The Boyfriend Project Read online

  Inside, the house was dark except for a lamp on the table by the stairs. So Mom had gone to bed. I trudged up the stairs and into my room. Bogart was on his bed. I picked him up, put him in bed with me, wrapped my arms around him, and cried.

  The tears had been building until they were an ache in my chest and a knot in my throat. It hurt to release them, but it hurt more to hold on to them. In a way, that was how I felt about Jeremy. It hurt to let him go, but it would have hurt more to hold on to him.

  I had to accept that things between us were truly over.

  Chapter 32

  JEREMY

  I woke up Sunday morning missing Kendall with an actual physical ache in my chest. With a sigh, I stared at the ceiling. My mom had gone to some yoga retreat in San Antonio to regain her Zen. My dad was in one of the Carolinas golfing with some buddies. While I wouldn’t have done anything with them if they had been here, for some reason, I was really noticing their absence.

  Without thinking, I reached for my phone to text Kendall—and stopped.

  After seeing me kissing Jade last night, Kendall had probably blocked my number. She and Chase had been gone by the time Jade and I returned with drinks. I’d seen Chase get into his car at the shelter. I pictured him comforting Kendall in that huge backseat—

  I was spared completing the image when my phone signaled a text received. My heart kicked against my ribs with the thought that maybe it was Kendall. But it was Jade.

  Pool at your house?

  I didn’t know why I hesitated to answer. After she’d initiated things last night, she’d kissed me several other times. On the couch, when we were dancing, while she was drinking. But the entire time I’d felt guilty about it, because Kendall had seen us. Then I felt guilty for thinking about Kendall while kissing Jade.

  I finally replied with:

  Yes.

  Can I come play?

  Along with the words was a picture of Jade’s bare stomach, her belly button ring, and the bottom portion of her two-piece bathing suit.

  I had two choices: be miserable all day or be distracted. Jade certainly knew how to distract. And she knew how to have a good time. I texted her my address.

  When she arrived half an hour later, she had Melody with her. They stepped inside and stared at the huge foyer, the sweeping staircases on either side of it.

  “Are you, like, rich?” Jade asked.

  “No,” I assured her. Shrugged. “My parents are.”

  “Wow.” She glanced around and asked in a low voice, “Are they here?”

  “No, they’re out of town. Won’t be back until late tonight.”

  She leaped at me. With a laugh, I caught her in my arms as her legs circled my waist. “We are going to have so much fun!” she announced.

  I smiled brightly at her enthusiasm. “Yeah, I think we will.”

  Because she was latched on to me like a monkey, I carried her through the house to the pool, while Melody followed along. Once I set Jade on the tiled area around the pool, she gave me a big grin and tugged on my T-shirt. “This needs to come off.”

  “Maybe later.”

  “Now or we’re going to push you into the pool.”

  Based upon where we were standing, that was going to take a lot of pushing. Still, I drew the shirt over my head and tossed it onto a nearby lounger.

  With her finger, Jade outlined my ribs, the ridges along my stomach. “Nice. You are so totally going to win.”

  “Totally,” Melody said.

  I appreciated their confidence in me. “You want something to drink?”

  “A couple of beers would be nice,” Jade said as she stretched out on a lounger. Melody took one on the other side of her.

  “Sorry, but I can’t offer you a beer.”

  “Margarita?”

  “Nope.”

  “Your parents don’t drink?”

  “They do, but they’d know if something was missing. I’d get into a boatload of trouble.”

  She pouted. “Are you afraid?”

  “No, but this is their house. I need to respect their boundaries. Besides it’s not even noon.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Okay, then, water, tea, something boring.”

  I went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of soft drinks out of the fridge. When I returned, I handed them each a can and stretched out on the lounger beside Jade. She set her soda aside, got up, came over to my lounger, and straddled my hips. Then she leaned in and kissed me like we’d never have another opportunity because the world was going to end.

  Gently I placed my hands on her shoulders and eased her back. “What are you doing?”

  “Uh, duh! Making out.”

  I shifted my eyes to the side. Melody was wearing huge sunglasses. I couldn’t tell if she was asleep or looking at the pool. It didn’t matter. “Melody’s here.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  Before Avery got together with Fletch, Kendall and I often included her when we went places or did things. But we never made out in front of her. Maybe we’d sneak in a quick kiss if Avery wasn’t looking or we were separated for a little while, but nothing like what Jade was suggesting.

  “It’s rude,” I said.

  With something that sounded like an impatient growl, she looked up at the sky, then glanced over at Melody. “Mel, do you have a problem if we make out?”

  “Nah, go ahead.”

  Jade grinned. “See?” She moved in again, and I stopped her.

  I didn’t want to think about how I had suggested Kendall and I make out at Scooter’s party, but then I’d had too much to drink, everyone was doing it, and it was dark. “She might not mind, but I do.”

  She gave her eyes an exaggerated roll. “I thought you were cool.”

  “I am, which is why we’re not going to do this.”

  She sighed. “Then why am I even here?”

  “To hang out.”

  “Boring. Let’s go to the beach then.”

  Only I didn’t want to go to the beach. I wasn’t sure that I even wanted to be with her. Did we have anything in common, other than steampunk?

  “Are you going to college?” I asked.

  “Community.”

  “What are you going to study?”

  “I don’t know,” she said impatiently. “What does it matter?”

  “We only talk about parties and other people.” She had lots of funny stories about other people, but I realized she didn’t reveal a lot about herself. “I don’t know very much about you.”

  She gave me a sexy smile. “You’ll know a lot if we make out.”

  “But I want more than that. Don’t you?”

  “No, not really.” She climbed off me. “Mel, let’s go to the beach.”

  “Okay.”

  They started gathering up their things. I stood, a little relieved, a little disappointed and sad that Jade only wanted a surface relationship. “You don’t have to go,” I told them.

  “Yeah, we do,” Jade said. She walked over to me and tiptoed her fingers over my chest. “But don’t worry. You’re still on my make-out list.”

  Funny how that didn’t make me feel any better. I saw them out, then returned to the lounger and stared at the sparkling water of the pool. I wondered what Kendall was doing, if she was as miserable as I was.

  Chapter 33

  KENDALL

  As Chase drove us to the movie theater, I was determined not to compare him to Jeremy—not even once. I wasn’t even going to think about Jeremy. Chase was totally different, his own person. He had his own way of doing things.

  When he parked, I immediately opened the car door and got out. I caught up with him, smiled when he took my hand. He bought the tickets, then we stood in line for refreshments. He ordered two small, buttered popcorns and two drinks. I told myself that he was being polite, that we didn’t know each other well enough to share, but maybe someday we would. I went to the butter stand that allowed for more butter to be added to popcorn and pressed the spigot five times.