17. Audrey

CHAPTER 17

Audrey

MARCH

T he days had flown by, and it felt like spring had finally arrived on campus. The cold winter air that had been lingering for weeks was finally gone, and I could finally almost not wear a coat outside. Almost.

Though that hadn’t stopped me from pulling out my skirt collection. The tights would keep me warm in the mornings until the chill in the air dissipated.

Spring break had come and gone, and the last week had been surprisingly good. Duke hadn’t bothered me, though I still noticed him staring daggers at me during rehearsals, I was always with Parker before and afterward, so he hadn’t been able to corner me again.

And if Parker was a little extra on the PDA whenever my ex was around, I wasn’t complaining. Turns out I really liked kissing my best friend. It didn’t mean anything, of course. Parker always reminded me that we were just acting.

Damn , he was good at it.

The man in question nudged me at my side. “Whatcha thinking about?” He was wearing his favorite red hoodie, one I’d seen him wear countless times this year, and a pair of athletic shorts like he’d just come from the gym.

“Nothing.” I blushed. There was no way I was admitting to Parker that I liked it when he kissed me. Nope .

“Come on.” He gave me a brilliant, blinding smile, flashing his perfect teeth. Like he was the perfect male specimen, his body perfectly sculpted and honed for perfection. Sure, I hadn’t seen him without his shirt on, but I could guess. I’d seen the way he was on the lacrosse field. “I wanna know what you were thinking about, Audrey. Tell your boyfriend.” He slung his arm around me, tugging me tight to his chest.

“Parker,” I groaned, hiding my face behind my hands. “You. I was thinking about you . There. Are you happy?”

His chest puffed up. “Am I happy that my girlfriend was thinking about me? Of course I am, sunshine.”

“ Fake girlfriend,” I muttered, low enough that no one could hear me. Not that anyone was around us, anyway. It was a quiet afternoon on campus. Most people were still inside for class.

He pressed his lips to my forehead. An action that was feeling more affectionate the more he did it. And I didn’t want him to stop because secretly… I loved it.

“Parker?”

“Hmm?” He looked over at me, eyebrow raised in question.

“So…” I bit my lip. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about spring formal.” I started, knowing full well the event was coming up later this month. It was one event I helped plan in my position with the sorority.

He raised an eyebrow. “What about it?”

“Well, since everyone thinks we’re dating, you should come with me.” I turned my body fully to look at him. “You know. As my date.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I’d love to come as your date, Rosie.”

For some reason, I had a feeling he didn’t mean it in a fake way. A shudder ran down my spine. “Cool.”

Parker smiled. “You know, I have games the next few weekends.”

I fumbled with my fingers, trying to find something to do other than look at him. “Yeah,” I responded, hoping my voice didn’t betray the emotion I was feeling.

It was funny that he acted like I hadn’t written his entire game schedule down in my planner before the semester had even started. Once he’d sent it to me, I’d made sure I knew when they all were. This weekend, he had an away game.

Now that everyone thought we were dating, I tried not to miss any of the home games. Just to keep up appearances, of course. Not for any other reason.

“Are you going to miss me, Rosie Girl?”

I didn’t think I needed to answer that. But the worst part was that, of course, I would. I’d miss him way too much. But I needed some distance. Needed to remind myself that this wasn’t real.

So I didn’t answer. Because I didn’t trust myself to tell him the truth.

Ella was crouched underneath me, making a few more alterations to my final act costume as I stared in the mirror. She’d been involved with this project from the beginning, down to designing all of the costumes for the musical, and then the costume design majors had all been working on them.

“This is amazing, Ells.” Of course, it fit me like a glove, but I’d just been lucky enough that the seamstress and I had identical body measurements.

She waved a hand at me. “Don’t move, or I’ll accidentally stick you with a pin.” My twin had decided after getting the dress on me that it needed more detailing.

“Sorry.” I ran my hands over the pink flowers and rhinestones on the bodice, which also flowed down into the poofy skirt. “It’s just so pretty.”

It was my first time seeing this one since it was finished.

“You ready for dress rehearsals to start?”

“More excuses to wear this pretty thing?” I said, doing a little twirl. “Duh.”

My twin smiled. I’d long since given up any hope of her being on stage with me. When we were younger, we’d done community theater together, but Ella had quickly realized she preferred being behind the scenes than in the spotlight.

“Alright, take it off now. I’ll finish the last details and get it all ready to go.” She undid the back so I could

I gave her a fake pout. “You mean I can’t wear it for the rest of the day?”

“Off.” My twin poked me in the arm. “Don’t forget I know where you sleep.”

“Used to be right next to me,” I muttered under my breath as I slipped the dress off over my head.

