The Boyfriend Bid (The Girlfriend Request)

by Jodie Andrefski

  We all clapped and cheered. I couldn’t stop the wide grin that filled my face.

  “We’ll be taking off tomorrow, but will be back working again starting Monday.” He paused. “I know a large number of you are in high school, so I don’t expect you to show up during the day. You can’t use this as an excuse to get out of that test you didn’t study for.”

  A few people chuckled at that.

  I peeked around, trying to spot Chance. I’d lost sight of him when we’d all started to pack up. I couldn’t see him anywhere. Had he left without saying goodbye? I told myself it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like we were friends or whatever.

  I’d missed the last of whatever Rick said, but apparently he’d told us we could head out. People walked toward their parked cars in groups of two and three. I spied Steve and Julie holding hands, walking toward a small green truck. When he leaned in right before he opened her door, her giggle carried across the road.

  I pushed down the lonely feeling threatening to swallow me whole and headed out, alone. My mom’s car was nowhere in sight. I checked my watch. She knew I’d be done at five, I’d made sure to remind her. It was ten minutes after.

  I walked back and forth on the long sidewalk edging the lonely street, scanning the parked cars. More and more pulled out each minute.

  Great.

  I tugged my phone out of my bag to call her and almost wanted to cry when I noticed the black screen. Nothing happened when I pressed the power button.

  “Fantastic,” I muttered.

  I turned to see if Jenna was still around to ask if I could borrow her phone, but she was gone, along with just about everyone else. I didn’t know what to do. The site was over a mile from my house, and Emma and Megan would probably be waiting for me soon for our sleepover, if they weren’t there already.

  I tightened my grip on my bag and started walking. What other choice did I have? I could probably search out Rick and ask him for a ride, but I knew he always hung out for at least an hour after everyone left, cleaning things and packing everything up, so I didn’t want to bother him. I trudged in the direction of my home, miserable. My entire body ached, I was starving, and I had a long walk ahead of me.

  An engine revving close by made me jump. Seconds later, a large black pickup rolled to a crawl across the road from me.

  Chance’s arm dangled out the driver side window as he pulled to a stop. “Need a ride?”

  “Nope, I’m good, but thanks.”

  I kept walking.

  His truck rolled slowly in time with my steps.

  “There’s no reason to be pigheaded about it. Hop in.” He patted the side of the truck with the hand hanging out the window.

  “Honest, I’m fine.” I was so not getting a ride with him. It would be a million kinds of awkward.

  He came to a stop once again. I kept walking.

  A door slammed, then footsteps sounded behind me. He was persistent, I’d give him that. My body screamed to just get over myself and accept the ride. My ego and insecurities kept me moving forward.

  A hand on my shoulder stopped me.

  “Sarah.”

  I turned around.

  He looked sweaty and a little dirty, and his T-shirt clung to him in all the right places. I tore my gaze from his well-defined chest and abs and moved it up to meet his eyes. His lips twitched. I wanted to die. At least he was enough of a gentleman not to comment on the fact that I’d just been ogling his chest.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Just take the ride. It’s obvious you need one.”

  “I’ll be okay.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Are you always this stubborn? It’s just a ride home.” He pushed his bangs out of his face.

  I hadn’t noticed the slight curl in them before. They were always in his face; he should think about getting them trimmed.

  I caught myself. What the heck am I thinking? He could grow his bangs down to the floor and be the flipping male version of Rapunzel for all I cared.

  “Look, I’m not a serial killer, I promise not to chop you up into a million little pieces and make stew out of you.”

  I couldn’t help but crack a grin as he literally crossed his heart with his finger, then held it to the sky solemnly.

  “Whoa! She does smile. I never thought I’d see the day,” he teased.

  His eyes held mine, and it felt like the air was being sucked from my lungs.

  “You should do it more often, it looks good on you,” he said softly.

