The Boyfriend Project Read online

Jeremy was absently running his fingers up and down my arm. When he watched a TV show or movie, he was almost totally focused on the story. Usually I was, too.

  But tonight I kept thinking about Jade’s comment. It wasn’t that I wanted her coming after my guy, but I wouldn’t have minded her showing a bit of interest in him. Jeremy and I had been friends before we’d started dating and I’d never heard of him asking another girl out. But what if he was with me because I’d been his only choice?

  Jeremy stopped the episode before it could roll over into the next one. He shifted slightly, and I peered up at him. He trailed his finger over my cheek. “You seem distracted tonight.”

  I shrugged. “Thinking about my mom. It’s weird for her to have a date. What if she really likes this guy? She wouldn’t tell me his name or show me a picture of him. So I just don’t know what to expect.”

  “Maybe she’s just testing the waters and didn’t want to get her—and your—hopes up.”

  I glanced back over at the TV. “What if she has sex with him?”

  Jeremy laughed, then sobered when he realized I was seriously concerned. “She probably won’t on the first date.”

  I moved so that I was almost sitting on him. He slid down until he was sprawled over the couch, and I was tucked up close to his side. “How many is the right number do you think?” I asked.

  “Everyone is different.”

  Not really wanting to think about Mom anymore, I loosened one of the buttons on his shirt. “So how many dates have we had, do you think?”

  He closed his hand around mine.

  “What if your mom walks in on us?” he asked.

  “What if she doesn’t?”

  “Do you have any idea how long she’ll be gone?”

  Shaking my head, I rolled over until I was on top of him. I skimmed my fingers through his hair. “You didn’t get a haircut today.”

  “Nope. Maybe tomorrow.” He grinned. “Or maybe I’ll grow it out.”

  I rubbed my thumb along his jaw. “Maybe you shouldn’t shave tomorrow.”

  “Why?”

  “It’ll make you look older.”

  “It’ll also make my dad go ballistic. There’s a dress code at the office.”

  “But it’s like he’s stifling your freedom to express yourself. You’re not your father’s clone. You didn’t need his permission to go to the beach. Maybe you should rebel a little more.”

  He chuckled. “Rebelling within the confines of the family is one thing. To do it at the office is another. If I was going to rebel there, I’d do it by quitting.”

  “So do it.”

  “Yeah, right.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. I loved the way he did it so his finger trailed lightly over my chin. “So what’s with the hair, the shaving, the rebelling?”

  Sighing, I nipped at his jaw. “I don’t know. It’s summer. It just seems like we should do something radical before we head off to college. Experiment a little.” I kissed him. “You know, explore our independence.”

  He slipped his hands beneath the hem of my top, folded his hands around my waist. “Oh, yeah?” he asked in a raspy voice.

  “Yeah.” I planted my mouth on his, aware of him rolling us until we were on our sides facing each other. I wrapped one hand around his neck and used the other to nimbly free the buttons on his shirt. I flattened my palm against his chest, could feel his heart thudding.

  I heard the front door open, shut. “Kendall!” my mom called out.

  Jeremy jerked back, hovered at the edge of the cushion for a heartbeat before toppling over and landing with a thud on the floor. Bogart yelped and backed away as fast as he could. Quickly I sat up. “In here!”

  Jeremy buttoned his shirt as he scrambled back onto the couch. He put his arm around me as he pressed PLAY on the TV and the next episode started up.

  “Hey, guys,” Mom said as she wandered in and sat in the slider rocker. Bogart crept over to her side, and without a thought—or so it seemed—she reached down and began petting him.

  “How was the date?” I asked, although I had a feeling I knew the answer, considering that it wasn’t even ten yet.

  “Nice.” She looked at the TV. “What are you watching?”

  “The 100.”

  “Mmm.” I knew that meant nothing to her. She read romance novels. She didn’t watch TV.

  “Are you going to see him again?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so.”

  As though sensing that my mom had more to say, Jeremy stopped the TV. “Listen, I need to go.” He stood up. “Good night, Mrs. J.”

  “Good night, Jeremy.”

  Holding his hand, I walked him to the front door. Turning, he kissed me. When he drew back, I tugged on his shirt. “Hope my mom didn’t notice that your buttons are one off.”

  He grimaced. “Ah, man.” Leaning down, he kissed me again. “See you tomorrow.”

  As he walked out, he began redoing his buttons. I loved this guy. He was so cute. When he was gone, I wandered back into the living room and curled up in the corner of the couch. “Want to talk about it?” I asked my mom.

  “He wasn’t your dad.” She sighed. “I know that’s unfair, but when I met your dad there was this instant electricity. From the get-go, he made me smile, made me happy to be with him. The guy tonight . . . I kept checking my watch.”

  I understood the electricity. I’d felt it with Jeremy. He was the new kid in town, and I’d decided to be bold and invite him to join Avery and me for lunch. After that, we’d become the terrific threesome, but always there was something a little more between Jeremy and me than friendship. “I’m sorry.”

  “Not your fault. He wasn’t what I wanted or needed and I knew it five minutes after we met.”

  “So are you going to give someone else a try?”

  “Oh, sure. In a couple of days. Meanwhile, want to share some ice cream with me?”

  I smiled brightly. “Absolutely.”

  Three minutes later, we were sitting at the counter with a tub of chocolate-chip cookie-dough ice cream between us. I took a bite, let it slowly melt in my mouth.

  “We’ve had so little time to talk lately,” Mom said. “How are you doing?” While Avery was my best girlfriend, my mom was a close second. And she had many more life experiences.

  “To be honest, I’ve been a little restless. Not unhappy exactly, but feeling like, I don’t know, like I’m missing out on something. I don’t know why.”

  She gave me a sympathetic smile. “You’re on the cusp of adulthood. It’s natural to question things: what you’re going to do with your life, what you want that life to be.”

  “I guess that’s it.” But it seemed like it was more, like it was bigger than that. That it had to do with Jeremy and me, with us. That thought scared me. I didn’t want to examine it too closely, so I didn’t try to explain it to my mom because I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer. Instead, pretending that her answer made me feel better, I dug in for some more ice cream.

  Chapter 8

  JEREMY

  Avery lived a few doors down from Kendall. I always passed her house on my way out of the neighborhood. Tonight as I was driving by, I saw Fletcher sitting on the stairs that led into an apartment over the garage. Avery’s parents were letting him use that room for the summer.

  I saw him lift a bottle to his lips, saw no sign of Avery. I pulled to a stop at the curb just past their house and walked back. Fletcher and I weren’t best buds. I’d barely known the guy before he got involved with Avery.

  But I was feeling a little out of whack since seeing Kendall. I couldn’t explain it but things didn’t seem quite right between us. Not that I thought Fletcher was a Dr. Phil or anything, but he’d had a rep for being a player before Avery convinced him that she was worth leaving all that behind.

  I crossed over the driveway and started up the steps. The light above the garage illuminated him enough for me to see his eyes widen slightly. I didn’t blame him. We never hung out together without the