I smile at her and lean my head against hers.

“Something tells me you’d miss that fine hunk of male. Nathan’s really great. I’m glad you have him.”

“Actually, that’s why I wanted to talk to you.”

Her brows pull together in confusion.

“I don’t have him. Not how you think.” Saying it out loud makes me realize how much I like him. I want to have him.

I give her the short version of the story. The bullet points. One-night stand, my big mouth claiming him as my boyfriend, and his real reason for helping me… money.

“Do you think I’m just as bad as my parents?” I ask, unlinking our arms so I can look her in the eye.

“Of course not.” Her tone is sincere but something in her expression tells me she’s holding back.

“But?”

“I don’t know if I believe that’s all this is. I’ve seen you two together. You can’t fake that kind of chemistry. Why not just date him for real?”

“I don’t want to get swept up in some guy so soon into the school year. I have to prove to myself that I deserved to be at Golden. I know it probably sounds dumb, but I need to know I could have done it on my own. And that I still can. But the more time I spend with him, the harder it is to not get carried away. And there’s the whole setup. I never know when we’re pretending or when it’s real. He might not even be interested in me if it weren’t for me paying him.” I groan.

“You said he asked for your number after your one night… I’d say he’s interested.”

“He was then, but that was weeks ago, and I’ve shown him a whole lot of crazy since then.”

“Talk to him. Tell him how you feel.”

“What if he doesn’t feel the same and then this whole thing would have been for nothing?”

“That’s another thing. You have to stop trying to win over your teammates by using Nathan.”

“You think I should come clean with them too?” My stomach churns at the thought of Bri’s smug face.

“I do. I get why you did it, but it’s not solely on you to fit in there. You’re an incredible player and a pretty kick-ass person, too. Don’t play their games. You’re too good for that. You’ve never let people push you around, not even when they came down hard on you for your parents’ bullshit. Stand up to them, Chloe. You belong there. Don’t let them make you feel otherwise.”

Her words hit on something I’d been thinking but hadn’t verbalized, and I know she’s right.