13. Audrey

CHAPTER 13

Audrey

O ur last few rehearsals, we’d been working on blocking and learning the music and choreography for the musical. We’d keep doing it for the first few weeks, going through all the scenes to get comfortable with everything.

I was surprised how easily Parker kept up. Sure, he could sing, but that didn’t mean this was easy. But I hadn’t needed to worry at all. He was a natural. His body moved gracefully, memorizing the choreo like it was nothing. When I asked him about it, he’d just shrugged and said, “ I guess learning all the lacrosse plays made it easy. ”

Still, I had to give him credit. I had no idea how he was juggling everything. He had his first away game last weekend, and I’d tried not to notice his absence while he was gone. We’d texted through it, but I missed him throughout the day. To distract myself, I’d gotten dinner with my twin, and the sorority had a movie night, all of us piling onto the couches to watch Mamma Mia!

It was one of my favorites, though I wasn’t too hard to please as long as the movie came with a happily ever after for the main couple. I read romance novels for the same reason. I was a big fan of the HEA.

Real life was sad enough. At least in fiction, the girl could get swept off her feet by the perfect guy who would promise to love her and never leave her. And I didn’t think it was too much to ask for, not really.

Today, we were rehearsing one of my favorite scenes of the musical—and one that made me the most nervous because at one point, the entire ensemble stepped off the stage, and it would just be Parker and I. Which meant that everyone else would watch us.

“You ready?” Parker squeezed my hand from the wings as we both waited for our cue. I would go out first since my character had a solo before his character would arrive and our duet would begin.

“Born ready,” I said, rolling my eyes even as I felt the anxiety run through me.

I never had stage fright. It didn’t even exist in my vocabulary. There was a reason everyone had always said I was born to be on stage. I thrived in the spotlight, and I loved all the attention.

But suddenly, everything felt real. Because the man at my side was more than just my co-star or a friend. And that made everything different.

He brushed a strand of hair away from my face before kissing the side of my head.

I was wearing one of my favorite flowy pink dresses with a chunky cardigan along with my character heels.

My heart was beating fast in my chest as I got my signal, stepping out on stage and letting the rest of the world go quiet. I just performed, letting my feet move without thinking. That was what I’d always been good at. Everything else faded away, and it was just me and the stage. Sometimes, it was the only time I really felt like me. Sure, everyone was watching me, and that was its own kind of pressure, but I also didn’t have to think about how I was portraying myself. What I was saying or doing. I got to slip into being someone else, and it was incredibly freeing.

Parker stepped out on stage, and for a moment, I let myself pretend that he was truly mine. That he was my prince here to save the day. Even if it was only a dream, it was a wonderful one.

Best friend, I reminded myself. He’s your best friend.

We were in a good spot. Even if it was still strange holding his hand on campus and pretending like we were dating anytime someone else was around. Still, in private, we were just us. We’d watch fantasy shows or movies together and he’d tell me about how different they were from the book. Parker was a jock, but he was also a secret, quiet nerd. The moment I’d realized he was shy around people was an eye opener. He wasn’t reserved with me, but I’d seen how he was with his team. Quiet. Like he was worried about something.

Right now, though, his entire attention was focused on me as he moved around me, holding my hand as we danced. I couldn’t look away, even as the steps slowed, and I placed my hand on his chest.

His firm, warm, hard chest. He was wearing another plaid shirt and jeans combo, with the shirt left open to reveal the undershirt that clung to his muscles.

He wrapped his hands around my waist. My eyes darted down to his lips, and I ran my tongue over my lower lip, moistening it. Because I knew what was next.

He’d kiss me.

The two leads would share their first kiss of the musical.

“Everyone’s watching us,” I murmured, unable to look away from his handsome face. I’d always found him handsome, but this was different. Maybe because he’d never looked at me like this. Like he wanted to kiss me so desperately. Like there was nothing else in the world he’d rather be doing.

“Rosie,” Parker whispered against my ear, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Breathe. It’s just you and me, right?”

I’d never been nervous on stage before. But I’d also never been pretending to date my best friend slash co-star either. Giving him a tiny nod of my head, he pulled me in tight.

Everything else faded away as he held me in his arms. The rest of the room quieted, and all I could see and hear was him. It didn’t matter that in the audience were all of my friends from the last three years in this program. It didn’t matter that my ex was sitting there watching us or my professor.

All that mattered was the way Parker pressed his lips against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him tighter—just like was written in the script. It was a closed-mouth kiss, and there was no tongue, but somehow, this felt even more intimate than when we’d practiced on his bed.

God, I wanted him to slip his tongue inside. To taste him. Would he taste like coffee and sin? Last time we’d kissed like this, I hadn’t really gotten to explore. To memorize him.

But damn, I wanted to.

This was dangerous.

Because no matter what, he was still just my fake boyfriend.

Everyone whooped and cheered for us, and we pulled apart.

Parker had the faintest blush on his cheekbones, and he ran his hands through his hair.

“Yeah, yeah,” I deflected, trying not to draw attention to how much I liked kissing him. How much I wanted to do it again. Because we were supposed to be dating, so this should be normal.

Even though my racing heart and the butterflies in my stomach told me it was anything but normal.

No one had ever affected me like this.

No one had ever been Parker Maxwell, though.

Every year, our sorority put on a Valentine’s Day Date Auction, with all the money we raised going to our philanthropy. It was one of our big fundraisers of the year, and I’d been working on my basket for weeks. I hadn’t wanted to leave it for the last minute.

There were so many themes in my sorority sister’s baskets: Suzie had a movie date theme with popcorn and candy, while Peggy’s was a pizza night date with all the ingredients to make their own pizzas. There was such a wide variety that my more traditional picnic date felt lame in comparison. But it was fine. Even if no one bid on me, I didn’t care.

