The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(24)

I stand up abruptly. “I’ll be right back,” I tell them.

Jessie glances up at me for a moment, looking a little confused at my sudden announcement, but then Courtney shifts even closer to him and he’s right back to gazing into her eyes.

Okay then.

I turn abruptly, unsure what I’m actually doing, and then I hear a loud laugh from Chase’s table and turn to see Brendon high-fiving him. Chase—right. I know how to get Jessie’s attention and pay him back for that little remark.

I walk quickly over to his table, weaving my way through all the different groups—the stoners, the mathletes, the debate club—and I even manage a grim smile when Hallie looks up from the girls’ soccer table and grins at me. I look confident as hell striding through them all, but by the time I actually reach Chase’s table, my legs have faltered slightly.

Aaron sees me first. “Hey.”

“Hi.” My voice is a lot softer than I would like it to be. The table quiets down and I can feel them glancing over at me.

Abigail, who is sitting directly in front of me, turns to look me up and down. The expression on her face makes my stomach roll. I’m clearly not welcome here. This is her domain. “Did you take a wrong turn?” she asks. I hear the gasps and snickers of her friends.

“Watch it, Abigail,” Chase snaps before I even have time to open my mouth. She goes to say something to him but the look he sends her shuts her up. No one else utters a word. Chase turns to look at me, and if he’s surprised I’ve showed up at his lunch table, he doesn’t show it. “Hey.” He smiles, his eyes warm. “You okay?”

I nod and force the best smile I can. “Uh, yeah. I’m good.”

There are a couple of seconds of silence while Chase waits for me to get to the reason I’m here, and my mind goes blank. What the hell was I thinking waltzing over like this? Everyone’s looking at me like I’m crazy, and while the guys at the table merely look like they’re waiting on me, the girls are starting to narrow their eyes, clearly judging everything about me right now.

“Livy?”

“Uh…” I glance behind me quickly and find Jessie watching me, his brow scrunched up like he’s confused. For a while earlier this year he tried to chat with this group a couple of times at lunch, trying to sit with them, but they weren’t exactly welcoming. In fact, I think it was Chase who made it clear he should return to us. I turn back to Chase, hesitate for a second, and then walk around the table so I’m standing behind him, rather than across from him.

“Can I, um, can I get in here?” I ask, my face burning at how awkward I am.

Chase looks surprised but Aaron doesn’t bat an eyelid. “Sure,” he replies, immediately shifting away from Chase and pushing the girl on his other side down the bench so there’s room for me.

I step over and sit down between them, actually closer to Aaron than Chase because it still feels weird being near him and I’m definitely more comfortable with Aaron.

I look around, noting everyone’s stares, and I actually feel my heart thudding nervously in my chest. They’re waiting for me to speak, to say something—something to justify why I’m here. These guys eat lunch together all the time, every day, and rarely does anyone new ever join them. This is their group, has been since freshman year, and no one infiltrates it. It might be different if I were Sophie—hell, if it were Sophie, she’d already be talking a million miles an hour and have everyone hooked on her every word—but I’m not. I’m Livy Chapman, and right now I look like a complete idiot—a complete unwelcome idiot.

“Um, so, hi.”

“You already said that,” Abigail says dryly.

I let out the fakest laugh that’s ever been heard and shift uncomfortably.

“Having a good day, Chapman?” Brendon asks from across the table. He has his eyebrows raised and asks the question haltingly, like he’s not sure if it’s the right thing to do, but it’s sweet of him to try to help me out.

I nod my head quickly and when I glance behind him, my gaze settles on my lunch table in the background. Sophie has a huge smirk on her face, clearly seeing and being entertained by this train wreck of a situation, but right beside her is Jessie, who is staring straight at me. He has a strange look on his face, somewhere between confused and irritated. Either way, he definitely looks interested. Courtney must see too, because her smarmy hands reach under the table, and suddenly Jessie’s focus is all on her as she leans in and attaches her mouth to his.

Chase clears his throat next to me and I realize I’ve zoned out while they all watch me watch Jessie. He’s not looking at me now, completely wrapped up in Courtney. Chase raises an eyebrow, a small smile playing on his lips and a challenge in his eye.

Right. RIGHT.

I turn to face him completely. “So yeah,” I say, completely at a loss for how to do this. “Um, hi,” I say for the millionth time.

He chuckles. “Hi, Liv.”

Oh fuck it.

I reach out, grab his shoulders, and turn him so he’s fully facing me, and then before I completely lose my nerve, I raise my hands to his face, take a deep breath, tilt his chin down toward me, and kiss him.

I kiss Chase Mitchell.

In the school cafeteria. On a Wednesday at lunchtime. In front of everyone.

It takes all of two seconds for him to respond—all of two seconds until he wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his side, kissing me back so hard the force makes me lean backward into Aaron…all of two seconds for me to lose my train of thought and almost forget why I’m doing this in the first place.