The Stand-In Boyfriend

by Christina Benjamin

  Parker didn’t buy it for a second. But since Beth didn’t seem concerned, Parker had no choice but to let it go. Until last week, when it happened again. Parker was taking the trash out around midnight when he saw Jared get out of Caroline’s car. Jared walked around her sporty red BMW and bent down to peer in her window. Their heads were awfully close for a few minutes before Caroline finally drove away. And when she did, Parker was left standing on the sidewalk with Jared glaring at him. For an awkward moment, they’d both just stared at each other, silent warning burning in their eyes. Then Jared had turned and gone inside, and they hadn’t spoke since.

  Parker didn’t know what to do. Every time he tried to talk to Beth about Jared she brushed it off. He was afraid if he pushed the issue she would figure out it was because Parker had feelings for her, and that was not how he wanted it to come out. Not after he’d hid it from her for so long.

  6

  Beth

  After the game Beth ran onto the field and gave Jared a big hug. He made a show of picking her up and spinning her around. Then he pulled his helmet off and kissed her long and hard. He was sweaty and the kiss tasted salty, but damn it was good. Jared knew how to kiss. He put his lacrosse stick under her hips and picked her up. She sat on it like it was a bench as he pulled her closer to his height and crushed her lips with his.

  Beth was breathless when Jared finally put her down to the hoots and hollering of his teammates. Jared high fived them while Beth blushed scarlet. She still wasn’t used to such public displays of affection, which sometimes seemed odd since she wanted to be an actress and had kissed plenty of people in plays. But that was different. She wasn’t Beth then, she was just playing a part. This, however, felt real and like maybe it should be more private. But it seemed Jared didn’t feel the same way.

  He was all about PDA. It was like he wanted the whole school to know Beth was his, like making her wear his lacrosse hoodie, or the necklace he got her with a charm of his jersey number on it. She wished she could tell him he didn’t have any competition. It’s not like there’d been guys beating down Beth’s door to date her before Jared showed up. But admitting that would just make her sound pathetic. Plus, she didn’t really mind the attention. It was nice being someone’s. Well most of the time it was nice.

  After kissing her, Jared did the thing Beth hated most. He put his sweaty lacrosse helmet on her head, messing up her perfectly straight blonde hair. She’d spent an hour with the flat iron to get it just right and he always messed it up with his sweaty helmet. The other thing she hated about his post-lacrosse game ritual was that she always spent the rest of the night lugging his helmet around. But Jared was in particularly good spirits after such a great game and it was hard to be mad at him when he was grinning at her like that. God, that smile should be illegal. It made her want to do all sorts of things she knew she shouldn’t.

  “What do you say, gorgeous? Wanna join me and the boys to celebrate our win?”

  Beth looked back to the stands to see if Parker was still sitting there but she couldn’t see anything over the crowd on the field.

  “Do you have a better offer?” Jared teased pulling her in by her hips.

  Jared’s sensual touch snapped Beth’s attention back to him. “No, I was just looking for Parker. I told him I’d help him pack for Colorado tonight.”

  Jared rolled his eyes, and Beth pulled the helmet off her head.

  “Parker’s a big boy, Beth. Besides, I think I need you more,” he said laying on his sad puppy dog eyes that he knew she couldn’t resist.

  Jared had the most brilliantly expressive brown eyes Beth had ever seen. Beth had brown eyes too, but where hers were a dark muddy brown, Jared’s were more the color of burnt honey. His eye color changed with his moods. When he was happy they seemed to glow almost gold. When he was angry, they were dark, like storm clouds had rolled in. And when he wanted something, like he did now, his eyes got big and milk chocolaty. Beth had made the mistake of telling him she could never say no to those eyes. She was starting to regret her honesty.

  Beth put her hands on her hips and pinned Jared with a look. “Do you always use your powers for evil?”

  Jared grinned wickedly and picked her up like she weighed nothing. “Always,” he said kissing her.

