, skipping right past the cupcake section. I land on my brownies. Perfect. Chocolate can cure anything.

I melt the butter before adding it into the sugar, placing a bowl over a warm pot of water to dissolve the sugar. I also add in the eggs, to mix it all together and get rid of any gritty texture. Next I combine the dry ingredients together before sifting them into the bowl of wet ingredients. Once everything is nice and combined I add in some dark chocolate chunks giving the ingredients a good mix. As the brownies bake in the oven, I quickly clean up the kitchen before plopping down in front of the television to watch an episode of New Girl. Just as I do, I hear the rumble of thunder and pattering of rain against the glass door. It’s like the universe knew I needed an extra level of comfort this afternoon.

Forty minutes later the oven timer goes off. I pull out the brownies which have the perfect crackly top and crispy edges while the middle is still nice and gooey. I’m halfway through another episode, waiting for the brownies to cool, when Garrett walks in the front door.

“Hey.” He toes off his shoes in the doorway and leaves his backpack at the bottom of the stairs.

“Hi.” My voice comes out squeakier than I wanted it to. Unfortunately the scene from earlier is still affecting me.

“Do I smell brownies?” He sniffs the air.

“You do, they should be about ready to eat now.” I round the couch and head into the kitchen to slice them.

“No cupcakes today?” I turn to glare at him and he’s closer than expected. Leaning against the counters on the other side of me.

“That would have been fitting, wouldn’t it?” I mumble, grabbing a bowl and serving two brownies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for him and a smaller version of that for myself.

“Thanks.” He gratefully accepts the bowl.

“Should we talk about… earlier?”

“Probably a good idea.” He grabs two spoons out of the silverware drawer. “Couch?” I nod and follow him back into the living room. We take seats at opposite ends of the couch, both diving into our dessert before speaking.

“So what did you mean by a fake relationship?” I ask in between bites. Unable to sit in silence any longer.

“Well, your ex and his girlfriend are under the impression we’re dating.”

“That’s on you.” I point my spoon at him.

“I’m aware.” He clears his throat. “So, we obviously have to keep this up for a bit to keep him away, right?”

“Away isn’t the right word.” I shake my head. “He’s harmless.” Garrett grunts in response. “He is, well physically anyways.” Emotionally is a different story. “Ivy on the other hand will be spreading the news to anyone she can, she loves a bit of gossip.”

“Who was that girl?” I groan as he asks the question, it’s not really something I want to dive into but if we’re going to fake date or whatever he deserves to know.

“She’s my ex-best friend from high school.” His eyebrows shoot up. “Yep. That’s right we were best friends when I was dating Sam.” I sigh before continuing. “Sam broke up with me at the beginning of senior year around the time my health was declining. It was ‘too much for him.’” I leave out some of the details like how he was disgusted with my new body, I gained weight as my immune system battled itself.

“Ivy was there as I cried about him leaving in the midst of my crisis. Once she left to go to college she stopped talking to me and I heard a rumor over the summer that they hooked up but clearly it’s more than that.”

“Geez. They’re both trash. Who does that?” Garrett’s frame is rigid.

“It sucked at the time and it stung to see them together but how people act says much more about themselves than it does about me.” I shrug. It’s true, I can’t control anyone else and how they act so all I can do is choose to move about my life with the knowledge that karma makes her way around, good or bad.

Garretts phone starts vibrating uncontrollably on the coffee table. He grabs it, a humorless laugh escaping him as he reads whatever is on the screen.

“Seems you were right about Ivy.” He hands me his phone which is opened to a group chat with his teammates.

Bryan

Why am I hearing that you have a girlfriend? Is this a sick joke?

Alex

Aye get it G-man.

Dan

Mr. I hate love is in love? Is the world ending

Dang, she works fast. She did always love a little bit of gossip but I’ve never been the subject. I hand his phone back to him, unsure I want to see what other texts come through, it seems he really doesn’t fall in love after all if that’s the first reaction.

