The Fill-In Boyfriend by Lindsey Osorio, Lindsey Osorio, Lindsey Osorio, Lindsey Osorio (macos ebook reader .TXT) 📕

Eve standing right there I felt like I had to. I walked forward until I stood next to Hayden. For the first time I had a clear view of Spencer’s face—dark eyes, almost black in this lighting—and I nearly took a step back. I knew him. Well, not really. He went on a date with Laney once two years ago and I had doubled. The only reason I remembered him was because he’d been a total jerk, mean to her the whole date then trying to make out with her when it was over.

Hayden was in the middle of telling Spencer a story about some scene he had to do for drama. “. . . so I asked the teacher, ‘Can this be a monologue?’”

Spencer laughed. “What did the girl say?”

“She thought I was kidding.”

“And let me guess, you went along with that?”

“What else was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know . . . maybe stop worrying about someone else’s feelings for once and worry about your grade.”

Hayden shrugged. “Whatever. It turned out fine.”

Spencer’s eyes drifted to me and I waited for him to recognize me as well but he didn’t. He just seemed to be wondering why this strange girl was interrupting their conversation. It had been two years and he hadn’t even been my date. It was understandable that he wouldn’t recognize me.

Hayden’s happy eyes met mine and they seemed to snap back to reality. “Oh, Gia. Hi.”

“Do you know this gorgeous girl?” Spencer asked.

“I do. She came with me.”

“You lucky dog. How does an average-looking guy like yourself attract a girl way out of your league?”

“I think it must be my killer charm.”

Spencer turned to me. “Would you agree with that assessment?”

“He is rather charming.”

“Hmm. I thought I had that in droves.”

Eve, who had joined us as well, gave a small laugh. “There’s a difference between charming and obnoxious, Spencer.”

“I’m sure you know that difference well,” Spencer said.

Eve raised one eyebrow. I waited for her comeback to him but both she and Spencer laughed. He rushed forward and threw her over his shoulder. “I’ll be back. I’m just going to drop this girl in the ocean as part of her graduation present.” He headed off like he was going to do that very thing.

“You better not,” she said, pounding his back. “Save me, Hayden.”

Hayden just shrugged with a big smile on his face.

“Ryan!” Eve screamed.

Both Hayden and I watched as Spencer trudged toward the ocean. Before he made it, Ryan joined them and they had a fake wrestling match in the sand. Hayden let out a sigh. He seemed so happy for the first time tonight. I didn’t need to tell him that Spencer had been a jerk to my friend two years ago. Spencer obviously didn’t remember and he had probably changed a lot since then. He seemed different, nicer.

“Your friends are fun,” I said.

“Yes, we had a lot of fun together.”

“You miss it.”

“I miss how it was before. Everything is different now and it’s pointless trying to make it the same.”

I hoped he meant that he had given up trying to win Eve back. Neither she nor Ryan deserved him in their lives.

Hayden was sitting at a table catching up with Spencer when I came back from the bathroom. I approached him from behind and draped my arms over his shoulders, pressing my cheek against his. Take that, Eve, I thought as she walked past us with Ryan. The night had cooled considerably and Hayden’s cheek was warm. I felt him smile then he laced his fingers with mine.

“You two are sickeningly cute, aren’t you?” Spencer said.

Hayden tensed and shifted in his chair. His fingers slipped from mine and he folded his arms over his chest. Oh no. He felt guilty. He wanted to tell his friend this was a lie. I could sense it because I knew the feeling. It had been one thing for me to lie to Jules—I felt like she’d deserved it—it was a completely different story to lie to Claire and Laney.

“Please don’t,” I whispered in his ear. He couldn’t tell him tonight when he had no idea how Spencer would react to this news. For all we knew, he’d run off and tell Eve and then this night would’ve been pointless. “You can break up with me tomorrow and let him know.”

Hayden offered a stiff nod. I pressed a kiss to the skin right beneath his ear. He smelled so good I wanted to linger there, take advantage of the last few moments of physical contact we’d have. I felt him shiver so I pulled away.

“You ready to go?” he asked.

“Stay and talk for another minute. I’ll go grab your shoes.”

He looked down at his still-bare feet. “Oh, right. I left them by the rocks. Thanks.”

It was getting late. It was darker this time and the path to the rocks a little less clear. I made it around the bend to see two people making out.

“Oh! I’m sorry.”

Eve and Ryan straightened up and faced me, Eve flattening her hair.

“Sorry,” I said again. “I just needed to get Hayden’s shoes. There they are.”

I scooped them up.

“Are you leaving?” Eve asked.

“Yes.”

“Thanks for coming,” Ryan said as I tried to scurry away. “It’s good to see Hayden happy again.”

t’s all an act, you jerk, I wanted to say. You are the worst friend ever and don’t use his happiness to ease your guilt. Of course I didn’t.

