9. Audrey

CHAPTER 9

Audrey

T here was a new skip in my step. Maybe I was still on cloud nine after signing with Parker the other day, but everything had felt easier. Lighter.

I still couldn’t stop thinking about his offer. Date me . I’ll be your boyfriend.

Your fake boyfriend.

All I wanted to do was talk about it with Ella and ask her opinion, but every time I opened my mouth, nothing came out. It wasn’t like I was intentionally keeping it from her—especially when I knew she’d understand the reasoning behind it. She’d seen Duke’s behavior on Halloween weekend firsthand, after all. But this was different. Especially when she was so happy with Cam. The two of them spent all their free time together these days, and I was so happy for her. She had found her Prince Charming; even if she was still dancing around her feelings, it was clear how much they cared about each other.

How could I tell my sister that I was so pathetic I needed my best friend to pretend to date me to get my ex to leave me alone? Part of me still couldn’t believe I’d let that slip out to him or how easily Parker had agreed to it.

Surely, there was someone on campus he wanted to date instead of faking it with his best friend. The thought made me scrunch up my face, even though I didn’t have any feelings for him. Sure, I found him attractive, but that was as far as it went.

It wasn’t real. That was what I had to keep reminding myself. Even if he’d offered to get Duke to leave me alone, he didn’t have feelings for me. He probably still saw me as a little sister, like the little girl who’d followed him around the neighborhood like she had nothing better to do. Who cried when she scraped her knees after falling off her pretty pink princess bike. I grimaced, thinking about how annoying I’d probably been.

He seemed to regret the nine years where we didn’t talk now, but maybe back then, he’d been relieved to have some distance from me.

“You’re just being dramatic,” I muttered to myself as I walked across campus, bundled up from the cold January weather. I couldn’t wait for it to get warmer. I thrived in dresses and though I had several pairs of fleece-lined tights, winter had never been my favorite season. Spring would be here before I knew it, though, and so would the musical.

I hid my face in my hands as I thought about how quickly Parker had agreed to be in the musical. That he’d auditioned for me. Even if he was busy with lacrosse and his studies, and definitely would not have time for this.

Finally at the theater building as I headed in for my next class, the billboard in the lobby caught my eye. Leah and Mary, two other girls who were in the musical with me, were also looking at it.

A new piece of light pink paper had been added: the updated cast list. I sucked in a breath. Technically, they’d been required to open up auditions for everyone to fill the role, so there was always a chance that I’d be acting with someone else.

“Hey, Audrey,” Laura said with a smile, blocking my view of the list. “Did you see they posted the new cast list? It’s such a bummer that Will’s on probation, huh? Disrupting everything, and we haven’t even started running lines yet.” She frowned.

“Better now than in two months, though, right?” I asked. Certainly, it was better that we’d gotten this news with enough advanced notice to replace him.

“Sure, sure.” Laura agreed.

Meri nudged her with an elbow and then turned to me. “Do you know the new guy? Haven’t seen his name on any casting sheets before.”

My heart sped up. New guy. And right there on the list, the second name under mine it was printed, Parker Maxwell.

“Yeah.” I nodded, a smile lighting up my face. “He’s my best friend.”

“Oh?” Mari quirked an eyebrow. “How come we’ve never heard of him before?” She and Laura were both seniors in the theater department, and they’d taken me under their wing my freshman year. Florence was the other member of their trio, though she was currently absent.

“Well, we sort of lost touch for a while.” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear absentmindedly. “But we grew up together. He just transferred to CU in the fall.” Snapping a picture of the list on my phone so I could show Parker later, I nodded to them. “Gotta get to class. See you later.”

“See you at rehearsals!” Laura called out as I started walking towards the hallway. “You’re going to be amazing, Little Rose!”

I blushed as I headed into class, trying not to think about how the nickname they’d given me freshman year was oddly reminiscent of Parker’s childhood nickname for me.

Not that I’d thought about it until this point.

Pulling out my phone, I typed a message to my sister.

Audrey

Parker’s going to do it.

Ella

Sorry, do what?

Be the lead in the musical with me.

Do you think he’ll fit in the costume?

Oh.

I think so? I’d have to measure him to be sure, though.

Okay. The costumes are all in the studio, right?

Yup. I have a few finishing touches to put on before dress rehearsals start, but other than that, they’re almost completely done.

You’re the best. What would I do without you?

Definitely not be so fashionably dressed.

Speaking of, have you seen my white sweater with the little bows on it? I wanted to wear it.

Why? Have a hot date?

Maybe…

I borrowed it. I’ll bring it up when I’m back at the house.

Thanks.

Grinning, I held up the piece of paper in my hand as Parker walked towards the sorority house. He’d just come from the gym, and his hair was damp. It was hard not to appreciate him like this. Especially when his black long-sleeved t-shirt was clinging to his arms, showing off every well-earned torso of his upper body.

Damn, if lacrosse made guys that buff, maybe I’d enjoy his games more than I thought.

“What’s that?” Parker asked, raising an eyebrow at the paper I was waving in the air.

I’d printed it out from the email I’d gotten when I got back from class because there was just something about seeing it in physical form. Plus, I wanted it for my scrapbook. I had an entire box of momentos I’d kept from the school year to use in it over the summer.

A grin spread over my face. “The cast list for the musical.”

“They put it up?” He looked unsure, and after the way he sang a few days ago, I didn’t know why. God, he had no idea how good he was. His voice was deep, a beautiful baritone—nothing like how he’d sounded when we were kids.

I nodded, a grin splitting my face. “You got it!” Squealing, I ran to close the distance between us and threw my arms around him.

