No feelings

Chance

My stomach has been flipping since he got here. I can't believe I have him in my bed. Okay no, that came out wrong. I groaned internally. Why am I deviating from the point? Raid Bennett, Ashford's evil, was in my bed for tutoring.

Or pretending to.

Because for the last twenty minutes, he had done nothing except flirt, distract me, and look way too comfortable in my personal space.

“We actually need to talk about this fake dating thing,” I finally said, leaning back in my chair.

Raid stretched lazily across my bed like he paid rent here. “Sounds serious.”

“It is serious.”

“Alright.” He sat up slightly, resting his arms behind his head. “Talk to me, sweet cheeks.”

I rolled my eyes automatically, ignoring the heat that crawled up my neck. “First of all, stop calling me that.”

“Nope.”

“Raid,” I groaned.

“What? It’s cute.”

“It’s annoying.”

“Actually, you’re annoying.”

I glared at him while he grinned shamelessly. God, talking to him was exhausting. Taking a deep breath, I tried focusing.

“Look… this thing already got way bigger than I expected.”

“Hmmm.”

“People are obsessed with it.”

“Yeah, No shit,” he laughed.

I rolled my eyes, ignoring him. “And now everyone thinks we’re actually together.”

Raid tilted his head slightly, smirking at me. “That was kind of the point, baby.”

I tried stopping it, but heat instantly rushed to my face.

“You do that on purpose.”

“Do what?”

“The baby thing.”

His grin widened. “Only when pretty girls are involved.” he winked at me

I hated him. I crossed my arms tightly. “I’m serious.”

He studied me for a second before his expression softened slightly. Not fully. Just enough to make my stomach weird again.

“I know,” he said quietly.

The teasing disappeared for the first time since he got here. And suddenly the room felt smaller.

I looked away first.

“I just…” I sighed softly. “I don’t want this to turn into another humiliation thing.”

That made him sit up properly.

“It won’t.”

His answer came too fast. Too firm. I blinked.

Raid noticed my expression and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I mean… I won’t let that happen.”

That caught me off guard more than the flirting did. Because he sounded genuine. Like he would actually protect me.

For a second neither of us spoke.

Then he broke the tension with a smirk. “Besides, watching Mason lose his mind has been entertaining.” There he is. The Raid Bennett I know.

I rolled my eyes but laughed quietly despite myself.

“He looked ready to kill you at lunch.” I have never seen Mason so pissed before.

“He always looks ready to kill me.”

“True.” Messing with Mason made everything worth it.

Raid leaned back against my pillows again. “So what exactly are you proposing here, Monroe?”

I hesitated. Then slowly said, “Maybe we should actually commit to it.”

His eyebrow lifted.

“The dating.”

A slow grin spread across his face.

“Oh? You wanna be my girlfriend officially now?”

“Fake girlfriend,” I corrected quickly.

“Still counts.”

“It absolutely does not.”

Raid laughed under his breath before motioning for me to continue.

I twisted my pen nervously between my fingers. “People are already invested. If we suddenly stop now, everyone’s going to start asking questions. Hell, Ashford Gossip Pot posted like twelve videos today.”

“Thirteen actually,” he corrected casually. “Cass counted.”

“Oh my God.”

He laughed quietly while I dropped my head dramatically into my hands.

“This is exactly what I didn’t think through,” I muttered. “I just wanted Mason embarrassed.”

“And now the entire school thinks you’re dating the devil.”

I looked up flatly. “You said that way too proudly.”

“Because it’s true. You think that too.” His eyebrows raised, daring me to deny it.

Asshole.

I sighed again before forcing myself to focus. Raid tilted his head slightly, watching me closely.

“So?”

“So…” I hesitated. “Maybe we keep doing it.”

His eyebrow lifted, interest dancing in his eyes.

“Doing what exactly?”

“The fake dating.”

Raid stared at me for two full seconds before a slow grin spread across his face.

