Chapter 4

KADE'S POV

I nearly spat my drink across the table.

"What?"

Marcus burst out laughing. "You heard him."

I wiped my mouth and stared at both of them as though they had collectively lost their minds.

"Are you two insane? Selene is Ethan's sister."

"Yes, we know."

"She's my best friend's sister."

"We know that too."

I shook my head. "Absolutely not. Ethan would kill me."

Dylan shrugged. "Ethan is in Spain."

"That doesn't change anything."

"It changes everything," Marcus argued. "He's going to be gone for months. You need to get rid of Aurora before the engagement becomes official, and Selene is the only girl you know who isn't constantly throwing herself at you."

I leaned back in my chair and stared at them.

They were actually serious.

There was another reason Selene was different, and it had nothing to do with her being available.

For more than fifteen years, Ethan and I had been inseparable. His family was practically my second family, and Selene had always been part of that picture. I had watched her grow up from the quiet little girl who used to follow Ethan around the house to the young woman she was now.

She was off-limits.

Ethan had made that very clear over the years, sometimes jokingly and sometimes not so jokingly. He trusted me around his family, and I had never given him a reason to question that trust.

Crossing that line, even for a fake relationship, felt wrong.

Dylan wasn't finished.

"Come on, Kade. You've been with almost every attractive girl at Mooncrest, but you've never even touched Selene. Don't you ever wonder what she's like?"

I gave him a warning look.

"Watch yourself."

"I'm only asking."

Marcus laughed. "He's right, though. She's the only girl you've never even tried to get close to."

"Because she's Ethan's sister."

"Which is exactly why nobody would expect it."

I looked down at my glass.

Nobody would expect it.

That was precisely what made the idea so tempting.

Aurora knew every girl I had ever dated. She knew which parties I attended, which women I had been seen with, and which ones had tried to get serious with me. If I suddenly appeared with another beautiful girl from the hockey crowd, she would probably see it as another temporary distraction and wait for me to get bored.

But Selene?

Aurora would never see that coming.

Neither would my father.

And if they believed I was genuinely serious about Selene, the entire marriage arrangement could collapse before it became official.

I rubbed a hand over my jaw.

"She wouldn't agree."

Dylan shrugged. "You haven't asked."

"Because I already know the answer."

"Do you?"

I didn't respond.

Selene had never been the kind of person to seek attention. She kept to herself, spent most of her free time reading, and seemed perfectly comfortable disappearing into the background whenever Ethan and I were around.

She didn't chase popularity.

She didn't care about being seen with the right people.

And unlike the girls I usually dated, she wouldn't turn a fake relationship into a competition.

That made her perfect.

It also made the whole thing dangerous.

Because Selene trusted me.

And if I used that trust to get myself out of a marriage, I could lose more than just my friendship with Ethan.

Dylan leaned across the table.

"You know what I think?"

I sighed. "Every time you say that, I regret listening."

"I think you're making this harder than it needs to be."

"How?"

"You need a girl who can convince Aurora that you're serious about someone else. Selene needs someone who can get her out of her shell. You both get something out of it."

Marcus nodded. "And you don't even have to make it complicated. Take her out, show everyone you're together, let Aurora lose her mind, and wait for her to call off the whole thing."

I stared at them.

It sounded simple when they put it that way.

Too simple.

"What happens after Aurora ends the engagement?"

"You break up with Selene."

"And Ethan?"

Dylan shrugged. "You tell him it was a fake relationship and apologize."

I laughed bitterly.

"You've clearly never met Ethan."

Marcus snorted. "Fair."

I took another drink.

The more I thought about it, the more I hated how much sense the plan made.

Aurora was arriving soon. My father had already started talking about wedding preparations as though I had agreed to the marriage. If I didn't find a way out quickly, I would soon be trapped in an engagement I never wanted.

I couldn't let that happen.

Then Dylan looked at me with a grin.

"There's just one thing."

I already knew I wasn't going to like it.

"What?"

"Let's make it interesting."

Marcus's grin widened.

I narrowed my eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Dylan leaned back in his chair.

"A bet."

I stared at him.

"No."

"You haven't even heard it."

"I know you."

Marcus laughed. "Let him finish."

Dylan looked directly at me.

"You get Selene to actually fall for the act."

I frowned.

"That's already the plan."

"Not just pretend. I mean you make the whole school believe she's really your girlfriend."

"And?"

His grin turned wicked.

"You take it one step further."

I waited.

Dylan finally said, "You sleep with Selene."

I stared at him.

"No."

"Scared?"

"Don't be stupid. I'm not sleeping with Ethan's sister."

"Then prove it."

I shook my head.

"You've lost your mind."

Dylan wasn't backing down.

"You've spent years bragging about how fearless you are. You take every challenge on the ice, every girl who catches your attention, every stupid dare anyone throws at you. Now you're suddenly drawing a line?"

"She's different."

The words came out before I could stop them.

Marcus raised an eyebrow.

I immediately looked away.

"She's Ethan's sister," I corrected.

Dylan laughed.

"Sure."

I ignored him.

There was no way I was sleeping with Selene. The fake relationship was one thing. Crossing that line would be something else entirely.

"Fine," I said. "I'll pretend to date her. That's it."

Dylan folded his arms.

"Then bring us proof that you actually slept with her, and we'll give you something you've wanted for years."

That caught my attention.

"Like what?"

Marcus smiled.

"The custom black carbon racing bike you've been trying to buy since last year."

I stared at him.

That was not a small offer.

I had wanted that bike for months. It was fast, rare, and practically impossible to get unless you were willing to pay an absurd amount of money.

Dylan saw my hesitation and smiled.

"And if you back out?"

I frowned.

"What?"

"You heard me. If you agree to the bet and back out, you step down as hockey captain."

I laughed once because surely they couldn't be serious.

But neither of them laughed with me.

My expression slowly changed.

They were serious.

"You two are unbelievable."

Marcus lifted his glass. "So?"

I looked down at my drink.

The whole thing was insane.

Sleeping with Selene could ruin my friendship with Ethan, damage her trust in me, and create a mess far bigger than the one I was already trying to escape.

But the fake relationship itself could be the solution I'd been looking for.

If I could convince Selene to play along, I could finally put an end to Aurora's plans and force my father to accept that I wasn't going to marry someone I didn't love.

And perhaps that was the only way out.

I exhaled slowly and looked between the two men.

"Fine."

Dylan raised an eyebrow.

"Fine what?"

I leaned back in my chair.

"I'll make Selene my fake girlfriend."