He wrapped an arm around my back, crushing me to him.

“Thank you,” I whispered, not having enough words.

“Of course,” he murmured back, his lips pressed against my hair.

I could almost imagine him pressing the faintest of kisses into the crown of my head. But I knew that wasn’t what this was between us. And that was okay. I was under no delusions about our friendship or what I expected from him. I was just glad he was back in my life.

As we pulled away, I shook my head. “You have no idea how much this means to me. Really, I can’t thank you enough.”

“You don’t have to, Audrey.” He squeezed my shoulder. “That’s what best friends are for.” He lifted a to-go bag. “Plus, I brought sustenance.”

“Oh, good.” I reached for it greedily. “I’m starving.” Biting my lip, I looked between us and the sorority house. “Do you want to… come inside?”

The house was quiet since most of the girls were still out for the afternoon.

Which was good, because I wanted somewhere private to have this conversation. At least, not on campus, where I had to worry about someone listening in.

Parker blinked. “Really? That’s not like, against the rules?”

Laughing, I shook my head. “Only if you tried to stay overnight after curfew.” Not that I’d ever had a guy over before. When Duke and I had been dating, I hadn’t had a room to myself, and he’d wanted us to spend all our time at his place. “Then Ilene would have some words for you.” While I loved our sorority advisor, Ilene was not one to mess with the rules.

Even though I knew for a fact that last semester, when Ella had been in bed sick with a fever, Cam had definitely spent the night taking care of her.

So I left my door open as I let Parker enter my space. He let out an amused chuckle, and I wondered what it looked like from his eyes. After Ella had moved into her own room, I’d lucked out without another girl moving in and had taken over the rest of it.

My bulletin board was decorated with pink roses and bows that I’d tied myself. I had a stack of friendship bracelets from the Taylor Swift concert last year on the corner of my desk. There was pink everywhere: my bedspread, the tiny pink bow pillow—even in the little paintings I’d added to the walls. The details that made this place feel like mine.

“I like it,” Parker finally said.

“Yeah?” I mumbled. “It’s not too much pink?”

He blinked. “Is that possible?”

I shrugged. I’d been told I was too much more times than I could count. Maybe at some point, I’d started believing them.

Parker’s gaze zeroed in on my desk. “What’s all this?” he asked, running a finger over the basket and craft supplies.

“Oh.” He wouldn’t know since this was his first year at CU. “Every year, we do a Valentine’s Day date auction to raise money for our philanthropy. Each sorority sister takes part. I’m just trying to get a head start. That way, I don’t have to do it at the last minute in a few weeks.” The semester was already flying by fast enough as it was.

He raised an eyebrow. “So someone… buys a date with you?”

I picked up the spool of pink gingham ribbon I was using to weave through the basket. “Yeah. We make a basket, and then whoever buys it gets to go on the date we planned.”

“Huh.” Parker looked intrigued. “And what is yours?”

Blushing, I fiddled with the ends of the bow instead of looking at him.

“Come on,” I said, wanting to avoid the rest of the conversation. Telling him about my date felt too personal. Because then I’d also have to admit who I’d been picturing when I planned it. “We should eat.”

He seemed to accept it, dropping onto the bed across from mine. It was hard to ignore how big Parker was when he lounged on it. I grabbed the paper bag I’d carried inside, pulling out sandwiches and bags of chips. I read the labels on them, tossing Parker his usual order. My heart felt warm as I realized he’d ordered mine for me, too.

It was strange to think that in a year of dating Duke, he’d never once ordered me food without asking me what I wanted.

And yet, after less than three months since we’d started hanging out again, Parker had memorized what I liked to eat.

Even though it was such a small thing, a gesture that shouldn’t mean anything, it did.

Because it was becoming more and more apparent to me how Duke had never been a good match for me. How he’d never cared about me the way I’d cared about him. Maybe it was just a status thing for him like I was Elle in Legally Blonde . Some pretty blonde he could have on his arm when he was a hotshot businessman.

And I knew in my heart that Parker was nothing like that.

“Parker,” I said softly, and he looked up at me from munching on his sandwich.

“Hm?”

“How would we do this?”

“Do what?”

I shrugged. “Fake date. You know. Pretend to be together. We didn’t exactly iron out all the specifics.” Wrinkling my nose, I avoided his gaze. “If you’re going to be in the musical with me, we really have to sell it. Otherwise, Duke is going to know, and he’ll be suspicious.”

The last thing I needed was him giving me hell because he found out it was fake.

Standing up, he came and sat down next to me, sandwich forgotten. His face was serious.

“If we do this,” I whispered, “We can’t tell anyone it’s fake.”

“What about your sister?”

Ella would understand. Eventually. I hated keeping this from her, but I knew in my gut we had to do this. So I shook my head. “Her either. She’s so wrapped up in Cam, and I just…” I didn’t want her to pity me.

“Okay. I won’t tell anyone.” He reached over, squeezing my knee. “So we’re doing this?”

“Yeah.” I let out a breath. It felt like I hadn’t taken a full one in weeks and could finally breathe again. “Yeah. If you’re still up for it.”

“Of course I am, Rosie. It would be an honor to be your fake boyfriend.”

I giggled. “Don’t go falling in love with me now,” I joked.

His face fell. “Audrey.”

I nudged him with my shoulder. “I was trying to be funny.”

Parker massaged his temples like he was trying to find his patience. “Sure, sunshine. But you can’t fall in love with me either.”

“Not a problem,” I answered. “You’re my best friend. I won’t let this get messy.”

He nodded, and then we both resumed eating, neither of us making eye contact.

Parker Maxwell was my best friend.

And, after today… my fake boyfriend.