“Just ask.” I groaned.
“You obviouslyknowwhat I want to know. Spit it out.”
“Which part?”
“I know I told you to shoot your shot, but that was pretty quick, bro.”
Shoveling eggs into my mouth, I contemplated what to say. “Who says it’s Hailey?”
“Oh,please.”
“Okay, okay.” I threw up my hands defensively and rolled my eyes. “She’s not really my girlfriend. It’s just fake — for now.”
“How the hell did that happen?” His eyebrows knitted together.
“Don’t even ask. No idea how I could explain that without sounding like a lunatic. Something about her not wanting to get hit on constantly since she’s a cheerleader?”
“Hailey’s going to cheer here?”
“That’s what I just told you.”
“You do realize she’s going to be at all our games, right?”
“Yeah, thanks, Einstein. I figured that out myself.”
“So, what exactly is your plan?”
“Be the best fake boyfriend ever and hopefully get to keep her, I guess.” I ran my fingers through my hair and clasped my hands at the back of my neck. “This is probably my oneand only chance. I would have been a complete idiot to say no after she offered me basically everything I’ve ever wanted. I just have to play my cards right and hope it’ll fucking work.”
“I got your back, no matter what you do.” He slapped me on the back with one hand.
I nodded. “Thanks. Appreciate it.”
Then he suddenly burst out laughing.
“What?” I asked, confused.
“I was just trying to imagine how the team will react when they see you together for the first time. Please make sure I’m there for it, it will be a sight to behold. There’s no way I want to miss that.”
I snorted. “You got it.”
Then I tilted my head back and looked up at the ceiling, pensive and somehow uneasy. “Think there’ll be a lot of shitty comments?”
Hunter was silent for a while, and when my eyes darted down to him again, his lips were pursed. “Nah. We’re not in high school anymore, and a majority of the team has a lot of respect for you. I’m sure most of them will just be surprised because you’ve never shown any interest in a girl before. But, dude … you know how some of them can be. One or two of them are bound to make some kind of comment, especially when they see Hailey. I have zero interest in her, you know that, but objectively, she’s a looker.”
“Yup. I know.” I blew out a breath. “At least that way, I don’t have to listen to how everyone wants to fuck her or how hot her ass is, like in high school.”
“Facts. Look on the bright side, bro. Just … don’t let her crush you. If she treats you like shit, let her go. Promise me.”
“Yeah, okay. I promise.”
He turned and headed out of the room. “All right, enough with the deep talk.”
I barked out a laugh. For the second day in a row, I had apparently used up his daily supply of words with just one conversation.
***
I hadn’t heard from Hailey all day. Considering we weren’t really dating, that was to be expected. She posted a few Instagram stories, though, and as usual, I couldn’t stop myself from checking them out.
