Page 67 of The Boyfriend Swap

“Like I said, you have nothing to be embarrassed of. It was a high school crush.”

My eyes welled up. “It was bad, Will. I barely knew you, but I wanted you so much. I thought about you almost constantly. Going to school was fun, not only because I was Snow White and naturally cheery, but because there was a chance I’d see you. On weekends, no matter where I went, I kept my eye out for you, hoping you’d show up. Even if you were with Adrienne, I was happy because I got to look at you. My feelings were silly and based on nothing but teenage hormones, but it didn’t matter because they consumed me. My ability to keep it together the night we kissed was nothing short of miraculous because I was dying inside.Dying. And when you left for college, I cried like my dog died. But I got over it. With you out of the way, I was able to give other boys a chance. I moved on. And then I met Hurricane Sidney and she came up with the asinine plan to trade boyfriends for the holiday. She mentioned her boyfriend’s name was Will, but it never occurred to me it was you. But it was.”

“Snow—”

“Wait. Let me finish. I promise I’ll get to my point soon.”

“Go on,” he whispered.

“By the time I found out it was you, it was too late. I couldn’t suddenly renege on my agreement to go through with it, and besides, high school was a long time ago. I’m not the same innocent girl I was then. I’m an experienced woman. I’ve had many boyfriends and plenty of sex.” I cleared my throat as my cheeks turned pink. “I figured I could handle a few days with Will Brady. Maybe I’d find I wasn’t the slightest bit attracted to him and laugh about my silly high school infatuation. Right?”

“Um—”

“Wrong. For one thing, you’re still sexy as all get out. And funny. And, well, you really are an appallingly bad singer, but you’re a good sport. And a fabulous dancer. And I like being with you, and my family adores you. We exchanged more words in four days then we did in four years and I like you, Will. I really like you. Not the idea of you as the older popular boy in the neighborhood, but the real grown-up tone deaf Will Brady.”

“I like you too—”

“Which is why I can’t go on a date with you.”

“You can’t…I don’t understand. If you like me so much, why wouldn’t you want to go on a date with me? I’d think you’d be happy I finally shared your feelings. Better late than never, right?”

I was sick to my stomach and certain it had nothing to do with drinking wine only an hour after eating almost an entire bag of mini marshmallows. The knowledge that Will Brady professed to like me in real life instead of my imagination and I was turning him down was mind boggling even to me. I was the one making it happen. It felt wrong, but not as wrong as saying yes. “That’s the thing. I don’t believe you like me, Will. I want to believe it. I really do. But I think it’s a knee-jerk reaction to breaking up with Sidney on the heels of our four days together. It would be convenient, wouldn’t it? If we hit it off. But it’s not something you’ve thought through. It can’t be, considering you just broke up with Sidney a hot minute ago. If you were anyone else, I’d say, ‘Sure, let’s go on a date. If we hit it off, great. If not, no biggie.’ But I can’t do that with you, Will. Dating you was my teenage fantasy, but if I’m going to take my fantasy into the real world, it has to be for the right reasons or else it’s better off remaining in my dreams.” I waited for Will to respond, but there was silence on the other end of the phone.

Finally, he spoke. “I understand, Robyn.”

“You do?” My lips quivered, and I fought not to tell him I changed my mind even though part of me really wanted to.

“Yes. It makes perfect sense you would think that.”

“Good.” I gulped.

“You’re pretty amazing, Robyn. I’ll talk to you soon.” He hung up before I could respond, and I remained frozen to the spot, staring at my phone.

My hands were still shaking ten minutes later.

Chapter 17

Sidney

The first day back after a vacation, I liked to get to work early to go through emails and get myself in work mode before everyone else arrived. The office was usually a ghost town the week between Christmas and New Year’s, but even when our clients were sipping exotic drinks with tiny umbrellas while basking in the sun in St. Barts, they still managed to have legal issues they needed us to handle at a moment’s notice. I finished the Venti coffee I’d picked up at Starbucks, and desperately in need of more caffeine, I resorted to the firm’s free stash. When I entered the pantry, I was surprised to see Anne Marie. She was stirring a container of Quaker instant oatmeal.

“Miss this place, did you?” I asked.

Appearing startled, Anne Marie looked up. “Did you say something?”

I waved a hand at her and smiled. “I was teasing you for being here so early. How was your holiday?”

Anne Marie’s face flushed and she pursed her lips. “It was nice,” she said before turning back to her breakfast without another word.

I opened my mouth to press for more details but shut it as it hit me why she was being so cold. She knew. I made my coffee in silence and she was gone by the time I finished. I walked past her cubicle on the way back to my office, tempted to apologize or at least explain my side of the story. But no matter who told the tale, I was still the backstabbing bitch who climbed on her roommate’s boyfriend. Rather than express my regrets or offer an explanation, I stepped into my office and closed the door behind me. I was more determined than ever to put my plan into action.

Not a minute later, there was a knock on my door. “Come in.” I grimaced when Michael Goldberg entered, wearing a tacky flamingo-printed tie and a smug look on his face. “Merry Christmas, JB.”

“Feliz Navidad, Mike. What can I do for you?” I flipped through my desk calendar for my appointments for the week. Anne Marie added all my meetings to the Outlook calendar, but I still liked to use my old-school printed calendar for backup.

Michael sat in my guest chair uninvited and reclined with his arms clasped behind his head. “No time to chat?”

I rolled my eyes. “When have you ever come in here to chat?”

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