Free The Way to Game the Walk of Shame by Jenn P. Nguyen Page B

I’ll do it.” Even though I had made my decision once Aaron told me what was going on, I still couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of my mouth.
    Taylor stared at me and then around the room as though she wasn’t sure this was real. That I was actually standing at her front door. Cookie crumbs were dusted all over her lips, while Oreo wagged his tail and scampered around our feet. “Uh, what?”
    I pushed my way inside and pulled the stupid contract out of my back pocket. “I said I’ll be your boyfriend.”
    Her brown eyes widened in shock. “Really? I mean, seriously? You’re saying yes?”
    God, how many times was she going to make me say it? My hand scrawled a large, messy signature on the bottom line before I handed it over to her. “Yeah.” I couldn’t help but chuckle at the shocked look on her face and the way she clutched the sheets as though I’d take them back. It almost made my idiotic decision worth it. Almost. “I thought you’d be ecstatic that you’re finally getting your way.”
    “I am, but…” Taylor stared down at the paper in her hands. “I didn’t really think you’d agree to this.”
    To be honest, I hadn’t thought I would, either. Still, I had nothing better to do—or rather, no one better to date—at the moment, so I had nothing to lose. Besides, I felt sorry for Taylor. And a fierce need to protect her. Like I told the jerks in the locker room, she wasn’t someone any of them should mess with. Not if they didn’t want to face the consequences. It only took a couple of punches at an empty locker for them to realize I was serious. I rubbed my sore knuckles against my palm. “Who knows? Maybe it’ll be fun.”
    “Fun?” She repeated the word slowly, like she’d never heard of it before.
    “Yeah, fun.” I leaned back against the open doorframe, since she hadn’t exactly invited me in. “It’s what Webster’s Dictionary describes as a way to make life enjoyable? Like if I wanted to have fun, I’d go to the beach, while your idea of fun would be to spend all weekend in the library polishing your pens and laminating your homework.”
    A glint appeared in her eyes, and she mimicked my stance, leaning against the wall facing the door. “But now that we’re dating, that means you’re going to have to come to the library with me.”
    I was starting to like the way she switched personalities so quickly. Hell, maybe I really was going crazy. “Why?”
    “It’s all here in the fine print.” She waved the paper in front of my face before sticking it in her back pocket. “You should have read it before signing. Didn’t anyone tell you that? Let this be a lesson for you in the future.”
    My eyes narrowed, but her face remained calm. A bit brighter from her gloating. “You’re bluffing.”
    “Maybe. Maybe not.”
    Hmm. If we were going to do this, she’d have to understand who was in charge around here.
    I leaned toward her. My left hand brushed the remaining crumbs off her soft lips before resting on the cool wallpaper on the other side of her waist so she’d be trapped in my arms. A flicker of panic crossed her face, but Taylor continued to stare up at me, not flinching or moving away. Not even when I bent down so my mouth would be right beside her ear. I let her take a deep breath before I whispered, “Then I’m going to need a copy of that contract.”
    Taylor let out another rattling breath and turned her head to face me. Her eyes were downward, so all I could see were her lashes. As though pulled together by some type of invisible force, our bodies angled even closer until her lips were barely an inch from mine. She touched my chest, and I could feel her hot hand through my T-shirt, making my body tense up. My gaze flickered down to her mouth for a split second before looking up again.
    Right before I was about to dip my head to kiss her, Taylor smiled up at me. A triumphant smile. “I’ll have a copy for you this weekend when you meet me for