The Stand-In Boyfriend (Greyford High Book 5) Page 12

  “Were you?” Evie quirks a brow.

  “That’s not the point.”

  “Don’t be a drama queen, Jessy.” Evie rolls her eyes and puts the car in drive. “So, what happened?” She wiggles her brows. “What did you guys do? Was there any nakedness involved?”

  “Evie!” I chastise, feeling my cheeks heat.

  Did I hit my head harder than I thought? Because blushing is Evie’s thing, certainly not mine.

  “I’m just asking! Things looked pretty heated at that party.”

  I take a deep breath. “There wasn’t any nakedness, but…” I guess now is as good a time as any. “He said he doesn’t want to be fake anymore.”

  “What?” Evie asks, turning to look at me.

  “Keep your eyes on the road, will ya? I don’t want to die!”

  “Yes, sure.” She grips the wheel tighter, returning her eyes to the road. “Tell. Me. Everything.”

  So I do. Well, a short version anyway, because soon we’re at school, car parked.

  “So, what now?” Evie turns to look at me, finally able to give me her full attention. “You guys are together together now. Does anything change?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrug and open the door to get out, and Evie does the same. I didn’t even think about it. I was too stuck thinking about the way Noah kissed me before he left my house to think about anything else. “Just roll with it, I guess? I mean, how different can it be from before?”

  I grab my crutches from the backseat and together we walk to school. The familiar chatter surrounds us as soon as we’re inside. People talking, chimes of phones, slamming locker doors. All so familiar.

  “There’s that.” She elbows me and gives me a sly smile. “I was right though. There was more than what you admitted.”

  I’m not sure what to say to that. Did we really look like a real couple all this time? I know we tried to pretend, but there was so much tension between us, so many things left unsaid. Until now.

  But I can’t deny the chemistry between us. The way my heart would stop when he was near, only to go into overdrive in the very next moment. The way my stomach clenched every time he leaned in or the way my lips would tingle after he’d kiss me.

  “Sometimes it seemed like it was,” I murmur quietly, more for myself than for my friend.

  I lift my head and look around, only to find people staring at me and whispering. I frown, an unsettling feeling steering in my gut.

  “What’s going on?”

  Evie steps closer to me, looking at the people around us as we stop at my locker. “I have no idea.”

  I give another wary look around. Some people keep staring at me, snickering, while others look away when they’re caught. It’s all just so weird. I try to shake it off, unsuccessfully.

  “I’m going to get my books and go to class. See you later?”

  Evie forces a smile out. “Sure thing. Catch you later.”

  She waves goodbye and goes in the other direction. I make quick work of grabbing my books and go to my first class. When I turn the corner, I see Lisa and a few girls talking and laughing about something.

  “Hey, Lisa. How was practice?” I ask when I get closer. All the girls turn around to look at me. They give me a long once over, and snicker.

  “Look who’s here. The faker.” The fine hairs at the nape of my neck rise at her words as they all snicker.

  “W-what are you talking about?” The question comes out as a stutter. But all the weirdness is getting to me.

  Lisa looks down her nose at me. “Did you really get injured or is this just another thing you did to get attention?”

  I grit my teeth, now getting pissed. It’s not my fault my teammates didn’t catch me in the pocket as they should have, and I fell. “You were there, you know it’s not fake. What the hell?”

  She flips her hair over her shoulder. “All I know is that you have a tendency of lying. You know, like you lied that you’re dating Noah.”

  My blood turns to ice as everything around me stills.

  No. They can’t… How?

  “W-what are you talking about?” I ask, taking a step back.

  “About your little sham. Did you really think nobody would find out?” She gives me a disgusted look. “Please, be real. As if a guy like Noah would be interested in somebody like you.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  NOAH

  “You’re awfully chipper today,” Elliott says, wiping his face. We just finished our weightlifting session. My body should be burning, but I can barely feel it.

  “Don’t know what you mean,” I say, shrugging as I gulp down some water, trying to hide my smile.

  There is no bullshitting Elliott though. He’s watching me carefully, trying to figure me out. “Did you get laid? Is that it?”

  “What?” I ask, choking on water. “No!”

  “Don’t sound so disturbed by the thought,” he says, chuckling, and leans in, whispering conspiratorially, “Somebody might think you’re gay.”

  I shove him away, shaking my head. “You’re seriously messed up. And you know I’m not gay.”

  “Hey, no judgment here.” Elliott lifts his hands in the air.

  “No judgment here either, but I’m not. I have a girlfriend.”

  He looks around, and leans in, whispering, “Fake girlfriend.”

  I smile. Just like I’ve done every time I’ve thought of Jessica since I left her house. “Not anymore.”

  Elliott’s mouth hangs open in surprise. He didn’t see that one coming, now, did he?

  He shakes it off quickly, a wide grin spreading over his lips. “I knew you had it bad,” he says, punching me in the shoulder.

  “Whatever, man.”

  “So where is Miss…” he doesn’t get to finish because the door to the gym bursts open, banging against the wall in the process.

  All heads turn to see what all the commotion is about, us included, only to find Jack and Liam striding right toward us.

