Fake Dates & Ice Skates: (The North University Series Book 1)

Sleeping on the edge of the bed that night in the hotel was fucking torture. As soon as she told me to stop, I went back to the room, and I was knocked out: part exhaustion and part frustration. I knew that offering to massage her feet was a bad idea. And I knew what I was doing in the bathroom also wasn’t smart, but I needed to touch her. After hearing her moan into my mouth, I wanted to do it again. I knew she wouldn’t let me until it was necessary.

It got worse when she got out of bed in the middle of the night, accidentally waking me. She went out of the room to get some water, half asleep, in nothing but pink underwear and a white tank top. I didn’t even notice that I was sleeping next to her, half naked, the whole night. Yep.

Pure.

Unadulterated.

Fucking.

Torture.

I thought she would be willing to break the rules just once, but she didn’t, and we didn’t talk about it the next morning. We slept and woke up, got ready and headed home as if nothing happened. As if I wasn’t willing to eat her out on the bathroom counter.

Since this is our second year at NU, we were invited to the Sophomore-Only Drive-In that the school organises. We got to take part in voting for the movie and this year’s theme was thriller. ‘Us’ by Jordan Peele definitely wasn’t my first option but it gives Wren and I a perfect opportunity to showcase our relationship before the hockey game next week. The only problem: Wren’s been avoiding me like the plague since what happened at the hotel.

Nothing even happened. I’m a teenage boy and she’s a beautiful fucking woman who told me to zip her dress down. That’s it. Okay, so I might have kept my hands on her longer than I needed to but how could I resist? That dress was perfect and I’ve not felt the touch of a woman in way too long. I need to get myself in check because I can’t have Wren looking at me like she hates me all night.

I drive to her apartment to pick her and the girls up. One thing I wish I knew about Wren before we agreed to do this is how long it takes her to get ready. She texted me nearly three hours ago saying that she’s starting to get dressed after being at the rink all day. Still, I’ve been sitting in the parking lot for almost twenty minutes before she finally materialises through the doors of the apartment complex.

She’s dressed in blue denim shorts and a blue NU sweatshirt; a brave choice in this Utah climate. Regardless, she looks insanely hot. The shorts are giving me a great view of the long expanse of her legs. Her hair is down which is rare but it’s my favourite look on her. I barely even register that she’s in the car until her seatbelt clicks in and she turns to me.

“Are Kennedy and Scarlett not coming?” I ask, looking past her into the darkness of the parking lot.

She shakes her head. “They’ll meet us there.”

I nod and put the car into drive, leading us out onto the main road which leads us to the secluded field where the Drive-In is being held. Wren’s doing that freaky thing where she’s humming along to the song I put on while still managing to look and sound angry at the same time. I turn down ‘Freakin’ Out On the interstate’ by Briston Maroney slightly when we get to stop light, turning to her.

“What’s wrong?” I ask while she stares straight ahead.

She turns the song back up. “Nothing.”

I turn it down. “Something’s clearly wrong. We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

She turns it up. “I didn’t say I don’t want to go.”

I turn it back down. “Well, you’re acting like it.”

She turns is up again. Louder. “I’m turning it up so you don’t hear how pathetic I sound,” she says over the music. I don’t tell her that I can hear what she’s saying perfectly fine if this makes her more comfortable. “Me and the girls had a fight and we hardly ever fight. It was about you.” Immediately, I smile, turning to her as the traffic starts to move along. “Okay, it wasn’t about you. It was more about us. They don’t think I’m trying hard enough to make this work and the fact that we have a deadline on this thing only makes it worse. And I’m worried that we’re not doing enough for people to actually take an interest in skating again.”

I sigh, my shoulders dropping. “Wren. We just started with this whole thing. You need to be patient because if you keep trying to force something to happen, it’s not going to happen. We’ll take a few pics tonight and the game next week will surely get more people on board.”

She turns to me and I’m trying my best not to crash the car so I can’t even look at her gorgeous face. “You promise?”

“Yes, I promise,” I reply. “Now turn down this fucking music before I burst an eardrum.”

*

As expected, the field is absolutely packed with cars. I’ve only been to a Drive-In once and it was where I had my first kiss in high school. I don’t remember much from that day, other than being so fucking nervous. Thank God I’ve learned a few moves since then. When we get closer to where all the cars have lined up, I park my truck next to Xaiver’s as he and his girlfriend Michelle sit on the hood of the car with a bag of popcorn between them.