“Yeah, sure. See you around.”

Hayden was up and heading my way when I emerged from the rocks. “Thanks,” he said, pointing to the shoes, when I met up with him. I was so glad I was the one who had found Eve and Ryan behind that rock just then and not him. He didn’t need to see it rubbed in his face any more than he already had tonight.

He wrapped me up in a hug and buried his face into my hair. “Thanks for tonight.”

I closed my eyes. “Of course. It was fun.” And I was surprised to realize that I really meant that. Hayden was easy to be around.

He tightened one arm around my waist and his other hand moved up and down my back. Maybe he wanted to take advantage of the last few moments of physical contact we’d have, as well. “I had fun too. Let’s get you home.” He let me go and took my hand.

I glanced over my shoulder and sure enough, Eve was standing next to the rocks, staring at us. I should’ve known his reason for physical contact.

Chapter 16

 

We pulled up to his house and he turned off the engine and hopped out of the car before I could stop him. When he got to my door and opened it, I said, “Sorry, I should’ve mentioned that I need a ride home.”

“Oh.” He looked up and down the street like he’d see a car waiting for me there. “Did my sister get you?”

“Yes.”

“She’s so sneaky.”

“Yes, she is.” I stayed sitting in his car, waiting for him to shut the door and go back around to his side.

He didn’t. He nodded toward his house. “Do you need to get home right away? My sister is going to want a report. I bet you’ll give a more satisfying one.”

The clock on the dash of his car said ten p.m. I had two hours until curfew. “Okay, sure.”

We walked the path to the front door and Hayden unlocked it and stepped inside. Bec was sitting on a couch in the living room and she immediately turned off the television and looked between us. “So?”

Hayden put his arm around me. “You’ll be happy to know that there were many head games played tonight and much jealousy floating about. I’m not sure exactly who was playing all the games or who was the most jealous, but Gia did all the things that you made her swear to do.”

Bec turned to me. “Okay, now I want to know what really happened. None of this vague crap.”

At that moment an older woman came sweeping into the room. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun, held by a pencil. Tons of flyaway strands had escaped the arrangement, leading to a windblown look. “Hayden, I thought I heard you. I need your face.”

“Mom, I have a friend over.” Hayden pointed at me.

She smiled my way. “I don’t see how this affects anything. You can bring her.”

Bec stood and followed after her mom, who was already walking down the hall without waiting for a response.

“It’s pointless to argue,” Hayden said. “She always wins.” He led me down the hall and around a corner. Inside a large room with double doors and hardwood floors were tons of paintings. Some finished and hanging, some halfway done, others blank canvases. One rested on an easel, a large sheet covered in paint splatters on the floor beneath it, as if someone had abandoned it right in the middle of painting. We all entered the room.

“This is Gia, by the way, Mom.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, where are my manners?” She extended her hand to me. “I’m Olivia. I’m sorry for stealing this boy away but I need his gorgeous face. I mean, tell me that face doesn’t inspire creativity.”

Both Hayden and Bec rolled their eyes.

“She says that every time she pulls us in here and then she creates things like that.” He pointed to a painting of a half-insect, half-zebra face splitting open to reveal a blooming flower. “My face did not inspire that.”

“It really did,” his mom said.

“She just gets lonely in here,” Bec said.

“My children mock me, but they are my muses.” She studied me then. “I think you could be my muse as well. Your bone structure is amazing.”

“Don’t let her fool you,” Bec said. “What she means is that she wants to paint bones. Probably dinosaur bones or something while she stares at you.”

Olivia did not seem offended by the banter. She just laughed and began to paint while Hayden sat on the stool in front of her. By the way she studied him, it seemed she was using him as a model, but I could see her canvas and it was most definitely not Hayden.

Bec looked at me. “So spill. Tell us everything that happened tonight.”

I glanced at their mom, not really sure I wanted to admit to the act of lying in front of her.

“My mom already knows,” Bec said. “And while she doesn’t condone it, she can see why our immature brains might feel it necessary.”

“You are misquoting me, Rebecca. I said that revenge is the product of misdirected emotions but that I had a few emotions regarding Eve as well.”

“You did not say ‘misdirected,’” Bec said loudly. “I specifically remember you saying ‘immature.’”

“Maybe I said ‘underdeveloped.’”

“Same thing,” both Bec and Hayden said together.

Olivia applied a broad stroke of navy-blue paint to her canvas right beneath the crooked purple eyes already painted there. “My point was that revenge is never the answer.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Bec waved her hand at her mom then turned to me. “So anyway, tell us about the revenge.”

I looked at her mom and wondered if she was upset that they were fighting. She didn’t seem bothered at all. “Okay, so Eve was there with Ryan.”

“I knew it!” Bec