  “Shit,” Elliott mutters as soon as he sees them.

  Shit indeed.

  I square my shoulders, getting ready for the inevitable. I’m not sure what has their panties in a twist, but I’m about to find out.

  “You piece of shit,” Jack spits in my face so loudly that the whole room can hear him.

  “You don’t want to do this here, man,” Liam warns, wrapping his arms around his best friend and throwing me a dirty glare over his shoulder.

  “What the hell is your problem?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. There is no way I’m letting the two of them intimidate me because of whatever they think I did. It’s all probably bullshit anyway.

  Only that seems to rile him up even more. Jack tries to shake Liam off, but he holds on strong. This probably isn’t his first rodeo. Jack is a hothead if I ever saw one. Thinks he can get away with everything just because his dad was a hotshot professional hockey player. I seriously don’t get what Jessy ever saw in the guy.

  “Our problem? What the hell is your problem?”

  “I don’t have one, you came barging in here, not the other way around, hotshot,” I say, trying to keep my cool, although inside I’m boiling.

  “I came here because of Jessy!”

  Jessy?

  My irritation dies down, if only a little, worry replacing it. Did something happen?

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I ask, trying to calm my racing heart and thoughts.

  “Did you seriously think you could make a laughingstock out of her, and we’d let you slide?”

  I step forward, coming chest to chest with Jack. “I made a laughingstock out of her? You’re the one who cheated on her in front of half the school!” I hiss in his face.

  “At least what we had was real, not some fake relationship that the whole school knows about!”

  I stumble back a step, the blood in my veins turning to ice. “What are you talking about?”

  “What I’m saying,” he comes closer, stabbing his finger i
n my chest, “is that everybody knows.”

  “Fuck.” I run my fingers through my sweaty hair. “Fuck!” My eyes land on Liam. “Where is she?”

  Evie was the one who drove Jessy to school, since she left her car here yesterday.

  “They should be here any minute, if they haven’t already arrived.”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  I push through the two of them and get out of the gym. Maybe they’re late for whatever reason. Maybe there’s still time to get to her before somebody else tells her. Maybe…

  As soon as I’m out in the hallway, I start running. I’m still in my sweaty workout gear, and my things are back in the locker room, but I don’t care about any of that.

  I need to get to her before they do.

  How did they even find out? Who was the one to tell? The only two people who knew the truth were Evie and Elliott and they wouldn’t tell. How then? Does it even matter?

  God, please don’t let her find out like this.

  People are giving me strange looks, but I don’t stick around long enough to hear them talk. My eyes are scanning the busy hallways for any sign of Jessica.

  I probably should have stopped by the locker room to grab my phone, try and call her, but there is no way I’m going back now.

  That’s when I see her, standing with some of her cheer teammates, Lisa included.

  Lisa gives her one of her judgmental onceovers and Jessy takes a step back. I open my mouth to call her, but Lisa delivers the blow faster. “About your little sham. Did you really think nobody would find out? Please, be real. As if a guy like Noah would be interested in somebody like you.”

  I come closer as Jessy takes another step back. She crashes into me and I put my hands on her shoulders, steadying her.

  She looks at me over her shoulder, tears filling her eyes. They wreck me. Seeing her like this, when she’s normally all spunk and sass, hurts more than I could have ever imagined.

  “Sunshine,” I rasp, my hand reaching to cup her cheek, only she pulls back, shaking her head, and then she slips around me and limps away.

  “Jessy!” I call after her but she completely ignores me and continues walking down the hallway toward the exits, as fast as her sprained ankle can take her. “Fuck!” I yell, not caring one bit that we’re attracting attention.

  “Noah,” Lisa coos, wrapping her fingers around my bicep. “You don’t have to pretend anymore. We all know the truth. Seriously, how pitiful do you have…”

  “Shut it, Lisa,” I say, pulling my hand out of her grasp. “Because I swear to God, I won’t be responsible for what I do if you finish that sentence.”

  She gasps, her mouth forming a perfect O in surprise.

  “Are you the one behind it? Did you start this shit?” It wouldn’t surprise me, not one bit. Lisa is so power hungry she’d do anything to achieve it.

  “You can’t tell me you actually want to date her?”

  “I’m not saying that.”

  A smile curls her lips.

  “I’m saying I am dating her. You might want to make sure to spread that news around. And if you ever look at Jessy the wrong way again, I’ll make you regret it.”

  She frowns, anger spiking in her eyes, but I’m done with her. Turning on the balls of my feet, I go after Jessy.

  People move out of my way, which I’m thankful for, but Jessica is nowhere in sight. Pushing the door open, I step outside. Rain has started to fall since I got to school, and is now pouring over me. It takes only a few seconds for me to be drenched completely.

  Shit.

  I blink a few times to clear my vision and then I see her. The lone figure walking across the parking lot. Or trying to, because her leg is dragging after her.

  Stubborn woman.

  “Jessica!” I yell, but to no avail. She’s not listening, so I run after her.

  “Dammit!” She slips and stumbles, almost losing her balance, but somehow finding it at the very last moment.

  My lungs burn from exertion, but there is no way I’m stopping until I catch up to her. Just a little bit more.