I watch Wren scan the surroundings, the same nervousness she showed at the party. “Are you ready to do some extremely painful socialising?” I ask, keeping my tone light as I shut off the car and unclip my seatbelt.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” she murmurs, opening her door. I quickly round the truck, wanting to tug her into my side as we walk towards Xaiver’s car. She lets out a noise between a grunt and a sigh when I put my arm around her shoulders. Well, this is going swimmingly.

“Davis, finally! The movie is about to start,” Xavier says through a mouthful of popcorn when he spots me and Wren. Michelle shakes her head at him. I honestly don’t know how she’s put up with him for so long. He shifts his vision to Wren and his face breaks out into a smile. “And you must be the famous girlfriend.”

Wren laughs and the sound soothes me. “And you must be the famous best friend. It’s really nice to meet you.”

“You too,” he says. He nudges Michelle in the shoulder. “This is Mitch, my girl.”

Michelle laughs. “Literally nobody calls me Mitch other than these two dorks. ‘Michelle’ is also fine.”

Wren joins in on the laughter, shaking her head at me. We started calling her Mitch as a joke in middle school and then it just stuck. “It’s nice to meet you, Michelle.”

“Well, we better set up our camp before the movie actually starts,” I say to them, looking down at Wren. Michelle and Xaiver nod, digging back into their food. I turn us around, leading us both to the car.

I set down the back of my truck, opening up the space for us to get seated comfortably. I could be perfect at this boyfriend shit if this was a real relationship. I brought blankets, cushions and our own snacks because the food here is scarily expensive. Wren seems to be impressed too because when we’re climbing into the truck she doesn’t make any snarky comments. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I’m earning some brownie points.

We sit at the edge of the truck, our legs dangling off the edge and our snacks on either side of us. When I notice Wren shivering, I push myself closer to her, desperate to give her some of my warmth.

“Are you cold?” I ask.

“I’m fine,” she says. I swear she is the most stubborn person I have ever met.

“You’re shivering,” I say and I place my hand on her thigh as the goosebumps arrive across her skin and she gasps. I lean back into the truck, plucking one of the blankets and draping it over both of our legs. “There,” I murmur, almost to myself as I spread it out over us. The last thing I expect her to do is to latch onto my hand.

I look at our interlocked fingers; her small hand in my big one. She does that thing girls do that drives me fucking insane as she circles her thumb on my hand, pulling both of her hands into her lap. Under the blanket. The thumb thing and the fact that my warm skin is touching her bare thighs is driving me equal parts angry and horny.

Fucking hell.

I need to get laid.

“Are you going to do that all night?” I ask when I’m struggling to even breathe properly.

“Do what?” she asks innocently, turning her head to the side as the glow from the large screen glitters in her brown eyes.

“You know exactly what you’re doing, Wren.” She still hasn’t stopped moving her thumb over my hand and she tortures me more by hooking her right leg over my left one, letting our hands rest on the inside of her thigh.

Then I look back up at her but she’s trying to seem focused on the screen as she whispers out the side of my mouth, “Michelle is staring at us and I’m pretty sure half of NU’s population is here. The least we can do is look cosy.”

“Yeah,” I say, “Right.”

Because this is fake. Everything about this is pretend. It’s hard to feel like it’s pretend when she’s this fucking close to me and every nerve in my body is being set on fire one by one. She doesn’t even flinch when the first jumpscare appears. She must be superhuman because I’m latching onto her like a baby. This movie has no business being this terrifying. She does flinch when Kennedy and Scarlett appear out of nowhere.

They both stand in front of us, blocking our view from the screen. Scarlett looks pissed and Kennedy seems like she’s more interested in wanting to watch the movie than she is about confronting Wren on whatever they’ve argued about. I think this is my signal to leave.

“I’m going to get us some food with Z,” I say, detangling myself from her grip and the covers. “I’ll let you guys…chat.”

Wren gives me one of her death stares but I don’t want to be caught in the middle of a cat fight so I can make up for that later. Instead, I rush over to Xaiver’s car and haul him from his seat, needing someone to talk to while I get out of whatever Wren has got herself into. We get into the long queue for refreshments and Zaiver nudges my shoulder.

“You two are looking cosy. How are things going?” he asks.

“Cosy. That’s exactly what we need to look like,” I reply, kicking the stones beneath my feet.

“You sound pissed, dude,” Xaiver laughs. “Which is saying something because you’re not actually dating her so you shouldn’t be pissed. Do you like her for real?”

“No. God. I just didn’t realise how hard it would be to fake date someone like her,” I admit, sighing as I look up at the pitch black sky, littered with stars.

“What does that mean?”

