Page 21 of The Boyfriend Swap

Still gazing out the window, he said, “Nope. I never had a reason before.”

“You’re welcome then.”

Will turned and smirked at me. “Yes. I feel like I’ve won tickets to the Super Bowl. How can I ever repay you?”

“I think you already have,” I said sheepishly as jumping beans danced the jig in my belly. The last few hours of breezy conversation almost made me forget the real reason we’d taken this road trip together.

As a lump of guilt settled at the back of my throat for the lie I was about to tell my family, I thought about Perry. The last time he’d stayed over, my mom cut off his performance of “November Rain” because it was too long, but she let Jordy sing the equally verbose “Stairway to Heaven” in its entirety. Perry pouted for a few seconds before dancing to my mom’s rendition of “Hit the Beat Now”—the incident already forgotten. My memory was longer. With a pang of gratitude, I glanced at Will. “Thanks, by the way.”

Will cocked his head to the side. “For what?”

“For agreeing to this. Don’t think for a second the absurdity is lost on me.”

“You’re welcome. No one, except maybe Santa Claus, should be as stressed out on Christmas as you and Sid were. As long as you realize it’s a temporary fix to a problem that won’t go away by itself.” He chuckled. “Unless you plan to invite me to all of your holiday dinners from now on.”

“What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?” I joked before quickly turning my own gaze out the window to hide the blanket of red that crept across my cheeks.Why couldn’t I have gone with President’s Day?Thankfully, Will didn’t comment.

“I’ll have to meet the big bad Harvey Bellows eventually, but for now, if the only gift my girlfriend wants for Christmas is my blessing to let some other dude play her boyfriend for a few days, I’ll play along.” He sighed loudly and faced the window. “How did I get myself into this mess?”

I swallowed my weight in remorse and whispered, “I’m sorry, Will.”

As if remembering he wasn’t alone in the car, Will swung his head in my direction. “Don’t worry about it. Like I said, I’m happy to do it.” He smiled gently.

I grinned back even though I wasn’t sure I believed him.

“You game to meet up with some of our old classmates while we’re here?” he asked.

“Absolutely. James is around too.” My spirits soared at the thought of seeing my best friend since the third grade. He lived in California now, so we only saw each other a couple times a year.

“You guys still close?”

I nodded. “He’s my forever friend.” Even at eight years old, James was comfortable enough in his skin to enjoy predominantly girly activities. While most boys in my class either ignored me or pulled tendrils of my unruly curls when the teacher wasn’t looking, James and I spent every recess perfecting the Macarena, Humpty dance, jiggy, tootsie roll, rump shaker, and more.

“Nice. It would be great to see him.”

I imagined James’s reaction to seeing me with my new “boyfriend.” After he verbally spanked me for not calling him the night Perry and I met up with Sidney and Will for the first time, he would die. I chuckled, wondering how long he would buy the charade. I estimated less than a minute.

“Want to let me in on the joke?” Will asked.

“We’re here,” I said, pulling up to my childhood home. Saved by the driveway.With shaky hands, I turned off the car and removed the keys from the ignition.

A couple minutes later, we were out of the cold and nice and warm inside my parents’ heated house. My mom greeted Will with enthusiasm while I averted eye contact by hiding behind Will’s and my jackets and racing to the hall closet.

When my mom asked, “How did the two of you hook up after all these years?” my heart beat frantically. I’d never pull this off. I color-coordinated all the coats to keep myself occupied until Will excused himself to use the bathroom. The last thing he said before we got out of the car was, “I really need to use the bathroom.” I knew it was coming. Any second now.

“We’ll tell you everything you want to know, Mrs. Lane, but do you mind if I use the bathroom first? Your daughter refused to stop for a pee break.”

“Hey,” I called out, my head still inside the closet. “We both agreed we could hold it.”

“Go on. It’s—”

“No worries, Mrs. Lane. I know where it is,” Will said. “My house growing up was exactly the same, remember?”

My mom laughed. “Oh, yeah.”

As soon as I heard Will’s footsteps get farther away, I took a deep breath and turned to face my mom. I could feel her blue eyes boring a hole in my back.

The instant we made eye contact, she threw her arms around me and whispered, “Will Brady?” into my ear as I inhaled the familiar floral scent of her dark chocolate-brown hair, regularly highlighted to cover the gray.

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