The Fill-In Boyfriend by Lindsey Osorio, Lindsey Osorio, Lindsey Osorio, Lindsey Osorio (best life changing books .txt) đ
- Author: Lindsey Osorio, Lindsey Osorio, Lindsey Osorio, Lindsey Osorio
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Jules smirked. âIs that the theme of your relationship? âThe importance of Giaâ?â She actually did air quotes.
Garrett, Julesâs date, laughed but then stopped quickly when another one of the guys smacked him on the back.
âNo,â my date said before I had a chance to respond. âBut maybe it should be.â
With this, they all laughed. I was too busy glaring at Jules to laugh.
âWeâre going to dance,â my date said. And as he led me to the dance floor, it hit me that I didnât know his real name. Was that what the smirk was all about when we were walking toward the gym? So when the-guy-whose-name-I-didnât-know put his arms around me, I leaned my forehead against his chest and whispered, âSorry.â
Chapter 3
âWhat are you sorry for?â fill-in Bradley asked.
âI donât even know your real name.â
He laughed a low chuckle that I could feel through his chest. Then he leaned down so his breath tickled my ear when he said, âMy name is Bradley.â
I looked up with a gasp. âReally?â
He shook his head no. âIâm a method actor. I have to become a person.â
âAre you an actor?â It wouldnât have surprised me. He was obviously really good at it.
He looked up, thinking. âYou didnât tell me that about myself. Am I?â
I hit his chest with a laugh. âStop.â
He glanced over my shoulder, toward where my friends were still standing. âNice friends you got there.â
âTheyâre mostly nice. Jules is just constantly trying to oust me.â
âWhy?â
âI have no idea. I think she thinks Iâm the alpha of our pack and that there is only room for one without resorting to cannibalism.â
âIâm going to take your weird wolf analogy and assume you mean that she wants to be the leader of your group.â
I shrugged and watched across the room as Jules hooked her arm through Claireâs and said something to her. âItâs the only thing I can think of. Sheâs the main reason I needed you here tonight. She thinks Iâve been lying. I didnât want to give her ammo. She already finds enough without me handing her some on a silver platter.â
He raised his eyebrowsâhe liked to do that, I was already learning. âSo if she finds out youâve been lying . . . ?â
âYes. I get it. Thatâs exactly what Iâm now doing and wasnât doing before. But she thinks I was. And if I walked in here without you, I wouldâve been gone.â
âYou donât trust that your other friends like you enough not to let her do that?â
âThey like me. But for two months sheâs been working on this. She really thought she had something on me. She thought I was hiding something. I needed tonight.â
âSo if you really are the alpha, why arenât you the one kicking her out?â
Iâd thought about that question a lot. The main answer was that I really didnât think I was in charge, as much as Jules thought I was. But the other answer, the one I admitted only on my darkest nights, was that I was worried if I made everyone pick, theyâd choose her. I was worried that no matter how much confidence Iâd shown on the outside, deep down people didnât like me. And that maybe they were right not to. I was not going to tell him that, though. Heâd already seen enough weakness tonight. âBecause Iâm only an eighth evil.â
âWhat?â
âI sometimes call Jules a quarter evil. But thatâs the thing. . . . I guess I donât want to be that girl. The one who needs to kick someone out of a group. Iâve been hoping we can work it out, sign a peace treaty, find neutral ground, I donât know.â And regardless of the other reasons I was scared to cause trouble, these reasons were true too. I just wanted us all to get along.
âYou like analogies, donât you?â
âYes, I do. Words are powerful.â
He tilted his head as if intrigued by that answer. âSo, I still donât get it. If theyâve seen pictures of him, why donât they believe he existed?â
I gave a humorless laugh. âBecause there arenât enough of them. But itâs not like we were together a lot to take pictures. We have . . . had . . . a long-distance relationship. So Jules thinks I asked some random guy off the street to pose with me.â
He laughed. âI donât know why sheâd ever think that.â
My cheeks flushed red and I looked at the ground. âYeah. Yeah.â It was pretty pathetic that I had to bring in a fake date tonight. A date I wouldnât have had to bring in if my very real boyfriend hadnât broken up with me.
âAre you okay? Upset about the whole Captain America thing?â
I took a breath in through my nose, making sure my voice didnât sound wobbly when I said, âNope. Iâll be fine. We obviously werenât that serious. It was a short, long-distance relationship. Nothing big.â I wasnât sure if I was trying to convince him or me with that speech.
