𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊 𝐓𝐎𝐎 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇, jeremiah fisher

ten. i live for you, i long for you

God, I need to get a grip.

After a few seconds, Jeremiah clears his throat.

"You know Steven is seeing someone, right?"

I furrow my eyebrows. "Okay...?"

"He really likes her."

My frown deepens. "Good for him?"

He sighs, and I suddenly feel his hot breath on the back of my neck. Suppressing a shiver, I wait for him to continue and get to the point of this conversation.

"Meaning you should stop flirting with him."

I blink. Then, I let out a loud, purely mocking laugh as I turn around to face him just as my top detangles from the branch. He lets go of my top once it's free and shoves his hands in the pockets of his shorts.

"You think I was flirting with Steven?" I ask, amusement lacing my tone.

He frowns. "Weren't you?"

I scoff. "Yeah right. He is so not my type. And either way, fake relationship or not, I wouldn't flirt with someone else while we're still doing this whole charade."

His eyes widen slightly.

"Oh."

I purse my lips at him, shaking my head. Then I let out another laugh.

"You seriously thought I was into him?"

Jeremiah rolls his eyes before swinging an arm around my shoulders and guiding me toward the door.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You seem to get along with him. That's why I thought maybe you like him."

I jab my elbow into the side of his stomach. He lets out a grunt, glaring at me and rubbing his side.

"If you thought that, you don't know me at all, Fisher." I smirk at him, flicking his forehead. "And if you thought that that's how I flirt, you absolutely don't know me at all."

He stares at me for a long moment. Then, he snorts and ruffles my hair as he leans down so our faces our level. We stop right before we enter the door.

"You're really fucking cute sometimes, you know that?"

My eyes widen. I think my heart stops beating for the smallest second. My gaze travels between his eyes as I try to figure out what the hell is going on inside his head right now. But just as quick as he leaned down, he shoots me a small grin and then leans back up. He continues walking to the door, leading me with him.

How can he just say something like that so easily and then walk away as if it is nothing?

I don't have the chance to say anything before we're in his backyard and start mingling with everyone.

We say hi to his mom and Belly's parents and then greet all the other teenagers. We talk to Shayla and the other girls for a while before talking to Conrad and Nicole. I can tell that everyone is looking at me and Jeremiah with interest and that they're honestly a little confused at the complete shift in our relationship since last summer when we couldn't be in each other's presence without arguing about one thing or the other.

It's strange and honestly a little frustrating how easily Jeremiah can slide his arm around my waist or intertwine our fingers or lean down to kiss my forehead. It's infuriating how addicted I'm getting to being close to him.

I really fucking hate him. I can't wait until this whole thing is over.

We end up sitting by the pool with Victoria, Belly's dad's girlfriend. She seems incredibly sweet and bubbly, and she's fun to talk to.