I turn around and look for our car and I spot her. She must have made up with Kennedy and Scarlett because I can see them in the back of my truck too, talking animatedly to each other. Girls are weird in that way. One minute they can’t stand each other and the next, they’re best friends again. Xavier turns around too. Wren’s laughing with them, double tucking her hair back behind her ear like it’s a movie.

“I mean, fucking look at her, Z. I knew that she was pretty. I knew that the second I laid eyes on her but actually getting to know her – you know, for the contract – has changed every single thing about her. And I swear, if she touches me one more time tonight, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Getting that out feels good. I know I shouldn’t act out on any of the impulses I have but the attraction that I have to her and her brain is driving me insane.

“You’re already in too deep, man. Just get through the next few weeks and if her show goes well, you don’t have to keep doing it anymore, right?” Z asks. I nod. “Then, you can get laid and not have to worry about it messing up your plan.”

I nod again, taking in that idea. I can do that. I need to be able to do that. “Yeah. You’re right.”

We turn back around and move further down the queue. When we finally get to ordering, Xavier buys a drink for him and Michelle and I order some M&M’s. When we get back to our cars, even more people have gathered around my truck. Grey and Harry are both there and Michelle has moved from Z’s car into the back of mine, talking away with the girls.

This is great.

“Miles! Fancy seeing you here,” Grey drawls, holding his hands out wide as if we didn’t all text in the team group chat before arriving. He said he was going to try his luck with one of the netball girls. What he didn’t say was how he was going to take up all the space in my car. “We thought you abandoned your girl, here.”

I look down to Wren and she’s laughing, clearly warmed up to my friends. “Yeah, babe. What took you so long?” she asks, painting on that innocently adorable face of hers as she snuggles between Kennedy and Scarlett.

“Well, I wouldn’t have taken so long if I knew you guys were all ready to take over my car,” I reply sarcastically, seriously looking for a place to sit. “I swear I saw Kennedy’s car over there.”

I look out into the space where Ken’s parked.“The vibes are better over here,” she says cheerfully, dismissing me with a shrug.

I turn to Grey and Harry who are taking up the edge of the truck. “And what’s your excuse?”

“The vibes are better over here,” Harry mocks and Kennedy shoots him a look. “Oh, so it works for her but not for us?’ This time I shoot him a look. ‘We got an Uber here.”

“Great. Now I’ve got nowhere to sit,” I murmur, trying to figure out how they’ve all managed to fit in the car.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Milesy,” Wren says, standing up to step over everyone until she’s beside me looking at the truck. “A little rearranging and we should be fine.

After everyone steps out the back of the truck, we try to get everyone into a comfortable position. Michelle and Zaiver take the far back of the truck, snuggled up into the far corner. Kennedy sits in front of them with Scarlett in front of her, her legs dangling out of the back. Grey sits next to Scarlett on the front with Harry behind him, in front of me and Wren. Of course Wren and I are in the worst position ever. Not because we barely see the movie but because Wren is sitting right in my lap.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I murmur when Wren tries to make herself comfortable in my lap which means she’s brushing her ass all over my dick.

“What?” she asks, turning to look at me.

“I said you look so pretty,” I bite out and she narrows her eyes at me before turning around.

I can’t even focus on the movie. It’s not even scary at this point. Because what’s scarier is the fact that when Wren goes to speak to Kennedy and Scarlett, she leans forward a little, making me wrap my arms around her stomach so she doesn’t fall as her ass grinds into mine. No one else seems to notice the amount of pain I’m in as they all shield themselves from the movie.

“Can you keep still? You’re making it worse,” I whisper just for her to hear. I can tell my breath is hot against her neck because she shivers, her back slightly arching into my front.

“This isn’t comfortable for me either, Davis,” she murmurs, turning around so our faces millimetres apart. Her dark eyes pin mine as she says, “Especially with your dick jabbing into my ass.”

Right. So it is that obvious.

I do what I do best.

Deny, deny, deny.

“It’s a biological reaction, Wren. Don’t get too excited.”

“Right,” she says with a mocking tone. And then – because she’s a fucking sadist – she grinds herself against me on purpose and I groan. “This is all just biological, right? That’s why your heart is racing and you’re gripping onto my stomach like it’s the only thing keeping you alive. Biology.”

“It’s a scary movie.”

She laughs quietly. “You can think of all the excuses that you want, Davis. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re hard and I’m turning you on without doing anything.”

Yeah….no.

I’m not doing this.

I’m not letting my fake girlfriend make me feel like my balls are about to fall off if she doesn’t do anything about it. Because she can’t do anything about it. We’re meant to be friends, first and foremost. And from what I’ve seen in other relationships with my friends, friends don’t almost bring the other to orgasm in the back of a truck simply by grinding their ass against the other.

