Love In Strange Places

ta

he weight of a dozen stares pressing against me. The post about Jason and me

st watching; they

my pace toward the lecture hall. The last thing I wanted was an interrogation be

tically glowing with curiosity.

twisted. "E

ason Carter? Seriously? I thou

ll true. But I couldn't e

I tried to sound indif

"He's never been in a re

y in my chest. "Maybe he jus

e lecture hall doors and found a seat near the back. Emma slid in beside me

rld. He spotted me immediately, smirked, and made his way over. Ins

spering. More stares. Emma raised her eyebrows, then

verheard because his hand found mine under the desk,

me, just kept his attention on the profe

ybe it didn

t sure

a

the time, they were right. This, thoug

breath hitched, just for a second. The game had rules. Keeping up appearances meant making things look real. But somew

problem was, I knew better. After class, she practically bolted from the room, E

f playing pretend, and then we'd go back to being s

ta

ter class, demanding details I couldn't give. The rumors were spreading faster than I could

ed through campus like none of it mattered. Meanwhile

one b

t my place ton

r party. Another night of pretending. Another night of forc

Fi

pulsed through the walls, and the smell of alcohol clung t

is teammates. His arm draped lazily over the back of a

eyes met mine,

waving me over. "Yo

prise, even though he was t

"You didn't give me

ring so only I could hear. "That's how relat

needed to remember that. Before I could say anything, Jason

hat shouldn't have sent heat rushing through me. His

against mine. My pulse betrayed me. This was dangerous. I

a

e she wanted to be

against the side of her drink like she was

ning in slightly, "you don'

o mine, guarded. "

ebrow. "Could'

lightly in her seat. "

background, in quiet spaces where no one questioned her. I was dragging her into

sed to it," I

she quickly looked away. We were playing a game. The

ta

aped Jason's party, my th

none of it felt fake. But it had to be. This wasn't real. Jason Carter didn't do rea

ter that night, my stomach twi

: You

d before r

Yeah

oked like you

asn't

the keyboard before

aybe

pa

h

You d

rt stu

I ha

red me more