Fake Fiancée

It was a far cry from my eighty thousand dollar vehicle he’d ruined, but it made me feel better.

He’d thought he’d make me crack; but I was in control. I had to be.

On the other hand, I was taking a hell of a chance that he wouldn’t run straight to Coach, but I had my lie all ready to go.

I’d lost my knife a while back.

Maybe it belonged to some other player with an M initial.

Plus, this was the most important game of the season, and I was counting on the fact that if Felix did run his mouth, Coach wouldn’t want to hear any shit before we took the field. Not to mention, we were the two best quarterbacks on the team. No way in hell would he bench us and put in a third-string player.

Felix shot a quick look over his shoulder, but I made sure to be cleaning my shoes, my expression easy going. Calm. I trash talked with the other players.

Later, Coach called us all together, and I was exceedingly polite when I asked if Felix could pass me a water bottle during the pre-game talk. He eyed me warily.

If I wasn’t so angry, I’d be enjoying this.

We headed out to face Taylor University, one of the top-rated schools in the country.

The hometown crowd was insanely loud, homemade signs and cheers from every direction. I looked up into the packed stadium stands to send Sunny my two-fingers kiss, but she wasn’t there. Neither was Mimi. I saw my dad, though, sitting in the seat he’d managed to find that was behind the two he kept each season. I’d told him when he said he wanted to come that he’d have to figure out a way to sit near Sunny because his seat now belonged to Mimi. So where were they?

I slowed my run, and the football player behind me bumped into me as we were running out, and I quickly stepped out of the way to let them pass. I jogged to the bench, my eyes searching the student section, thinking perhaps she’d decided to sit with Ash and Isabella, but then I remembered it was Thanksgiving weekend and they’d gone home to see family.

I felt off-kilter when the game started, especially when we got off to two false starts and a holding penalty.

At the end of the half, we trailed seventeen to three as we walked to the locker rooms. We’d had two missed kicks and I’d thrown an interception. Anxiety rode me hard.

You’ve been in tougher situations, I reminded myself.

My gut churned for another reason as I passed the empty seats where Sunny and Mimi should be.

Where was she?

Sunny

IT WAS A FEW HOURS before game day, and I was taking a pregnancy test.

Yes, I was on the pill, but accidents were possible, and as much as we’d been together—

I stopped. Don’t go there, Sunny. You’re not pregnant.

The night before I stayed at Mimi’s because she’d been under the weather. We’d watched some TV and had dinner together. Right before I went to the guest room to sleep, I’d recalled the comment that Max’s dad had made about me being pregnant, and it dawned on me that my period was late this month. I’d barely slept, and this morning when the sun came up, I headed back home, stopping at Walgreens along the way to buy the most expensive test I could find.

The earliest pregnancy indicator on the market, the packaging promised.

Please let it be negative.

I rushed inside the house and locked the door—as if I was afraid Max could sense what I was doing and suddenly appear. Stupid.

“It doesn’t look good, Charlie,” I said to the unicorn on the wall as I walked in the bathroom. He glared down at me. I imagined he’d say something like What did you expect, idiot? It’s Max-freaking-Kent. All you have to do is look at him and you get knocked up.

Max.

God.

He would—I didn’t know what he’d do.

Nausea rose in my stomach as I read the directions on the back of the box. I sat down on the cold tile in the bathroom, recalling how Bianca had told him she was pregnant. She’d lied but I could only imagine the fear he must have felt.

He might resent me.

And those were the words that pinged around in my head as I took out the white pieces of plastic and did my thing. I set it aside on the back of the toilet and waited.

A knock came at my front door, sending me in every direction. I scrambled to pull back on my skinny jeans and ran out of the bathroom in my sock feet.

Mimi stood at the door dressed in a roomy number seventeen jersey Max had given her, leggings, and her fake Uggs.

“Whatcha doing?” I asked, trying to play off my I might be pregnant face. I caught a glimpse of a yellow cab as it pulled away from the curb. She’d woken up this morning feeling better after a bout of bronchitis but was still determined to get to the game. “I was coming to get you later for the game, silly. You didn’t have to waste your money and come here.”

That had been our plan anyway.

She swallowed, and it was then I noticed the way her lips compressed.

“Mimi? What’s the matter?”

She shook her head and brushed past me and into the house, and I followed her all the way to the den.

“Your father—his cousin just called me. He’s dying. The doctors don’t expect him to make it through the weekend. He asking to see you. He’s home.”

I found myself sitting even though I hadn’t remembered doing it. My lips went numb but I managed to move them anyway. “Why now?”

Mimi sat next to me. “I don’t know. Maybe he wants to ask forgiveness. He is a preacher.”

My heart dropped. Before my mother died, he’d been a decent father to me, but could I just forget all the bad? “Do I need to be there?” I couldn’t think.

Mimi looked at me, her face set in gentle lines. “It’s ultimately up to you, but perhaps closure would be good. He’s all you have left. And it’s his dying wish.”

I sucked in a breath. “What about Max’s game?”

She nodded, petting my head like I was a child. “I know Max. He’ll understand.”

I leaned into her. “Will you—will you go with me?”

She nodded. “I’ve no love for your father, but I’ll go for you. Just you, sugar. I’ll pack us some Long Island Iced Tea, too. Well, not for you since you’ll have to do the driving.” A sad smile crossed her lips. “I wouldn’t mind visiting your mama’s grave, too. I didn’t go to the funeral.”

I nodded. I got that. Part of me wanted to see it again—and my brother’s.

I’d left so many things behind.

For three years, I’d shoved everything from North Carolina into a dark box and focused on being the person I wanted to be. But now, perhaps it was time to face my past. I stood, my head fuzzy as I stumbled toward the hallway. “I’ll pack.”

Max

WE MARCHED ON THE FIELD for the second half, the smell of popcorn and beer filling my senses. I checked the stands. Still no Sunny.

Back in the locker room, when Coach had taken a restroom break, I’d snatched my phone to see if she’d sent me any texts. She hadn’t. I sent her one.

Where are you? Worried.

She hadn’t replied, but then I’d had to put my phone away when halftime was over. I didn’t care about the appearances; I just wanted her to be okay.

Resolving to get back in the game, I slapped Tate on the back. “Dude. I’m throwing you the ball all damn day and you better catch it and hang on. We’re gonna win.”

He nodded, a gleam in his eyes. “Bloody hell, I like your pep talks.”

“Let’s do this,” I called out as we lined up. Several agreeing murmurs came from my guys. The ball snapped, and I connected a gorgeous pass to Tate, who ran a route straight to the end zone. The crowd went nuts.