I stand up abruptly and everyone’s heads turn around and they all sigh when they realise it’s me and not one of the tethered from the movie.

“What are you doing?” Wren whisper-shouts. I start to step over them as I try to get out.

“I need to pee.”

Am I really running away from my problems like a child? Yes. But it’s better than sitting there and letting her torture me. Still, I can’t seem to get away from her because I barely make it more than twenty steps away from the car before she’s behind me.

“Miles,” she presses but I keep on walking. “Miles,” she says again. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

That makes me stop in my tracks and I turn around. Her hands are out at her sides, clearly annoyed at me. “What’s wrong with me?” I snap. “What’s wrong with you, Wren? You say you want this to work because you’re scared of running out of time then you pull shit like that when you know you don’t need to and then you have the nerve to ask what’s wrong with me? It makes no fucking sense.”

“I wasn’t doing it on purpose,” she challenges, her tone biting.

“Oh, so you weren’t purposefully moving against me like that just then?”

“Okay, the last time I was doing it on purpose but it was a joke.”

I step closer to her. “But it’s not a joke, Wren. This is our future you’re playing with here. You’re the one who is so worried about messing this up and you can’t do shit like that. You can’t ask me to zip down your dresses or grind against my lap. You can’t wear shorts and you can’t wear your hair down because-”

“You’re not telling me what to wear, Davis,” she says, defensively. “Fake boyfriend or not. You’re not controlling how I look.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. That’s a me problem and it’s unfair of me but-” I get cut off by the strange smile that has formed against her mouth. “Why are you smiling?”

“Because all of your friends are staring at us and they probably think we’re fighting,” she says through a toothy smile. Honestly, this woman scares me. She steps closer to me, tugging on my sweatshirt.

“So we’re not fighting…?”

She shakes her head. “Just shut up and kiss me.”

“What?” I breathe out.

She grins. “You heard me. Pucker up, big boy.”

“You’re insane,” I say, laughing. “Are they really there or do you just want to kiss me that badly, Hacks?”

“I dont think I’m the one who wants this badly, Milesy,” she says, making a very suggestive nod to my hard-on. “It’s concerning how you’re turned on even when we’re fighting.”

Fuck it.

I don’t need any other reason to kiss her.

I let her pull me in, letting her take the lead on this one since I was the one who initiated the kiss at the gala. She slowly rises to her tiptoes, her sweet perfume slowly reaching my brain as she gently brushes her nose against mine. I’m practically panting, waiting for her to turn her head and reach my mouth. Of course she does the unimaginable and kisses my bottom lip before pulling on it with her teeth. My eyes flutter closed for a second but I force them to stay open and I catch the smug smile that has spread across her face.

She finally does what I’ve been waiting for but the moment is all too fleeting as the kiss is just that; a kiss. It lasts maybe three seconds before she pulls back, leaving me wanting more and more and more.

“Now that we’ve kissed and made up, turn your frown upside down and look like that was the best kiss of your life,” she demands, linking her fingers within mine, turning us towards the car again.

*

We manage to make through the rest of the movie with no more slip ups. She keeps still on my lap and when she holds my hand again, she doesn’t do that thumb thing that makes me want to kiss her again.

I touched her for too long at the gala and she got payback. That’s all it is. Now we’re even and we can make sure this stays pretend.

Rule. Number. Three.

When I drive her back to her apartment, we barely say anything as this strange energy crackles between us and I can’t bear the tension anymore so I grab her arm before she tries to leave. She turns to me, a funny look on her face and I loosen my grip.

“We’re going to be fine. You know that, right?”

“If you say so, Davis,” she says sarcastically.

“Can you drop the act for one fucking minute and be real with me,” I say, trying not be frustrated. “When you stress out, you stress me out. So please, know that it’s going to be okay. I need you to know that I’ve got you. That you can trust me.”

I watch the exact second that her face relaxes. She needed to hear this as much as I needed to say it. “I trust you. I do. But it’s just scary. You know, if this doesn’t work.”

“But it will. If you let me try for you, it’s going to work.”

“Okay,” she sighs.

“Okay?”

“Okay,” she says again, rolling her eyes. “Thank you for today. I’ll remember not to wear shorts next time. Oh, or leave my hair down. Or do anything that could possibly drive you crazy.”

“That will be the last time I ever tell you anything, Wrenny,” I say, laughing. She flips me off before hopping out of the car and walking up to her apartment.

I take it back.

I don’t think dating Wren Hackerly is the best thing to happen to me.

It’s going to be the thing that destroys me.