Chapter 11: Your choice, princess.

Jace

The first thing Mason does is punch me in the shoulder. Hard.

“What the hell was that for?” I shove him away.

He grins, “For making the greatest announcement in Royal Haven history.”

The rest of them burst into laughter. We had barely finished football practice when every single phone on the field started buzzing. Nobody cared about the drill anymore.

Nobody cared about the championship. They only cared about one thing.

Me.

I grab my water bottle and empty half of it down my throat.

“So….”Logan drawls, throwing an arm around my shoulders. “You have finally gotten yourself a girlfriend?”

“I’ve had girlfriends.”

“Not the one you announced to the entire campus.”

The guys whistle. Mason pulls out his phone, “Listen to this,” he clears his throat dramatically, “Jace Knight publicly claims mysterious freshman after dumping queen bee Tiffany Bentley.”

Another person whistles.

Logan laughs, “Man, you’ve got the entire campus losing its mind.”

I snatch the towel from the bench and wipe the sweat from my face. “Are you done?”

“No.”

“Then keep talking.”

“I will.”

Coach McDonald blows his whistle from across the field. “If you are done gossiping like teenage girls, hit the showers!”

The team scatter immediately. I don't move. Instead, my eyes drift toward the entrance of the football stadium. Empty.

She’s not here yet.

“She’ll come.”

I don't need to turn around to know who it is, Ethan.

He walks over with both hands shoved into the pockets of his hoodie before stopping beside me. “You are waiting for her.”

“No.”

“You are staring at the gate.”

“I like the view.”

He lets out a quiet laugh, “You have been lying to everyone your entire life”

I shrug, “So?”

“You have never been good at lying to me.”

Silence settles between us. After a long moment, Ethan speaks again, “You are really going to keep pretending she’s your girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

“As long as I have to.”

He studies me for a long moment, “You know she hates you.”

The words don't sting. They should but they don't. “I know.”

“And you are okay with that?”

I tighten the cap of my water bottle. “I don't care.”

A lie. A damn good one.

Ethan sighs, “I don't understand you anymore.”

“You never did.”

He opens his mouth to argue then stops. Because she’s here.

Skye.

Walking slowly across the field. Her backpack hangs loosely over one shoulder. Her eyes are fixed on the ground.

Even from this distance, I can see the faint red mark Tiffany left on her cheek.

Something twists violently in my chest. Beside me, Ethan notices too. “She looks terrible.”

I don't answer. Skye finally reaches us. She doesn't even acknowledge Ethan. For the first time since I've known her, her attention is fixed on me. Not my brother.

Her eyes lock onto mine. Cold. Angry. Hurt.

“Delete it.” No greeting. No hesitation. Straight to the point.

I fold my arms, “No.”

Her jaw tightens, “I wasn't asking.”

“And I wasn't negotiating.”

She laughs, it’s humorless. “Do you enjoy controlling people? You freaking announced to the entire campus that I'm your girlfriend….you don't even like me. Do you know how horrible your girlfriend, Tiffany is going to make my life? My life is hard enough as it is.”

She’s fighting back tears. I can tell by the way she keeps swallowing. Something possessive dashes through my veins.

Yet I remain standing where I am. “I know.”

Her eyebrows pull together, almost as if she wasn't expecting me to admit that, “Then delete it.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because it solved the problem,” I say through clenched teeth.

“It created a new one. Now I can't even walk freely around the campus without someone accusing me of stealing the queen bee’s boyfriend.”

“You didn't steal me. I made it clear that we broke up. You are mine now.”

She takes another reluctant step towards me, “I'm not yours! I'm nobody’s property.”

If only she knew.

I don't back down, “You are mine. You became mine the moment you slipped into my bed and had my dick inside you.”

Skye’s face heats up. Her gaze darts to Ethan for the first time, I can guess she wishes she could disappear, “That was a mistake.”

“Yes. The campus doesn't know that. The only way I can protect your reputation is to claim you. Let everyone know you are my girlfriend.”

She throws her arms into the air, “I'm not asking you to save Jace, I can take care of myself.”

“Can you? The last time I remembered, you couldn’t even defend yourself against Tiffany. You let her treat you like trash.” The words leave my mouth before I can stop them.

Instant regret.

Her face falls. She stares at her shoes like she usually does whenever she’s emotionally down. But it lasts only for a few seconds.

Then she says carefully, “You need to stop acting like some kind of hero. You need to stop acting as if you care! You and I know how much you hate me.”

“I never said I was a hero.” I deliberately don't answer the second question. Answering that will raise questions I don't have answers to.

“Then what are you?”

“The only person who is capable of stopping them.”

Silence falls. Even Ethan doesn't interrupt. The breeze carries the distant sound of another team practicing on the next field.

She looks away for a second, “You are impossible.”

“I know.”

Skye takes a shaky breath, “I want my life back.”

I look at her for a long moment, then reach into my pocket and pull out my phone. I unlock it, open the student forum, find the announcement, and my thumb hovers over the delete button.

Her shoulders relax a little. “Thanks. At least for once, you are doing the right thing.”

I look at the screen, then to her, “ I will delete it, but once I do, Tiffany will begin to bully you again,” I lock my phone without pressing the button.

“The entire campus will start again. They will call you desperate, they will say you slept with me because Ethan rejected you.”

Her fingers slowly curl into fists.

“They will laugh every time you walk into a classroom. And this time,” I step closer until I can practically inhale her shampoo, “I won't interfere.”

Her breathing catches.

“So here is your choice princess, you can keep fighting the entire school alone, or you can be my fake girlfriend.”