Operation Prom Date (Tactics in Flirting #1)(20)
A crooked grin spread across his face. “Depends on the teammate.”
“So now we…?”
Cooper glanced around. A guy was currently standing on the coffee table, waving his cup around as he talked. Beer sloshed onto the floor, and he was one wrong move from falling, but no one seemed very concerned, including Cooper. Apparently this kind of thing happened all the time. How dare those imaginary parties with Manchester peeps leave me so unprepared!
“Circulate a bit,” Cooper said, “make sure you’re in Pecker’s orbit at least one more time—although this time, barely acknowledge him. After that, we’ll make our exit, leaving everyone to wonder will they or won’t they.”
Wow. It was one thing to talk about having all of our classmates speculating on the status of our hooking up, but being here now, with several of them looking at us with inquisitive glances, made it super real.
I returned my attention to Cooper and swallowed. I was already pretty deep into this whole facade. What was a little more pretending?
Chapter Twelve
Cooper
I don’t know what I was thinking slipping my hand into Kate’s back pocket like that. Despite doing my best to not totally cop a feel while I pulled off the fake move, the way it’d curved nicely against my palm remained burned in my memory. Even more disturbing, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I liked being able to pull her to me under the pretense of creating her carefree image.
I wound my arm around her and pulled her back against my chest as Dexter, one of the guys from the AV club, went on and on about his new drone. He wanted to fly it around the lake and thought it’d be cool to do so while I was rowing my boat through the water, and it wasn’t so much that I wasn’t interested, as that my attention kept getting drawn back to Kate. I swear, every guy in the near vicinity was suddenly looking at her with interest, and while I promised I wouldn’t do anything too possessive, I wanted to claim her as mine, so they’d stop checking her out.
Because she was my friend, and if all these other guys asked her out, she’d be too busy to spend time with me. For the deal we’d made. That was it.
Her intoxicating perfume filled my senses and she wrapped her hand around my arm, holding it against her. Our little performance seemed so innocent when I proposed it; now it was taking on a new life, and my body kept forgetting it was all an act.
I needed to calm down my thoughts, too, or Kate would notice and everyone would see, and this would turn awkward quickly.
“Ugh, when did that happen?” The shrill voice caused me to twist my head. Paris, Amber, and the rest of their crew stared at me and Kate, and to say they didn’t look happy about how close we were was an understatement.
Kate’s attention turned to them, too, the easygoing vibe I’d finally helped her reach fading.
Why do they care? Paris and I shared a physics class together, and admittedly, things had been on the flirty side all semester, but besides one party two months ago where we kissed a little, nothing else happened. She was too shallow for anything long-term, the kind of girl who bounced from guy to guy as the wind changed. I used to be friends with Amber, mostly because our houses were right next to each other, but we hadn’t exchanged more than the basic minimum all year. To be fair, she looked more surprised than angry like the rest of them, and part of me thought there might even be a hint of…regret?
Kate spun in my arms, bringing us chest to chest. Well, her chest hit more my upper stomach, something I was going to pretend I didn’t notice. I was getting hella good at this whole pretend thing. “I told you she hates me,” she said.
“Ignore them.” My words didn’t calm her like they had when we’d been alone in my truck. I cupped her cheek, forcing her gaze back to mine. “I thought of a punch line.” At her confused expression, I added, “To why the chicken crossed the road. Only I’m changing it to why did the chickens cross the road.”
“Why?”
“Because they lacked individual thought and all the other chickens were doing it.”
The smile came on slowly, but once it took hold, it transformed her features, turning her back into the girl with the contagious smile, who did things like knit beanies, talk to her pet lizard, and ship TV couples with a passion I’d never seen before. “Thanks, wingman.”
“Ooh, I love it when you use pet names.”
She laughed, and by the time I dared a quick glance at the girl squad who’d obviously hurt her, they’d moved on to judge other people.
I grimaced when I noticed Paris heading for Pecker. She draped herself around him, and considering their history and what I knew about the girl, I suspected she was more his type than Kate.
Kate was way too good for him, obviously, but I knew I’d never convince her of that.
“What?” she asked, and the section of hair that forever fell in her eyes drifted forward. Thanks to earlier tonight, I knew it was as soft as it looked. I wanted to brush it back again, but I needed to limit myself. To not get too carried away with our act, or I might forget where the lines were.
Over her shoulder, I noticed Pecker looked bored by Paris, which I supposed was good for our mission. Was it bad to wish that he’d find a prom date tonight, and then Kate could abandon this plan and not end up hurt?
I swear if he hurts her…