The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(9)

“Chapman!” I jump at my name being said in such close proximity and turn to find Aaron standing to my right. Jessie instinctively takes a step away from me and I immediately miss his warmth. If Aaron notices that we’re completely engrossed in each other, he doesn’t let on. When he speaks again, his breath reveals that he’s probably not being the most observant right now. It doesn’t smell like he’s winning at beer pong. “I need you.”

“I think you might need some water, Aaron,” I tell him.

He looks at me like I’m crazy before shaking his head and dismissing my words. “I’m losing at beer pong,” he announces.

I nod as he staggers slightly, bumping into me a bit.

“I need my chem partner to help me out.”

What? No. Absolutely not. “I can’t.”

“I need you, Chapman.”

“I don’t know how to play.”

He scoffs. “You’re good at everything.”

I shake my head and try not to look irritated. “I’m in the middle of a conversation with Jessie.”

“Jessie doesn’t care, do you?” Aaron asks, turning to face him. “We’ll only be two minutes max.”

Jessie blinks in surprise before slowly shaking his head.

“See?” Aaron declares triumphantly, already throwing his arm around me. “We have to go now—everyone’s waiting for us. I told them I need to switch Jackson out ’cause I can’t lose another game.”

I look back over my shoulder in surprise at Jessie, unsure how I’ve suddenly been pulled away from him. “Wait, stop.”

Jessie just shrugs. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll wait here for you.”

“Yeah?” I ask, warmth filling me.

He smiles back at me. “Yeah. I’ll be right here.”



Two minutes turns into thirty. Aaron is bad at beer pong, but I’m even worse. We lose immediately, and right away Brendon and a new girl I’ve never seen before demand another match. Aaron tries to be a gentleman, offering to down all the drinks on behalf of us both, but after two more, it’s obvious he won’t be able to handle much more and I end up having to drink anyway. My attempt to back out of the game early doesn’t happen. There’s a huge crowd watching us and when I try to get Sophie to swap in with me from her place next to Chase, she just raises an eyebrow and I know I’m stuck. I’m briefly distracted when I see Abigail approach Chase and whisper something in his ear, trying to tug him away from the group, but he just brushes her off. Everyone tries to act like they don’t see it but most of us do, expecting another scene from the Abigail and Chase show, but it does look like he really meant it when he said it’s over. I see Jessie walk past the back of the group to go to the bathroom and I’m so distracted watching him that I miss another cup and we have to drink again. Finally Brendon puts us out of our misery and I must look so upset at having to drink more stale beer that Jackson does me a favor and drinks them for me.

I edge away before I’m roped into doing anything else and head back to kitchen, back to the only person I actually want to talk to.

He’s not there.

I glance back toward the bathroom, thinking he’s been a while but maybe there was a line, but I don’t see him. I shrug, grab a glass of water, and decide to wait for him, figuring he won’t be long. After ten minutes, I’m starting to feel like an idiot. It’s obvious he got bored and wandered away. He’s probably talking to the guys from JV or his debate team, and I should just go find him.

First I check the outside patio and the back garden, which people have started to spill out onto, and then I head toward Aaron’s pool where there are some people swimming despite the cool temperature of the evening. It doesn’t take long to realize he’s not out there, and I turn and head back into the party.

I go back to the kitchen, hoping he’s returned, but I’m out of luck. I head through the game room and hunt around in there. It’s nearly impossible to do it quickly. It’s so crowded I have to constantly maneuver around people, and every time I see someone I recognize, it feels like they want me to stop and chat. Eventually when I pass into the TV room, I spot Sophie talking to Mark and Jackson. She grins when she sees me but when she takes a look at my face, her brow furrows and she steps away from the guys.

“What’s wrong? Everything going okay with you and Jessie?”

“I don’t know where he is.” My eyes flash around the room, but he’s not in here either. Where the hell did he go? He wouldn’t just leave would he?

“I’m sure he’s around. He must have gotten stuck talking to someone.”

I shake my head. For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this, but I don’t know why. I mean, yeah, I was gone for half an hour so of course he’s not just going to stand there on his own and wait for me, but there were a lot of people in the kitchen—he could have just joined them, and he said he’d wait for me. We had a connection, didn’t we? He wouldn’t just walk away. “Have you seen him?”

Sophie shakes her head. Her eyes narrow in concern and she takes a step closer to me. Anyone else would laugh and tell me I’m being stupid, but Sophie knows me too well for that. She knows I’m getting anxious and panicky. “Should I come look for him with you?”