Fake Boyfriend - Kate Brian (13 page)

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"It's this little thing called the Internet? Maybe you've heard of it. They have whole plots online," Vivi told her.

"Well, that's just great. Nice to know you're a cheater," Lane said, reaching for the door handle. She seriously felt as if she were going to explode. This had been a bad day even before Curtis and his tuxedo proposition, what with having to lie to Isabelle at every turn. But at Jonathan's house it had only gotten worse. Not only had he never read a single book on Brandon's list, he'd seen only a couple of the movies. Plus they had gone through his entire closet and hadn't found one thing that a guy like Brandon would ever wear, so now they had to spend the following afternoon walking Jonathan through the mall. And to top it all off, it was already past nine and Lane hadn't even begun to study for her history test tomorrow.

"Y have to chill out," Vivi said, lowering her chin as she stared Lane in the eye. "Y

ou ou're taking this whole thing way too seriously."

"Y eah, well, somebody has to," Lane said. "If you could just take a step back from your evil hand-wringing for five seconds, you would see that this is never going to work."

"Evil hand-wringing?" Vivi said.

"Y eah! And by the way, in case you've forgotten, we have a history exam tomorrow. An exam which neither one of us had a chance to study for thanks to this project of yours," Lane said. "Unless you're just planning on cheating on that, too."

"Okay, first of all, enough with the personal attacks," Vivi said. Lane sat back, clenching her teeth in impatience.

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"Secondly, we're seniors. Y have a straight-A average. One bad test is not going to kill you. Besides, you could probably pull a C without even

ou studying."

"I don't want to get a C," Lane said, throwing the door open. "And if I do, it's on you."

"Hey! Don't act like this is all my fault!" Vivi called after her. "We're doing this for Izzy, remember?"

Lane ignored her and speed-walked up to her house. Inside, she slammed the door behind her. This was never going to work.

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* * * * twelve * * * *

"Remind me again why we need to shop," Jonathan said, following a couple of paces behind Lane and Vivi as they cut across the center of the Mall at Short Hills. He was looking around, head tipped back to take in the skylights, as if he'd never been in a mall before.

"Because Brandon is supposed to be a badass," Vivi said, quickly power walking. "And you are not."

"I told you. I can be a badass," Jonathan protested.

A toddler in a stroller dropped a rattle on the floor as her mother pushed her by, and Jonathan stopped to retrieve it, then jogged to catch up with them. He chatted with the mom for a couple of seconds, and Vivi couldn't help noticing how the sun pouring through the windows seemed to follow him. Ridiculous. When he returned, he was smiling over his good deed until he noticed Vivi and Lane staring him down and his face fell.

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"What?"

"Oh, yeah. That was totally badass," Vivi said with a snort. "Come on. We have to get to work."

Vivi made a beeline for Hollister and headed straight for the back, where they kept the sale racks. She started pulling out distressed T-shirts and chose a couple of jackets off the wall. Immediately she recognized the army-green number her brother had been sporting the other day and grabbed it. If Marshall could make it look good, then Jonathan would make it hot.

When she turned around, Jonathan was standing in front of a mirror, wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses off the rack and checking himself out. Vivi's heart skipped a beat. This guy could model. Seriously.

"What's the matter?" Lane asked.

Vivi jumped. She hadn't noticed her friend standing at a rack of distressed button-down shirts just to her left. Lane glanced at Jonathan, then back at Vivi, as if she were trying to put two and two together and coming up with zero. Vivi crossed the crowded store and shoved the clothes at Jonathan.

"Here. Try these on."

Jonathan took off the sunglasses, and the very movement was sexy. Like he'd practiced doing it a thousand times, even though she knew he hadn't. And naturally, that made it even hotter. He grimaced at her armful of items.

"I would never wear this stuff," he said.

Vivi rolled her eyes. "That's kind of the point."

He shot her a sarcastic look, but took the clothes and

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headed into the dressing room. Vivi casually leaned against the wall while he changed. When he folded his sweater over the top of the door, her breath quickened.

"So, are you really going to the prom stag?" Lane asked, inspecting a sweater with a faux-torn collar and frayed sleeves.