“Sooo, clearly this would be beneficial to me so I don’t become more gossip to Ivy and so Sam will hopefully leave me alone but how does this work for you? If your teammates know how much you hate love and relationships, who in the world is going to believe this?”

“Bryan won’t ever believe it so I’ll have to tell him but the rest of them I can convince. And it’s beneficial to me because there’s a few girls on campus who have been trying to get something from me and now I have the perfect excuse to not give them anything.”

“You don’t just tell them you don’t fall in love?”

“I do but some think they can change me.”

“Ahh, I see.” You can’t blame them for hoping, I imagine he’s more than one girl's dream man just from his looks alone.

“So it works out for both of us.”

“Okay fine. I still think this could end terribly, by the way.”

“It has the potential to, yes.”

“And we cannot tell Liam and Ryan.”

“God, no. I don’t need Ryan flying up here to try and fight me. I mean I would win but still.” He gives me a pointed look that causes me to burst out laughing. The two of them would be evenly matched but his confidence is something to look up to .

“And whenever one of us wants to end it, we reserve the right to do so.

“Sounds fair.”

“So we’re doing this?”

“We’re doing it, cupcake.” I swallow down the flare of heat that threatens to creep up at that nickname. I like it too much.

Yesterday’s conversation continues to play in my mind all throughout my Friday class and even back at home while I’m trying to focus on some homework. I haven’t seen Garrett since the conversation. He went upstairs shortly after and then eventually left for practice. I was tucked into bed watching an old season of Love Island by the time he got back.

Unable to focus I make my way into the kitchen to whip up a batch of cookies. Maybe I just need to unwind a bit and then my brain will focus on accounting. Doubtful since it’s painfully boring but worth a shot.

Thirty minutes later I have a nice warm batch of cookies, fresh out of the oven and even less will to study than before. With a groan I take my seat at the barstool again, forcing my eyes to read through this chapter. I have to re-read some paragraphs multiple times but I’m getting through it when Garrett comes bounding down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Cookies? Are you trying to ruin my hockey career, Eliza?” He raises an eyebrow as he steps into the kitchen. A laugh barks out of me.

“I highly doubt one cookie is going to do that.”

“Maybe not one but between these cookies, brownies and cupcakes I’m going to have to start training even more.” I just raise one shoulder at that, trying to act nonchalant as I picture a shirtless Garrett with sweat dripping down his forehead. Okay, bad idea .

“Well, I’m also going to have to start training at this rate so maybe you can take some of these to your team.” While I love baking, having all these desserts in my house is not faring well for me. I’m used to sending some of my baked goods out to work with my stepdad so maybe I can employ Garrett to do the same thing.

“You definitely don’t need to train.” Garretts gaze racks over me quickly before darting back to the cookies, a warmth crawls up my cheeks. “Anyways, I guess I can bring some of these to the team but I don’t love sharing.”

I pop out of my seat to box up some of the cookies, patting Garrett on the arm as I move past him. “I think you’ll be okay.”

I set aside a few cookies for myself because it is a Friday night after all and I deserve a treat. As I’m boxing up the ones for him to bring to practice, he steals one from the cooling rack. Popping it in his mouth he practically moans at the first bite. My eyes pop out of my head at the noise and I try to focus on the task at hand. Ignoring the erotic noises coming from my unreasonably attractive roommate.

“These are so good.” He moans again. “The chocolate ratio and the flaky salt on top. My god.”

“Thanks.” I try to keep my voice even.

“The guys are going to go crazy for these.”

“Well that’s good. Maybe after we’re done one of them will want to date me.” I joke, trying to lighten my mood. Except it doesn’t work that way. Garretts eyes lock on mine, his jaw clenches.

“None of them are good enough for you.”

“You barely know me and I think I can be the judge of that.” There’s a hint of sass behind my words. I already have two overprotective brothers. I don't need my fake boyfriend to add onto that. We stare at each other for a moment, my eyebrows raised up as an invitation to fight me on this but he thinks better of it, shaking his head.

