Let's Pretend It's Love

Elise’s legs were kicked up on the coffee table, while she lay comfortably back on the sofa. She kept her large textbook placed carefully on her lap. The highlighter between her fingers graced the page occasionally, as it glazed over the most important text. She would have to go back and memorize everything later, but for now, she just wanted to give the chapter a good look over.

Elise had just hit one of the most important points in the chapter when the front door swung open, letting in a cold breeze with it. The wind was quickly followed by the unmistakable sound of Rhianne’s loud laughter.

The beautiful girl entered the house, with Liam trailing directly behind her. The boy’s hand was wrapped tightly Rhianne’s books, sending a chuckle to Elise’s throat. That boy would do anything for her.

Just as Elise was about to ask Rhianne how her day was, her words were cut short.

Following behind Liam was the curly haired boy from all of Elise’s nightmares. He had a smile on his face, as he made a remark to Liam, which caused both him and Rhianne to laugh.

“Elise,” Rhianne said, as she moved over to the sofa. “How was your day, hun?”

Elise snapped her book shut. She knew better than to expect to get anymore studying done with another girl in the house. She’d have to go to the library later instead. Of course, that would be after she scolded Rhianne for bringing the panty dropper back to their house. This was the second time she’d done it unexpectedly.

“It was good.” Elise smiled at her, before turning to Liam. “What are you guys doing here?”

Unfortunately for Elise, Harry answered for him, tugging at his dark curls as he did so. “Rhianne’s laptop isn’t working, so we’re going to try to fix it.”

Elise nodded her head, trying with all her might not to look at his perfect sea green eyes. They were far too perfect to be human.

“Li,” Rhianne said smiling at her boyfriend. “Will you go upstairs with me to get it?”

After a nod of his head, his hand was on hers, and the pair was bounding up the stairs too quickly for Elise to object. She certainly would have if she could.

When they reached the halfway point, Rhianne turned back to her with a wink, as she looked between her and Harry. She was up to something.

A small sigh escaped Elise’s lips, and she quickly pulled her book back open. Calculating the number of calories in a reaction was the only thing that could keep her mind off of the beautiful boy a few feet away from her. She was lucky her love of science was greater than her love for his hair, or she might not have been able to help herself.

Every other word she read was followed with a reminder to herself that Harry had done more girls than she had done chemical conversions. The number of grams in a pound was less than or equal to the number of girls Harry has successfully bedded. She had more faith in that than the law of conservation of matter.

“So,” Harry said, taking the seat directly next to her. “Have you started liking me yet?”

Elise’s teeth tugged at her lip, as she used her hair to keep her line of vision away from him. She knew he had to be smiling at her, but she didn’t want to see it.

“Not quite.” Elise used her highlighter to swipe over the text again, marking yet another fact she would have to learn.

“You’re smart, huh?” He said it more as a fact than a question, distracting Elise’s attention from the text. She knew she was smart, but it wasn’t often someone told her, especially not a boy like Harry. Had he realized that was her weakness? “You really seem like it.”

She pulled her highlighter to her mouth, as she nibbled at the capped end. Every word Harry spoke made it harder for her to focus on studying. Rhianne was going to have to pay for leaving him alone with her.

Even though she was giving her best attempt at ignoring him, he still continued speaking.

“You’re the only tutor I’ve ever had that actually made sense of what was going on. I can tell you really understand the material.”

If he was going to try to charm his way into her pants by complimenting her intelligence, he was going to have another thing coming. The combination of his gorgeous eyes, perfect hair, and brilliant smile couldn’t compete with the string of sex tales spreading around campus. Nothing he said could make her forget that.

Her teeth continued biting at her highlighter, until she bit too hard. Yellow ink splattered across her face and textbook, as bits of it landed in her mouth, bringing a bitter taste to her tongue.

“Shit!”

She quickly brought her sleeve to her mouth and made several quick attempts at wiping the mess away. She didn’t want to wait to hear Harry crack jokes at her, probably sexual ones, so she stood straight up, her textbook falling to the floor as she did.

Harry’s hand landed on her elbow, the tips of her fingers sending chills through her body. She didn’t want to face him and have him see the yellow mess all over face, but she had no choice. His hand twisted her body towards him.

The moment his eyes landed on her colored face, a small smile fell to his face. It was nothing like the loud laughter she was expecting, but it still made her feel ridiculous.

Instead of the jokes she was prepared for, he caught her completely off guard.

His fingers moved up to her face, rubbing over the places the highlighter had covered her. The touch sent her face on fire and caused blush to flood to her cheeks. He smiled at this, and continued moving his calloused fingers against her.

With every swipe of his fingers, his face inched closer to hers. His warm breath fell on her lips and she only had seconds to make a decision about what was going to happen next. Those deep green eyes met hers, as her thoughts began racing. She wondered if this was how it happened with all of the girls.

“I should clean up.”

Her voice was lost to him, as her only attempt at moving away fell to the ears of the people of some far off land. He quickly ended any hesitation that she had by pressing his lips gently against hers.

The kiss was soft and simple, nothing more than a simple gathering of their breaths, and she was thankful, because she wasn’t sure if she could handle anything else. He was the heart throb and he was everything they had said he would be. He knew exactly what to do to make her melt, and it only made her detest him more.

How many hearts did he have to break to learn those secrets? She may never know, but she knew she wasn’t going to be one of them.

When Harry pulled away, his eyes locked on hers again, as a small smile fell to his lips. Elise wanted to smile back and run her hands through his perfect curls, but she couldn’t.

He was him. And he was bad news.