The Fake Boyfriend Experiment(62)

His hand went toward my arm, but he dropped it before he actually touched me. “I thought you were different from how you really are. I misjudged you.”

I relaxed a little bit. That wasn’t exactly an apology, but it was close. “You did?”

He nodded. “We’ll be cool.”

Cool? What did that mean? Why didn’t he just grab me and kiss me and tell me he was so glad I wasn’t interested in Rand because he couldn’t live without me?

He touched my shoulder. “See you in the morning.

“In the morning.” Yeah, that was so romantic.

Then he turned away and walked off to his tent. Gave me a little wave, then disappeared through the flaps.

Never had I wanted a boy to kiss me more, and never had I felt more at a loss for how to let him know. Or maybe he did know, and he didn’t care. Or maybe he did know and the thought repulsed him. Was there any chance that he did want to kiss me and didn’t have the courage?

For the first time in my life, I needed my friends’ advice on boys. Badly.





Sneak Peek: SMART BOYS AND FAST GIRLS


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I leaned over and rested my chin on Matt’s shoulder, trying to support him. He might be only my fake boyfriend, but I wasn’t about to leave him dangling in front of my friends. They thought we were really going out, and I had to treat Matt the way he’d deserve to be treated if he was really my boyfriend. Matt was already uncomfortable with the fake boyfriend thing, and I’d made it worse by making him come out with my friends.

Matt glanced at me, which meant his face was about a quarter of an inch from mine, seeing as how I was still using his shoulder for a pillow. I’d meant it as an expression of solidarity, but now I was sort of enjoying it. It felt good. I don’t know why, but it did. So I smiled at him.

He smiled back. Nice teeth. Hadn’t realized how white and straight they were. “Did you have braces?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Lucky dog.” I’d just gotten my braces off about six months ago. It was so great not to be carrying around a wad of wax anymore.

“I agree,” Tad said.

We both looked at Tad. Had Matt also forgotten there were others at the table?

Tad was nodding, and rubbing Allie’s shoulder. “I like that Allie and I have stuff to talk about besides running.” He smiled at her. “I’m glad you come to my meets, though.”

She grinned back. “I know enough to realize that when you win it’s a good thing.”

He smiled at her “You’ve figured out a lot more than that. I appreciate it.”

Ugh. Sickening.

I tried to catch Matt’s gaze to trade vomit expressions, but he was staring at Tad and Allie with a wistful look on his face that caught my gut and wrenched it. Was he thinking of his real girlfriend? Missing her? Wishing she was around so he could whisper sweet little things into her ear?

Suddenly, seeing Tad being so sweet with Allie didn’t make me nauseous. It made me sad. I wanted that, too. I really did. And being with Matt, who was dating someone else (even if she did live in London), made me realize exactly how alone I was really was.



“Hey, Natalie.”

My head whipped up so fast I thought my neck was going to snap. Zach was standing at the end of the table, between Tad and Matt. OMG. “Hi.”

Matt twisted around to check out Zach, then he shot me a questioning look.

Great. So he remembered that I had a crush on Zach. I wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or a horrible thing. I couldn’t really think, my heart was beating so fast. Zach looked totally cute in a pair of ripped jeans and a loose T-shirt. I could see his biceps peeking out from under his sleeves—those wiry, ripped muscles that runners had.

Matt snorted under his breath and put his arm across the back of my chair. Now he does it? Did he think he was helping my cause or something?

Zach’s eyes flickered over Matt’s arm, then up to his face. “So, you’re the boyfriend?”

“Yep.”

Never heard Matt acknowledge the fake boyfriend status so emphatically. Interesting.

“How long have you guys been dating?” Zach asked

“Long enough,” Matt said. His arm slipped off the back of my chair and rested on my shoulders.

Long enough for what?

Zach looked at me. “Doesn’t sound like it to me. Nat and I had fun at the party last night.”

OMG. He’d totally made it sound like we’d been up to something.

Matt’s arm tightened around my shoulders. “You mean the team thing?”

Zach winked at me. “Yeah, the team thing.” His emphasis on the word team made it totally dear that it hadn’t been a team thing at all.