CHAPTER TWO

LILIAN

Alex carried me out of the party as if I weighed nothing. Cameras flashed around us. Whispers followed us toward the door.

We were about to step outside when Michael's voice stopped me.

“Lilian can't exactly do without me.”

My fingers tightened around Alex's shirt. I hated that a part of me knew he was right. I was always the one running back to Michael, even when he hurt me, making ridiculous excuses for him.

I turned in Alex's arms and looked straight at Michael.

“Why are you still obsessed with me?” I smiled. “I just introduced you to my new boyfriend.”

The click of a camera sounded behind me.

Fiona stared at us, anger flashing across her face.

I smiled at her. “I hope you and Michael have a good time.”

Michael scoffed. “You really think my cousin Alex would want you? You're so delusional, Lilian.”

I ignored him and let Alex carry me outside.

As soon as we were away from the crowd, he lowered me to the ground.

I turned to face him. “Thank you, and I'm sorry for dragging you into this.”

I rubbed my palms together.

“I didn't know you would come to the party.”

He shrugged. “It's my cousin's birthday. Why wouldn't I come?”

I nodded.

“I owe you.”

I turned to leave, but Alex stopped me.

“What are you going to say when people start asking why you aren't with me tomorrow?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

Tomorrow, everyone would ask where Alex was.

I looked at him. “Why don't we pretend to be together?”

Alex's eyebrows lifted.

“And why would I want to do that with you?”

My smile froze.

Of course. They were cousins. Why had I expected Alex to be any different?

I forced a smile.

“What's your phone password?”

“2356.”

He handed me his phone.

I transferred fifteen thousand dollars and handed it back.

“That was for tonight,” I said. “For helping me save face in there.”

Alex stared at the screen, then at me.

Outside, Michael lifted Fiona into his arms.

My eyes dropped to the car waiting outside—the same car I'd given Michael last year.

I looked away before he could see my face.

“Please,” I said, turning back to Alex. “Just go along with my plan for one week.”

“After a week, the rumors about us will have died down, and we can break up.”

I hesitated before adding, “I'll write you a check for thirty thousand dollars tomorrow.”

“Thirty thousand dollars?”

Alex stared at me.

“Are you looking down on me, Miss Lilian?”

His jaw tightened.

“I'm not the kind of man who stays with a girl because of her money.”

He held my gaze.

“I'm not Michael.”

My fingers went still.

No one had ever made my money sound like something I should be ashamed of.

I lowered my eyes.

“Why don't we go to a hotel?”

My eyes widened.

“A hotel?”

My hand moved instinctively toward my clothes. The thought of Alex seeing the scars I kept hidden made my stomach twist.

His mouth curved slightly.

“Don't look so scared. I have no intention of making you uncomfortable.”

“I never said that.”

I swallowed.

“Then why a hotel?”

He glanced back toward the house, where students were still gathered around the windows with their phones pointed at us.

“Because if we're going to pretend to be together, we need somewhere private to figure out how we're going to do this.”

“I was only wondering what the hockey captain could possibly do with a fat girl like me.”

I smiled, but it quickly fell from my face.

Alex ignored my question and leaned closer to my ear.

“If you keep your face like this, they'll think everything that happened inside was all for show.”

I stared at him, confused.

Then I glanced toward the house.

Students were still gathered around the windows, their phones pointed at us.

Alex opened the passenger door of his car.

“Get in.”

I stepped inside, and he got behind the wheel before driving away from the party.

Tears suddenly filled my eyes.

I turned toward the window and wiped them away before Alex could notice.

“Should I take you home?” Alex asked, his eyes fixed on the road.

I wiped my cheeks and shook my head.

“No. I'll spend the night at the hotel.”

Alex said nothing.

He turned the car toward the hotel, and I watched the city lights blur through the window.

We had barely stepped into the hotel when Alex stopped.

“Damn” he muttered.

A man sat across the restaurant with a woman beside him.

The moment he saw Alex, his smile widened.

“Well, well.”

He stood.

“Look who finally brought himself a girlfriend, the celibate freak.”

Alex's jaw tightened.

“That's John,” he said, his eyes staying on the man. “Captain of the Westbrook Ravens.”

He looked at me.

“My rival.”

John walked toward us, the girl following behind him.

He glanced at me before looking back at Alex.

“The only thing Alex knows is hockey,” he said to the people around him. “He has a bad idea when it comes to picking women.”

Heat rushed into my face.

I took a small step back, but Alex's hand caught my waist.

Before I could move again, he pulled me against his chest.

He stroked my hair.

“She’s better than your girl.”

John suddenly laughed.

“My girl? You mean Vanessa?”

He pointed toward the girl beside him.

Hot girl, petite, five-foot-one, with long dark hair.”

He looked at Alex before turning his attention to me.

“And you dare compare Vanessa to a fattie?”

Vanessa walked toward Alex and looked me over before laughing.

Alex glanced at her.

“Wait. Let me show you how different your girl is from mine.”

He unlocked his phone and played a voice recording.

Vanessa's voice filled the space as she insulted John and admitted that Alex was handsome and that she wished Alex was hers.

Vanessa snatched the phone from Alex's hand and smashed it against the floor.

“How dare you slander me?”

The phone cracked against the marble.

Alex glanced at the shattered screen, then slowly lifted his eyes to Vanessa.

“That's one of my phones.”

His voice was calm, but his jaw tightened.

“It cost ten million.”

Vanessa's face went pale.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Alex left the broken phone on the floor and turned to John.

“I bagged a loyal girl, while you bagged a girl who looks down on you.”

John's face flushed as he turned toward Vanessa.

“Is this recording true?”

His voice had lost its confidence.

“No, it isn't,” Vanessa said quickly. “John, you know I could never do something like this to you.”

John stared at her.

“How am I supposed to know you're not making that up?”

His eyes shifted toward Alex.

“All this because I called your girl a fattie?”

Alex simply smiled, his hand tightening around mine.

“I don't want to keep my girlfriend waiting.”

He led me toward the receptionist, leaving the shattered phone behind.

We booked a room, and I followed him silently, still trying to understand why he kept calling me his girlfriend.

When we reached the room, I sat on the edge of the bed.

Alex placed the key on the table and walked toward the window.

Then I heard a muffled sound from the room next door.

I froze when I recognized Michael's voice.

My stomach twisted.

Michael and Fiona had already arrived at the hotel before us.

The man who had been my boyfriend only hours ago was now with another woman in the next room.

Alex glanced at me.

“My cousin can be a jerk.”

His voice softened.

“Don't take it personally.”

I blinked at him.

“How am I supposed to take it?”

I grabbed my headset and put it on.

I turned the volume up until the sounds disappeared beneath the music.

I thought that would be enough.

Then Alex walked toward me.

He placed one hand on the bed beside me, his gaze lingering on my face.

“Do you know how to play?”

I frowned.

“Play what?”

His lips curved into a slow smile.

“Make them jealous too.”

I gasped.