The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(27)

“Well, I’ll tell you what will happen: nothing. Exactly nothing.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do—I ditch at least once a week.”

My eyes widen in horror. “What? Do you know how bad that is for your education?”

He rolls his eyes. “You need to relax.” I stare straight ahead and nearly jump out of my skin when he suddenly places a hand on my hands to stop me twisting them together. It’s my nervous habit; whenever I’m worried or anxious, I end up wringing my hands together and picking at my fingers. “I promise nothing will happen.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You’re a real worrier, huh?

I shrug, trying to act nonchalant, but it’s a complete lie. I worry about everything. I can’t help it.

“Honestly, Livy, nothing will happen.”

I nod. I guess he’d know.

“I can’t believe I did that in there,” I admit.

He grins. “Kinda surprised me too, but I’m not complaining.”

I blush. “I guess you got your way.”

“It seemed to be working to your benefit too when I came over.”

My heart slams. Jessie was pissed. He was definitely pissed. He wouldn’t react like that unless he cared, right?

“You wanna get some food?” Chase asks. “We can go to a drive-thru and take it back to my house. No one will be there.”

His house?! I’m shaking my head before I even realize it. I can’t go back to Chase Mitchell’s house.

“I guess you can just drop me off at home.” I pause. “Or, wait—my car’s right here. I’ll drive myself home.”

I reach for the door handle but he hits the internal locks. “No way. We need to talk about our arrangement, figure out a few things.”

“Chase, come on, I’m a terrible actress. I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Well you seemed to think it was back there.”

I blush even redder because there’s no arguing with that. I certainly instigated what just happened, but I hate—HATE—that everyone was so interested.

“You didn’t have to drag me out of there. I think they got the point. Now the whole damn school is gonna think we’re off having sex somewhere.”

He raises an eyebrow.

I’m mortified. “I am not having sex with you!”

He laughs again, which is all he ever seems to do—laugh at me. “Give me some credit, Chapman. I’m not an animal. We can just hang out.”

Oh fuck, fuck, fuck. What have I gotten myself into? “Everyone’s gonna think we’re doing stuff,” I say quietly.

“Livy, I promise you no one will care. They won’t even be talking about it.”

I scoff. He’s delusional if he thinks that. Grove Valley High School is centered around gossip, especially if it involves Chase Mitchell.

He must see the look on my face. “Okay, some people might care, but most people will already have forgotten about it, and they definitely won’t care by tomorrow.”

I sigh. “Yeah?”

He nods before a wicked grin takes over his face. “Although I know two people who definitely cared and definitely won’t have forgotten about it by tomorrow.” When I don’t say anything in return, he continues. “Abigail was fuming when you walked away.” This information makes my stomach flip. She’s not someone you want to cross. “She definitely doesn’t think there’s nothing going on anymore, and Stephenson? He looked like he wanted to kill me.”

My heart hammers at this. “Really?” I ask, even though part of me knows it’s true. I saw his face, but I want the reassurance.

“Definitely,” he confirms.

I turn back toward the front, looking out the windshield. That’s what I wanted, wasn’t it? To get Jessie’s attention and make him jealous?

“So, should we get some food?”

I sigh and nod my agreement. It’s not like I want to walk back into school and face any questions there. I might as well see how it goes, but as Chase maneuvers his car out of the lot, I can’t help but have a bad feeling about this.





AN HOUR LATER, I’M STILL twisting my hands together and tapping my toes against the floor. The TV’s on and I’m sitting on the sofa in Chase’s game room (yup, his house actually has a game room), but I couldn’t tell you what we’re watching even if you paid me a million bucks. My mind is still on school and that scene in the cafeteria.

Chase has been glancing over at me periodically, trying to make conversation and telling me to eat some of the food piled on the table in front of us. I’ve barely looked at it, and nothing is helping. I keep picturing all those eyes on me and the look on Jessie’s face when I left with Chase.

“Geez, Livy—you’re making me nervous!”

I jump in my seat, startled out of my thoughts, and turn to see Chase staring at me.

“Sorry,” I mumble. “I…um…”

“You’re really stressing, aren’t you?” He doesn’t sound annoyed, more interested.

I nod miserably. “I know it’s stupid. I can’t help it.”

“It won’t help if I tell you again that it’s not a big deal, huh?”