All I see ✔️

2: PUCK BUNNIES AND HORRIFYING TIMES THREE

"So yeah I was pissed and um..." his eyes dart to the corner of the room and he looks so uncomfortable that I am actually nervous about what he's about to say, "So my cousins and I...we um... we made a bet."

"What kind of bet?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"That I cannot be anymore of a disappointment to my Dad than I already am. We were drunk and we were wasted so we made this stupid bet that I can disappoint him even more. My cousins didn't believe me."

"Way to go, winner."

"Yeah it was a stupid move, I know. I got pissed at them because they told me I couldn't do something."

"Yeah no shit genius. They gave you a backhanded compliment and, boy did it backfire. You aren't the smartest of the lot, are you?" I smirk.

Aaron rolls his eyes, "Anyway so the catch is," he clears his throat and mumbles something incoherently and rapidly.

"Sorry, come again?" I lean forward.

"I said, the biggest disappointment for my dad would be if I dated you, the daughter of his biggest adversary. So I made a bet that during one of my cousin's wedding, I would have you in my arms."

Have you ever been to a meditation room? It is not like a yoga class, where there is a lot of commotion and unrest even when everyone is quiet. Somehow if there are a lot of people, there will always be a lot of noise and churning. But a meditation room is different. It's a room, with thick walls, especially designed to meditate. There are no sounds except the steady rhythm of your own breathing. Everything is calm and serene and you feel, if there's a heaven, this is what it must be like.

This moment looks a lot like a moment in the meditation room. Even though there a lot of people in this diner, I can hear nothing, not even Ellie and Logan who have gone eerily quiet beside me. There's a pin drop silence in our booth.

But it is not meditation. It is not peaceful or tranquil and I don't feel like I am in heaven. Instead, my heart is hammering inside my chest and there is a ringing in my ears. My throat feels dry, as if I have just swallowed a sack of sawdust. I lick my lips.

Once.

Twice.

Nothing happens. It is still drier than the Sahara desert.

Aaron looks embarrassed and in physical pain at having to tell me this, "Please say something."

"You really are that stupid, eh?" my voice doesn't come out as throaty as I thought it might, since my throat feels like I have been living without water for my whole friggging life. I internally pat myself on the back for it; Beyoncé would be so proud of me right now.

Aaron runs a hand through his hair and lets out a frustrated growl which is equal parts hot and irritating, and I am horrified at the fifty percent in me which thinks it is hot.

He takes a deep breath and continues, "Look-"

"Here's your chicken salad, cutie." Emily interrupts Aaron, again, and plops down the plate in front of him and starts to walk away, but not before she winks at him and pushes a tissue towards him, which obviously has her number.

Aaron mumbles a thank you but makes no effort to take the tissue; his whole attention is on me, which makes me slightly happy and it is the second time I am horrified at myself.

"Okay listen, I know it was a stupid drunken mistake, there is no need to reiterate that point, I just need you to come with me to four ...'events' to New York."

"Are you asking me out on a date, Richards? To be a laughing stock so you don't lose the bet?" I am sure my eyes are bulging out of my sockets but there is no other way to portray what I am feeling right now: surprise.

Ellie's jaw is on the floor and Logan hollers beside me, "Should have ordered the popcorn."

"Shut up, asshat." Aaron glares at him and then turns towards me, "It's not a date, I just need your help, and no one is going to laugh at you, I promise. Besides even if they do, they won't live to see the next day."

Let's ignore the last part of the sentence, "I am not doing it."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to hang out with you and be one of your puck bunnies, fake dating or not."

Not to mention the fact that my father would kill me if he comes to know that I am fake dating the offspring of the Richards he hates the most in the world. Dad allows me to do almost everything but that doesn't mean I am going to blow up his trust in me, by going out with the one person he asked me not to. Even if it is just for a fake date. He will skin me alive.

"C'mon Forte, it's nothing like that and I will do anything."

"As sweet as that offer sounds, I will have to turn it down."

He takes a bite of his salad and is about to say something, when his face twists in disgust and he almost spits out the food in his mouth, "What do they do with this chicken? Store it in lemon juice for a month?"

I should have expected Aaron to ruin this really sweet, really delicious and really anticipated moment, by preoccupying my mind with his sad story.

I smile sweetly and his eyes narrow in on me, "You are really evil."

"Alright then, I'll leave, I have a class in thirty minutes."

"I will keep bugging you until you give me a 'yes', please Lexie, I really don't want to lose this bet, I will do anything you ask me to, in return." Aaron pleads and let me tell you he looks ten times hotter when he is desperate for a favor., Something about hot men being on their knees; Here we go, horrifying times three.

I wink at him and put a ten dollar change on the table, "I will think about it okay?" I most certainly will not, "But please, keep bugging, let's see how far you can go." I smirk.

"I have never lost a challenge Forte, you think I will lose this?" he levels me with a heated gaze.

"Maybe, but you have never challenged me either. Good Luck, Golden boy." I squeeze his shoulders sympathetically, and walk out of the door.

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