Not So Broken (West Coast College Book 3)

Chapter 8

Ava

There's a few moments of silence as we stare at each other, Cameron's eyes narrowing on my face like he can't tell if I'm being serious or not.

Trust me, I am.

"You'll do it? You want to do it?" He asks, vulnerability evident in his voice and when he looks down at his hands so the rejection he thinks is coming won't sting as bad.

"Yes. But I have a few conditions."

His head snaps back up, eyebrows flying higher than his hairline as he looks at me, one of those beautiful smiles I love so much slowly morphing onto his face.

"Anything." He says urgently, like he really does mean it.

I think about it for a second, hesitating but nod with reassurance. "There needs to be some ground rules. Like no kissing-"

"Well, we have to kiss otherwise people will know we're faking it." He points out.

I inwardly groan. "Fine. But only in public. We also need to come up with a backstory of how we started dating."

"Easy peasy. I charmed you with my good looks and you immediately fell for me." He shrugs, looking all too cocky.

I roll my eyes at how sure he sounds. "How about we say we started dating right after Christmas?" I ask softly, scared he's going to reject the plan. "We can say we were interested in each other during the few times I tutored you but made it official in the New Year?"

Cam rubs his chin thoughtfully. "That sounds like a great plan. And it leaves us enough wiggle room if we have to adjust it. What do you think Mike?"

Mike gives us a thumbs up from over the couch, his main attention still on his glass blowing show.

I wince. "Mike should probably be the only one to know, right? That it's fake?"

"Yeah, that's probably for the best. Less chances of people leaking it or anything like that."

I rub behind my left ear, my hearing aid feeling chunky. Scrunch my nose. "I...can I ask something of you?"

"Of course. Anything to make this more comfortable for you."

I blush maroon. "I-ah. Will we have to go on dates? Like in public?"

He smiles gently like he's trying to hold a laugh in. "I think that's a smart thing to do. Especially since we're trying to convince the public."

"One more thing..."

He chuckles, eyebrow raised as he waits for me to go on.

"Well, I would like books and flowers. And coffee dates." I blurt, cringing when I realize how needy I must sound. "I'm sorry, that sounded desperate-"

Cam closes the gap between us, placing his hands on my shoulders to silence me. "Stop that. It didn't sound desperate. Not at all. You were telling me what you wanted." He smiles, his dimples shining. "So I'll make it happen, okay?"

I blow out a small breathe, looking up at him slowly. "You're sure? You're not just saying that because we're doing each other favours?"

"I'm absolutely sure." His thumb strokes my collarbone so I pull back slightly.

I nibble on my bottom lip, nails digging into my palms creating little moons. "Can I tell Delilah and Cooper? And Tatum? I would like to tell them before they hear it from someone else. I won't tell them were fake dating, obviously-"

"Stop stressing about this. Of course you can tell them. They mean a lot to you. Maybe I can even meet Delilah and Cooper officially later on." He says casually.

"I think they'd like that."

I would like that. They've been my parental figures for most of my life and I know Cooper would love to meet Cam since he adores our school's hockey team.

"Good." Cameron clears his throat, patting my shoulders awkwardly like he didn't realize they were still resting there before dropping them down to his sides. "Well, ah-I'll see you at the rink tomorrow, right?"

"You'll see me tomorrow at the rink." I smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brayden taps my hip firmly which means Sign of the Times by Harry Styles has started flowing from the speakers.

We're just finishing with one more program for the day, starting right off with our triple twist lift which we land with little wobbles that can be easily corrected before the Aaron O'Brien memorial cup this weekend.

Delilah and Cooper are coming to watch, like they always do with smaller competitions that don't require a lot of travelling on their end.

We flow through the rest of our program somewhat smoothly, despite the little stumble we had near the end but I blame it on exhaustion and the fact that my boyfriend is just on the other end of the rink.

Tatum skates up to us smoothly, a proud smile on her face as she hands me my ears. "Good. Very good. Just keep your chins up and you'll be fine. Both of you take ice baths when you get home and go to bed early tomorrow night since you compete early Saturday." She points a harsh finger at Brayden. "And make sure you remember you're actually competing this time so you don't accidently slip onto your boyfriend's dick and miss warmups."

I giggle, coughing when Brayden glares. "I'll try my best." He grumbles, skating off the ice, giving us the bird over his shoulder.

Tatum nods at me one last time before she tries to skate off as well but I grab her elbow to stop her.

"I wanted to tell you something before you hear from someone else." I say, smiling sheepishly.

"If you tell me you're pregnant, I'm gonna throw up all over the ice. I mean it." Tatum interrupts, grabbing her hair out of her face as to prove her point.

"What?" I gag. "If I was pregnant, there better be flying cars and talking pigs-" I stop myself from going on. "Not the point. What I wanted to tell you was that I'm... datingCameron." I rush out.

Tatum frowns, squinting. "Huh? You're dating who now? It better not be Xander. That dude is a dick. Probably has a small one too."

Good thing I never saw it.

I take a calm breath. "No. I'm dating Cameron. Cameron Wyatt."

Tatum gives me a puzzled look before bursting out laughing. "You mean that Cameron Wyatt?" She points over my shoulder where Cam is currently sitting on his ass, holding onto Tyler's hockey stick as he drags him behind him.

I'm almost one hundred percent sure that their coach gives them five minutes of free time at the end of practice. You can hear him laughing from where I stand and I bite back my own smile at how infectious it is. "Yes. That Cameron Wyatt."

"Huh. But he's so...him. And you're so...you." She gestures between us like the idea scares her.

My face falls. Her approval means so much. "Do you not like him? I thought you'd really like him."

Tatum's eyes widen as she embraces me tightly. "I think he's perfect for you. You just surprised me is all. Usually your nose is buried so far into a book I wasn't even sure if you'd even notice real men."

I huff my disapproval.

"Does he make you happy? Like, really fucking happy?" She asks softly, pulling away.

Considering I've only been fake dating him for less than twenty four hours, I just nod and hope she moves on. "He does."

She nods back with a smile. "Good. I'm really happy for you." But her smile doesn't meet her eyes. It hasn't in years, if I'm being honest.

Tatum's quiet for a moment before a wicked thought comes into her head, leaning forward and whispering, "Have you lost your V-card yet?"

I smack her head. "Ow!"