Would You Rather: A College Romance (Campus Games Book 3)
Would You Rather (Campus Games Book 3): Chapter 34

Secret’s out

“Fuck.” James throws his hands up, clutching the controller. “How did you do that?”

I smirk, lifting my eyebrow at him. “I’ve always been better than you.”

James loves video games and has ever since we were kids, but I always beat him. Every time. Why would he think that would change just because he’s been hanging out with Aiden?

I let out a scoff, turning to face Aiden. “I think he’s going to need a few more lessons if he wants to beat me.”

Aiden laughs, fixing the cap on his head as he looks at James. “I don’t think a hundred lessons would help you, buddy.”

James shakes his head, eyeing me. “Again,” he says. “I need to win.”

Fuck. I let out a sigh. “James.” His name comes out like a plea. I need to go see my girl. The withdrawals are real. I fucking miss her so much, and I slept in her bed last night. We didn’t even do anything, and it was the best night of my life. We just cuddled, drifting off into sleep together.

After she opened up to me about her asshole of an ex, she’s been more open with me, she’s letting me in, and it’s the best thing ever. And now, I want to see her. I want to kiss her and touch her and look into those big brown eyes that I love so much.

“This is your fault,” I say to Aiden when James starts a new game.

He shrugs. “Hey, you can’t fault me for trying to start some healthy competition.”

Grayson lets out a scoff. “There’s nothing healthy about it. You’re competitive as fuck. You just love to watch others suffer.”

Aiden laughs. “They both suck. I thought it would be fun to see them play.”

“Hey.” I narrow my eyes at him.

He smirks, shaking his head. “Don’t worry. Grayson sucks too.”

His best friend punches him in the arm, and Aiden fakes a wince, rubbing his arm. “Asshole,” Grayson whispers.

I let out a laugh. I’m going to have fun hanging out with these guys when I attend Redfield next semester. Speaking of… I pull my phone out, smiling at the string of texts between me and Madeline. I can’t wait to tell her I got accepted.

Me:

I’m so sorry, princesa. Five more minutes and I’ll be there.

“Is that Madi?”

I lift my head, seeing Aiden grin. I narrow my eyes. “I know your girls told you about the contract.” Which is why this whole, ‘let’s hang out since you’re dating one of our friends’ is a little weird.

Grayson shrugs. “I don’t know shit.”

I let out a scoff, knowing that’s bullshit. “Madeline told me she told the girls about Ana hiring Madeline to be my fake girlfriend, which means they obviously told you.”

Grayson turns his eyes to me. “Yeah, we know.”

Aiden nudges Grayson. “We were trying not to say anything. The NDA and all,” he replies

“Yeah, but it isn’t fake anymore, so you don’t have to lie,” James tells them.

Shit. My eyes widen when the guys sit up, eyebrows knitted.

“Wait, what?” Aiden asks. “Leila didn’t tell me that.”

“Neither did Rosie.” Grayson shakes his head, looking at Aiden. “Our girls are keeping secrets from us. This is not good.”

Well, I guess now’s as good a time as any. “They don’t know,” I tell them. “Madeline hasn’t told them.”

“Wait. They didn’t know?” James asks, wincing. “Fuck, sorry, man.”

I shake my head. “It’s fine.”

“You’re keeping it a secret?” Aiden asks. “Let me fucking tell you, it’s going to be hard as shit being around your girl without kissing her.” He groans, shaking his head. “It was pure agony when I had to stay away from Leila.”

Grayson laughs. “What the fuck are you talking about? You and Leila were so obvious.”

“We were?” Aiden asks, brows furrowing.

“Yes,” Grayson says, laughing. “Me and Rosie talked about it all the time,” he says.

“You did?”

Grayson scoffs. “Dude, whenever you guys were in a room together, you’d eye fuck her like she was already naked.”

Aiden grins, clasping his hands behind his head, and stretches his legs onto the coffee table in front of him. “Yeah,” he muses, staring off, no doubt picturing his girlfriend naked. He shakes his head after a few seconds, blinking. “What were we talking about again?”

“Idiot,” Grayson murmurs with a smirk on his lips.

I love knowing Leila is being treated well. She’s been an important part of my life for so long, ever since we worked together, and she helped my sister whenever I asked. It’s amazing seeing someone love her like she deserves.

I rub my jaw. “You guys don’t talk about me and Mads, right?”

Grayson and Aiden glance at each other, speaking some kind of silent language, telling me everything I need to know.

“What the fuck?”

“Hey,” Aiden says, holding his hands up. “My girl thinks you guys are destined for each other, and you’d end up dating for real. I thought she was insane, seeing as you guys hated each other, but then you had to go and prove me wrong.” He shakes his head. “I owe her a foot rub now.”

