Page 1 of The Stand-In Boyfriend

Prologue

JESSICA

SUMMER BEFORE JUNIOR YEAR

“What has you all giddy like that?” Evie laughs, giving me a side-eye.

I shake my head playfully, my loose hair moving with the motion, silky strands caressing my cheeks. “Today’s the day.”

I wasn’t sure it was possible, but my smile grows even wider.

“The day?” A confused frown appears between my best friend’s eyebrows.

“It’s Jack’s and my six-month anniversary!” I announce, happiness showing clearly on my face.

“Right! God, it’s already been that long, huh?”

You’d think she’d know, since she and Liam started dating around the same time. Then again, if you’ve been best friends with the guy you’re dating for almost all your life, you’d probably look at things differently.

“Yes, and tonight I have something special planned for us.” I wiggle my eyebrows, hoping she’ll get the meaning.

“Wha— Ohhhh… You’re going to…?” Evie leaves the rest of the sentence hanging in the air, her blue eyes growing wide as saucers as she looks around the room. It’s like she expects somebody will jump out at us and ask us to explain what we’ve been talking about. She’s such a prude sometimes.

“Yup. I’m ready.”

And God, was that the truth. Jack and I have been dating for half a year, and more than half that time, things have been pretty heated. As much as I love how he makes me feel—how his kisses warm me from the inside out, and how everywhere he touches me (and does that boy know how to touch), my skin tingles in anticipation of more—for some reason, I’ve been reluctant to take that last step. I just wanted to enjoy the anticipation for a while, but now I’m ready to cross that final line, and I can’t wait to see Jack’s face once I tell him.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. He’s been driving me insane, and I feel like I’m going to burst if we don’t do it soon. Trust me, I’m ready.”

Evie smiles softly at me, although her cheeks are still flushed in embarrassment. “So, I guess I should get some ice cream for tomorrow so you can tell meeverything.I mean it, Jessy. Every. Single. Thing.”

Together we giggle like a pair of girls gushing over their favorite boy band. Only it’s not a boy band I’m gushing over. It’s Jack, and he’s all mine, which makes it that much better.

I wink playfully at her. “You know it.”

* * *

“Have you seen Jack?” I ask Mike as soon as we arrive at Jack’s house. His parents are out of town, so he threw an impromptu party. For a last-minute thing, the house is overflowing with people.

“I think he’s around here somewhere,” he says, his eyes sweeping the space. Since he has at least a foot on me, he’ll have more luck spotting him than I ever could.

“See anything?”

“Uhh.” He looks at me and then away, something I’m not sure I can describe passing over his face. Unease, maybe? I frown. What’s with that?

“Mike?” I ask, an unsettling feeling rising in the pit of my stomach.

“Maybe we should…”

I wave him away. “You know what? I’ll just walk around and find him.”

Mike tries to call my name, but I ignore him, determined to find Jack.

The butterflies I was feeling before start bouncing inside my stomach once again, chasing the anxiety away. Nervousness, the good kind, washes over me. I’ve wanted this for a while, and now that I’ve set my mind to it, there’s no stopping me.

The living room turned dance floor is filled with kids. Some are dancing to the music blasting from the speakers, solo cups clenched in their hands. The terrace door is open and more people are mingling outside. I hear a loud splash over the music as somebody jumps—or by the sound of the shriek that follows, was tossed—into the pool in the backyard.

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