“You asking me to be your fake boyfriend officially now, sweet cheeks?”

God. I hate him.

“This is not romantic.”

“Hm.”

“I’m serious.”

“You keep saying that while blushing.”

I threw my pen at him. He caught it easily while laughing.

“Fine,” he said eventually. “How long?”

I thought about it for a second.

“Three months.”

“Three?”

“Long enough for people to believe it’s real,” I explained. “Then we can ‘break up’ without it looking weird.”

Raid hummed thoughtfully.

“And what exactly do I get out of this arrangement besides making pretty boy miserable?”

I narrowed my eyes.

“You enjoy annoying me.”

“Fair point.” He nodded.

“And Mason hates it.”

Raid looked entirely too satisfied by that. “True.”

I folded my arms.

“But if we’re doing this, we need rules.”

Raid groaned dramatically, falling back on the bed. He looked like a kid in timeout. “Jesus. Of course you’re a rules person. Fine,” he sighed. “Hit me.”

I straightened slightly.

“Rule number one. No sleeping around.”

Raid blinked, shooting up from the bed so fast I thought he’d break his back. Dramatic much?

“That’s your first rule?”

“Yes.”

He stared at me for a second before smirking slightly.

“You jealous already?”

“No,” I replied fast. Too fast even. “But if we’re fake dating, you can’t hook up with random girls every weekend.”

Raid rubbed his jaw thoughtfully.

“Hm.”

“Raid.”

He sighed dramatically.

“Fine.”

I blinked.

“That easy?” I didn’t trust him. One bit. I mean, this is Raid Bennett we’re talking about here.

“I can survive three months without hookups, Monroe. I’m not an animal.” He rolled his eyes.

“Debatable.”

He laughed under his breath.

“And stop flirting with every girl that breathes.”

Raid looked offended.

“I do not flirt with every girl.”

“You flirt with oxygen.”

“That’s different.”

“Raid.”

“Got it ,” he muttered again. “Less flirting.”

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

“You’re not taking this seriously.”

“I am,” he argued lazily. “I’m sacrificing a lot here.” He pouted, blinking rapidly at me.

I rolled my eyes.

“My turn,” he said suddenly.

I frowned. “Your turn?”

“If we’re really going to do this, you actually have to act like my girlfriend.”

My stomach betrayed me instantly. I swallowed. “What does that mean?”

Raid started counting lazily on his fingers. “You talk to me willingly.”

“I do talk to you.”

“You threaten me most of the time, sweet cheeks. That doesn’t count.”

“That’s because you’re annoying.”

He shrugged.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t wrong.

“What else?”

“We sit together sometimes.”

“We already do apparently.”

“We go on dates.”

I blinked.

“Dates?”

Raid looked amused by my reaction.

“You know. Boyfriend-girlfriend activities.”

“Oh my God.”

“What? You thought dating meant glaring at me all the time?”

“I don’t know"

He laughed quietly while I felt my face heat again.

“And,” he continued, “you stop acting like touching me gives you cardiac arrest.”

“It’s not acting.”

His grin turned smug instantly.

“Cute.”

I threw another pillow at him. This time he let it hit him dramatically.

“Violence. Wow.” he said, playing with the pillow

“You deserve it.”

“Probably.”

I shook my head hopelessly before looking down at my lap.

“Also,” I added more quietly, “No feelings, ok? This is us just scratching each other backs”

He laughed and nodded. “I think I should be the one telling you that, baby. I’m too hard to resist.”

I rolled my eyes and ignored it. “So we agreed?” I asked quickly.

Raid leaned back against my pillows again, staring at me with that stupid dangerous smirk.

“Three months,” he said.

“Three months.” I repeated

“Fake dating.”

“Yes.”

He grinned wider. “This is gonna be so fun.”

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. I already felt a headache coming.

Because somehow, deep down, it felt like I just made a deal with the devil.