The Relationship Pact(40)

“But you will be,” Boone points out.

“I will not.”

I look at Bellamy. She’s sitting on the edge of my bed, pursing her bright red lips. She’s sending me telepathic messages of encouragement. I feel it. When I grin at her, she laughs.

“You will be fine,” she insists. “Trust your gut.”

“I am. And it’s telling me to just remember this isn’t real. We’re just going to be faking things tonight for Mom’s benefit, and I’ll never see him again.” I look back at the mirror. “I can handle this.”

My reflection looks back at me. I look self-assured and confident, and I try to absorb as much of that as I can.

Before I can add anything to my little pep talk, the doorbell rings.

My head whips to Bellamy’s.

Boone heads toward the doorway. “I’ll get this.”

I start to object but stop because it’s pointless.

Boone’s steps fall down the hallway. The door opens. His voice mixes with Hollis’s as they exchange hellos.

My blood pressure spikes as Hollis’s presence infiltrates my house. A rush of excitement sparks through me as I stand tall and motion to myself.

Bellamy does a quick once-over and gives me a thumbs-up.

I grab my nude-colored clutch, take a deep breath, and head for the hallway.

My heart is beating so hard that I think I might pass out.

“I had a friend who went to Braxton,” Boone is saying as I make my way toward the foyer. “He played lacrosse. There was some bar there that he was always talking about that had something to do with aliens.”

I can’t see Hollis, thanks to the way Boone is standing. But as soon as I hear Hollis’s voice, a chill causes a flurry of goose bumps up my arms.

“The Truth Is Out There,” Hollis says with a laugh. “That’s our favorite place. It’s kinda crazy with all the alien bullshit, but it’s fun.”

Boone steps to the side to look out the window. As soon as Hollis is in my line of sight, I almost die.

“Holy shit,” Bellamy whispers from behind me.

Holy shit is right.

“Look at him,” I whisper back.

Hollis is in head-to-toe black—suit, pants, shirt, and long, skinny tie. His shoulders fill out the jacket and make him look wider and stronger than even before. His waist is wrapped in a black belt.

He looks polished and sophisticated with a side of rogue thanks to his hair. It’s a sight that I wasn’t ready to behold.

He looks absolutely divine.

His eyes grow wide as I grow closer. “Wow, Larissa. You’re … fucking gorgeous.”

Boone turns around. His brow is crinkled. “We can go with beautiful.”

“Beautiful, then,” Hollis says with a smile. “That works.”

We stand like two teenagers going to prom, facing each other but scared to actually touch. Suddenly, this seems like a terrible, rotten idea because I have no idea how I’m going to keep my wits about me tonight.

I don’t think I can.

My brain screams at me to stay in check while my body begs for a free pass. My mind can’t deny that a free pass—especially under the circumstances I just carefully laid out to my friends—wouldn’t be the end of the world.

If the opportunity presents itself.

What do I have to lose?

“Boone,” Bellamy says, “this is our cue to go, good buddy.”

He sticks a hand out to Hollis. “It was nice to meet you. Nice car, too. Is it fast?”

“Oh, hell yeah,” Hollis says, giving his hand a shake. “I’ll take you for a ride when we have more time. It’s a twelve-second car.”

“No shit?” Boone asks.

“Yeah. River and I did it on this abandoned stretch of the way just off the campus. It used to be an old mine road or something, and we ran it just to see what it’d do. Quarter-mile in twelve seconds. Not too bad.” He smiles proudly.

“That’s awesome,” Boone tells him, side-eyeing me before turning back to Hollis. “Hey, are you coming to our New Year's Eve party?”

Hollis looks at me. I can see the hesitation in his eyes because we haven’t discussed that. We haven’t discussed anything after tonight because our relationship pact ends after Jack’s party.

“I haven’t brought it up,” I say so that Hollis doesn’t have to stumble his way through it. “He might have plans.”

“You gotta come,” Boone says. “We’ll all be there.”

“Not me,” Bellamy says.

I look at her. “Really, Bells?”

She shakes her head adamantly back and forth. “Not if Coy is coming.”

“He’s my brother. What are we supposed to do? Not invite him?” Boone asks, rolling his eyes.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” she says.

“Just avoid him,” Boone tells her.

“Trust me. I try. I avoid him like the fucking plague, but he is the fucking plague. I’d rather just avoid him from my house.”

I’m not entirely sure what happened between the two of them, but it’s been going on for a long time. Coy seems less hateful about Bells than she does him, but it doesn’t matter. She loathes Boone’s brother.

Or so she says.