Faking with Benefits : A Friends to Lovers Romance(129)

“And make the statement,” I repeat patiently.

His face darkens. “And make the statement.”

I pat his cheek. “Good boy.” I nod at the sad little party. “Was that so hard? You can go play with your friends now.”

He turns to go, then hesitates, his eyes fixed on the floor.

“Yes?” I ask patiently. “Do you want something else?”

“I’m, like.” He rubs the back of his head, his mouth twisting. “Sorry. Or whatever. It’s not… it had nothing to do with you, like, as a person. You were just… there. You know? Everyone was doing it.”

For a second, I’m taken aback. I didn’t expect him to apologise, no matter how terrible the apology is.

But honestly, it’s much too little, much too late.

“You want to know the truth?” I ask. “I really, truly don’t care. I don’t care about any of you anymore. So piss off and leave me the Hell alone.”

Tossing one last glare over his shoulder, he goes to rejoin the rest of the group, his head dipped low. As he walks away, it feels like a weight is being lifted off my chest.

A warm arm wraps around my waist, and a soft beard tickles my cheek. “You’re so scary,” Zack says into my ear. “Where’s the bathroom? I need to jump out the window to get away from you.”

“Most of my dates feel a similar urge. Breathe deep, it’ll pass.”

“You did amazing,” Josh agrees, coming up to my other side and taking my hand.

I look up at him and smile, leaning back against Zack’s chest. “Thanks. Can we go get some real food now? Revenge is exhausting.”

Josh tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear. “Of course. I think Luke is almost done yelling at Amy.”

My eyebrows raise. “He’s yelling at her? Seriously?”

He points to the corner of the room, and I turn to see Luke in a very heated argument with Amy. His cheeks are flushed red as he gesticulates furiously. She looks like she wants to crack his skull open.

I wince. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I should’ve told you what a harpy she was before your brother married her.”

Josh shakes his head. “Even if you had said something, he wouldn’t have listened. Rob can handle himself. He has a very low tolerance for BS.”

As we watch, Luke breaks off the argument, turning on his heel and stalking back to us. Amy shoots daggers at his back.

“Let’s get out of here,” he demands when he reaches us. “Before I start punching people.”

I pull a face. “That bad?”

“They haven’t even been logging student welfare complaints!” He bursts out. “I thought Emery had a low exclusion rate because there weren’t any issues with bullying here. But they’ve just been sweeping everything under the rug, because they don’t want to make the school look bad!”

He wipes a hand over his face. “I should’ve done this so much earlier. The way this place is being run is disgraceful.”

I reach up and rub at the frown lines between his eyebrows, smoothing them out. “You’re doing it now,” I remind him. “Now, finally, those students have someone who cares about them.” I link our fingers together. “And so do I.”

“I love you so much,” he says, and the sincerity in his voice makes my chest ache. “I am so, so sorry.”

Without leaving Zack’s grasp, I lean up and press my lips to his. He kisses me back hotly, pouring all of his anger and frustration and passion into the embrace. When we pull back for air, I twist, kissing Zack next, shivering when his tongue sweeps over my bottom lip. Then I do the same to Josh, going up on my tiptoes and trailing my lips over his cheek.

I can hear whispers go up around the hall. Someone gasps. I think I hear a phone camera click, and smile against Josh’s lips. I bet every person in this room is mentally calling me every gross name they can think of. Easy. Loose. A cheater. A slag.

And I don’t care. What they think doesn’t matter to me anymore.

I pull back and wipe the glossy red lipstick mark off Josh’s cheek with my thumb. “Let’s get out of here,” I say. “I’m done with these people. We’ve got shit to do.”





TRANSCRIPT





THREE SINGLE GUYS, EPISODE 451: ‘THE FAKE DATE EXPERIMENT’ RESULTS AND CONCLUSION





JOSH: And, we’re back from the break. Okay, it’s finally the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The conclusions to our very stupid Fake Date Experiment. In the last couple of months, I think it’s fair to say we all went on a bit of a ride.



LUKE: We’ve certainly learned a lot about intimacy, dating, and what it really means to be vulnerable with new potential partners.



LAYLA: And we found out why these three strapping boys were still single. They were all just as scared of love as I am. At least I could admit it, you cowards.



LUKE: We probably deserve that.



LAYLA: Yeah, you do. Don’t worry. I forgive you.



(Brief pause)



ZACK: For the viewers at home, Luke just gave Layla the sappiest look I’ve ever seen in my life. And now she’s blushing… and now she is giving me the finger…