Player's Guide To Catfishing (PLAYBOOK #1)

CHAPTER 30: Honor among liars

LIAM

"We can switch." I offer when dessert arrives.

I don't know how but Odessa has managed to choose the worst dish possible every time someone takes her order.

"What is that?" She hisses and her brows close in.

"I think it's a lemon—"

"No. I'm talking about you offering to switch instead of warning me beforehand." She picks up a tiny spoon, "it's like telling a person to move out of the way after a car hits them."

She cuts into the yellow, pasty ball and off-white limey cream spills out.

Ew.

I look around the table and we all got the chocolate devil cake with a strawberry sticking out. I mean come on, when presented with a choice always choose what you know, everyone knows that.

"I didn't realize—" that she would listen.

"It's fine Liam, just stop." She braces herself before sticking a spoonful inside her glossy lips.

Maybe it's not that bad.

I watch her close her mouth, wince a little then swallow as her fingers tap the table gently. Okay maybe it is that bad because she says something under breath in Russian.

"We can still switch," I repeat despite her warning and she responds with a glare.

The boosters like to hire this French chef who believes experimenting with food is an art. His food is not bad but it's just not that good either. The boosters love him because they are pretentious rich people but anyone who has had a decent meal in their lives can admit it sucks.

It's like overly decorated dog food.

But they are loopholes to this. Like ordering dipping sauce with the main meal and the gay sous chef who has a thing for John B.

He is an aspiring chef who specially makes our meals on the side, which means no matter what I order he'll bring me what he makes and it will taste amazing.

If I knew Odessa was coming she would have gotten the same deal, like Jonathan's date and America who eating her lemon cream ball with a smile.

"Should I get you more soda?"

I watch her power through a second bite. I don't get why she's torturing herself, one bite looked enough to me.

"It's fine Liam." She exhales and faces me, "what's after dinner?"

"We go around the tables and have a chat with a few of them, feed their egos and sometimes even dance." I follow her eyes to my fork, "then some speeches are made by representatives and by then most of them will be drunk so it'll be easier to bail."

I push my plate away and look at her.

"Okay." She connects her mouth to the spoon as her hand falls off the table. I follow it to her lap and she is grabbing the fabric of her dress tightly.

That can't be good.

"Fuck it," I take my fork and dip it on her plate.

I brace myself and connect the dessert to my mouth, I want to swallow but mouth is not getting the instruction.

It's actually worse than I thought.

"Ah Liam?" Vecker waves her hand in front of my face. "Are you okay?" She wipes her mouth probably to spit into the napkin.

"I hate to break it to you Vecker," I gulp. "But I think we just ate mucus." She breaks out into a fit of laughter and I join in before adding, "can we have some chocolate cake now?"

I beg and she pushes her plate away and pulls mine closer, we eat my slice in silence and I feel her visibly relax while I tense up.

"Do you want to dance?" Her moaning from the chocolate was driving me insane and dancing is the only way she'll let me touch her.

"What?" She swallows.

"I'm stuffed" I explain. "Do you want to dance a little?"

A nod is my reply. I look at the space designated for dancing and it's empty which means all eyes will be on us.

Great.

"You know I played this party last year." Vecker wraps her arms around my shoulders, "Isiah and I were doing this long violin ballet but the year before that I was doing the piano alone."

Wait, so this means Odessa and I have been in the same place twice and I didn't notice her? I'm about to ask but she goes on to ask...

"Why didn't you invite me tonight?"

"What?" I move my head back to look at her.

"I got the invite from your coach, I want to say it was pretty embarrassing." She looks at Coach Carter who's eating his wife's cake. "But it was just mortifying and pathetic."

At least now I know who's responsible for all this.

"Oh, Coach got you the invite?" She nods and I hope he feels my glare from here.

I should have known he wouldn't drop it. I knew not telling him about the fake relationship would bite me in the ass but I didn't need his rational thinking to ruin things for me.

"But the question here Liam, why didn't you tell me?"

Is she serious?

"The truth?" I'm a little scared to even ask but she nods again as we glide around the floor, "because I didn't know where we stand."

She found my list. My pathetic list that hurt her feelings and ruined everything. The look in her eyes from that night still haunts me, I actually thought she'd never speak to me again.

"I guess the simple answer here Vecker, is I thought we broke up."

And for something that is supposedly 'fake' it felt real. The pain was real, the anger but the regret was worse because I just stood and let her walk away.

"Oh," the ballad moves slower as John B and America join us on the empty dance floor. "Do you want to stop? Fake dating, I mean" she is hesitant to say.

Stop? Does she mean break up officially?

"Do you?" My heart begins to thunder.

I absolutely want to stop the pretending and make things real but right now, this deal is the only thing keeping her in my arms. If I have to settle for that while she forgives me then I will because she's too important to loose.

As someone who has lost her the 3rd time, I can safely it's not a fun feeling and no matter how many times it happens. Each time is worse than the last and the recovery is longer.

"Look Liam," I hate how shaky her voice is. "We might be a fake couple but we're still a couple." That's promising "and couples fight all the time, right?"

They do? I don't know any long term couple except America and John B but they don't really talk much, they just hook up a lot.

"We fought, took time apart to cool off and now, I'm over it." She is? "I am ready to move past it. Can you?"

Yeah, we definitely skipped a few steps but at least she still wants to do this. Sure, she made it sound a bit...formal but she's still in my arms. I still get to kiss her and touch her and—

"Liam?" Odessa pauses to look at me.

"I just want to help you Vecker," my Adam's apple jumps. "For as long as you let me, I will."

If she wants to sweep things under the rug for now, I have no problem with it.

"Okay then," her fingers lock around my neck as she steps closer. "Let's kill this party and make boosters see you more than just an investment."

"What?"

"Never mind," she takes the lead.

My mind is so jumbled up from the events of the night alone, I don't even want to touch the hidden meaning behind what she just said.

"Okay Vecker, whatever you say." I spin her out of the embrace and pull her back.