The Stand-In Boyfriend (Grove Valley High #1)(91)

“I remembered,” I whisper. “I recognized you right away but I thought you were too cool for me and I was too shy to say hello.”

“Yeah?”

I nod. “Then it just became the norm that we didn’t speak to each other. I thought you didn’t like me.”

He shakes his head and a small smile covers his face. “I guess it was easier for me to act like that and stay away from you rather than see you want Jessie.”

“I’m sorry, Chase.”

His eyes find mine again, and this time he doesn’t hide the longing in them. “I get it, Livy. I get how you feel about Jessie. I’ve watched you watch him for the last three years. Trust me, no one understands better than me how it feels when you’ve liked someone for so long and then you get them.” He laughs ruefully and shakes his head. “I want you to be happy. You don’t have to feel bad or guilty. You didn’t promise me anything. He’s a lucky guy.”

I reach out and grab one of his hands, pulling it toward me into my lap. He tries to pull away but I hold on tightly, stroking the skin there and skimming my fingers over the pulse in his wrist. I focus on his hand, not looking at his face. I can feel his pulse quicken, but it calms me and I know what I have to do.

“I’m not with Jessie. It didn’t work out.”

He freezes completely. “What?”

“It didn’t work out,” I repeat.

“But you’ve been together all the time.”

I shrug and take a deep breath. “He’s not you.”

Time stands still and all the blood rushes to my face at this admission, this statement I’ve made and put out there and can’t take back—don’t want to take back.

Shock, confusion, and disbelief cover his face, and I rush on. “I’m sorry, Chase, about the way it went down with Jessie, but I had to see how things would be with him. I had to know once and for all.”

“And what did you find out?” His voice sounds strange, twisted.

“That he’s my best friend and I love him, but he’ll never be my boyfriend.”

There’s a long pause. “Are you being serious?”

I nod. “He doesn’t make me laugh like you do. He doesn’t make me feel strong and confident and carefree like you do. He doesn’t make me feel like I can do anything, doesn’t believe in me like you do. He doesn’t make me feel like you do, and I doubt anyone else ever will.”

He’s breathing heavily and I reach out to brush a lock of hair off his face. He doesn’t flinch away from my touch, instead closing his eyes and almost leaning into it. He waits another minute before he opens his eyes and locks them with mine. “What are you saying?”

I bite my bottom lip, knowing I’m going all in and not caring. He needs to know everything. He deserves to know everything. “I’m saying I think I’m in love with you.” I shake my head. “No, I don’t think I love you—I know I do.” He’s just staring at me in shock, and I smile. “You make me a better person, Chase, a better version of me, and I’m just hoping I haven’t blown it.”

“Are you—are you…” He pauses, his words tripping over themselves. “Are you saying you want us to be together?” His voice is full of disbelief.

I start to laugh. “Yes! I want to be with you—today, yesterday, a month from now, a year from now.” It’s true. I do want that, and it feels good to finally be able to say it to him, to finally admit what I actually want. “I’m hoping you’ll give us another shot, for real this time.”

“Are you serious?” he asks again.

“Yes! I love you Chase Mitchell.”

“You really mean it?” he asks again, like he needs me to repeat it over and over again.

I nod my head. “I really mean it. I want to be with you,” I say softly. I hesitate, my heart in my mouth. “That is…if you want to be with me?”

His eyes find mine and the biggest smile spreads across his face. “Is that even a question?”

Relief floods me as he reaches out and tucks an errant piece of hair behind my ear. My smile mirrors his.

He starts to laugh, a delighted, sharp sound that lights up my whole world. “You can’t take it back,” he tells me, grinning from ear to ear. “You know that, right? Now that you’ve said it, you can’t take it back.”

I laugh back at him. “I don’t want to take it back.” I don’t—not ever.

His eyes are shining then suddenly he reaches out and drags me over toward him, getting rid of the space between is. My legs are pressed up against him, one leg propped up so I can face him. His hands drop onto my shoulders and I automatically lean in, feeling like I’m back where I should be.

“I love you too, Olivia Chapman.” I swear my whole body starts glowing at his words, and I can’t wait any longer. I shift forward and fuse my mouth with his, kissing him like I’ve wanted to for days, like I want to do from now on. He pulls back after a minute or so, his whole face shining, and I want to capture this moment and stay in it forever. He leans back and laces his fingers through mine. “So, Olivia Lorraine Chapman, will you be my real, honest-to-God, no-messing-around, straight-up girlfriend?”

I grin back at him, smiling so hard my face could split in two. “Yeah, Chase. I will.”