Chapter 10

Ledger's POV 

As soon as we got on the road, Cassie rounded on me. “What on earth do you think you're doing visiting my home?”

I briefly cast her a sideways glance to gauge her expression. She was pissed. 

“Zeke said that boyfriends often picked up their girls from home. I figured if we were going to sell this, I might as well act appropriately.” I explained patiently. She had every right to be mad. “I'm sorry if it was intrusive.”

That seemed to appease her just a bit. “You could have informed me about it rather than drop by unannounced.”

“I wanted to surprise you. I thought I was doing something great.” I admitted with a laugh.

She scoffed. “Well, consider me shocked.”

A comfortable silence settled in between us after that. “Your mum seems nice.”

Another scoff. “More like, lackadaisical.” She muttered. “Her sense of danger is basically non-existent.”

This made me laugh. “I could tell. She does care about you though. That much is obvious.”

Cassie didn’t say anything. But I caught the shift in her posture. Shoulders tighter. Eyes forward.

I didn’t push. Her dad wasn’t in the picture—I had noticed that. No photos, no mentions. Just her, Quentin, and Mrs. Monroe on every wall and fridge magnet. But that wasn’t a topic I could touch. Not yet.

 There was only so much a fake boyfriend could get away with afterall.

“Where are we going?” she asked, finally. She must’ve realized we were on campus, but not heading toward the academic side.

“You haven’t eaten, right?” I said. “There’s still time before class. Let’s grab some breakfast.”

A few minutes later, I pulled into the lot at Whitney’s—the café most of the team hung out at.

“Whitney’s?” she said, eyeing the sign. “You want us to eat here?”

I smirked. “Why not? It’s basically gossip central. We can eat and keep the ruse alive. Two birds, one stone.”

Cassie remained in her seat even after I alighted the car. Drawing close, I realized that her eyes were closed. She was probably rethinking our alliance. 

I leaned against the door, watching her quietly. “You don't have to worry.” I assured her. “I know there are a lot of vipers around, but you won't be alone. You have me, and I won't let any harm come to you.”

Her eyes fluttered open.

I opened the door at the same time she turned her head.

“Shall we?” I asked, holding out my hand with the cockiest grin I could summon. Only half of it was fake.

She stared at my hand for a second before finally taking it.

And just like that, we walked into Whitney’s—hand in hand, fake dating our way into a storm.

Whitney's was deserted, which was unusual. Even more surprising was the fact that Whitney herself was by the counter when we walked in.

Whitney was a woman in her late 30s. She had an easy going air about her. Kind and nurturing too. Though, she could be strict when the situation called for it.

“Oh, Ledger!” She said by way of greeting. “You're here early. Without the team too.”

It was indeed rare for me to get breakfast without the team. And when I did, I ate alone. This was a rare occurrence. Should be enough to spark the rumours about this relationship being real.

“Morning, Whitney. Smells like heaven in here.” I said, shooting her a lopsided smile. “Cassie, this is Whitney. The genius behind this place.”

Whitney laughed lightly. “You do not need to introduce us, we're familiar with each other. I used to bring her vanilla latte while she worked on her papers.”

Oh? I turned to Cassie to confirm. She responded by nodding. “Yeah, it's quiet if you arrive early.”

“I'm surprised to see you're here together.” Whitney continued, an amused smile dancing on her lips. “The playboy Captain of Monarchcrest University with our very own budding journalist. An interesting pair.”

I grinned, placing an arm around Cassie's waist and pulling her against me. “We look good together, right?”

Perhaps, I sounded too eager, but I wanted Whitney's approval. While my family was too busy to pay attention to me, Whitney had become like family to me.

Whitney's eyes widened slightly. “Oh, you're dating each other?”

“Yes.” I said brightly. I turned to face Cassie, only to find she had been watching me silently. 

I suddenly felt drawn to her warm brown eyes. I couldn't look away, nor did I want to. 

My gaze dropped down to her lips, and I suddenly had the urge to kiss her. The urge was so strong that the sheer intensity of it broke me out of my daze and I stumbled backwards. 

I cleared my throat, keeping my gaze on anywhere but Cassie. Whitney was smiling, like she knew something I didn't, but she said nothing.

I couldn't believe what had just happened. I knew I was interested in being more than just her fake bf, but it was still surprising to know just how much I wanted. 

I need to figure this out first, before someone gets hurt. I'm already hiding so much from her, I thought to myself.

“We'd like to order.” I said a little too quickly. 

Surprise registered on Whitney's face. “Oh? Aren't you going to wait for the others?”

“Others?” Cassie asked, her confusion evident. I was just as confused as she was.

Whitney's phone rang before she could answer. “Excuse me for a second. You can just grab a table for the time being.” She was gone the next moment.

Cassie walked off, looking around. She probably wanted to keep as much space between us as possible. It seemed like I wasn't the only one who was affected by what nearly transpired between us.

The silence was awkward as we tried to find a suitable table for us. 

The sound of a throat being cleared drew my attention back to Cassie. 

“Look, I get that you want to sell our relationship, but maybe we should set some ground rules first.” She crossed her arms, eyeing me like she expected me to break every single one. “For instance, no unnecessary PDA. We both know this isn't real, so we should only sell it when Otto and Jade are around. Anything more could cause unnecessary complications…”

“What if I want those complications?” I cut in. “Would it be so wrong to want more?”

“I only agreed to do this to take down Otto and Jade. But with the way things are…”

Ah, screw this.

I was pulling her into my arms before I could stop myself. With one hand wrapped around her, I leaned forward and before she could react, I was kissing her. Her lips were soft and smooth. 

She was frozen. Just for a beat. Like her brain hadn’t caught up yet.

Then her hands landed on my chest.

I thought she was going to push me away.

But she didn’t.

Instead, her arms went around my neck and she was kissing me back.

It was slow, yet deliberate. Like we were both testing the waters to see if we liked it or not. 

Did she like it?

“Ahem.”

Cassie jerked backwards as if she had been burned. Whitney was smiling sweetly at us. “Hate to interrupt, but you have company.” She announced, gesturing towards the entrance.

There was a small crowd gathered there.

Abruptly, I received a flashback from last night. Something Freddie had mentioned.

“Remember, the students council has asked us to be present to prepare for the masquerade ball. You gotta be there, Ledge. Don't forget!”

I had indeed… forgotten. I glanced at Cassie to gauge her reaction. Her face was pale. 

No surprises there. After all… Otto and Jade were members of the council.