  Okay. I needed to regroup, and fast. I cleared my throat and looked over at his giant truck. Continuing to protest would just make me look silly. “Are you sure you don’t mind? It’s not far. I live over on Orchard Avenue.”

  “I don’t mind at all. C’mon.”

  I nodded. “Okay, thanks.”

  “Any time.” He smiled.

  And Chance’s full-on smile was like a sucker punch to my gut. It hit hard and left me spinning. I whirled away and walked as fast as I could to the passenger side of his truck. There was no way I could let him see how just a smile from him affected me.

  I reached up to the door handle, but it was locked. Before I knew it, Chance was there, too. His arm reached from behind me. I held my breath as his arm brushed against me, and I could sense his body close, so close, and for a split second for some insane reason I hoped he was reaching for me. I closed my eyes.

  Chance cleared his throat.

  My eyes popped open to see him suppressing a grin. He reached toward the door handle instead, key in hand.

  “Sorry about that.” His words were right next to my ear. “The lock is messed up on this side so I have to open it manually.”

  My cheeks were on fire. My mouth went dry when I felt his breath against my cheek. “Oh, not a problem.” At least that’s what I hoped I said.

  He stepped back to swing the door open. “There you go.”

  I couldn’t look at him. “Thanks.”

  Chance hopped in his side and glanced at me practically glued to the passenger side door but didn’t say a word. He offered his lopsided grin once again and started the truck.

  We drove the first few blocks without speaking, the silence only broken when I gave him directions to my house.

  “So what kind of things do you like to do when you aren’t building houses?” He glanced over at me as we reached a stop sign.

  “Um, I like to read. Watch movies. The usual, I guess.” I paused. “What about you? When you aren’t banging your thumb with a hammer, I mean.” I offered a small smile and gestured to the thumb I’d seen him whack more than once today.

  He looked down at his hand on the wheel before laughing and looking back up at me. He waited a few beats before answering with a smile. “I like movies, too.”

  A minute later, he pulled into the driveway of my small ranch-style home. I nearly fell on my face getting out of his truck. He had been nothing but a gentleman, and I knew my nerves were all about my unexpected reaction to him, not any unwelcomed action on his part.

  I didn’t want to appear any ruder than I already had, so once I stood in the driveway I said, “Thanks again. I appreciate it.”

  He looked me straight in the eye. “My pleasure.” His voice was low and smooth as honey.

  I nodded a few times and slammed the passenger door closed. I made myself walk at a normal pace to the front steps. It wasn’t until I unlocked the front door and went inside that I heard him back up out of the driveway. I peeked through the curtains just in time to see him look back.

  I dropped the curtain and ducked out of sight.

  His horn sounded, a quick double beep, and I couldn’t help but smile.

  Damn him.

  Chapter Six

  Chance

  Carry on my wayward son, there’ll be peace when you are done

  Lay your weary head to rest, don’t you cry no more ~ Kansas

  I couldn’t get Sarah out of my head as I drove home.

  In my mind, I saw her standin
g in front of me, all feisty and guarded in her hard hat, and couldn’t help but smile. Under normal circumstances, I’d definitely want to get to know her better, a lot better. But between her obvious disinterest and the knowledge that now just wasn’t the right time for a relationship, I knew I had to back off.

  I had plenty of other things to worry about anyway. My dad was constantly on my case to succeed. It was as if after losing Alex, every dream my dad had for his sons’ future now all landed squarely on my shoulders. It had been hard, was still hard, for all of us. But my dad especially still seemed to be struggling with his own demons, somehow blaming himself for not being able to “fix” Alex. As strong as my dad was, leukemia just wasn’t something he could fix.

  It was the only time I’d ever seen my father cry.

  I could still see Alex, so small and frail, lying in the metal hospital bed, sterile white sheets covering his thin frame. There had been so much machinery surrounding him in the final days—plastic tubes attached to his pale hands and inserted in his nose to help him breathe. But in the end, even those medical machines couldn’t save him.

