Puck

I never thought I'd see a girl so happy about the idea of not dating me. It's not like I expect every girl to want me, but I didn't think one would be so excited about not wanting me either. It's sort of an odd experience, but Marlowe is smiling so brightly that it's impossible to be offended, even if I am a little confused.

"It's simple," she explains, "We both just pretend that we hit it off while meeting tonight and then when school starts we let people see us together a few times. They'll all start talking and in no time everyone will believe we're dating whether we tell them we are or not. We just won't deny it if anyone asks."

That wouldn't be too hard to pretend. After all, we did hit it off when we met in Toronto the other week, but something else she said earlier is nagging at me. "You said before that every girl was going to want me if they thought we hooked up," I point out with a small frown.

She nods. "Well, yes, girls are fickle that way. They always want who the cheer captain has. But if they think we're dating, and that it wasn't just a hook-up, they'll know they can't have you."

"Not all girls are like that," I find myself saying in defence of females.

Marlowe frowns. "Well, no, but the ones that are going to be hounding you for attention if they think you're single are."

I couldn't deny that. The girls at my last school had been a little crazy. Even Sadie took a trip to the crazy side when she heard I was drafted into the OHL.

"Okay," I agree with a slow nod, "Let's do it." I stand from the bed and cross the room to where she's standing, then take her hand in mind. "Marlowe, would you like to be my fake girlfriend?"

She looked a little nervous as I first approached, but now she laughs and smiles at me. "I would love to, Jonah. Or, uh, Puck."

I shrug my shoulders and return her smile. "My girlfriend can call me Jonah if she wants."

She shakes her head. "No, Puck is fine. You're a hockey player before my boyfriend, right? Even if it's a fake relationship."

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," I reply while forcing out a laugh.

I've never minded my nickname before, but Marlowe seems to hate it. I like the way she says my real name better.

I'm still holding her hand but now she pulls free. She walks toward the bedside table where I put the beer can down earlier and picks it up for a drink before I can warn her.

It looks like she almost spits it out but she manages to force it down. "Ew, what is wrong with your beer? It tastes like..." She holds up the can and frowns at it, then looks over at me. "Is there water in here?"

I grimace and nod. "Uh... Yeah?"

"Why?" she questions with a hint of laughter in her voice.

Embarrassed, I shrug my shoulders. "Well, I'm not supposed to drink. It's a rule since I'm on the Icedogs and am staying with people who aren't my parents... But everyone here expects me to drink, and I don't feel like being the one to give them a pep talk on responsibility, so..."

She doesn't make fun of me or question my reasoning anymore. She just looks at the can in her hand. "Why does it taste like dishwater? You couldn't have rinsed it out a few times to get the beer taste out of it?"

I laugh while I shrug again. "I didn't think that far ahead. I just dumped it in the bathroom sink and filled it again with water."

She joins in with my laugh. "It's so gross!"

I grin while I nod in agreement. "It really is. But as my fake girlfriend, you need to promise not to tell anyone, okay?"

"No one's going to care if you don't drink," she states while setting the water-beer back on the nightstand.

"You would be surprised."

"Okay, whatever you say, boyfriend." She rolls her eyes at me and begins to walk to the door.

I step in front of her to stop her from leaving. "Wait a minute. You can't walk out like that and expect anyone to really believe we hooked up."

She frowns at me and then looks down at her off-white, silk blouse loosely tucked into her jean skirt. She grips the side of it and tugs it free from the waistband. "Better?"

"A little." I step closer to her and lift my hands slowly to the collar of her shirt. "May I?"

She gives me a puzzled look, then a slow nod.

I clasp one of the dainty buttons between my fingers and work on pushing it through the button-hole. It takes longer than it should and I chuckle softly as I move my gaze from the button to her face. "These are the tiniest buttons."

Marlowe's cheeks are turning the cutest shade of pink. She has a faint splatter of freckles across them and her nose, which I hadn't noticed before. "Sorry," she mumbles quietly.

"You should be," I tease as I manage to get the button free, "You should have thought about this when you designed and sewed your outfit for the night."

My teasing makes her laugh and roll her eyes at me, and the sound does something funny to my chest.

Damnit. This isn't going to be as easy as I thought. Even knowing this girl doesn't want to date me, I'm going to have a hell of a time keeping my mind off her.

"I'm going to kiss you." The words are out of my mouth before I can think about them. My hands lightly grip her by the collar of her shirt while I wait for her to shut me down.

"Okay," she breathes out her answer to my utmost surprise, and I close the space between us to get my lips on hers before she can change her mind.

----------

Marlowe

This wasn't part of the plan.

Jonah's mouth is moving against mine like it was made for me, and my hands have somehow found their way into the thick mop of hair on top of his head.

I don't even know how it happened. One minute, he was nerdy, awkward Jonah and I was laughing at him for drinking water from a beer can and the next minute, he was popping open a button of my shirt and telling me he was going to kiss me senseless.

Okay, I don't think he actually said it quite like that, but he might as well have.

His hands skim from my collar down my sides to find my hips. He turns me in a slow circle and backs me into the door while keeping his mouth firmly pressed against mine.

I grip his strong shoulders to pull him closer to me and feel him smiling against my lips before he reaches up to lightly grasp my chin and slips his tongue into my mouth.

Too much! Not necessarily in a bad way, but I'm suddenly feeling completely overwhelmed. It feels amazing and I don't really want it to stop, but no one has ever kissed me like this.

Perhaps Jonah notices the change in me or maybe he's had enough because he stops kissing me and takes a small step back. His hand remains on my chin and he lightly runs his thumb along my jawbone as he smiles down at me.

"That's better," he says in a soft, low voice. His hand moves from my chin to lightly tousle my hair.

"Huh?" I ask dumbly, still trying to figure out what just happened.

"You look freshly hooked up with," he explains with a grin.

The reality of the situation comes rushing back to the forefront of my brain. I stand up a little straighter and give him a small push to regain some of my personal space. "Go get your water-beer, Puck. You don't want to leave that abomination behind for someone to find."

"Good call. Thanks, babe." He leans down to kiss my cheek and then turns away to retrieve his gross drink.

My stomach is still fluttering and I'm sure my cheeks are flaming red when he comes back to where I'm standing by the door.

"Shall we?" He gestures to the door behind me.

I give him a short nod and turn around to open the door. Puck steps out after me and we make our way to the staircase.

We barely make it three steps down when Devon's voice hollers over top of the music, "Looks like someone's gotten Puuuuck'd!"