The Fake Boyfriend Experiment(34)

Erin harrumphed then leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Les sat down on my lawn chair, and I had to jerk my feet away from him to keep him from sitting on them. He handed me the hotdog. “So, is who a good kisser? Your boyfriend?”

I took a bite of the hot dog instead of answering. This was so wrong!

“How come he’s not taking you to the semi?” Les persisted.

I swallowed. “Because he’s...um...” What would sound good? “He’s got an audition.”

Les got that glazed look in his eyes, like he thought I was going to talk about piano again. “For what?” But he was already looking across the pool toward his friends, as if trying to figure out how quickly he could escape me.

Screw him! I wasn’t that boring, and neither was my life. “He has an audition for MTV,”I snapped. “He plays the drums.”

“What? MTV?” Erin sat up and yanked her sunglasses off to stare at me. “You didn’t tell us that! Since when?”



“They’re doing a new reality show, and they need a drummer who’s really hot and amazingly talented. Mueller-Fordham always sends a couple kids to those auditions.” Well, they always sent kids to auditions for all the top classical programs in the country, as Erin knew. It wasn’t that much of a stretch that Mueller-Fordham would also be asked to contribute to a reality show for MTV. Top music schools got noticed, end of story. I knew Erin would buy it. “Rafe got the nod this time. He’s flying down to New York for the weekend.”

Les’s mouth dropped open. “He’s going to be on MTV?”

“Yeah, but he might not make the actual show.” I took another bite of the hotdog, feeling sort of pleased with how they were both gawking at me. The fact that my fake boyfriend had an MTV audition had just catapulted my social standing. Yes, I knew it was all a lie, but it still felt good.

Erin sighed dreamily. “Of course he’ll get picked. He’s completely gorgeous. Can you imagine? Your boyfriend will be world famous!”

Les leaned over and rested his arm across my knees, which I’d propped up in front of me. “Guess you won’t see him much if he makes the show, huh?” He seemed even more interested in me now, which was a little annoying. I mean, I was taken, right? If he was a nice guy, he wouldn’t be trying to make the moves on someone else’s girlfriend, would he?

I glared at him. “My boyfriend wouldn’t appreciate that.” I wiggled my legs to get him off, but he didn’t move. I really didn’t want him touching me. I mean, he wasn’t doing anything, not really, but all I could think of was Rafe.

Rafe with the girlfriend, remember? Argh!

I decided not to make Les move after all.

“What’s the big deal about an MTV audition?” Les grinned at me. “It doesn’t matter how famous he is if he’s not around to protect his territory. If you were my girlfriend, I’d be hanging out with you all the time. No guy would get a chance to talk to you.”

Erin gave me a thumbs up from behind Les, then she hopped to her feet and headed off toward the grill, leaving me alone with Les.

Uh, oh. I was going to have to talk again, wasn’t I? I really wasn’t good at that.

“So, Lily,” he drawled, giving me some weird side-of-the eyeball look, as if he were trying to be all sexy.

“So, Les.” I took another bite of my hot dog and decided to chew for a long time. A really, really long time. Hey, it would be rude to talk with my mouth full, right?



He tapped his fingers against my shin. “You want to go to the semi with me?”

I froze mid-chew, then swallowed the whole lump in one go. My heart was pounding and I felt lightheaded. “You don’t care that I have a boyfriend?”

He grinned and flicked my bangs off my forehead with his free hand. It was the same thing Rafe had done, but with Les, it made me sort of want to swat his hand away, like he was an annoying gnat circling me.

“It’s just a dance, right?” He shrugged. “It’s no big deal. It’s not like I’m trying to steal his girlfriend.” But there was a gleam in his eye that suggested that was exactly what he planned to do. His expression made my toes curl, and I wasn’t sure if it was a good curl or a bad one.

“So? Want to go?” he asked again.

I took another bite of my hotdog, pretending to play hard to get while I frantically tried to get my thoughts together. Should I go with him? I should, right? I mean, it wasn’t like Rafe was going to suddenly free up and be able to go with me. And even if he was single, he wasn’t the semi-formal type of guy. But what if he was? What if he’d go if I asked? But could I ask him? I couldn’t. Could I? No, he had a girlfriend. But what if I invited him as friends? But then what? I’d be trapped in my original lie. Les was my chance to get another guy so I could “dump” Rafe and get out of the circle of untruths that I’d woven.