  I remember choking back tears as we’d stood next to the bed and a machine had made its final beeps before going to a long, steady buzzing alarm. And just like that, my brother was gone.

  My little brother, who had always wanted to follow me anywhere I went. Who loved Legos and french fries dipped in ranch dressing and wearing cowboy hats. Alex was just…gone.

  And now, every mistake I made, large or small, it was like my father took it as me not appreciating still having a chance at life, so he lashed out at me.

  I sucked in a deep breath to try to relax. Stressing wasn’t going to change things. All I could do was keep trying, keep moving forward. I owed that much to Alex, who would never get to grow up and keep going. Who had fought to the very last breath, always with a smile on his face.

  Kansas came on the radio, one of my favorite songs. I turned it up and cracked the window to get some fresh air to clear out the cobwebs in my brain. I slapped the steering wheel and belted out the lyrics at the top of my lungs.

  I couldn’t worry about my dad, or Sarah, or anyone else right now. I had to focus on school, on playing, and now…on freaking getting to work on time.

  I turned into my driveway and shifted the truck into park. I grabbed my bag and hopped out of the truck to jog into the house for a quick shower before heading back out to work. I’d be lucky if I had time to grab some food before my shift started.

  At least being busy would keep my mind off the fact that a big part of me felt alone inside.

  Chapter Seven

  Sarah

  I’d heard about you before, I wanted to know some more

  And now I know what they mean, you’re a love machine ~ ABBA

  I’d agreed to come with my friends to the Benefit Auction tonight after making it clear to them that I would not be bidding on anyone. But to show support for Em and Megan, who were both planning to bid, I’d tagged along, even though I found the entire thing ridiculous. The idea of bidding on whoever the school arbitrarily deemed best of based on some meaningless popularity scale seemed nuts. The only saving grace to the entire thing was that I could appreciate the role reversal and that it wasn’t women being paraded around for men’s amusement for once.

  So the girls had come over to my place, and we’d gotten ready together, and then Megan drove us to the school.

  Shortly after we’d arrived and sat down at a table, Megan disappeared. “Where’d she go?” I swiveled in my seat to scan the room, searching for her.

  Emma glanced up from her phone, where she’d been texting. “Umm, she ran to grab her number to bid. She’ll be back soon.”

  I picked up my glass of water and took a sip, then scanned the crowd some more. “Looks like a lot of people showed up.”

  Emma nodded. “I knew it was popular, but I never expected this.”

  Our friend Laney sat with us at the table—apparently she was planning to bid tonight, too. She’d told us she had her eye on Tim, the drummer in the school’s marching band. “I came to it last year, and there are a ton more people this year,” she said.

  “Did you bid last time?” Emma asked.

  “No, but a couple of my friends did.” She smiled. “Most of them just did it for fun, not going in expecting anything. I think that’s the way you have to approach it.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and shrugged. “It’s not like you can expect some big romance from a charity auction date, right?” She laughed.

  “Truer words, my friend,” I said, nodding and offering my water glass up like a toast.

  Emma smiled but said nothing.

  Megan approached the table, waving a large yellow piece of paper over her head with the number twenty-one printed on it in large font. “I’ve got it! Finally. There was a line a mile long.” She pulled out a chair and sat down, looking around. “Oh, great seats. We’ll be able to have a perfect view from here.”

  I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Thank Laney, she saved them for us.”

  “Thank you, Laney!” Megan said, giving her a high-five. “Way to go.”

  “How did you have your number already, Em?” I asked. She’d had her yellow paper with her when we arrived.

  “Oh, you could pick them up last period today.”

  “You should have done that, too, and saved yourself some trouble,” I said to Megan.

  “I know, I know. I wasn’t thinking.” She sighed.

  Guys dressed in tight black T-shirts with the slogan Dates with Heart walked around the room, distributing baskets of chips and pretzels and pitchers of soda and water to each table. I recognized most of them as juniors and seniors.

