Page 12 of The Stand-In Boyfriend

“You’ll see.” There is a slight pause. “But I wonder… if everything that happened with Noah happened in the morning, what made you come storming in here now?”

I look away, avoiding her curious stare. “He might have come looking for me after cheer practice.”

“Did he?” She shifts on the bed, crosses her legs and leans her elbow against her knee, propping her chin on her hand. She’s observing me like I’m a really interesting experiment. I’m not sure I like it one bit. “And?”

“He said he had a proposition for me.”

That gets her attention. “What kind of proposition?”

“No idea.” I shrug. “We didn’t get to that part because I kind of, sort of, told him that he’s a shitty kisser.”

More looking away. God, I’m seriously such a bitch sometimes. Not that what he said was any better.

“You did not!” Evie shoves me away, her mouth agape. “Seriously?”

“Oh, I did.”

“I knowthat. I wouldn’t doubt you for a second. What I really want to know now is, was it really that bad?”

I think back to the kiss, my tongue peeking out to slide over my lips that suddenly feel really dry. Yup, I can still feel his mouth pressed against mine, his hand on my cheek.

“And don’t you dare lie to me, missy! I’ll know the truth.”

“How so? Did you become a witch when I wasn’t looking?” I tease, needing something,anything, to ease the pressure of this situation.

“Maybe, but no more stalling. Spill it.”

“It might not have been as bad as I made it sound,” I admit reluctantly, just because I know she won’t give up until I tell her.

“I knew it!” Evie claps her hands excitedly, jumping to her feet.

“Well it wasn’t that good, either!” I protest before she can do a weird booty dance or something as crazy as that. “Besides, shouldn’t you be pissed on my behalf? Some friend you are. What he did to you was really shitty. You asked him, repeatedly, if I might add, to stop kissing you, but he didn’t listen.”

“What hedid, doesn’t make who heis, Jessy. I told him, and I’m telling you. I forgave him, and I know,” she presses her hands over her chest, “Iknowhe won’t do it again. Noah is one of the good guys.”

“He has a funny way of showing it,” I mutter to myself, looking away to avoid the sincerity on her face. I wish I could be as good of a person as Evie is. To be able to forgive people easily and let them back in my life. But I’ll never be like her, not even if I try.

“So…” She lets the word hang in the air until I face her. “What are you going to do now?”

“Nothing.” I shrug. “I told you, I’m done with boys.”

* * *

So much for that happening. I barely survived a couple of days, but there is no avoiding him now.

“What do you want, Russell?” I ask as I exit my car. I would have stayed inside if I thought that would deter him in any way, but he seems like a guy who once he sets his mind on something there isn’t much you can do to change it.

“To talk.”

“We did plenty of that the other day, and look at how that turned out.”

Not waiting for an answer, I grab my backpack off the passenger seat and lock the car before going into school.

Noah runs his hand through his hair, making a mess of his usually preppy hairstyle. “I want to apologize.” I narrow my eyes at him. “What I said was out of line.”

“It was,” I say, nodding in agreement.

He narrows his eyes. “You’re not innocent in all of this.”

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