The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(17)

He finally looks up, and the guilt is all over his face. He doesn’t have to say it. He knows there was something different between us on Saturday night, and he knows he picked Courtney and a quick hook-up with her over me. The question is whether he’s going to admit to it or not.

“Hey, hey!” He’s saved from answering by Sophie appearing. I send her a quick smile then escape to get my food without stopping to wait for Jessie’s response or any more questions he’s planning on sending my way. I make my way over to the food counter and ignore the curious whispers that seem to be following me. Sophie appears at my side and orders her own food. “Everyone thinks you hooked up,” she whispers to me. “People keep asking me if it’s true.”

“What do you say?”

She shrugs. “Nothing. I’m not going to say anything until you tell me either way.”

I manage a small smile. It’s a shame Chase doesn’t have the same morals.

“What has Jessie said about Saturday?”

“Nothing. He just asked me about the rumor. He hasn’t said anything about Courtney.”

A smirk fills Sophie’s face as she turns to me. “It’s working already.”

I roll my eyes. I don’t care about that right now. I can’t get that guilty look that was on Jessie’s face out of my mind. Did he really think him going off with Courtney wouldn’t hurt me? Or did he just not care?

We pay for our food and head back to our table. My stomach sinks through the floor when I see Courtney in my seat when I get back. She’s never joined us for lunch before.

“You’re in Livy’s seat,” Sophie tells her the second she’s in earshot. She turns and looks at me then shrugs innocently before moving over to the empty seat by Jessie, sitting way closer to him than necessary.

“Hey guys,” she says brightly, addressing both of us, but her eyes linger on me. She’s never liked me. I guess I can understand why. I probably wouldn’t like it if my boyfriend had female best friends he’s super close with, but she’s always been perfectly nice to Sophie. Maybe I’m not as subtle with my feelings as I think I am and she knows I’m in love with him.

“Hey,” Sophie replies flatly, sending a dirty look toward Jessie. I know she won’t be impressed that the girl he ditched me for on Saturday is now eating lunch with us, but I can’t help thinking it’s not actually his fault. Maybe I just imagined the way he was looking at me at the party. Maybe I wanted something so badly that I thought I saw something that wasn’t there and have just blown this whole thing up in my head.

I go to grab my pizza slice off my plate then drop my hand back down when Courtney reaches out and wraps her arm around Jessie’s shoulders. Suddenly I don’t feel hungry anymore.

I turn my attention to Sophie and she must see how close I am to losing it because she launches into telling me all about the presentation she has to give in English, not letting Courtney or Jessie get a word in edgewise as I focus solely on her. I’m so concerned about not crying in front of them and taking tiny bites of my pizza that I almost miss Sophie’s eyes lighting up a second before a hand clamps down on my shoulder.

“Hey.” I turn to see Chase standing over me.

Of course. Just to make this lunch even more horrific, I now have the reason half the school has been gawping at me all morning about to add to my problems.

“Hey,” I say back quickly. My voice isn’t exactly welcoming.

I am not impressed with him starting those rumors without my consent. I have not agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend and he should not have gone ahead with it just because he wants Abigail Baker to back the hell off.

“What do you want?” I ask sharply, raising an eyebrow at him, hopefully getting my feelings of disdain across with one look.

He smirks back at me, not seeming to care one bit about what I think. “Yeah, Chase,” Sophie chimes in. “What do you want? Can’t leave her alone for two seconds, huh?”

My jaw drops and I turn to glare at her as I hear Chase chuckle behind me. I can’t believe she’s selling me out like this. “Something like that,” he replies.

I risk a glance at Jessie, whose eyes are suddenly fixed on my face. Courtney just looks confused; apparently the rumors haven’t reached her ears.

“Hey, man,” Chase says, directing his gaze at Jessie this time. He squeezes my shoulder in what I can only assume he thinks is a reassuring gesture. “Awesome party on Saturday, huh?”

Jessie barely nods his head, his eyes darting between me, Chase behind me, and Chase’s hand on my shoulder. He seems dumbfounded.

“Looks like we both got what we wanted.”

Jessie blushes a deep red and Courtney preens in her seat. There’s no mistaking the dig in Chase’s tone. I can’t handle this. I can’t sit here and have Chase act like he wants me while the girl Jessie wants basks in the glory of his comment.

“I have to go,” I mutter quietly. I grab my bag and stand up quickly, stepping away from Chase in the process. “See you later,” I tell Sophie.

“Wait up,” Chase says, reaching out and stopping me from leaving. “I’ll walk with you.”

“No, that’s not necessary,” I reply, turning to face him, the bite in my voice obvious for all to hear. I shake my head, silently begging him to drop this. I can feel eyes on me and I can’t handle this right now, not with Courtney sitting there with her arm wrapped around Jessie.