Page 7 of Pucking Good Girl

God, that makes it even worse. Macklin is way too good at being a fake boyfriend. So good that I’m starting to believe that he really wants to date me. That he isn’t saying that just to make Becks want me like he said he would when we made our deal.

My heart constricts in my chest at the thought that he’s going to walk away when he thinks we both fulfilled our end of the bargain.

Will he be interested in being at least my friend when our fake dating deal is over?

In a way, having him in my life as a friend will hurt more. Especially when he moves on and meets someone else. But I’d rather take the heartbreak than not having him in my life. I care about him way too much.

I love him.

This isn’t the first time the thought crosses my mind, but it’s the first time I let myself acknowledge it so openly.

And my feelings for him aren’t just fueled by lust. I care about him and I would do anything for him.

Even walk away to protect him and his reputation if it came down to it.

That’s what makes me hesitate to come clean about what happened this morning.

But I realize that Macklin and Becks are way too smart to buy a lie. I’ll be prepared to walk away if needed, but at least they’ll know the reason.

“I want to be honest with you,” I begin, cautiously. “But first you’re going to have to promise me something.”

The two brothers look at each other, confused.

“Sure.” They agree.

“What do you want us to promise?” Macklin asks.

I inhale a deep breath to gather the courage. “You have to promise that you aren’t going to overreact and do something stupid.”

Macklin straightens his posture at my words. “Talia, what happened? Why would Becks and I do anything stupid?”

Yeah, he’s a smart guy, and he’s immediately suspicious.

“Promise me.”

Macklin and Becks look at each other for a moment before nodding.

“Ok. We promise. Now, please tell us what’s wrong. I’m getting really worried.”

“This morning I received an email from Professor Cantucci’s office. She wanted to see me for a meeting. So since you guys were still at practice and I didn’t have any classes until the afternoon, I decided to go see her straight away. But she wasn’t in her office. She’s actually in Europe for the next two weeks. Her T.A. was there…”

I tell them everything. Starting with the two identical quizzes, the offer Victor made me in order to make the cheating scandal go away, and ending with my conversation with Gen right before they got back from practice.

Macklin shoots up from his seat so violently that the chair capsizes. “Let’s go, brother.” His tone is eerily calm, but his blue eyes darken to a stormy gray.

Becks stands up, his movements slow and deliberate, but the look on his face matches his brother’s.

“Where… where are you going?” I stutter.

“I think we need to pay a visit to Professor Cantucci’s T.A.” Macklin’s tone is still calm, but he’s literally vibrating with fury.

Becks agrees. “Yeah. Let’s explain to him that blackmailing students to get sexual favors in exchange for silence over their alleged academic cheating is not how you handle these kinds of situations.”

“Exactly. Besides, I want to see how he’ll use his dick when it’s been shoved so far up his own ass that he’ll have to go to the ER to get it removed if he ever wants to take a shit again.”

He says that last part with a satisfied smile, cracking his knuckles as if he were anticipating ripping Victor’s dick off.

“Please sit back down.” I plead.