Vivi stood up straight. Could Jonathan hear them in there? And if so, what would he think of a girl who was going to her own senior prom without a date? Y don't care, she told herself. It doesn't matter what he thinks, because he's Isabelle's date.

ou

"Y eah. No one worth going with, so why not?" Vivi said rather loudly.

Lane bit her lower lip and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe I will, too."

"Really?" Vivi felt a dash of hope at the idea that she might not be the only one. On any given day, she could be as individualistic as she wanted to be, but prom night was a huge deal. It might be nice to have a wingman. Except-- "Wait, Lane, I thought you were going to ask Curtis."

"Well, that was before he had a date," Lane said nonchalantly as she moseyed over to a sales rack filled with girls' clothes.

Vivi balked. "Curtis has a date?"

"Well, not definitely. He just--was

At that moment, the door to the dressing room opened and Vivi and Lane were cut short. Jonathan stood there, wearing the clothes Vivi had picked out for him, looking like a total tool.

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"Y didn't actually roll up your jacket sleeves," Vivi balked.

ou

"What? It looked all messy," he replied. "And why would anyone buy a T-shirt that already had a hole in it?"

He held out the collar of the T-shirt--which was tucked into the waistband of his jeans--like it was covered in dog poo.

"Y ou're such a dork," Vivi said, shaking her head at the sight of him.

A blush crept across Jonathan's face. "If I'm a dork because I don't understand this universal need to look like you just rolled out of bed, then I guess I'm hopeless," he said, rolling his eyes. "Hang on."

He closed the door, and the clothes he'd been wearing were once again flung over the top.

"Vivi? Uh . . . maybe you should try to not be so hypercritical," Lane whispered. "He is doing us a favor."

"What did I say?" Vivi started to flip through the other shirts on the sales racks, just in case they had to go back to square one.

"Y just called him a dork to his face," Lane pointed out, coming back over to the men's racks.

ou

"Oh, please. He's fine," Vivi said.

"Maybe. For now. But if you don't watch out, your critical side is going to scare him off, and then Izzy will be dateless," Lane hissed.

Vivi's heart squeezed. That was pretty much the last thing she wanted to have happen. And she didn't want to hurt Jonathan's feelings either. But had she already done it? Was

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he in there right now, wondering why the heck he'd agreed to this?

The door opened. Jonathan had changed into a gray T-shirt and short blue jacket.

Once again, he had rolled up his sleeves. He turned to the mirror, then to the side to check himself out.

"There. How's this?"

Lane groaned, folded her arms atop the clothing rack, and collapsed her head against them. Vivi sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought. Y could take the kid out of prep school, but you couldn't take prep school out of the kid.

ou

"Awful," she said, walking over to Jonathan. Time to take charge of the situation. She grabbed his arm and yanked the fold out of the sleeve, then did the same with the other. Then she knelt down and yanked down on the jeans so that they weren't sitting so high, and uncuffed the hems, leaving the fraying edges to cover the back of his shoes. When she stood up again, she yanked the T-shirt out of the waistband and reached for his hair.

"Whoa! What're you doing?" Jonathan asked, holding up a hand.

"Just trust me," Vivi said.

She shoved her hands into his hair and yanked up, then ruffled the back with her fingers. From the bench in the dressing room, she grabbed the aviator sunglasses and handed them to him. He paused for a second before putting them on. Together, Vivi and Jonathan faced the mirror.

Dear Lord, I am a miracle worker.

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"Huh," Jonathan said, turning to the side. "That's not bad."

"Nope. Not bad at all," Lane said, joining them.

"So, this is the kind of guy your friend likes?" Jonathan asked, shuffling around to see himself from different angles.

"We're getting there," Vivi told him. "Now if you'd just let us do our job ..."

Jonathan sighed and took the sunglasses off again. "All right, then," he said. "I give. Y paid me. So you should make the decisions."

ou

"So you'll read the books?" Lane asked hopefully, clasping her hands in front of her in excitement.

"As many as I can," Jonathan conceded.

"And you'll let us take you to the salon?" Vivi asked.

Jonathan checked his look in the mirror again and frowned in thought. When he turned back to Vivi again, his smile was heart-stopping.

