“You want to show him what he’s missing, don’t you?” she asked when she pulled into the parking lot.
“No, not really. I don’t care what he thinks. I’m with Ryder,” I told her. And it was true. I didn’t care what Chace thought anymore. Ever since I came to the realisation I was over him, I’d been watching him and Christina and wondering what I ever saw in him as a boyfriend or her as a friend.
Christina wasn’t a nice person. She was self-centred and conceited and thought everyone owed her something. She was a bitch and treated people like crap. And Chace, well, as Ryder once put it, he was a douche. I must have been blind or stupid when I fell for him. Honestly, he and Christina were perfect for each other. They were conniving, backstabbing, and threatening toward anyone who stood in their way. Christina was the best, though. I’d copped quite a few threats from her since that run-in at the bookstore. Apparently, she was still hung up on the fact that Chace got mad at me for being with Ryder at the drive-in and acting like a hussy. A hussy? Me? I wasn’t the one who stole my best friend’s boyfriend. I wasn’t the one who was caught in the janitor’s closet with my boyfriend’s hand up my skirt—Ryder may have tipped off the headmaster about that—but, you know, I was a hussy according to Christina that day she backed me into a locker and threatened to end me in a typical mean girl cliché “I made you. I can end you” kind of way. I told her I’d learned from the best before shoving her out my way and going to kiss Ryder.
Kissing Ryder always brightened my day.
“Okay, fine. But I want to look hot when you introduce me to Jayden.” Indie laughed, linking her arm through mine and leading me towards the shops. She had been talking about meeting Jayden non-stop all freaking week, and I swore if I never heard his name again…I was almost tempted to drag her to watch Ryder play soccer on Wednesday night so that she could see Jayden. I almost missed her pining after Lincoln. Almost.
After four hours of walking into store after store and indulging in some pampering, we finally headed to the food court to get some dinner. Our arms were laden with shopping bags containing our newly purchased outfits. Our hair was freshly coloured, our nails manicured and out toes painted. We were ready to party.
While we were sitting there eating our burgers and fries, my phone buzzed with a text from Ryder.
Ryder: I’m bored. Entertain me ;)
Entertain him? What does he expect me to do?
Me: Don’t you have friends you can hang out with? I’m having dinner with Indie.
Ryder: Ditch her.
Me: I can’t do that.
Ryder: I’m your boyfriend. You can ditch her for me.
Me: You’re my friend. You’re my fake boyfriend in public. I can’t ditch her.
Ryder: Please.
Me: No
Ryder: Please.
Me: No
“You texting Ryder?” Indie questioned, startling me. Why did he want to see me so badly?
“Ah yeah, how did you know?” I could have been texting anyone. Okay, maybe not anyone since Indie was my only friend, but it could have been my mother. Wow! That was pathetic.
“That funny look you get on your face whenever you speak about him, talk to him, see him, or even just think about him.” I had no idea what she was talking about. What funny look? She was crazy.
“I do not get a stupid look.”
“Oh, you do. Trust me. You’ve got it bad.” Got it bad? No, I couldn’t have it bad. It was fake. She must have just been seeing what she wanted to see.
“No, I don’t. This is all so new still. I’m still getting over Chace and—”
“Oh, bulldust. It’s been what? Almost three months since you broke up?”
Had it been that long? I did a quick calculation in my head and realised it had. Ryder and I had officially been fake dating for just over a month. Yikes!
“You don’t care what Chace thinks. You said so yourself. Besides, you never once looked at Chace the whole time you were together the way you look at Ryder now.” I rolled my eyes at her. I didn’t look at Ryder like anything.
“And do tell, Indiana. How do I look at Ryder?” This should be good.
“Like you want to eat him.” She winked and burst out laughing at the look on my face before continuing. “And it’s been what? A month officially? Longer if you count the time you spent hanging out beforehand. Don’t tell me you don’t get a funny look or that you don’t have it bad, because you do. It’s so obvious to everyone. Not just me.” She shoved a ketchup-covered fry in her mouth and grinned at me.
“Obvious?” I was unsure how anything could be obvious when nothing was going on.
“Yeah, obvious to everyone but you, clearly.” She reached over a grabbed my hand when I gave her a confused look. “Okay, look, it’s clear to everyone how much you and Ryder like each other. The way you look at each other and behave around each other, it’s like there’s this huge-ass magnet that draws you to each other no matter where you are or what you are doing. It’s intense to watch. You and Ryder, it’s real. Maybe you guys just haven’t figured it out yet. Forget Chace. Forget Christina. How does Ryder make you feel?”
I had no idea how to answer that. She said it was real, and we hadn’t figured it out yet. Was she right? Did that mean she believed Ryder liked me? No, of course not. He wasn’t interested. It was his idea to do this. He wanted payback more than I did. I was just in a vulnerable enough place to agree to it at the time. I thought about how I felt around Ryder. I felt like me. I felt comfortable. Like I could finally fit it somewhere and the awkwardness of the past two years was gone.
“Well?” She raised her eyebrow at me expectantly.
“He makes me feel real. Like I’m not pretending to be something or someone I’m not.” I had to stifle a laugh when I said that because that was exactly what I was doing—pretending to be his girlfriend. “I’m at ease when I’m around him. Comfortable. When we’re together, we can talk for hours. Or we can sit in silence and it’s not awkward. Nothing feels forced. I have a confidence I’ve never had before because of him. I don’t care what people think of me, and I don’t care about Chace or Christina anymore. I’ve moved on and become a happier, more content person because of him. He makes me smile. He makes me laugh. He makes my stomach flutter like I’ve never felt before.” I paused to look at Indie. She had this big grin on her face.
“And?” she asked.
“He makes me happy,” I admitted, nodding. Ryder made me happy. I would have been a complete mess if it weren’t for him. Indie sat back and squealed in delight, clapping her hands together like a child.
“You looooooooove him.”