“A foot rub?” Grayson asks.

Aiden nods, a grin on his lips. “She loves my hands. What can I say?”

Grayson shakes his head, glancing at me. “Why don’t the girls know?” he asks me. “Because I’m sure as shit not going to keep this a secret from Rosie.”

I sigh, hoping Madeline doesn’t hate me for outing our not-so-fake relationship. “She made some sort of bet with Gabi.”

“Oh fuck,” Aiden says, his eyes widening. “I remember that. Whoever ended up dating first had to do a forfeit.” His eyes narrow. “Madi’s going to have red hair?” he asks.

I smile. “She’s going to look so hot.”

My phone buzzes in my lap, and I grin, knowing it’s probably her.

“Speaking of…” I trail off, grinning like an idiot. I’m dying to see her, to talk to her, to kiss her. Aiden was right. This is fucking agony because all I want to do is show her off to the world.

But when I glance down at the screen, it’s not Madeline.

Ana’s text makes my heart race out of my chest when I click on the link she sent and see the title of the article attached.

What the hell?

I scroll down, scanning the article, my heart racing uncontrollably the more I read.

What. The. Fuck.

They know.

They know it’s fake.

“Fuck,” I curse, squeezing my phone in my hand.

“What’s wrong?” James asks a hint of humor in his voice. “Madi dumped you yet?”

“They know.”

“Know what?” he asks, his focus on the game in front of him.

“They know,” I repeat, glancing up at him. His head snaps to face me, and his face drops at my expression. “They know everything.”

“Fuck,” James says, his eyes rounding. “How?”

I shake my head. I don’t fucking know. “An anonymous source,” I explain, my brain turning to fucking mush, trying to comprehend what is happening. Who the hell could it be? “Apparently, they’ve known for a while. They heard me and Madeline talk about the contract when it was still fake between us.”

“Shit man, I’m so sorry,” Aiden says, his face dropping.

“What about the NDA?” Grayson asks.

Fuck. I completely forgot about that.

“I need to go.” I lift myself off the couch, ringing Ana as soon as I’m out of the door.

She picks up immediately. “Are you kidding me?” she yells into the phone. “After everything we did to save your career, you manage to throw it all away?”

My jaw flexes, every muscle in my body tightening. “Did you read the article?” I ask her. “It wasn’t fucking us. An anonymous source has proof.”

“What proof?” she asks. “How would anyone know? Did you tell anyone?”

I squeeze my eyes closed, thinking of Madi. She was so nervous about that goddamn NDA, I can’t put her in this position.

“I told my family,” I tell her. “But that’s it. No one else.”

“Unbelievable,” Ana scoffs. “Did the contract mean nothing to you?” she asks.

“It did,” I assure her. “But it wasn’t them. They would never do this.”

“Well, someone did,” she replies. “And now everything we’ve worked so hard for has all been for nothing.”

I shake my head, just wanting to come out and say it. “We’re dating,” I blurt out. “Me and Madeline are dating. Isn’t that enough to discredit the source?” I ask her.

She lets out a laugh, strained and bitter. “Maybe if you had told me this before, we could have gotten ahead of it, but they heard you, Lucas. They heard a fight between you.” She lets out a harsh sigh. “I should have known this would happen.”

“I don’t understand.” I shake my head. “When would they have heard us? We didn’t—” I trail off when realization hits. “The party.”

“Party?” she asks. “What party?”

Fuck. Of course. How did I not think of that before? “We… we were arguing before we got together, and we were in public, so I took Madeline to a quieter place.” I rub my jaw. “We talked about the contract,” I admit, knowing this is going to kick me in the fucking ass. “Someone must have heard.”

“God damn it, Lucas.”

“Listen,” I start, my hand clutching the phone in my fist. “We happened to be arguing and someone followed us, alright? I didn’t see who it was, but they must have heard everything, and they have proof. I don’t know what of, but it was enough that the media would post about it.”

A heavy sigh comes from the other side. “This is a nightmare,” she mumbles. “Your career will be done after this,” she says, her voice hardened. “Your credibility is in shambles, Lucas. There’s no way another company will want to associate with you after this.”

I don’t give a fuck about that anymore.

I haven’t cared about modeling for a long time, and to be honest, I don’t think I ever did.

As long as my family and my girl are taken care of, I don’t care what happens to my career.

I hang up the call and shove my phone in my pocket.

I need to replace Madeline. They’re going to be ruthless, and she’s the most important thing right now. I need to protect her, even if it’s the last thing I do.