“You’re still not forgiven. I’m only here because you’re blackmailing me. I wouldn’t come near you otherwise.”

“You certainly were ready to come all over me before.” The glare I direct at him drops the temperature in the car by a few degrees. He blows out a slow, strained breath and grips the wheel with both hands. “Okay. Whatever. Noted.”

We ride in silence for a long stretch. The drive to school isn’t long, and I realize I’m wasting a good opportunity for the details I’m desperate for.

“So what’s our deal? Or rather, your deal that I have no choice but to accept because the alternative is…yeah, no thanks. Asshole.” I shift a little to face him better as we drive through Ridgeview, turning onto the tree-lined road that leads up to the school. “When did we get together? How did it happen?”

Connor cuts a look at me from the corner of his eye. “We’ll keep it simple so it’s easy to remember. We’ve grown up as neighbors. Got together over summer or something. You’re the girl next door, what’s not to like about that?”

I frown as he hitches a shoulder. “That’s unimaginative.”

Amusement crosses his face. “We could always use the true version: you sent me a wrong number nude and I was like aight.”

“You ass! We are not using that. And I wasn’t naked.”

“Yet. Shortly after?” Connor hums, shifting in the driver’s seat. “So gloriously naked.”

With a scandalized squeal, I swat his arm, overwhelmed by his proximity and what he’s saying. He drives me to things I never do.

He laughs. The corner of his mouth tugs up in a crooked grin as he turns the wheel with the heel of his palm, entering the student parking lot.

“You want a whirlwind romance, or something? I’m just trying to make it easy. It’s not like it’s real.”

The words slice me and I suck in a pained gasp.

It’s not real.

Right.

For as big as his SUV is, I’m suffocated by being so near to him while my emotions spiral.

Connor is my first actual boyfriend, but it’s all fake.