The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(7)
“Damn, Chapman!” Brendon says again, finally looking at my face. “Who knew?”
“Shut up,” Chase tells him, looking away from both of us and out toward the street. “You sound like an ass.”
“No, I want her ass,” Brendon shoots back.
Chase pulls a face and throws his arm out so fast to hit him in the stomach that if you’d blinked, you’d have missed it. Brendon doubles over just as I hear Sophie’s voice. “Brendon, seriously, you don’t think I haven’t warned my girl that if she stands too close to you she’ll catch a rash only a trip to a clinic can take care of?”
Chase and Jackson start to laugh along with Mark, who is following Sophie up the stairs. Brendon just grins good-naturedly. “You know what, Soph, I’m gonna take that—just because you got Chapman here and looking like a freaking goddess.”
I try to force a smile at the compliment but can feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment. I just want to get inside now and find Jessie. “I show up to parties sometimes,” I say quietly.
Brendon snorts out loud. “When?”
Sophie waves her hand between us. “None of this is for you, James.” She pauses and does a little twirl on the spot, allowing them to get the full effect of her outfit before winking over at Chase. “Although maybe a little bit of this is for you, Chase.”
Chase starts to laugh and I feel some of my anxiety dissipate. It’s impossible not to be entertained with Sophie around. Maybe she’s right—tonight might actually be fun. Mark shakes his head and walks through the guys, patting Chase on the back. “Good luck, man,” he tells him, making his way inside and passing Aaron, who just walked out of the house.
“Hey! You made it,” he says when he spots me. “You look awesome,” he tells me with a grin before glancing over at Sophie. “The party is here.”
“You know it,” Sophie replies.
“Dude, you need to start getting Chapman to your parties more often,” Brendon says.
Aaron looks over at me and smirks. “I’ve been trying.” That’s true. He’s always asking what I’m doing over the weekend and inviting me to hang out, but I always say no.
Brendon starts walking over to me and drops an arm around my shoulders. “Let’s go get you a drink, Livy.”
I straighten up, stepping away from him. Sophie rolls her eyes then moves between us, pushing Brendon back. “Keep your hands to yourself. Not even if you were the last boy on earth.”
“You cut deep, Sophie Steele.”
Aaron starts to laugh. “Dude, stop perving on my friend. I’ve been trying to get her to hang all year and you’re gonna scare her off.” He looks at me. “We’re about to start a beer pong tournament, and I’m reigning champ—wanna be my partner?” He looks over at Chase. “We can kick Mitchell’s ass in the first round.”
My eyes widen slightly. I don’t like to drink too much, I’ve never played beer pong in my life, and I definitely didn’t come here to hang out with this crowd. “Um, well, actually—”
Chase turns to face me then, looking me fully in the eyes for the first time. “Stephenson’s inside,” he says flatly, like he’s completely bored by my presence. “Last time I saw him he was in the kitchen.”
My stomach drops. Please tell me Chase Mitchell doesn’t know I’m pining after Jessie. If he knows then everyone else must. I try so hard to keep it a secret and to not make it obvious. I’ll die if everyone knows about my gigantic crush.
“Yeah, we should go meet up with our buddy,” Sophie answers for me. “He cries if we leave him alone too long.”
Aaron, Jackson, and Brendon chuckle at her joke and I heave a sigh of relief. Jessie is our friend. Everyone knows that. They know the three of us eat lunch together and hang out all the time and of course we’d meet up with him at a party. That’s what Chase meant, and I need to stop letting my paranoia get the best of me. Sophie gives me a nudge and I step forward to walk through them as she tells Brendon to pick up his jaw off the floor and promises Chase she’ll find him later.
It takes me forever to find Jessie when we get in the house. I may not attend parties very often, but this definitely seems to be a bigger one than usual. I see kids I hardly ever see in school, and I’m pretty sure the entire senior class is here, not to mention plenty of juniors and sophomores. People have really gone all out, and I shouldn’t have worried about being overdressed—almost every girl I see has made a huge effort tonight. Girls at Grove Valley show up. Even my soccer teammates are way more glam than I would have expected, but I still can’t help but feel self-conscious.
Despite the magnitude of people dressed to the max, I get a lot more attention than I would have liked. I know it’s just because I never come to these things and I’m dressed up for the first time in forever, but it does seem like way more people want to talk than usual, both boys and girls. When my friends from the team see me, Tia pulls me over and makes me spend fifteen minutes explaining with her why it’s not a good idea for the new girl to set her sights on Brendon for the evening. She explains countless times how he’s a player and will just hook up then leave you, and she says it so passionately and with so much vigor that I have to wonder if she knows this from personal experience. By the time Sophie manages to pull me away, I’m more than ready to see Jessie and hang out with him and Sophie for a bit, to get some semblance of normality.