Page 44 of The Boyfriend Swap

James tossed me my coat before motioning toward the porch. He whispered, “Go.”

I walked outside and closed the door behind me, hoping when I opened my mouth, a coherent sentence would magically fall from my lips. But before I could say anything, Will said, “Snow.” I wondered how he knew it was me since he was sitting down and facing the other direction.

Reading my mind, he said, “It’s your perfume. It smells like a sugary lemon. It’s nice.” He turned around to face me. “Sit.”

I grimaced as my butt hit the cold surface of the chair. I didn’t know what to say.

Will frowned. “I’m sorry about what Leon said. Please don’t think I go around objectifying my girlfriends. He left out the context of the conversation.”

I snickered. “Yes. Only the most high-brow philosophical discussions would result in your touting your girlfriend’stalents,” I teased before darting my eyes toward the wood floor of the porch. “It doesn’t matter what I think.”

“It matters to me.” He took a sip of his beer. “I’m also sorry I reacted so badly to James’s comment about Perry.”

“Is it because you’re worried about Sidney spending the holiday weekend with ‘The Phoenix?’” He’d already proclaimed his trust in Sidney on the drive from the city, but it was the most logical explanation for why he was so upset. I couldn’t allow myself to think there might be another reason he hated Perry so much.

Will scraped his fingers through his hair and studied my face in silence before standing up. “Mind if we get out of here soon?” Without awaiting my response, he opened the door and motioned for me to go in before him.

I instinctively opened my mouth to respond before his words registered. I stammered. “Um, sure. Let me say goodbye to James first?” The sentence came out like a question even though there was no way I’d leave without telling James.

Focusing on something behind me, Will said, “Whatever you need,” and backed up an inch.

I took a step forward and touched my hand to his shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

Flinching, he said, “I’m just beat, Robyn,” before scanning the restaurant again. “I’ll be with the guys. Come get me when you’re ready, cool?”

I nodded, and as I stared as his retreating back, it dawned on me this was the first time since we’d arrived in Philly that he’d called me Robyn instead of Snow.

“You look like you’re about to cry,” James said, breaking me out of my trance.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. “Something’s not right with Will.” I told James what transpired. I kept my voice down and barely moved my lips. In case Will was looking, I wanted him to think we were saying our goodbyes.

James pursed his lips. “The guy is so jealous, the green in his eyes is blinding.”

“Of Perry being with Sidney, right?” It was the obvious explanation. Sidney was sexy, and I’d observed the way Will’s eyes glowed when he talked about her. But I hadn’t imagined some of the tender glances he’d thrown my way. Had I? I held my breath, hoping, wishing…for what? I didn’t even know what I wanted.

“Something like that.” He smirked. “More like,nothinglike that. He’s jealous of Perry because Perry is your boyfriend, obvi.”

“I don’t know, James.” I scratched my head as my stomach churned in a cocktail of conflicting emotions.

James drew me into a hug and rested his head on mine. “You’re the Andie to his Blane.”

I laughed as I pulled away. “I love you, James.”

“Back at you,Snow. Talk to him and call me immediately afterward.”

I gulped. “I will.”

Chapter 11

Sidney

Shutting the door of my room behind me, I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to erase Perry’s smug expression from my mind’s eye and the image of him laughing in my face. Why on Earth Robyn dated him voluntarily was a mystery. I’d been his fake girlfriend for less than forty-eight hours, and I couldn’t stand the sight of him. December twenty-sixth couldn’t come soon enough—he’d be out of my life for good. I’d deal with the aftermath of my fake breakup when the time came. For now, I’d focus on the big picture. Perry’s repugnant disposition was an unforeseen bump in the road, but the boyfriend swap was working in the one way that mattered. My parents were none the wiser regarding Will and therefore not a threat to our relationship. The coils in my belly settled down at the thought.

I hoped Will was getting along with Robyn’s family and wondered if the Lanes were anything like the Bellows. I doubted it. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that instead of providing a fancy catered dinner, the Lanes dragged Will to a shelter to feed the homeless. Amused at the thought, I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It was late, but not obscenely so. I called Will back, but it went into voicemail after four rings. After leaving a brief message, I hung up and got ready for bed. I wasn’t sure if my heavy eyelids and aching limbs were a result of spending the day working with my father or plotting against Perry, but either way, I was knackered.

After turning the light off in my room, I curled under the covers and closed my eyes underneath my Morgan Lane silk charmeuse “To The Moon and Back” sleep mask. I inhaled the lavender-scented fragrance of my freshly washed pillowcase and breathed in and out slowly through my nose, assuming sleep would come quickly, but it didn’t. I wasn’t a stranger to insomnia and had a full-range of exercises to get me through the sleepless nights. I didn’t count sheep, but I did add up other things—victories at work, guys I’d kissed, etc. When those failed, I would visualize myself at the gym and tally the number of bicep curls or push-ups I did in my mind. But even as my body cried for shuteye, my mind wouldn’t shut down. Hating to waste waking hours lying in bed, I removed my eye mask, turned on my bedroom light, and started up my computer.

The search screen on Facebook was my first stop, and my fingers keyed the letters on autopilot as if it hadn’t been years since I’d spelled out the name of my last serious boyfriend: Jake Harrington. Holding my breath, I clicked “enter” and waited for the results to come up. My Jake was the top result because of our mutual friends. I brought my head closer to the screen in anticipation but quickly pulled it back as his profile picture stared back at me. The photo was of a guy bouncing a little boy on each of his knees—identical twins. Thinking it might not be Jake, I scrutinized the photo more carefully. Wavy sandy-brown hair that curled around his ears reminiscent of a Hollywood teen idol from the 1970s—check; greenish gray eyes with premature lines around the edges—check; golden complexion as if he belonged on a beach—check. It was definitely Jake. But who were the little boys? An only child with no nieces and nephews, I had no idea how to gauge the age of anyone under ten, but they appeared to be somewhere between one and two years old. I supposed it was possible Jake could have gotten hitched and sown his seed in the last three or so years, but my best friend Lisa would never have kept something like that from me. She was friends with Jake in high school and connected us by email the first week of college and we’d hit it off. They’d stayed in touch after we broke up. If Jake had gotten himself a ball and chain, wouldn’t Lisa have let me know? Then again, as far as Lisa was concerned, and everyone else for that matter, I’d broken up with him and never looked back. Maybe Lisa didn’t keep me posted on Jake’s life because she didn’t think I’d care, and she knew I’d tell her so.

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