The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(37)

Something passes between the three of them—Abigail and Chase’s closest friends—and I know without her even answering that she hasn’t, not even when they were together and in a good place. Abigail pushes up off the lockers and walks away without another word.



The end of the school day can’t come quick enough. Jessie spent the whole lunch period talking about Courtney and what he should buy her for her birthday. Then he told me he couldn’t come to my house to study as planned, and it took everything I had not to scream in frustration. I might be in love with the guy, but he is seriously capable of driving me crazy.

I jog down the steps and start heading to my car but stop in my tracks when I see Chase and Abigail standing over by hers. They’re having what looks to be a heated conversation—so intense that I feel guilty even watching them. He has his arms crossed, and she’s listening intently to whatever he’s saying before she throws her hands up in irritation and starts shouting about something. I glance around uncomfortably, and from the looks of the students around me, I’m not the only one who’s noticing this altercation.

Suddenly Abigail looks up and spots me. A sneer crosses her face and she says something to Chase. He turns my way too and sees me before turning back to Abigail. She says something else, her eyes flicking to me, and I’d bet money on it being something about me. I can tell by the way her lips curl in disgust and her nose crinkles in distaste. They get into it for another couple of minutes before she throws her hands up and rounds her car—a sleek black sporty model—jumps in the driver’s seat, and reverses out of her spot before peeling out of the parking lot.

Chase turns to me, and I can see he’s pissed; it’s written all over his face. He makes his way over to where I’m standing and offers me a small smile, but I can tell his mind is still on whatever just passed between him and Abigail.

“Everything okay?” I ask cautiously, though I’m not sure I really want to hear the answer.

“Brendon told me what Abigail said to you earlier.”

“Yeah, she really doesn’t like me.”

He shakes his head in irritation. “She’ll get over it.”

I shrug. “Well, I don’t think it’s just this. She’s never liked me, she’s just gotten more vocal about it since we started pretending to date.”

He looks surprised. “I didn’t think you two knew each other.”

“We don’t really. I’ve just seen her around, but she started bitching at me way back when we were freshmen.”

His jaw clenches.

I shrug. “Chase, it’s fine. Some people just don’t get along, I guess.”

“She never used to be like this. When I first met her, she wasn’t like this.”

I shrug. “She likes you a lot, Chase.”

He looks off into the distance, his mind elsewhere. “I know she doesn’t show it, Liv, but she is a good person. She has to deal with a lot of crap at home and that affects her more than she’d like to admit but underneath it all, she’s just a sweet girl who doesn’t know how to deal with her own insecurities.”

He’s probably right. No one can behave like she does unless they are deeply unhappy.

“I’m going to talk to her again, okay? She won’t say anything else to you.”

“You care about her, don’t you?” I ask. I don’t know how I haven’t picked up on that before. He never bitches about her, doesn’t snap at her, just quietly tries to talk her down when she’s going off.

He shrugs, looking a little embarrassed. “I’ve known her a long time.”

I cock my head to the side. He knows her a lot better than I do, and if someone as great as Chase spent so many years with her, there must be something good about her. She just manages to keep it really well hidden. “Maybe you could give it another shot with her? Clearly her feelings are still there, and you obviously care about her.”

A look of disbelief—and maybe anger—flashes across his face, but he quickly masks it. “We’re done,” he says with complete certainty. “But I will speak to her. You don’t need to deal with her shit.”

“Whatever,” I tell him. I can’t imagine it will make much difference. “I have to go. Soph wants me to help her with something.”

“Okay.” He hesitates. “See you later? We could watch movies at my house?”

I nod. Why not? Jessie canceled on me, so I might as well hang out with Chase.





THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS with Chase fly by, and it honestly feels like I’ve gained a new friend. I find myself enjoying hanging out with him. He’s as easygoing and relaxed as he’s always appeared around school, and Sophie was right—it’s easy to see why he’s so popular.

He’s kind too. He’s always been kind to me, seemingly knowing when I’m nervous about something and making me laugh to cover up my anxiety and never calling me on it. I see it with others too, with the freshmen soccer players who idolize him and who are rendered speechless when he offers to train with them. When some girl is raising money for a cancer charity and is asking for donations for a sponsored swim, and he pulls out $100 and hands it over without a word and makes all his friends sponsor her too. When a hall monitor has to hand him a message when we’re in between classes and she splutters and gets tripped up because she’s so nervous about approaching him, he flirts with her and makes her feel special. I see it most of all when I visit his grandma with him. You can instantly see the love between them. She teases him and jokes with him, and he hangs off her every word. She’s just as great as I expected and it was nice to see another side of Chase. In fact, the more time I spend with him, the more I realize there’s way more to him than I ever expected.