The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(69)

“That’s tough.”

He nods. “Yeah, he really cares about her but she just sounds like she’s so messed up.” He offers me a wry smile. “It’s just the two of them now and from the sound of it, she’ll barely speak to him.”

“What about their dad?”

He snorts. “He’s a joke. He treated their mom like crap and is around even less than my parents. Seriously, their dad makes mine look like father of the year.”

I wince. It must be bad then. I know exactly how it feels to have a father that lets you down.

“Is he coming to visit?”

Chase nods. “But not for a while. You’ll really like him. He’s cool.”

“Does he play soccer?”

Chase laughs. “That’s all you think about. No, he’s from Texas—he plays football.”

I grin. “A proper Southern boy?”

Chase smirks. “Well he’s part British but yeah, you wouldn’t know it. His school won state last year when he was a junior. He’s their quarterback.”

I’m impressed. Winning state as a junior? And in football in Texas? I know Chase and I both hold high school championships, but soccer isn’t on the same level as football, at least not yet. To win a state championship in Texas, where they live and breathe football? That’s pretty big time.

It’s like Chase can read my mind. “It’s crazy over there. Football is a religion. Everyone’s obsessed with it. Aaron and I visited him last year and went to one of his games. You wouldn’t believe it, Liv. Thousands and thousands of people showed up just to watch the game—a high school game.”

“Was it fun?”

He smiles at the memory. “It was incredible. And the party afterward?” He whistles at the memory. “We’re gonna go back again before the season’s over. You should come.” He pauses, like he just realized what he said. He hesitates for a second. “Would you want to come?”

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. Planning a trip together is a pretty big deal for a pair who is just pretending to date.

“We could book early and get cheap flights and we’d just stay at Ethan’s house. There’s tons of room. His house is like twice the size of mine.”

I gape at him. Chase’s house is the biggest I’ve ever seen. I can’t even fathom how big this kid’s place must be.

“Seriously, on paper, Ethan has everything you’d want: all-star athlete, all the girls chasing him, and ridiculously rich.”

I raise an eyebrow at this. Chase is hardly lacking in the money department.

He rolls his eyes. “His dad makes my family look poor. He’s old-school rich. He owns a worldwide chain of hotels, dealerships, and gas stations. It’s pretty insane.”

That is insane. And here I was worried about college tuition. Even with that, I know I’m better off than a lot of people out there.

“But it doesn’t make him happy, you know? He misses his mom a lot.”

I nod in understanding. All the money in the world isn’t worth losing someone you love. Nothing can replace your mom.

“He sounds cool.”

“He is. We’ve kept in touch even though we don’t see each other much.”

“It’d be cool to meet him.”

He lights up. “So you’d come? If we planned a trip to Texas you’d come?”

I nod and am rewarded by a blinding smile that is infectious. Soon we’re just grinning at each other like idiots and I lay back down on the grass so I don’t have to face him and look so completely dopey. He lies down beside me and I close my eyes, totally content in the moment.

After five minutes he turns to face me. “You know what I’ve been thinking about?”

I turn my gaze away from the sky to look at him. Things have returned to normal between us ever since we had our fight. We’re hanging out all the time, he’s back to making me laugh and entertaining me, and there have been no more kisses that mess with my brain. I mean, yes, we’ve been holding hands and being affectionate with each other in public, just to keep up the charade, but that’s it, and it’s better. It’s made things a lot clearer in my mind. When I turn to him, he’s staring intently back at me. “What?

“About the first time I kissed you, in the cafeteria.”

I actually feel my face heat at the memory—all those eyes on me, the surprise of it, how it wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

“What about it?”

“Just that I’m sorry.”

My brows furrow in surprise. That was all him. He did that so everyone would think we’d hooked up and I’d go along with his idea, and he got what he wanted. Now he regrets it?

“Um, okay,” I say hesitantly. What else can I say? It’s pretty embarrassing when someone admits they regret kissing you—to your face! “I mean, you didn’t have to. I thought you wanted to.”

He chuckles. “I don’t regret kissing you, Chapman, just the way it happened—taking you by surprise, pushing you into it. It’s not the way you should have had your first kiss.”

Hold up—what? “My first kiss?”

He shifts slightly on the ground. “Well, yeah. I was trying to think if I ever remember you dating anyone and I don’t.”