The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(50)

“What?” I ask her, taking a seat next to Chase.

She shakes her head. “Nothing, nothing at all.”

I frown in her direction. She’s acting strangely.

“Now, Chase, can I tempt you with one of my brownies?”

“Actually, I, um…” He clears his throat and actually blushes a little. “I brought you an apple pie.” He reaches quickly into his bag and pulls it out onto the table. “Sophie said it’s all you want when you’re sick.”

I stare at it and the warmest feeling comes over me. He remembered what Sophie said in the cafeteria and brought me an apple pie. I grin over at him. “Thanks, Chase.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” my mom tells him, glancing over at me, “but she’s had enough apple pie to last her a lifetime. I think it’s time for something new, don’t you, Liv?”

She has her eyebrows raised, staring at me expectantly, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out she’s not talking about brownies and apple pie anymore. She’s referring to my monster crush on Jessie. I’m not about to explain to her about our little plan—she’ll just think it’s ridiculous—so I decide to humor her.

“Sure, Mom. New is good.”



Chase spends the whole afternoon and evening at my house and I educate him on Disney movies, absolutely horrified to learn he’s never watched The Lion King. We watch that, and then we watch the original Beauty and the Beast and Moana. He pretends to not be into it, but I swear I see a tear in his eye when Mufasa dies, and he’s even humming along to the tunes by the time we get to the end of Moana.

He briefly asks at one point if Sophie and Jessie are coming over, and when I tell him they’re not, saying even they’ve had enough of watching Disney movies with me, he tries to act like he doesn’t care, but I can tell he’s relieved. To be honest, I’m happy about it too. It’s nice to hang out with Chase after not seeing him for a week.

I introduce him to Scotty when he runs into the den where we’ve set up camp and promptly throws himself on me, covering me in dirt since he’s been playing soccer with my stepdad all afternoon. Scotty’s face lights up when he sees Chase, and I burst out laughing when he clambers onto him, clearly to Chase’s horror. Scotty looks at me sheepishly when I pick him up and hand him over to my mom, who presumably takes him to get cleaned up.

“So that’s your kid brother.”

“Uh huh.”

“He’s cute.”

I smirk. “He is cute.”

Chase looks at me like he wants to say something, and I bite my lip to stop from smiling. I’m used to this when people meet my brother.

“You can say it.”

“Say what?”

“That we’ve obviously got different dads.”

“I didn’t notice—I mean, I…”

I burst out laughing. Scotty is mixed race; Ray, my stepdad, is black. Scotty has the same shaped eyes as me and I think he’ll probably be tall like me, but that’s where our physical similarities end. His dad and my mom got married when I was fourteen, and Scotty came along a year later. I honestly can’t remember what it’s like to not have him around, and I try not to think about next year when I’m away at college.

“His dad and my mom got married a few years ago. Ray used to be my soccer coach when I was a kid.”

“Coach Saunders?”

I nod. I’d forgotten that Chase and I both played under Ray for a while. After my dad left, he started coming into my mom’s bakery every day and eventually plucked up the courage to ask her out on a date, genuinely worried that he was going to get fat if he didn’t admit his feelings and continued to just buy pastries as an excuse to see her. “Yeah, he’s great. He still teaches kids soccer down at the rec center, and he’s a gym coach at my old middle school now too.”

“Really? Wow. I always liked Coach Saunders.”

“Yeah, he’s the best, and he and my mom are crazy in love. It’s pretty nauseating most of the time.” I don’t mean that; I love seeing my mom so happy. I still remember how devastated she was after my dad left, and Ray treats me like his own daughter. He’s the best thing that ever happened to our little family, and I love him more than he’d ever believe.

“Your mom seems pretty cool.”

I nod. “She is.” She’s the strongest person I know. She’d do anything for anyone, and if I grow up to be half the person she is, I’ll be happy.

Chase presses his lips together and I know he wants to ask another question, know he’s thinking about how to word it, and even before he does, my heart drops in the familiar way I’ve gotten used to since my dad walked out of my life. “What about your dad?”

“Um…he lives in California now, near San Diego.” About as far away from me as he could be while still staying in the States.

“Oh.”

I nod, trying to stop the emotions overwhelming me like they do every time I think about my dad.

“Still…awesome vacations, right? When you go to visit him?”

I pause. “I’ve never visited him. He hasn’t invited me.” Chase’s eyes widen for just a second and I bite down hard on the inside of my mouth. I am not going to cry. “He has a new wife now and twin daughters. They’re almost five I think.”