  Emma and Megan had their heads close together, studying the thin booklets we’d each been given as we came in. Stapled inside the hot pink paper cover were pages containing photos and descriptions of each of the guys who were up for auction.

  “So, Megs, who are you thinking about bidding on?” I asked.

  They looked up.

  “Hmm…I’m not sure. There are several who look good,” Megan said. “What do you think? Who would you pick?”

  The expectant looks on their faces made me want to not rain on their proverbial parade, so I pulled the open booklet toward me and leafed through it.

  “He’s cute. Or him. Or him.” I flipped through the ten or so pages, pointing every so often. Each participant was given a half-page feature. I sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it comes down to more than looks, even if it is only one date just for fun. You don’t want to be bored out of your mind the entire time.”

  Emma nodded. “She’s right.”

  Encouraged, I tapped the pages and went on. “So, stop and think about it. What are you looking for in a guy?”

  “A castle, a jet, and really great abs,” Megan responded, deadpan.

  Emma snorted. “Well, that’s definitely something to shoot for, but what about something you can bid on tonight?”

  “You’ve got it easy, everyone knows you’re bidding on Eli,” Megan said, pulling on her sleeves. Even in a sweaterdress with leggings, Megan looked amazing. She was one of those people who could pull off wearing a Hefty trash bag and somehow make it look couture.

  While I hadn’t seen a need to dress up, I also hadn’t wanted to just throw on jeans and a ratty T-shirt, either. I hadn’t dug too deep questioning myself on why I cared what I wore. So, I’d struck a happy medium, selecting a pair of black skinny jeans that I knew flattered my figure paired with a deep wine-colored sweater with a simple rounded neckline. I’d of course worn the outfit with one of my trademark pairs of boots—black this time.

  I pulled the basket of pretzels closer and grabbed a handful.

  “You want to pick someone who seems genuine,” Laney offered. “Not one of them who we know is a player.”

  “Well I doubt they’d put ‘player’ in their bios,” I said through a mouthful of pretzel. “Probably bad for bidding
.”

  They all laughed.

  “Well, he’s off the potential list. If player isn’t in his bio, it should be.” Laney pointed to the page.

  “Noted,” Megan said.

  “Okay, who else?” I asked. “We want her to pick someone good.”

  “I’d say not him, either.” Laney pointed to the guy on the bottom right of the next page.

  “Why not?” Megan asked. “He’s cute. And he seems good, from his bio.”

  “Trust me. I’ve been in a couple of classes with him. He’s a total jerk. He treated his last girlfriend like dirt and would call her fat and everything. It was horrible. He’s awful.”

  “Wait a sec.” Megan reached behind her to grab her purse and pulled out a pen. “This will help.” She drew a large X over the number next to his name.

  We spent a few more minutes leafing through the booklet and talking, with Megan marking the book with Xs here and there for various reasons, but we didn’t have time to get through the entire thing.

  The lights in the room blinked on and off several times.

  “Looks like they’ll be starting any minute. Ladies, are we ready?” Emma flashed an excited smile.

  “Ready,” Megan said.

  “Ready,” Laney echoed.

  “Go for it,” I said.

  Chapter Eight

  Chance

  ’Cause tonight for the first time, just about half-past ten

  For the first time in history it’s gonna start raining men ~ The Weather Girls

  I peeked through the heavy floor-length curtains. They’d hauled in round tables and stuck them all around the room. About five or six people, mostly girls, sat talking and laughing at each one.

  A lot of the faces at the tables looked familiar—several girls from some of my classes, other ones I’d seen around the halls or at games. I even recognized a few guys I knew. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Eli’s girlfriend, Emma, sitting at a table just off the right side of the stage. She spied me peering through the black curtains and offered a tiny wave and an excited smile. I gave what probably equaled a grimace in return.