Ella winced. “I’m sorry. You know I didn’t want to move but—” My sister looked so guilty. Like it was her fault she’d ended up as the sorority president mid-way through last semester after our last one had dropped out of school. Ilene had recommended she move into the empty suite upstairs, and there had been no way I was letting her turn that down just to share a room with me.

A laugh burst out of me. “I don’t blame you, Ella. Are you kidding? The president’s suite is awesome. I just get lonely sometimes.” Or I did. Before Parker. Now, though, it didn’t feel like I even had time to be lonely. Turns out a fake boyfriend was very helpful in that regard.

Pulling my dress on over my head, I opened my arms, and Ella stepped in. We wrapped each other up in a hug that felt like home. There was something about spending time with my twin that always made the world right itself again. Like any problem we faced was going to be alright if we were together.

Maybe it was some super crazy twin sense, but when we pulled apart, she was studying me intensely before she said, “So, how’s everything going with Parker? You two seem very cozy.” Ella’s smirk practically filled her face.

“I—” Was it hot in here, or was it just me? “It’s good. I think.”

“You think?” She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know?”

“Like you knew with Cam?”

Ella scoffed. “That was different, and you know it.”

“Oh, I do, do I?”

“Mhm.” She sat at the table, hand sewing a few sequins on a different garment instead of looking at me. “We had a one night stand and I thought he was just some playboy fraternity guy. I had reasons to be hesitant, Ro.”

“Or maybe you’re just excellent at running away, Ells. And look at you now. You two are like five minutes away from running off and eloping, I swear.”

She rolled her eyes. “Slow your roll there, babe. I’m perfectly happy with where we are right now.”

I hummed in response. “Sure, sure.”

“You and Parker though… it feels a lot like you were meant to be. Why else would the universe have dropped him back into your life?”

My heart sank. Because she didn’t know the truth. That none of this was real. “I thought I was the hopeless romantic?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged, tugging her needle through and tying the thread in a knot. “Guess Cam’s changed me.” A contented sigh slipped from her lips. “I just want you to be happy. After everything last year with Duke, you deserve that.”

“I am happy.” Mostly.

Ella hummed in response, clearing up her workspace. “I’m all done for the day. You ready to head out?”

“Yeah.” I grabbed my bag off the ground. “Should probably go get some work done. I have a paper and presentation next week.”

“Are you going to come to the Delta Sig party tomorrow?”

I shrugged. “Probably. I don’t have anything else going on.” Also known as, I didn’t have a good excuse. Parker had an away game this weekend. Are you going to miss me, Rosie Girl? I’d changed the subject instead of answering, even though I should have said yes.

Of course I was.

“You should really bring your boy to one of them. I’m sure Cam would enjoy getting to know him.”

“He’s not—” mine. Not really. I bit my lip. I couldn’t say that. “He’s pretty shy,” I said instead. That was true. I’d seen him around other people. He was quiet and reserved most of the time. Until he was with me, and then he seemed to come out of his shell.

Was it just because he was comfortable with me? Sure, we’d grown up together, but there was more to it than that.

“Still.” Ella smiled. “Bring him sometime. It’d be fun.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I will.”

Because even if it was fake, I wanted him to be by my side—always.

It was almost strange to be in the fraternity house now after going to multiple parties at Parker’s house. But my twin sister was here, and so was most of my sorority.

Still, I felt Parker’s absence, and I couldn’t even explain how strange it was to be without him now. I’d gone from not seeing him for nine years to rekindling our friendship to being attached with him at the freaking hip, and I missed his presence. We’d been texting ever since he got on the bus, heading to New York for their away game. I’d tried to keep up with it today as best as I could, but it was harder not being able to watch the game.

I still had no idea what was going on in the games, but it was cute how he kept trying to teach me. Still, I followed along better than I had before, and at least I knew when to cheer for my guy.

Right now, all I wanted was to go slip Parker’s jersey on, bury my nose into it, and pretend like it still smelled like him. It didn’t—of course—and I resisted asking him if he’d wear it again just to pick up his woodsy, spicy scent. There was something majorly wrong with me. I was blaming my hormones. Otherwise, being this needy for my fake boyfriend slash best friend would have been certifiably insane.

Sutton came back from the kitchen, handing me a fresh drink. “Thank you,” I murmured, taking a sip.

It wasn’t a strawberry lemonade—not like the ones I suspected Parker kept stocked in his fridge just for me—but it wasn’t beer, either, so I couldn’t complain. It might have made me a basic girl, but I’d much rather have a sweet white wine than beer. I scrunched up my nose just at the thought.

“You’re welcome,” Sutton said, giving me a soft smile with her glossy red lips.

“Where’s your boy?” I asked, surprised they weren’t glued together.

