The Boyfriend Project Read online

  “What is it?”

  He waved his finger back and forth in front of my nose, and I realized he’d had a lot to drink. A lot. And that wasn’t like him, either.

  “I can’t tell you.”

  He began leading me toward the pool, although he was leaning heavily on me and his steps weren’t quite so sure. He drank as we went, then tossed the empty beer bottle onto the grass. That was so not Jeremy.

  “I’m thinking we need to go,” I said.

  “Thought we wanted to have fun.” He stopped walking and pointed to my plastic cup. “Are you going to drink that?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  He took it from me and gulped down the drink. The cup went the way of the bottle before it. I glanced around. I needed to find Fletcher.

  “Jeremy, we need to leave.”

  “Why? It’s just starting to get interesting.”

  “You’ve had a lot to drink.”

  “And you haven’t had enough. You need to relax, Kendall. Enjoy the moment.”

  How could I when this wasn’t us? During the last party, we’d had a couple of drinks, but mostly we’d danced and kissed a little in the shadows. We’d focused on each other. Tonight I felt alone, even though there were so many people around and so many things going on.

  There was a high-pitched yell. Jeremy released his hold on me, turned—

  Someone slammed into him and catapulted him into the pool, then followed him in. They both came up laughing and sputtering. The girl combed her fingers through her short, black hair.

  Jade.

  “Told you I’d get you into the pool before the night was over!” she yelled.

  Jeremy laughed again, but it didn’t sound like his laugh. It was like some stranger or an alien had taken ahold of him.

  Melody cannonballed into the pool and was soon bobbing beside them.

  I stared in disbelief as the two girls began climbing all over my boyfriend. All I could see were arms and legs. Jade and Melody were wearing two-piece bathing suits. Their bared skin flashed in the Japanese lanterns that were hung around the pool. Their shrieks and laughter echoed toward me. They weren’t the only ones in the pool, but they were the only ones I could really see and hear.

  Or at least, I would have sworn that they were the ones I was hearing.

  Jeremy finally broke away and swam to the edge of the pool. He hauled himself up and sat on the edge. He dragged his T-shirt over his head, wadded it up, wrung it out.

  In stunned fascination I watched the muscles ripple over his torso and arms. Over his abs. Where had those come from? I knew he was in shape because of baseball. I’d seen his bare torso at the beach and when I gave him the massage. It seemed impossible that he could have changed so much in such a short time, so maybe it was just the way the shadows and light played over him but it looked like he was now sporting a six-pack.

  “Come on, Jeremy,” Jade whined, bouncing up and down in the water. “I got you into the pool. You have to stay for a while.”

  Where was a shark when I needed one?

  Jeremy plowed his hands through his hair. I couldn’t believe how sexy that action was. Apparently Jade and Melody thought so, too, because they each grabbed a leg and before I knew it, he was back in the pool.

  “That’s your guy, right?”

  I turned at the deep, familiar voice and looked at Chase. “What are you doing here?”

  “Jade told me about the party. Thought maybe she was into me, but looks like I got that wrong.”

  “I think you got it right. She’s probably just messing with Jeremy while waiting for you. You should let her know you’re here.”

  “Oh, she knows. She was spending time with me until lover boy over there showed up. Then it was time for a pitching change. She couldn’t get to him fast enough.”

  “Well, he’s not going to stay with her.”

  “You don’t think?”

  I glanced back at the pool in time to see him lift her up and toss her playfully away. Melody was climbing on his back like she thought he was going to give her a piggyback ride. “This is crazy.”

  “Want me to chuck you in there so you can defend what’s yours?” Chase asked.

  I was wearing my favorite sandals. Besides I wasn’t sure I’d come out ahead. The very notion of me getting into a brawl with them—of me having to defend what was mine—was ridiculous. “No.”

  Jeremy dumped Melody off his shoulders, again swam to the edge of the pool. But this time when he hauled himself out, he didn’t sit at the edge. He grabbed his bundled-up T-shirt and staggered away.

  He looked around. I waved. He spotted me and wove toward me. “The world is spinning,” he slurred.

  “I think you had too much to drink.”

  “Not that much.” He took a deep breath, opened his eyes wide. Then he narrowed them at Chase. “Seen you at the shelter, but we haven’t really met.”

  “I’m Chase.”

  “I’m Kendall’s boyfriend.” He jabbed his finger into Chase’s chest. “You need to remember that.”

  “Maybe you need to remember that,” Chase said. “You were the one in the pool letting Jade climb all over you like you were a jungle gym.”

  Looking confused, he shook his head. “I’ve seen you flirting with my girl. You’d better stop. ’Cuz you’re not going to win.”

  “Win what?”

  “Anything.”

  “Dude, you’re not making any sense.”

  “You just—”

  “Hey, Jeremy,” Fletcher said, putting his arm around Jeremy as though he thought he might fall down without some support. “Think we need to go.”

  “Yeah, man. Don’t tell him.”

  “I won’t.”

  Fletcher started to lead Jeremy away. I turned to Chase. “I’m so sorry.”

  “No need to apologize to me for his actions. They’re not your fault.”

  But I sort of wondered if they were. “I’ll see you at the shelter.”

  “Count on it.”

  I caught up with Avery and followed along as Fletcher supported Jeremy to the car.

  “What happened to him?” Avery asked.

  “I think he drank too much too fast. He had two beers and some alcoholic drink in about ten minutes.”

  “He had a few beers before that,” Fletcher called back.

  He unceremoniously dumped Jeremy into the backseat. I’d recently learned that Fletcher’s dad got drunk a lot so I knew he didn’t have a lot of tolerance for those who abused alcohol. Jeremy could not work the seat belt so I reached over and did it for him.

  He gave me a really goofy grin. “You should have come into the pool.”

  “I think there were enough people in the pool.”

  “It was fun.”

  My gut clenched. I didn’t want him having fun with Jade. Or with Melody for that matter.

  He didn’t say anything else. By the time Fletcher pulled into my driveway, Jeremy was asleep.

  Not exactly the way I’d planned for tonight to go.

  “I’ll take care of him,” Fletcher said.

  “Thanks.” I said that to be polite, because at that moment, I really wasn’t sure that I cared.

  As I walked into the house, I wondered what had happened to the Jeremy I loved.

  Chapter 26

  JEREMY

  A little construction crew had taken up residence inside my head and was pounding sledgehammers against the front of my skull. I thought if I didn’t move maybe they would go away. But they didn’t. They just slammed harder.

  Squinting, I cracked open my eyes. Faint morning light was easing between the slats and around the edge of the blinds at the windows. The room looked familiar but I couldn’t quite place it. The idea that something was terribly wrong ratcheted through me. I shouldn’t be here. It shouldn’t be morning.

  “Here, drink this.”

  Shifting my gaze, I saw Fletch sitting in a chair near the bed, extending a glass of what looked to be tomato juice