For Better Or For Worse

t w o

Rachel's POV

Kelley had demanded that I move in to her house in DC that night something I had not been prepared for. Hell, I hadn't even expected her to say yes. I had predicted she was take one look at me and tell me that she wanted nothing to do with me and that I should leave before I got deported.

After we left the coffee house, Anna had driven me to my tiny studio apartment where we spent the remainder of the afternoon packing up my stuff, ready to move to Kelley's, before she would later drop me off at my new address. Kelley had claimed that because she travelled so much with her job, it only made sense that I would live there and we would see each other as much as possible. She said she would start to post on social media and slowly include our 'relationship' starting with taking a photo of the pile of boxes of my stuff in her hallway and adding it to her insta story with the caption 'so it's finally happening'. It was vague enough to suggest there was someone else in Kelley's life but also would introduce the idea to her friends that she was getting serious with someone.

We began to unpack in silence and I was shocked when Kelley started carry my stuff into her room and take my clothes into her closet where she had already cleared space for me.

"Why are you putting my stuff in here? You have like three spare rooms." I mumbled confused to what she was doing. Kelley's house was huge compared to anything I had ever seen before even though to her, it was probably just a normal four-bedroom house.

"I told you when I said I would do this that there were conditions. I have people at my home all the time and no-one can even suspect that this is a facade. This is our room now and our closet. Even when no-one is with us, you're going to pretend there is. I'm willing to help but I will not lose my career because you slip up and one of my friends finds out we don't share a bedroom."

Kelley was firm in her response and there didn't seem to be any use in arguing against her. I didn't have that much stuff so Kelley insisted that we ordered some more clothes, which she also insisted paying for, to least start to fill up my half of her closet. By the time we had finished, I was exhausted and so was Kelley it seemed by how she collapsed onto her living room couch. Unsure of what to do, I perched myself on the edge of the couch and just sat there as Kelley laughed at me.

"What's the rule?" She said with a smirk. "Pretend that someone's here even when they're not."

She sat up giving me some space and I sat back, burying myself into the corner of the sofa and bringing my knees up. I took a minute to shut my eyes and enjoy the comfort of Kelley's sofa and just relax. When I opened them again, Kelley was still smiling at me.

"Wanna find out a little bit more about each other before bed seeing as we're gonna have to learn everything we can." She asked me a nodded knowing it was a good idea to start learning as much as I could straight away.

"Full name?"

"Raquel Marie Rodriguez. I googled you this afternoon so I know yours."

"So you're not even called Rachel. I can't believe you've lied to me already! Rodriguez yeah? Like A-Rod?" She said mock shock. The confusion must have been clear on my face as she just brushed the comment off.

"She's a teammate. So, tell me, what did you find out about me from your extensive google search?"

Kelley had this air of confidence about her and was just so sure of herself. She was the complete opposite of me and it made me wonder why Anna had ever thought we'd even get on.

"So ... you're called Kelley Maureen O'Hara. You're 30 years old. Birthday is August 4th. Born in Georgia and you're a soccer player and a pretty good one at that from what I read online."

Not too bad. Anna told me you're a photographer. She also mentioned that you're a lot younger than me. Now it doesn't bother me but how old are you?"

"I'm twenty-three and my birthday is just after yours, August 30th, so it is a bit of an age gap."

"Seven years. Like I said it doesn't bother me. If anything, I can say I was scared to tell people in case they reacted badly about our age difference."

Kelley's POV

I knew we'd have to start working hard immediately, not only just to get to know each other but to make sure Rachel was completely comfortable around me before she met any of my friends and family. I know it had only been a few hours since we had even first met but she was just so shy and reserved, it was already looking like this was a bad idea.

We decided to go up to bed and I took the opportunity to walk behind her up the stairs and check her out. A sudden realization came over me and groaned loudly causing her to turn around and question what was wrong but I shrugged her off. I had inadvertently agreed, that by being her fake girlfriend, I had also agreed to stop sleeping around and give up on all sex while we had this arrangement. This gorgeous girl in front of me hadn't even wanted to sit on the same couch as me so there was no way on earth she would let me sleep with her and I didn't want people to think I was a cheater if I was caught going to visit someone else to sort my needs. We went to my closet and both found stuff to wear to bed. I started to strip off and instantly, Rachel blushed heavily and turned around. I sighed at this girl.

"Rachel." I said standing now only in my underwear. "Rachel, turn around please."

I waited until she slowly turned back around but kept her red face looking down. I walked over and lifted her chin gently until she was looking at me.

"You need to get used to seeing me naked. I'm a soccer player, I get changed in front of people all the time. It's just a body." I saw her eyes slightly wander down and glance at me which made me laugh. "See, it's just a body, don't get me wrong, it's a good one but that's all it is."

I continued getting changed while she just stood there. I knew this would be a big jump for her, getting into bed with a stranger so I left her to get changed and jumped into the bed, making sure to turn all the lights off but bedside lamp on what would now be her side of the bed. Rachel creeped out the closet clothed only in a large shirt showing off her little tanned legs which I definitely appreciated. Her messy hair was now let down as she climbed into bed and quickly turned off the light, rolling over to the very edge of my king-sized bed as far away from me as possible.

Hopefully tomorrow would be easier. 

It's Sunday (at least here it is), so here's chapter 2 for y'all!

I LIVE for seeing your comments so please let me know thoughts, opinions or where you want this story to go because I really appreciate it all! Love y'all!