He's Isabelle's date. Isabelle's date, Vivi told herself.

"I'm all yours."

Vivi's knees nearly buckled at the words. This was going to be trouble.

***

"Okay, so I'm going to skim Catcher in the Rye and Farewell to Arms," Jonathan said, consulting the list he'd made at the food court. "Those are the two most important, right?" "That should do it," Vivi said, the warm wind in her hair

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as she drove Jonathan back home. "Now what are you wearing on your date this weekend?"

Jonathan smirked. "The T-shirt with the hole, the jacket with the frayed cuffs, the jeans with the fake dirt on them, and the black boots that look like they lived through World War Two."

"Good boy," Vivi said with a sly smile.

"Oh, and I can't forget the fake tattoo." He whipped out the black, twisted bicep cuff from the bag.

"Not that she'll see it, but it'll be good for your attitude," Vivi said. "It'll make you feel dangerous."

"I feel dangerous just looking at it," Jonathan joked.

"Don't forget to practice your monotone," Vivi reminded him. "And you'll want to keep the talking to a minimum. Cool guys answer with one syllable. Got it?"

"Cool," he said, lowering his voice.

Vivi laughed again. Date or not, she was having more fun than she'd had with the last three guys she'd gone out with combined.

"This guy your friend is in love with must be a real tool," he said, back to his normal voice. "I feel like I'm playing to the very worst in male stereotypical behavior."

"Y eah. That's Shawn for you," Vivi said darkly. "If I never see that jackass again, it'll be too soon."

"Y know, when I first met you I thought you were just an insane control freak--was

ou "Wow. Blunt much?" Vivi said.

Jonathan laughed. "But now that I've spent some time with you," he continued. "It's pretty clear that you really are

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doing this to help out a friend. Which is cool. Slightly crazy, but cool."

Vivi blushed. She turned her head, pretending to check the next lane as she switched, so that he couldn't tell. Okay. This was very not good. Between the sweating palms, the pounding heart, and the easy blushing, there was no more denying that she had a crush on Jonathan. A guy she could definitely not have. Vivi was starting to wish she hadn't dropped Lane off on the way to Cranston. She wasn't sure she could trust herself alone with him. Vivi had never been big on self- control when there was something she wanted in her sights.

"So, you're going to your prom alone?" Jonathan asked. He took out the pair of sunglasses, which he'd bought for himself, and picked at the little UV protection sticker on one of the lenses.

Vivi cleared her throat. So he had overheard. How very humiliating. "Looks that way." She turned off at his exit and headed for his street, suddenly wanting more than anything to get him out of her car. The posh houses and lush lawns of Cranston zoomed by her without her so much as noticing them.

"Huh," Jonathan said.

Vivi turned on her blinker by whacking the control as hard as she could. "What?"

"Nothing," Jonathan said. He finally freed the sticker and shoved it into one of the bags at his feet. "I guess I'm just surprised you don't have a boyfriend."

Another blush. Vivi was starting to hate her skin. "Well, I did. We just broke up last week."

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Jonathan slipped the sunglasses on and looked at her. "Oh? Why?"

Because he was a wuss bag who couldn't handle one small criticism. Well, one small criticism every hour or so. Like she was really going to tell Jonathan that.

"He was unworthy," she said with a sly smile.

Jonathan laughed. Damn that sexy laugh and the Hollywood eyewear.

She pulled up in front of his house and slid to a smooth stop. She was very impressed with her self-control. Slamming on the brakes would have been a much more satisfying move.

Jonathan removed the sunglasses and looked her right in the eye. "Y eah," he said. "I think most guys are probably unworthy of a girl like you."

Oh, God, kiss me, Vivi thought. Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.

She found herself looking at his mouth, and noticed that tiny white scar on his chin again. "What's that from?" she asked.

"What? Do I have food on my face," he asked, quickly flipping down the visor mirror.

"No. The scar," Vivi said with a laugh.

"Oh, that?" Jonathan said. "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"Ha ha. Seriously. How'd you get it?" Vivi asked.

"Doing something badass," Jonathan joked, his eyes teasing. He popped the car door open.