Blackmail Boyfriend comes out tomorrow so I thought I’d share an excerpt.
Bryce and Nathan were standing by their lockers just like yesterday. I walked up to my fake boyfriend, smiled at him, and grabbed his hand. “Good morning.”
Jane stood off to the side of Nathan looking at something on her phone.
“What are you doing?” Bryce asked looking down at our hands.
“Acting like your girlfriend. That’s the plan, remember?”
Nathan turned around and buried his head in his locker. Jane continued playing with her phone.
“Does Nathan think playing ostrich will make him invisible?”
Bryce laughed. “Maybe.”
“It’s not like Jane is throwing herself at him,” I commented.
“I can hear you,” Jane muttered. “And no I’m not. Chill out, Nathan, I’m playing the friend of a girl who has a boyfriend, not a stalker.”
“Good to know.” Nathan turned around and pulled out his own phone.
Now that we all knew what part we were playing, I had a question. “Bryce, why didn’t you offer to give me a ride today?”
He seemed genuinely confused. “Why would I?”
“Because your ex trashed my car.”
“Your car isn’t trashed, and you made it to school just fine.”
“Well, Jane can’t give me a ride home.” I crossed my arms over my chest, tapped my foot, and waited. Technically, I wasn’t lying. Jane couldn’t give me a ride home, because I needed to go to the shelter this afternoon.
The fact that Bryce didn’t step up and offer a ride ticked me off. “You’re giving me a ride to the animal shelter after school.”
His eyes narrowed. “Girlfriend or not,” he emphasized the not, “you don’t give me orders.”
“Nice guy, or not,” I emphasized the negative right back at him. “I need a ride and it’s your fault my car is in the shop.”
The bell rang, warning us we needed to head for homeroom. To me it sounded like a bell signaling the end of round one.
…
I second-guessed myself all morning, wondering if I’d been too pushy with Bryce. By lunchtime, I decided to take a kinder, more gentle approach.
In the cafeteria, I bypassed the table where Jane and I normally sat and headed straight for Bryce. He and Nathan sat on the same side of the table, so they saw us coming. Nathan appeared amused. Bryce’s expression was somewhere between annoyed and surprised.
We plopped down in chairs opposite the guys, without a word.
“What are you doing?” Bryce asked.
From my brown paper lunch bag, I pulled out my standard bag of chips, an apple, and a turkey sandwich. “I’m engaging in the ritual known as eating lunch.”
Nathan pressed his lips together and looked away. I could tell he was trying not to laugh. Bryce didn’t seem to think it was funny.
“I know what you’re doing. I meant why are you eating lunch here?” He tapped the laminate tabletop.
“Girlfriends eat lunch with their boyfriends.” I said this like it was part of the high school code of conduct. Jane pulled two cupcakes from her lunch bag and passed one to Nathan.
Nathan eyed the vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. “Is this a bribe?”
Jane shrugged. “Maybe.”
“If I eat this, it doesn’t mean you’re my girlfriend.”
She bit into her cupcake and licked a bit of stray icing off her lower lip. “Whatever.”
“We’re joining you for lunch, because I wanted to talk to you, and this seemed like the easiest way to do that.”
“Fine. Talk.” He opened his lunch bag, a nice reusable one, removed a container of Chinese food, and dug in.
I cringed. “You’re eating that cold?”
“I like cold fried rice.”
“That’s just wrong.” He seemed unaffected by my opinion. “So, instead of telling you to give me a ride this morning, I should have asked if you could.”
Bryce ripped open a packet of soy sauce and poured it on his food.
I waited for him to agree that he should’ve asked if I needed a ride. He didn’t. “Hello.” I waved my hands in front of his face. “Don’t you have anything to say?”
He chewed, swallowed, and looked at me like I was being unreasonable. “While we’re at school I’ll pretend to be your boyfriend to keep the creepers away and convince guys you’re datable, but you have two older brothers and friends who go to this school. Why should it be my job to drive you anywhere?”
I sat back and looked at him in a new, less flattering, light. “First off, my brothers drive motorcycles, so I can’t catch a ride with them. Second, I never said it was your job, but it’s the decent thing to do.”
“I have a theory,” Jane said.
Oh, God.
“Due to your financial background and good looks, you have a skewed vision of how society works.” Jane reached into her lunch bag and pulled out two more cupcakes. “Here’s an example. It would be rude of me not to bring enough cupcakes to share.” She passed one to me and set one in front of Bryce. “If everyone committed random acts of cupcakes, the world would be a better place. Translated, that means stop being a tool and offer to drive Haley to the animal shelter after school.”
Bryce’s nostrils flared. I thought that only happened on TV. Apparently not. Maybe he wasn’t used to people calling him out on his behavior. I waited to see what would happen next. He pointed at me. “Fine. I’ll take you to the shelter tonight, but if you track dog shit into my car, I will kill you.”
I batted my eyelashes at him.“You say the most romantic things.”
Click the link below to find out more about Blackmail Boyfriend.