Ethan pulled his last straw. I forgave Ethan many, many times before. I've been a great girlfriend to him, I've helped him in his times of need, I've done wife duties with my girlfriend title and then he fucking cheats on me with my roommate. How stupid could he possibly be?
This stupid light that has been hitting my eyes for so long now is annoying. I slowly open my eyes to see I'm in a random bedroom.
As I lay on the bed with my shoes off and an unfamiliar coat on. I look down at the floor and see the small fan heater is on. No wonder the room is so toasty.
I quickly get out of bed, grabbing my shoes and struggling to put them on. I scurry out of the room to see I'm in Ethan's apartment.
What the fuck?
"Morning." I hear someone call out and I jump seven feet in the air.
My eyes go wide as I search the kitchen just to see Luke having his coffee. My mind immediately goes back to last night when he had his lips on mine.
I'd never felt so alive when he did. I still remember the taste of him. The feel of his lips. I want more and I know I shouldn't. "Did we-"
"Oh god no." He chuckles, cutting me off. "We just shared a kiss. I slept on the couch." My eyes go back to the couch to see a blanket and pillow.
My lips form a line as my cheeks heat up with embarrassment. I laugh, making my way to the barstool, and Luke smiles at me. "Listen, I just want to be super clear. That kiss meant nothing." I try speaking in my kindest voice. "I think you're cute, but Ethan and I just broke up, and I'm not in place right now where I want to be somebody's girlfriend."
His mouth drops as he looks taken aback before he starts laughing lightly. "Star, I'm not trying to date you." He smiles, giving me the kind eyes.
My face drops as I scratch the back of my neck, feeling even more embarrassed. "I don't like you like that." He smiles, leaning forward as he continues to listen to me.
"Then why did you kiss me?" I question, feeling my entire body heat up. "Kiss you?" He exclaims, pushing himself off the counter. "I didn't kiss you, you kissed me!" He exclaims, looking down at me.
My eyebrow raises as I suck in my top lip and shake my head until he realises. "Oh, maybe I did kiss you." He looks up at the ceiling dumbfounded before he shrugs. "Why did you kiss me?" I question, leaning in closer.
Now it's time for Luke to look nervous and for me to laugh. He drops his head with a sigh before he finally starts explaining. "I kissed you because Ethan was there." My eyebrows raise. "I wasn't thinking straight and I just did it." He gives me an apologetic smile. "I'm going to have to tell him that there's nothing going on between us." I sigh, getting off the barstool as I make my way to the door.
"Hey!" Luke calls and I turn around to face him. "What if you didn't tell him?" I try to smile to hide the fact that I'm completely freaking out inside. "What if we let people think we're actually together?" He speaks and I can see his hands trembling.
My eyebrows pull together as I tilt my head to the side. "Why would you do that?" I ask, swallowing a lump in my throat.
He chews the inside of his cheek, placing his hands on the counter behind me. "For starters, Ethan will go nuts if he find out we're together and think of it as a favour... one day you can pay me back with another favour."
My eyes widen when I hear his last words. "You'll be able to get back at your ex-boyfriend who just so happens to be my roommate."
I take a moment to think long and hard about what he's just offered. I mean it makes sense, getting back at your ex-boyfriend who cheated on you with your roommate by going out with his roommate will make him go nuts. He'll be forced to see me everyday in his apartment for his roommate.
On one hand, being in a relationship so soon does make me sound like a slut. On the other hand, we live in New York. No one really knows anyone here. "Let's do this." I say and his eyebrows raise before his smile grows. "But we need to set some ground rules if I am going to agree to this "fake dating" thing." I explain, taking a few steps forward to look up at him.
He picks the small grocery notepad and pen off the fridge, tossing it onto the table so I can prepare our list of rules.
He sighs, dropping his head back. "Rule one!" I yell, grasping his attention. "No kissing." His eyes go wide and his mouth drops open. "You taste like black coffee that's why." I lie, shrugging my shoulders and looking back down at the list.
"We've already kissed twice." He says. I hope both sides of his pillow are warm tonight. "I was drunk both times." I say maybe just a tad bit too loud. Anything under the influence of alcohol or drugs does not count in my opinion.
"Then how is everyone supposed to know we're dating?" He asks, giving me a cheeky smile and I see his dimples pop.
I sigh this time. "You can hold my hand, you can kiss my cheek or you can put your hand on my thigh." He raises a single eyebrow at me. "Or I can do all." His smile, gosh his smile. I try my hardest to ignore it, but it's so beautiful.
"Rule two, we should have a set date. For when this deal expires and we part our ways." He shrugs a single shoulder not breaking eye contact.
"Just after I graduate." He suggests. Thats more than four months! "Or after I get my degree." Another option.
"That's the same thing Luke." I smile at him.
"No it's not." He jokes along with me.
"It is and I should probably also keep this coat." I look down at the coat I remember him giving me last night. "You can have one of my hoodies, not my coat." He pushes himself off the counter going into his bedroom before shortly coming back out with a black hoodie.
He hands it to me with a smile. I immediately take off the coat and slip on the hoodie. It's not like he is going to miss it. I swear he owns a million black hoodies. "All yours." He takes another sip of his coffee. "Any other rules?" Oh so this is my idea now?
I pick at the skin around my nails and I notice a bit of blood. "Rule three, no snitching." I say quietly.
"I was about to ask if we can put that down." He also speaks in a quiet tone with makes my heart skip a few beats.
There is a moment of silence between us before I ask him if he has any more rules he'd like to add. "Yeah...you have to come to all car meets including the annual Overdrive meet."
Whoa, the annual Overdrive car meet is famous for being the event where more students in high school and colleges to overdose on drugs and get into car accidents than New Years and Fourth of July combined. No one ever knows where it is due to it constantly changing to avoid cops, but the date has always been May 13th. They only find out the location is twenty minutes before the meet and the only way to get into these meets is to know someone who's already in the meet. It's impossible to find it through social media because of the no posting rule.
The first Overdrive event was four years ago and since then cops have been searching for the guy who started it all. I've even heard that the cops have got so desperate to catch this guy that they now arrest anyone the find out is in Overdrive.
I remember when I was in high school, Overdrive had become so well known among everyone which caused our school to have an assembly to warn us about the dangers and consequences of Overdrive. They specifically spoke about the creator of this event since he was considered a dangerous leader. It was claimed that he would hurt or sometimes kill anyone who got in his way. Not sure how true that is, but it's what my school said.
Luke told me last year that Atlas and him have been going to Overdrive from the beginning, but he never told me who the creator is. All he mentioned was that he knew the guy really well. He's offered to take me and I've always wanted to go, but I know jackshit about cars. "Deal." I finally respond.
He nods, taking the pen from my hand, drawing two lines at the bottom before he signs the right one and I sign the left one. He rips the page out, handing me it to keep.
I stick my hand out for him to shake. He looks down at my hand and laughs before he grabs it, sealing our deal. "One last thing again. Don't fall in love."
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