It all started with a game

Chapter 16

You will always fall in love, and it will always be like having your throat cut, just that fast.
~catherynne m. valente

A/N
Who are your guys favorite character so far?

Chapter 16
Ryder's POV
"I still don't get the point," I laughed as Beatrice tried to explain the plot of her latest novel.

"Okay so, her best friend sets her up on blind dates all the time."

"Why?" The idea seemed absurd. I have never once set Mateo up on a blind date in the entirety of our friendship.

"Because, her bestie feels that she needs to get over her ex from years ago."

"Okay." I acted like I understood though the idea still seemed crazy to me.

She continued her explanation. "He got cheated on, and now he wants his ex back. But he has to make sure she won't cheat again."

"Why in the world would he want her back after that?"

"Because he thinks he's in love with her."

"But he ends up falling for the other girl instead?" How does she keep up with all this stuff?

"Exactly. She doesn't want to go on blind dates and he wants his ex back so the perfect solution is for the two to pretend they're dating."

Ah yes, fake dating, the solution to everyone's problems.

I'm not entirely sure how we got here. One minute she's peacefully reading beside me on the couch and the next I'm asking her about her book and she's crawling onto my lap, straddling me, and telling me all about it. I'm fairly certain it's been an hour.

I should be annoyed by now, I should be over it. I don't even like books, let alone romance novels. I should be hating this, right? So why am I not? Why does it feel like it's only been a few minutes and not an hour?

I liked the sound of her voice, and I liked the way she got excited when she got further into the details of the plot, and I liked the way she felt in my arms. But I really shouldn't? I don't do this kind of stuff, I don't get all mushy about things. This isn't me.

I inhaled a sharp breath, citrus and honey filling my senses and not clearing my head as well as I thought it would.

I had to win the game. I had to win. But if I wanted to win, I had a feeling I was going to have to read some of her cringey romance novels. It was my only shot. Because right now I really feel like I'm losing, and I hate losing. But more importantly, I hate the way I feel around her. It's pathetic.

She moved onto the next part, assuming I understood the whole fake dating thing. I did not, but hey, can't be any weirder than what we're doing. Fake dating is one thing, trying to trick each other into falling in love was another. One was business, the other was cruel.

Beatrice unconsciously licked her lips, drawing my attention to them. She always had chapped lips, constantly licking them and stealing my chapstick. Her words stopped filtering through my head as my full attention quickly became trained on the movement of her lips as she spoke.

I had thought of the kiss only once since it happened and it still burned in the back of my mind, making itself louder in periods of bliss, and shrinking, yet not disappearing, in moments of chaosity. It was slowly driving me insane and the fact that she is constantly licking her lips, to no fault of her own, really wasn't helping.  I tried to focus on what she was saying, something about a contract, or maybe a football game. I couldn't be sure but I definitely heard both of those things.