She looked over to the other side of the room. Cam and Ella had just come downstairs, and her hair looked a little rumpled. I definitely didn’t want to know what they’d been up to in his room.

Forest was with James in the corner. They were both the athletes in their friend group. The baseball season had just started, while the football team was done for the year. They’d been on fire this season, making it to the playoffs, though they hadn’t won the championship.

We chatted for a while about how our semesters had been going when a noise interrupted us.

Everyone was staring across the room as a brunette with a now soaked white shirt and a red face got into Adam’s face. She looked familiar, though I wasn’t friends with her, I was pretty friendly with most people I met across campus. “You…” She scowled. Adam’s empty beer cup was still in his hand, and he looked a little sheepish. “You asshole!” The words could be heard above everything else, and I winced.

“Sorry, beautiful.” Adam clearly chose the wrong thing to say, his playful smirk making her even angrier. “Can I help you clean up?”

Her face just got redder. Like she was imagining what exactly those words could mean. It wasn’t a secret that Adam was a bit of a player on campus, ever the flirt.

“No!” The brunette threw her hands up in the air like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, turning and storming out the front door. I was in her path, so I heard a muttered, “Prince, huh? More like a Beast ,” under her breath.

I did my best not to giggle.

Cam went over to Adam, who did his best to look remorseful. “It was an accident.”

“Was it?”

“What, you don’t believe me either?”

My sister’s boyfriend just shook his head. “Just take the L, dude. That girl probably hates you now.”

A sigh escaped Adam’s lips as he looked toward the door—where she had escaped. “Yeah. Probably.” He looked disappointed, and I couldn’t help but notice a lingering attraction there. But maybe I was just reading too deeply into it. It was the hopeless romantic in me, after all.

“Come on, big guy,” Cam said, looping an arm around Adam’s neck. “Let’s go get you some water.”

“I’m not even drunk,” his friend muttered under his breath, but I also noticed he didn’t put up a fight with Cam either.

Sutton wandered over to my twin, the two of them chatting, as I pulled out my phone, looking over my text thread with Parker.

Parker

Miss me yet?

Audrey

Ha. You wish.

Yeah, Rosie Girl. I do.

You all ready for the game?

Yeah. They’re a good team, but hopefully our offense can beat their defense.

I’m sure you’ll be great. Good luck tonight.

Even if I’m not on the sidelines, I’m cheering for you.

Thanks, sunshine.

What are best friends for?

I stashed my phone away. He’d never responded to my last message, so I figured he’d been busy getting ready for the game. Hopefully I’d hear from him later tonight once they were back at the hotel.

Finding Ella, I went to stand next to her as Cam walked away, leaving her with blushed cheeks. Cam went to find Forest, leaving the three of us alone.

Her eyes never left her boyfriend, even as he laughed, talking to Forest in the next room.

“You love him,” I observed. Honestly, it was obvious to anyone who watched how they interacted. I’d watched her grow closer and closer to him all year. Even if she thought they were hiding it, there was no denying the hearts in her eyes.

She startled. “What?” Ella froze, the drink Cam had made her cupped in her hand.

“He’s in love with you too, you know,” Sutton added nonchalantly.

As if that wasn’t the understatement of the century. It had been obvious for awhile that Cameron loved my sister. We’d all just been waiting for her to realize it. It was in every action—the way he took care of her, supported her, and encouraged her dreams.

“I don’t—” My twin shook her head, trying to deny it.

“Ella.” I sighed. “I see the way he looks at you.” I gave her a look, like, I know you. Because I did. I knew the way her brain worked just as well as I knew mine. Sometimes it felt like we knew what the other was thinking. We didn’t finish each other’s sentences, but I liked to think we could. And I always knew how she was feeling.

“And how does he look at me?” Her voice was quiet, but filled with… hope? Wonder?

The way I wanted someone to look at me. Like I was the most important person in their life. Like they couldn’t imagine going a day without being next to me. “Like you’re the moon and he’s been gazing at a starless sky his whole life. Like he needs your air so he can breathe. So…”

“Audrey.” Ella was blushing. “I get it. You don’t have to be such a hopeless romantic.”

I’d always been one. And I knew that would never change. “Is that so bad?”

“No.” Her voice was quiet as her blue eyes met mine. “No, it’s not.”

I dipped my head, reaching out a hand to squeeze hers.

No, it wasn’t. It was never bad to believe in love. It was the one thing that could conquer all. I wasn’t naive enough to believe that Parker would ever love me like that. We’d promised each other at the beginning that we wouldn’t fall in love with each other, after all.

But one day… I shut my eyes, letting out a deep breath. One day, I hoped my dreams would come true.

That one day, I’d find a love like that for myself.