  “Je—”

  She must hear me because she tries to move faster, only it backfires. This time when she stumbles, I know she’ll faceplant to the ground. Fuck. I rush forward and wrap my arms around her, pulling her body into mine. One of the crutches falls down to the ground.

  “Are you crazy?” I pant in her hair as I pull her upright. “Your ankle is still hurt. You can’t do shit like this.”

  “Let me go,” Jessy protests, trying to get out of my arms.

  I shake my head, refusing to let go. “Not until we talk about what just happened.”

  “There is nothing to talk about.”

  “If there was nothing to talk about you wouldn’t have run away like you did.”

  “I didn’t run!” She turns in my arms, those dark eyes staring daggers at me. But for all the fire and anger that’s burning inside her, there are tears clouding her gaze. “Did you tell them?”

  “What? Of course not!” How can she really think something like that?

  “Then how did they find out? How does everybody know that this… we…”

  I wrap my fingers around her wrists and hold them down. “I don’t know, but it wasn’t me.”

  “I can’t go in there. I can’t walk those halls when they know the truth. When they know that we were together because you pity me.”

  “That’s bullshit.”

  “It’s the truth.”

  “It’s bullshit,” I fire right back, then say in a more tender tone, “You’re just scared. What they know is what Lisa told them, but that doesn’t have to mean shit because it’s not true. You said you want to try for real, last night. That’s what matters.”

  “Doesn’t make the fact that it started out as fake any less real.”

  “Maybe, but it started out as a sham that led me to you. My feelings aren’t any less real because of it.”

  I trace the tips of my fingers over her cheeks. She inhales a shaky breath at the first contact of my skin against hers.

  She’s soaked just like I am, but it doesn’t make her look any less beautiful, wet hair, red-rimmed eyes and all.

  “Ask me.”

  “Ask you what?”

  “Ask me what I feel.”

  She swallows, but lifts her eyes to meet mine. “What do you feel?”

  “I’m in love with you, Jessica Bryant,” I say simply.

  My heart is thundering in my chest as I say those words out loud, but there is also a sense of relief. Of rightness. I wanted to tell her last night, but it seemed too soon. I didn’t want to spook her, but I’m also not risking losing her because I’m too big of a coward to say those words.

  “You…”

  “I love you,” I repeat, this time with more assurance than before. “I love your strong will and snarky attitude. I love that you don’t let me slide just because, and that you challenge me in every single way. I love the way you sneak glances at me when you think I won’t notice, and then you blush when you get caught. Yes, this whole thing started as fake, but it stopped feeling fake a long time ago, and I don’t want this to end.”

  Jessy blinks a few times, like she’s trying to wrap her mind around my words. “Nobody will believe it’s true,” she whispers softly.

  “I don’t care what everybody thinks. I care about what you think.” I lean down, pressing my forehead against hers. “I care that you believe me. Do you? Do you believe me when I say I love you?”

  Do you feel the same?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  JESSICA

  I love you.

  I love you.

  I love you.

  His words ring in my mind on repeat. The tender tone of his voice when he said it. The determined look in his eyes. The way his arms held me, strong and secure, gentle and undefined at the same time.

  “I don’t care what everybody thinks. I care about what you think.” My whole body shudders as he presses his forehea
d against mine, those light eyes of his staring right into me. Seeing everything. “I care that you believe me. Do you? Do you believe me when I say I love you?”

  How can he say it so easily like that? I’d been with Jack for months, and he never said those words to me. But Noah, he is so open and unapologetic about the way he feels. How can I question it when it’s all out in the open for me to see? The worry etched in the little frown line between his brows? The tenderness hiding in the blues of his irises? The way he touches me, with so much care?

  “Noah, I…”

  I what?

  Want you?

  Crave you?

  Need you?

  Love you?

  I have no idea what I want to say. What I should be saying. It was so easy to just be and not think too much. I could hide it all under the pretense that it was fake. We were pretending, we had to make it look real. But now there is no more pretense, only truth, and Noah isn’t leaving me any choice but to face it.

  Face him.

  I want Noah Russell.

  Although he’s the last person I should even be thinking about, I want him.

  Hearing Lisa say Noah could never be into somebody like me hurt. My dad left me, Jack cheated on me, why would anybody want me? Why would Noah be interested in me? Maybe I’m just that unlovable.

  Just like he said, we were fake. We were always supposed to be fake. But somehow it has grown into something more, and dammit, I want it. I want him. But is it worth the possibility of having my heart broken once again? Because I’m not sure I can take one more heartbreak. And still…

  I want more time spent with this guy. I want to get to know him better. See him smile and listen to his silly jokes. Feel his lips pressed against mine, stealing my breath away with a simple kiss.

  Because he does just that. Every kiss of his steals my breath away.

  It’s been like that from the very first day. I didn’t want to want him, but my body, my heart, didn’t listen. It wanted him and it still wants him.

  After everything that has happened, I still want him.

  “Don’t cry,” he whispers. His thumb swipes over my cheekbones, wiping away the tears I didn’t even realize were falling. “The last thing I want to do is make you cry, Jessy.”