Ella stood next to me, wearing a blue gingham dress, peeking out of the curtains like she was trying to see who was out there. Her basket in her arms was for a night under the stars, with a cozy blanket and s’mores supplies.

“Don’t worry,” I said, squeezing her shoulder. “Cam’s here for you.”

“I’m not worried,” she mumbled, letting the curtain drop. I raised an eyebrow, but she said nothing else. But there was no doubt in my mind that her boyfriend would be here for her. She’d spent more time with him this semester than she had with me.

Which, I supposed, was fair, considering I’d been doing the same with Parker.

Was Parker here for me? I’d mentioned it before, and he’d sounded interested, but it wasn’t like I’d sent him a calendar invite or a reminder about tonight.

“I’m really glad you have him.”

She gave me a small smile. “What about you and Parker, huh? I’ve been hearing rumors.”

I blushed, waving her off. “It’s nothing.”

Ignoring the fact that I’d sat on his lap last week at the lacrosse party and he’d taken me out on our first date a few nights ago. Fake date, but that didn’t matter. Not with the way he’d taken everything so seriously. He was the perfect gentleman, and I was pretty sure I was slowly growing obsessed with the way he kept holding my hand whenever we were together.

Like he knew just how comforting his touch was.

Ella looked at me, cocking her head to the side, but I stayed quiet.

“Alright, girls,” Ilene said, ushering us all into our places behind the curtain. “We’re going to start soon. Just like we practiced, okay?”

“Don’t worry, Ilene,” Ella reassured her. “Everything’s going to be perfect. And the room is almost full.”

Our advisor just nodded, letting out a deep breath like she was centering herself. “Everyone ready?”

We all nodded in agreement, and then the event started. One of the fraternity’s advisors had agreed to be the MC for the night, but Ella was up first to introduce the event and our philanthropy since she was the President of our chapter.

“You got this, Ells,” I squeezed her hand. “Go get ‘em, sis.”

She winked at me before stepping out on the stage, tossing the blonde curls that were identical to mine over her shoulder. I’d done her hair and makeup before we’d left the sorority house, and she looked absolutely gorgeous. Well, maybe I was biased, considering we shared the same face. But still, my twin was incredible. Ella liked blending into the background, but she was a born leader. She was fiercely defensive of her friends and she cared more than anyone I knew. But she was also extremely talented and creative.

I hoped that one day, she’d see herself the way I saw her. The way I suspected Cam saw her.

“Welcome to the annual Pi Rho Sigma Date Auction!” Ella announced to the crowd, who cheered. “If you’ve joined us before, you know what to expect, but for our first time attendees, tonight’s event is to help our philanthropy, raising money for survivors of domestic abuse. Each of our members has prepared a date basket containing the perfect ingredients for the date you’ll go on.”

I watched her from behind the curtain, smiling as she explained the rules and how the evening would go.

Of course, once she finished, Ella was the first to go, presenting her basket and telling the crowd about their date. Not that she needed to bother. I knew exactly who would be going home with her.

“For a lovely date with the Pi Rho President, Ella, the bidding will start at one hundred dollars!” our MC started. “Do I hear one hundred?”

I couldn’t see the crowd, but I could hear them.

“One hundred!”

“One fifty!”

“Two hundred!”

None of them were Cam. I frowned.

“We’ve got two hundred! Don’t forget, all proceeds are going to the Pi Rho Sigma philanthropy to support Survivors of Domestic Abuse. It’s a fantastic cause! Do I hear two fifty?”

“One thousand,” shouted a new voice. That was Cam. I chuckled. Of course he would. Damn, he loved my sister.

“One thousand going once,” the MC called out. “Going twice.” There wasn’t another peep from the crowd. “Sold to the gentleman in the third row.”

Ella came back a few moments later, cheeks flushed.

“Well, we’re definitely off to a good start!” I heard from outside as Suzie opened the curtain and stepped out.

“Damn, girl,” I said, waggling my eyebrows. “Your boyfriend’s down bad.”

“Shut up,” my twin mumbled, shoving at my shoulder playfully.

In response, I threw my arm around her, pulling her into a hug. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Ro.” Her voice was soft, full of emotion.

I hung back with her until it was my turn, grabbing my basket and heading out on stage.

“You got this, babe!” Peggy cheered for me, and Ella gave me a thumbs up.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the curtain, the bright lights keeping me from seeing most of the crowd. Except there… in the front row.

There was Parker. Grinning up at me in a Castleton University sweatshirt with dark denim jeans, hair damp like he’d come here straight from practice. But he was here.

For me.

My heart fluttered in my chest as I stepped in front of the podium to talk into the microphone. “Hi, I’m Audrey Rose. My basket is a Valentine’s Day picnic, complete with heart-shaped sandwiches.” God, this was stupid. What had I been thinking? No guy would want to bid on this. I forced a smile on my face as I finished describing the rest.

I looked at Parker, who was nodding encouragingly.

The bidding started, and I wasn’t surprised when Parker’s hand was the first to shoot up. Unlike Cam, who’d gotten the last word in, Parker immediately countered back to anyone who tried to bid on mine.

And then there was the one voice I didn’t want to hear. “Three hundred.”

Holding back a groan, I tried not to look. Don’t pay attention to him. Let him know exactly how little you think about him. Parker’s words from earlier this week rang through my mind. But I knew it was Duke. I just didn’t understand why. Why was he so obsessed with me? Why couldn’t he let me go?

“Five hundred,” Parker said smugly from the front row, glaring daggers at my ex.

The MC just laughed, and when no one else attempted to outbid him, my date was sold. To my best friend.

Who was waiting for me with a big, goofy expression, his arms open wide, like he knew just where I wanted to be.

In his arms, always.