Writing the Rules: A Fake Dating Standalone Mariah Dietz (best novels to read .txt) 📖

an audible sigh as she removes her hand from mine. “Thank you. I might hide out up here until it’s over.”

“Not passed out. Rae would kill me.”

She grins. “I have no intention of drinking until I’m passed out or blacked out or anything out. I just need some liquid courage so that when I do go back downstairs to help clean up, I don’t have to admit to everyone that I remember nearly no details from the party because I was too busy avoiding my past.”

I tilt my head toward the top of the stairs, and it’s the only hint she needs to finish the climb and walk down the long hallway that leads to four bedrooms and two bathrooms.

I open my door, and Poppy follows me in, her steps hesitant like she’s second-guessing her decision. Her gaze travels to the red and white Brighton U flag on my wall, then the poster of the Seahawks from a decade ago, before she moves her attention to my desk and the bookshelves my dad helped me build that are filled with books my grandpa has given me over the years, instilling in me that being well-read was as crucial as being well-traveled and well-rounded. Her attention stops on the space above my bed, where there are just a couple of framed pictures of my family and multiple gaps and empty nails from where pictures of Candace had been.

I move to my closet and withdraw a bottle of whiskey from the top shelf. It’s malted and has only been uncorked a couple of times, too good to be a conduit for getting wasted. It’s a drink to be savored for a celebration, but it's the only bottle I currently have, so I grab it and two coffee cups from my desk—a recent gift from Maggie that I haven’t brought down to the kitchen yet. I pour two fingers for each of us and then cork the whiskey.

Poppy is looking at the blank spaces on my wall again. “I heard you guys were taking a break.”

“We broke up,” I correct her, handing her the mug.

Poppy looks at me, the hint of a smirk on her face telling me she doesn’t believe me. No one does. Candace and I have broken up more times than I can count, and we’ve continued to get back together.

“It’s really over this time,” I insist.

“What makes this time different?”

“Because I can’t keep doing this. My coaches don’t trust me. My teammates don’t trust me. Everyone keeps looking at me like they’re waiting for me to fail.”

“And you think not dating Candace will help?” Her eyes pinch as though she’s afraid of my answer.

“It’s complicated. I don’t blame her for my actions. Nothing I’ve done has been her fault. It’s both of us. We bring out the worst in each other. But we have to get off the carousel because it’s starting to bleed into areas of my life that I can’t afford for it to impact.”

“Football?”

I nod.

“I know people give you a hard time about her and that she’s made some poor decisions, but I think it’s admirable that you don’t throw her under the bus.” Poppy proves once more why I’m grateful she’s Rae’s best friend. In a world filled with judgment and farce, Poppy has always seen the good in everyone and everything.

“What happened with Mike? Why did you guys break up?”

She tilts the cup in her hands, looking at the whiskey, and then swallows all of it with a wince. “We knew that the odds were stacked against us with him moving across the country. We wanted to end things amicably before someone made a mistake and possibly hurt the other.”

“But, you didn’t really want to break up?”

Her green eyes jump to mine. She takes the cup in my hands and swallows the contents. “I don’t know.”

I’m mildly amused and also slightly disappointed she drank my pour. I also hate that her answer makes so much sense. If anyone were to ask me why Candace and I kept trying and kept hurting each other, I wouldn’t be able to answer, either.

“So, what was your lie?” I ask.

Her eyes narrow with a cringe. “It’s nothing. Just something stupid.”

“It led you to seek me and alcohol out. Clearly, it’s not nothing.”

Her cheeks tinge pink. “I met Mike and his new girlfriend and told them I’m dating someone.”

“To make him jealous?”

She blows out a long breath. “Maybe? Probably? I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking.”

I shrug. “Don’t sweat it. Everyone lies about dating someone at one point or another to get out of a situation or get into one. Besides, you probably won’t see them again.”

“People lie and say they’re dating to make someone interested?” She looks genuinely baffled.

I chuckle, thinking of how I’ve used the lie when Candace and I were on breaks. There’s something about jealousy that would turn certain women on. Certain women like Candace.

Poppy stares at me for a moment, a look of hesitation that has a fine line creasing over her left brow. “I don’t know what my intention was.”

6

Poppy

Regret is hitting me like a hangover this morning as I help Raegan and Lincoln clean up after the Halloween party. My thoughts were so preoccupied when I got home last night that my journal entry was filled with Mike—how I’d been on edge at the idea he might come to the party, my discomfort when he did show up with Maddie and Tanner, and my worry that he would know I was lying. My costume and the time spent getting ready for the party now feel like a waste. I wish I could redo the night because I’d have spent my time doing a million other things other than caring about him or Chase.

“I had no idea people were so gross,” Rae says as she peels a chewed wad of gum off the living room wall.

Lincoln frowns. “I need some caffeine before I can deal with this.”

“We could go to Beam Me Up.