He was quiet for so long that I looked up to see if he was still listening. His eyes were on me, searching for something I wasnât sure I possessed. The song ended and a fast one took its place. I took a quick step back. âSo. Your real name is?â
âWe canât afford any slipups tonight, right? As far as you know, my real name is Bradley.â Finally he looked away and I could breathe again. He extended his hand to me and when I took it, he spun me around once then pulled me back into his arms, swaying with the beat.
âYouâre not half bad at this,â I said.
âAt what? The acting or the dancing?â
âWell, both, but I was talking about the dancing.â
âItâs because youâre the fifth girl whoâs asked me to fill in for her date at prom. Itâs forced me to brush up on my dancing skills.â
âWhatever.â
âSo, Gia Montgomery.â
âYes, nameless boy?â
He gave a breathy laugh. âI donât believe you offered me money for this. Do you go around offering people money for random services often?â
âNo, usually my smile gets me what I want.â I had actually been a little surprised he was so hard to talk out of that car.
âWhat kinds of things has it gotten you so far?â
âBesides you in a suit?â
He looked down at his clothes as if my mention of the suit reminded him he was wearing it. âThis wasnât because of your smile.â
âThen why?â I was very curious. He had gone from trying to roll up his window to agreeing to be my date in a single breath, it seemed.
âGia!â I turned toward my name and a girl with long blond hair waved at me. âI voted for you!â She pointed up toward the stage where a sparkly tiara sat on a stool, waiting for its wearer. I smiled at her and mouthed thank you. When I looked back at my date, his eyes sparkled with amusement.
âWhat?â
âI didnât realize I was dancing with royalty.â
âNo one has been crowned yet, so that statement is completely premature.â
âWho was that?â He gestured back toward the blond girl.
âSheâs in my history class.â
He took my arm in his and said, âGuess we better get back to your friends.â
The others had moved to an open table with chairs and were sitting around talking about leaving early and doing something more exciting. It was the âmore excitingâ part they were all trying to agree on. I glanced back up at the stage, knowing I couldnât leave until the royalty was announced. Jules didnât care about that, though. Thatâs probably why she wanted to leave early. She was bitter she hadnât gotten nominated. It wasnât something she admitted out loudâthat would be too obviousâbut I saw her lip curl every time someone brought it up.
Laney whispered, âSorry,â when I reached her side. I wasnât sure what she was sorry about . . . maybe the months of not believing me about Bradley? I slid around the back side of the table, still holding tightly to my dateâs hand, and we sat down facing the dance floor.
Jules stood and held up her phone. âEveryone get closer together, I want to take a picture.â We did, and when she got to three, I felt my fake date move behind me a little more, probably using my head to block his face. Jules studied the picture but didnât ask for a retake. Then she turned her attention to fill-in Bradley. âSo, what do college guys do for fun? Aside from pick up high school girls, that is.â
He didnât flinch at all from the comment. Probably because it didnât really apply to him. âWell, Gia and I are going to a party after this, but itâs invite only so thatâs not very helpful, I guess. Is there an arcade or something you could all go to?â He said this all in the nicest tone so it almost seemed like he was trying to be polite. But he squeezed my knee under the table and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. I couldâve hugged him for saying that to her. âI donât live around here, so Iâm not sure what there is to do.â
I swear Jules was like a bloodhound, her senses perking up at the first drop of blood. She should be a detective when she grows up because she picks up on the slightest inconsistency of any story. âBut if you donât live around here, how did you get invited to a party here?â
Fill-in Bradley was just as quick with his response. âWho said the party was around here?â Then it was like a battle of wills because they both stared at each other. Jules looked away first and I took a small sip of air in relief. I just needed to get through tonight. If she was already sniffing around for trouble, she was bound to figure out that the guy sitting next to me wasnât who I claimed he was.
My date mustâve seen the worry on my face because he leaned in close with that Iâm-in-love look Iâd told him to give me and brushed his lips softly against my cheek. My throat tightened. He was a really good actor.
âDonât look so worried,â he whispered. âYouâll give us away.â He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. âNow giggle like I said something funny.â
I did. It wasnât hard to do, but thatâs when I saw something on the dance floor that stopped my giddy laugh in my throat. His sister. Staring straight at us.
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