The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(31)

“Are we done studying now?” Sophie asks as she grabs another slice. I can’t help but smile. She’s been quiet for a whole hour—practically a record for her.

“I’m done,” Chase announces, slamming his textbook shut. Aaron follows suit.

“Good,” Sophie continues. “So now can we talk about the fact that your little show at lunchtime was hot enough to make me worry I’d get pregnant just watching?”

I choke on my pizza—full-on choke while Chase just smirks over at me. A couple minutes and several gulps of water later, I pull myself together enough to glare at Sophie.

“What? I’m telling the truth.”

Aaron starts laughing. “It was definitely a surprise.” He glances over at Chase. “Abigail was so mad.”

“Yeah?” he asks, never taking his eyes away from me, that same old smirk covering his face. “What about Stephenson?”

My heart lurches. They’ve got me, and all four of them know it. I glance over at Sophie, knowing what she’s going to say before she opens her mouth. As far as she’s concerned, there’s no question that I should be going along with Chase’s plan. Her next words confirm it.

“Pissed. He sat there for like two minutes, brushed Courtney off when she started rubbing up against him, and then stormed out of the cafeteria.”

My heart starts pounding in my chest.

“Really?” I know she wouldn’t lie to me, even if she does want to talk me into something, but she has been known to exaggerate the truth before and she’s so intent on me agreeing to this.

She nods.

“You promise?” I ask again.

“I promise, Liv. He was more pissed than I’ve seen him in a long time.”

I bite down on my lip to stop a grin spreading across my face. It’s not that I want Jessie to be angry—I’d never want him to be unhappy—but this shows that he cares, shows something I’ve done has actually affected him, and it feels good.

“So what do you say, Livy?” My attention is pulled back to Chase, who is gazing at me intently. “You gonna be my fake girlfriend?”

I only pause for a second, just a second, and then Jessie’s face flashes in my mind and I nod my head. “Sure, Chase. I’ll be your fake girlfriend.”



Twenty minutes later, I’m ready to leave. Sophie said she’d drop me off at home then take me to school tomorrow so I don’t have to go back for my car, and Chase and I have hashed out the details of our arrangement. I made a case for no more kissing, thinking back to the scene on his front lawn, but he just snorted and said no one would believe us. So, I compromised and said we could have two more public kisses (I get to pick one and he gets to pick the other) when the situation justified it, but it would have to be in front of either Abigail or Jessie in order for it to be effective. He countered, arguing that as I’d instigated our last kiss in the cafeteria, I owed him one more. I tried to say his peck on my lips counted but he wasn’t buying it, and I was tired of arguing with him by that point so I agreed. Three more public kisses, hanging out at school and in places we might get seen, and general ‘couple-y’ behavior. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

Chase and Aaron say goodbye to us at the front door and I’m on my way down the drive to Sophie’s car when she realizes she’s forgotten her phone. She jogs back up and passes Rosie, who’s on her way out. I smile at her as she makes her way over to her car and glances my way. She pauses as though she’s got something to say then unlocks the driver’s door, throws a hand out in my direction, puts the car in gear, and inches her way down the drive. She pauses next to me and the driver’s window rolls down.

“Good to meet you,” I tell her.

She nods. “Livy, Chase is…he’s not… All those rumors…” She pauses, considering her words. “He’s not the player everyone thinks he is. He’s a good guy.”

My eyes widen. “I don’t think he’s not.” I do think Chase is a good guy—this afternoon alone confirmed that. He didn’t make me feel like a weirdo for my anxiety, instead finding a way to get around it, and somewhere along the way he’s figured out that Sophie is my security blanket and keeps inviting her around so I’m comfortable.

She sighs. “Just don’t hurt my brother, okay?”

She rolls the window up without another word and continues down the drive before turning right and leaving me staring after her. Don’t hurt my brother. She obviously thinks this is real, but I can’t help feeling a little indignant at her accusatory tone. Chase Mitchell has girls lining up for him and is a million times more experienced than me—how on earth could I hurt him?





I HAVEN’T EVEN BEEN HOME for an hour before the doorbell rings.

“So you and Chase Mitchell?”

Jessie looks pissed—really pissed.

“Um, well…”

“’Cause you told me there was nothing going on there.”

“Well, yeah, there wasn’t, but then—”

“You don’t even know each other.”

“We do.” He raises an eyebrow in disbelief and it pisses me off. “You know, you don’t know everything about me, Jessie. Maybe Chase and I have been friends for years.”