Pucking Pretending (UNI Lions #9)[COMPLETED]

Saf

The game is happening right now.

I check the phone. Cayden is on the ice, probably doing that thing where he's really intimidating and acts as if he owns the ice.

I wasn't expecting him to text me. Should I have let him know I wasn't going? Is that part of this fake-dating thing?

I bite my lip. Did I mess up as a fake-girlfriend?

I had planned on going to the game. I really did. But the kiss keeps playing in my mind and I couldn't bring myself to face him. I'm not really embarrassed, but maybe I should be? If he says something, I don't know how to act. And what if I have to touch him, or even kiss him again?

It's making me all flustered.

So I made up an excuse.

The headache was a lie. But the library was real. We have an assignment due next week, and since I won't have time to work on it this weekend, I decided to spend my Friday night doing homework. At the library.

It's where all the cool kids hang out.

I take a deep breath when it's clear Cayden isn't going to text me again and stare at the laptop screen in front of me.

A few other people from my class are nearby, also working on the assignment, I assume.

I realize I need a textbook and get up.

"Could you watch my stuff?" I ask Clara. She's in the same class as me and Daisy. Kind of shy, very study-focused. She mentioned once that her dad pays her tuition and living costs as long as she gets good grades.

She nods and I quickly jot down the author and name of the book I need and head into the shelves to find it.

It takes me a while and when I come back, Clara is staring at someone at another table.

I shift my gaze and stop.

It's Tate. He's sitting at the next table over like he belongs, and I don't know what to do.

I pull back between the shelves so I can take a minute to figure this out. I lean my back against the books and breathe.

Tate is here. God, I hope he doesn't remember our last interaction here at the library. That was a disaster. I still don't know what I was thinking. Why was I talking about stalking him?

I take a breath. I see him all the time in class. This is no big deal.

Of course, in class, it's easy to pretend he doesn't matter to me because Daisy is there and I can't have her thinking that I'm cheating, or even contemplating cheating, on Cayden.

But she's not here.

I lean over so I can study him from behind the corner of the shelf.

He's still good looking, but something's changed.

Did he get a new haircut? Or maybe it's his shirt?

Whatever it is, he needs to stop doing that. It's like he's not as hot as he used to be. But I can't put my finger on what's changed.

Knowing that I can't hide among the shelves all night, I pretend to search for something in the book as I walk over to my seat. I smile at Clara.

"Thanks." Then I hold up the book. "Do you need this one when I'm done with it?"

She nods. "Please."

"No problem."

I open the book and start looking for the information I need.

A shadow falls over me.

I look up and meet Tate's smiling eyes. He's standing right next to me. Smiling.

"Hey, you don't happen to have the compendium with the formulas?"

I blink. Tate is talking to me. And he approached me. "The compendium? Yeah."

"I forgot mine. Could I quickly copy a couple of them?"

I nod and move some books until I find it. "Here."

"Thanks, I'll give it right back." He smiles in a way that makes me think if he was a cartoon, there would have been a glimmer on his teeth and maybe a clinking sound.

I go back to my work. That was a win, right? I didn't joke about murdering him, or fall flat on my face. All in all, I probably didn't embarrass myself with that interaction. Cayden would be proud.

"He's hot," Clara whispers, and I see her looking over at him.

"I guess."

Clara seems to remember herself and looks down at whatever she's working on.

I blink and look over at Tate.

He's not as hot as he used to be, but if Clara finds him hot, then maybe that's a me-problem. So what's happened?

I had an entire conversation with him, and I didn't say anything embarrassing. That's odd. Unusual.

Maybe being with Cayden is giving me more confidence? He hasn't really taught me a lot about flirting. Is it possible his charisma has rubbed off on me just by being near him?

I stop staring at Tate and try to figure this out. It couldn't be...

"Thanks," Tate says and holds out the compendium.

"No problem," I say and grab it. Our fingers meet and I furrow my brow. But Tate pulls away his hand and goes back to his seat.

That's odd. I touched him and... nothing.

Whatever Cayden is doing must be working.

Unless...?

I sit up. Not once has my stomach flipped since I saw him here. I don't feel nervous or sweaty in the least.

Has my crush passed?

Already?

Is it over?

Or does this have to do with how I hate cheating? Is that making me unable to even fake-cheat?

I stare at my fingers where he touched me. There was nothing. Even less than when Cayden touches me. We don't even like each other, and every time he puts his arm around my shoulders, my heart skips a beat.

No. I don't know what's going on here. I need to end everything with Cayden soon so I can figure this out.