The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(21)

My jaw hangs open as Abigail turns red in anger and grabs her bottle of water. I want to kill Sophie for provoking her like that, but then I know why she did it—to distract Abigail from me and switch her focus. “I swear to God, Sophie, I will rip your hair out if you keep this up.”

“Try it,” Sophie responds dryly, dipping a fry in ketchup like she doesn’t have a care in the world.

Abigail’s nose flares and she scrambles to a standing position, reaching out toward Sophie. “You little bi—”

“Enough,” Chase says sharply as Aaron reaches out and pulls Abigail back. “Get your shit together, Abbie.”

The two stare at each other for what feels like a lifetime and my heart starts beating faster in my chest. Nobody else looks particularly surprised at this, not even Sophie. I guess Abigail’s behavior isn’t new. She looks like she’s about to tear the place apart, but whatever is passing between her and Chase seems to work because she sits back in her seat and crosses her arms. She looks like she wants Sophie to suffer a long, painful death, but she doesn’t say anything else.

Sophie offers her the fakest smile I’ve ever seen before turning back to Jackson. “So where’s Mark?”

“Avoiding you.”

“What?” She looks outraged. “Why?”

“Because he knows you don’t take no for an answer and he’s back on your radar.”

Sophie’s jaw drops open. “Are you being serious?”

“As a heart attack,” Brendon tells her, grinning. “His heart can’t take the trauma again.”

Sophie bursts out laughing and Sasha joins her. “You’re kidding. You have got to be kidding me.”

Chase smirks and shifts in even closer to me. I try my hardest not to squirm away. “Direct quote, Steele.”

Sophie shakes her head, looking over at me. I just shrug. It doesn’t surprise me. He was crazy about her and she got bored and went somewhere else—I wouldn’t want to risk getting hurt again either.

“Jenna ended things with him yesterday,” offers Sarah Billington, the knower of all gossip. Abigail glares at her, clearly pissed that she’s talking to Sophie, but Sarah doesn’t even notice, her urge to gossip stronger than her loyalty. “Said she didn’t want to be with someone whose mind was elsewhere, but I think she’s interested in the new exchange student from Australia.”

Sophie raises her eyebrows but doesn’t look shocked. I’d bet money she knew Mark was single again.

“So, Chapman,” Aaron starts just as our food arrives and I swipe a handful of fries. “You ready for your game next week?”

I nod, the familiar anxiety of game day twisting in my stomach. I know I’ll be fine when I get out on the field, but I’m always scared I’m going to mess up, especially with the playoffs coming up and me wanting to impress the scouts for a scholarship. There’s just too much on the line.

“You’ll kill it,” he tells me. “How many goals have you scored this season? Fifteen?”

“Sixteen.”

I look at Chase in shock. How does he know my goal tally? He just shrugs like it’s no big deal while Sophie beams proudly across from me. “Highest on the team,” she tells the table, looking around to make sure they’re all listening. “She’s gonna beat the school record by the end of the year.”

“Soph, don’t,” I say, embarrassed to have everyone looking at me but loving her even more than usual. Sophie is the sole reason the cheerleaders cheer for us at our games. When we were freshmen, they only cheered for the main sports—guys’ lacrosse and soccer (football isn’t big in Newsummer, Florida). Sophie wasn’t having any of that and campaigned for them to cheer the girls on too, eventually wearing everybody down so much that they agreed, even though we don’t get enough spectators at to our games to justify it. She’s told me before that the only reason she’s stayed on the team is so she can cheer for me, and I believe her. When I’m playing, I can hear Sophie shouting louder than anyone else.

“Well, I’ll be there,” Aaron tells me with a smile. He started coming to some of my games earlier this season after we became friends and is really helpful at giving me constructive advice and criticism.

“Me too,” Chase chimes in.

“Oh, you don’t have to,” I reply before I have time to think. “It’s really not a big deal.”

The table seems to fall silent around me and I realize maybe I should have waited to say that when we were alone. I guess publically rejecting him doesn’t exactly scream devoted girlfriend.

“Maybe I want to,” he replies tersely.

“Really, you don’t—”

I receive a kick under the table and when I look over at Sophie, she’s glaring me. I know me telling Chase not to come to my game isn’t helping our relationship look real, but I really don’t want him there. Chase is good at soccer—not just good, on-another-level good, as in could go professional one day, and I don’t want him there judging me. Soccer is so important to me, and I don’t want him imposing on that as well as everything else.

“Don’t want your man there to support you, huh?” Abigail asks. She looks over at Chase pointedly. “Real believable.”