“Well, I better get going. Thanks for these.” He holds the tupperware in place of a wave as he makes his way out of the kitchen. I’m left alone, with my thoughts, which of course keep thinking of last night and over analyzing this interaction.

Not wanting this to be the sum of my Friday night, I decide to text Mia. We got coffee together before our class on Monday, it was really refreshing, we kind of just seem to click. We’ve also been sending each other funny videos on TikTok and seem to be really becoming friends. I could also really use someone to talk to this whole situation about especially since Emilia is out of the question. I trust her but I don’t want to put her in the position of having to hide something from my brother.

Me

Hi Mia. I know it’s a Friday and you probably have plans but if you don’t, want to do something?

My phone vibrates with a response not even five minutes later.

Mia

No plans lol. I’d love to!

Me

Great! Want to come over? We can have a girls night or something?

Mia

That sounds great!

I text Mia the address and she lets me know she’ll be over in about an hour. Our place isn’t dirty by any means but I quickly do a sweep of the house, tidying up the blankets I have thrown everywhere and trying to make the place look in order. Before I know it there’s a knock at the door and when I check the peephole, safety first, I see a smiling Mia. I open the door, welcoming her inside.

“Dang, this place is so cute.” Mia looks around the space. The cream, l-shaped couch is decorated in pastel throws and pillows. There’s a collection of colorful coffee table books neatly styled on the coffee table as well as a colorful vase of fresh flowers.

“Thanks.” I smile, I’ve always loved decorating and was so excited to have a whole space to make my own. I wince a little knowing Garrett might not care for these decorations as much as me. I should probably check with him, especially before I add the colorful gallery wall I’ve been thinking about in the entryway.

“Here let’s get comfy,” I gestured to the couch, “and I was thinking of making some mac and cheese.”

“A girl after my own heart. They make that gluten free?” When we went to grab coffee, I had to explain to the barista my situation so she could prepare my order safely. Naturally Mia was curious so I explained my situation to her. It didn’t seem to bother her one bit that there would be some things in life that would be limited to me, like going out to certain restaurants or eating at other peoples houses.

“They do and it’s delicious.” We spend the next twenty minutes making the boxed mac and cheese and air frying some chicken tenders. The picture of health really, but what else is a Friday night for? Once everything is all made we bring our plates over to the couch and dive in.

“Is this place all yours?”

“Not quite…” I trail off as thoughts of my roommate cross my mind. Mia’s eyebrows shoot up at my non answer.

“Okay I’m going to need you to explain because that look was… something.” She puts her empty bowl down on the co ffee table, then faces me sitting criss crossed with her elbows on her knees and rests her chin in her hands.

“Well this is part of the reason I needed a girls’ night.” I place my empty bowl next to hers, trying to figure out the best way to spill my secrets. “My roommate's name is Garrett, he’s friends with my older brothers and he needed a place to stay this year.”

“Did you sleep with him?” Her eyebrows dance at the suggestion.

“What? No! Mia. I didn’t sleep with him.”

“Okay, then what’s the issue? I can tell there’s an issue. You do not have a poker face Eliza Mills.” She’s right. I’ve always been a shit liar.

“Well, yesterday on campus I saw my ex who is now also dating my ex-best friend. Garrett saw this conversation happening and saw me looking uncomfortable so he sorta jumped in pretending to be my boyfriend.”

Mia’s eyebrows shoot up, her eyes widening. “And he suggested we keep up the charade so they don’t find out and to help him out from some girl or girls who would like a relationship with him. But he doesn’t do relationships.” Mia blinks a few times before answering.

“Wow. That’s… a lot.”

“It is and I haven’t been able to tell anybody and I just feel like I can trust you.” Mia smiles brightly at my words and grabs my hands.

“So you have a fake boyfriend.”

“I do.”

“Do your brothers know?”

“Hell no and they aren’t going to find out.” The look on Mia’s face isn’t sure but I’m determined that they will never know.