The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(44)

Chase drops an arm around my shoulder, but I still don’t look at him. I’m still reeling from what just went down and the look on Jessie’s face. He leans in and drops a kiss on my temple before his mouth finds my ear. “Yeah, babe, I definitely think he noticed.”





I FEEL STRANGELY NERVOUS GOING to school on Monday. After the kiss on Saturday night, I didn’t know what to do. I mean, I definitely kissed Chase back, and I was into it—way too into it. I’m scared he realized as much, but I mean, that’s the point, isn’t it? It’s supposed to look like we’re together, like we’re into each other, and if Sophie’s word is anything to go by, we definitely looked like we’re into each other. She wouldn’t stop going on about it yesterday when she came over, but after twenty minutes of her chattering on and on about how hot we were together, I banned her from talking about it again.

There’s no denying it: I’m worried about seeing Chase. After our kiss, I kinda froze, and he definitely noticed. I mean, you couldn’t not notice. I stood there rigid as hell and barely spoke a word for the rest of the night, not even when Tia and Maria came over and tried to get us to join in a drinking game. Eventually he drove me home and I barely managed to mumble my thanks for the evening, the date, everything, before I practically ran inside.

I walk through the entrance to school and head down the main hallway then cut a right toward my locker. Before I have time to think about switching directions, I see Chase leaning up against it, eyes locked on me and not giving me an opportunity to duck away.

I stop a couple of steps away, my eyes darting around nervously.

“Hey.” His voice is low, gentle almost, like he knows he needs to talk like that to avoid spooking me.

“Hi.”

He stares at me for a minute. “You didn’t answer my texts yesterday.”

I nod. I didn’t. I didn’t know how to act after that kiss. It’s not like I’ve been in this situation before. “Sorry, I was, uh…” I trail off. Who am I kidding? I don’t know what to say.

He turns so his back is leaning against the locker next to mine, no longer looking at me, and it gives me room to breathe. I take the last couple of steps to my locker, spinning the combination and throwing it open.

“So we did some pretty good acting on Saturday night, huh?”

I slide my eyes to him and see he’s looking at me, his eyes twinkling.

Acting.

He’s letting me off the hook, and I manage a smirk, relief flooding me. Yes, that’s what that was. I was caught up in the moment and when you’re acting like someone is your boyfriend the whole night and they’re being so nice to you, you’re bound to get confused and carried away.

“Acting?” I ask, because I need it confirmed to stop these weird butterflies in my stomach.

“Yup, acting. I mean, I’m so good at it I should consider auditioning for the school play.”

I snicker. He really is ridiculous sometimes.

“We definitely had Stephenson convinced, and I got a bitchy text from Abigail so it obviously got back to her and worked there too.” I want to hug him. I want to hug him for bringing it back to what it is and reminding me why we’re doing this in the first place, for not making it weird.

I shrug. “I mean, we were pretty good.” I can’t believe he’s managed to make me joke about this. This is so unlike me. I was freaking out about it all day yesterday and now I’m joking around? Not stressing about it at all? Chase has skills.

He turns to face me fully, leaning toward me slightly. “And you, Chapman—you might pretend to be all shy and shit”—I shake my head but can’t help the smile that crosses my face—“but you have serious skills. I see an Oscar in your future. Seriously, I should get your autograph now while you’re still willing to be seen with the little people.”

I laugh out loud, because he’s that outrageous. I reach out and shove him away from me, shaking my head.

He crosses his arms over his chest. “We good?” He might look confident, but there’s a hint of caution in his voice.

I smile and nod. “Yeah, Chase. We’re good.”



“He’ll get bored of you, you know.”

I glance up from my notebook. I’m at my desk in trig waiting for the teacher to arrive and start the lesson. I frown when I see Abigail standing over my desk. She’s not in this class.

“Chase,” she clarifies as I look around, trying to catch up with what is going on. Did she really track me down in a classroom to tell me this?

“Look, Abigail—”

“Don’t,” she cuts me off. “Don’t try to tell me you two are different and you’re something special. He always comes back to me—always.”

“I think you should talk to Chase,” I tell her, glancing toward the door and hoping Ms. Lewis shows up soon. I glance around to notice people watching us closely. They probably think Abigail’s about to take a swing at me—she’s done it to other girls before over Chase. I really wish I had a close friend in this class, but Sophie has a different schedule than me and none of my friends from the team are in this class either.

“I don’t need to talk to Chase because I’m talking to you.”

I bite my lip as she continues to stare down at me defiantly, but she doesn’t look quite like herself. Her hair is dark and slightly greasy at the roots, and for the first time, it occurs to me that she’s not a natural blonde. Her cheekbones look more defined than usual, like she’s lost weight, and her usually tan complexion is starting to look a little pale.