Only If She Stayed

22. Shake on It

ASHTON DIDN'T say anything, he stared speechlessly at me as he comprehended what I was asking him to do for me. "You want me to do what?"

"To pretend to be my boyfriend." I made sure to emphasize on the pretend part, worried that he thought I was seriously interested in being his real girlfriend.

As if.

He wasn't even my type. I was more into macho guys. On the other hand, that preference in men was what got me in my current predicament with Edgar. Perhaps going for someone who weren't in the same category as Edgar was a decent idea.

"I'm not asking you to marry me. Geez, you don't have to freak-out so much." I stood on to my two feet and walked away from him. For the most part, he had remained quiet since I clarified what I wanted him to do for me.

His hand instantly wrapped around my arm, stopping me from throwing the gym doors open. "What's in it for me? I don't see how this could help me."

"You want a deal?"

"Not a deal. Calling it a deal makes it seem dirty." He shuddered, scrunching up his face. "I'm not sure how this would benefit me though. I could do it for you as a friend - "

"We're not friends." I scoffed.

His hold on me loosened. "I would consider you the only friend I have here."

If Edgar wasn't out there, ready to annoy me the second I stepped out, I would've smiled at him for saying that.

It was nice to think that, after such a short amount of time knowing each other, he'd see me as a friend.

Cracking the gym door open, I peeked out and saw Andrea staring right at me from across the field.

Edgar was sitting on the bleacher with the rest of the basketball team. My hopefully wishing was wasted on. He was still there, waiting for me to return.

"Do you like Andrea?" I made sure to see Ashton's reaction when I asked. "I saw you two talking on the field. Do you like her?"

"I do..." he trailed off with flushed cheeks. "But I don't know her very well."

"I do." I glanced back out the door. "And you're not who she usually goes for. I can tell she likes you though."

"You can?" His voice cracked.

"Chill. You sound like a middle schooler going through puberty." I held out my hand, facing my palm at him. "She's not into the nice guy persona you carry, so you're going to have to ease up on the excitement."

Ashton slapped his hands together. "I got it! You help me get closer to Andrea and I'll help you fool Edgar into thinking we're dating." He paused. "Wait, that's not going to work. She wouldn't want to be with me if she knew you were formally with me. That breaks some kind of girl code or whatever."

I blew out a breath, shielding a laugh. "That's never stopped Andrea Fox. At least she has the decency to ask before dating a guy one of her friends dated in the past."

"She does?"

I nodded. "She's not someone who would hide stuff behind my back because she knows how wrong that is, but if she likes a guy she'll ask the ex-girlfriend what she thinks if they're friends. I guess people respect that she asks first so most are cool with it. I've only seen it happen twice though."

"That seems understandable." He stuck out his hand. "Want to make it a deal then?"

I took his hand, firmly giving him a shake. "Deal. We have to add some ground rules though." I noted. "Just so we know what can and can't be done."

"How about after try-outs?" He offered. "I can come over to your place."

"That works for me." I agreed and we both excited the gym.

To my surprise and utter shock, Ashton intertwined our fingers the moment the doors were open, gaining us quite the awkward stare.

Especially from one particular irked onlooker.

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