  Parker

  Parker walked down to the front row of bleachers and leaned against the railing overlooking the lacrosse field. He didn’t know why he did this to himself. He could watch Jared maul Beth from the back row of the bleachers just fine. But for some morbid reason he always found himself moving closer to get a better look.

  At first Parker didn’t realize Caroline had approached him and her sultry drawl startled him. “Hey, broody. Why so serious?”

  Parker gave her a sideways glance. He knew Caroline was baiting him. This was what she did and he wasn’t going to play her little mind games. Parker blew out an icy breath and continued to stare out at the field.

  “Listen, Parker. I know we’re not really friends, but I have a feeling that if we work together we could both get what we want.”

  Parker huffed a laugh. “And what would you know about what I want?”

  “You don’t think it’s a secret, do you?”

  When Parker didn’t respond, Caroline laughed. “Oh, that’s precious. But even a blind man can see the way you look at her. Hell, you’re so obvious I’m sorta stunned she hasn’t figured it out by now.”

  Parker turned to face Caroline, blinking rapidly. Was she talking about Beth? Did Caroline know he liked Beth? Shit! Shit! Shit!

  Alarms were going off in Parker’s head. He could barely focus on Caroline’s predatory grin. He could not let Caroline tell Beth whatever she thought she knew. Parker had seen Caroline start rumors before. The girl had an unnatural ability to destroy people. She definitely wouldn’t think twice about revealing Parker’s crush in an unflattering manner. Caroline barely tolerated Parker as it was. He knew she only put up with his presence because Beth forced her to. Maybe Caroline finally had enough and was trying to cut Parker out of the equation once and for all?

  He couldn’t let that happen. And stupidly, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. “I saw you with Jared.”

  Caroline narrowed her eyes and took a step closer. “Why do you think I’m talking to you?”

  Parker gave a nervous shrug.

  “Look, I know you saw us, ya pervy little spy. And whether you want to admit it or not, we’re in the same boat. We both want what we can’t have. But if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, alright?”

  Parker’s heart was pounding so hard he couldn’t think. He just continued to blink at Caroline.

  “Jesus,” she growled rolling her eyes. “Can you nod or something so I know you catch my drift.”

  “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Please, Beth is the only one on the planet who doesn’t see the way you look at her. You’re in love with her.”

  “So?”

  “So, I think we can help each other. . . ”

  “How?”

  Caroline grinned wickedly and her eyes swiveled to where Jared and Beth stood on the field still lip-locked.

  Parker balked as realization set in. “If you think I’m going to help you break them up you’re crazy. I may not like the guy, but Beth is my best friend. I’d never do that to her.”

  “Hey,” Caroline said, holding her hands up innocently. “Nobody said anything about breaking them up. I’m just saying it seems you and Beth have a lot in common. You’re both smart, sweet, and you follow the rules. You’re compatible. Kinda like me and Jared.” She shrugged. “I just like seeing the right people together. Less people get hurt that way.”

  Parker’s temper was rising. That was a threat if he’d ever heard one. Parker hated Jared, and probably had more reason than anyone to want him and Beth to break up. Especially now that Caroline basically admitted there was something going on between her and Jared—or at least that
she wanted there to be. But if Parker and Beth were ever going to have a chance to be together he couldn’t be part of some underhanded scheme Caroline concocted. Parker wanted Beth to break up with Jared on her own. He wanted Beth to choose him because she wanted him, not because he conned her into it.

  “I’m done talking about this,” Parker said between gritted teeth.

  Caroline shrugged. “Whatever you say, lover boy.” She gave him a wink before sauntering away.

  Parker’s blood was boiling. He needed to go for a run. It was the only thing that would clear his head.

  7

  Jared

  Jared was driving Beth home from the lacrosse post-party at Sullivan’s. He’d helped the team kick the keg while Beth had ordered pizza for everyone. She was always doing little things like that for him. She baked him cookies. Packed extra things in her lunch for him. Wrote him notes. Walked him to class. It was weirdly nice.

  Jared had never had a girlfriend before. He was more of a play-the-field kinda guy. He blamed his father for that mentality. Jared had had more step-moms than birthdays. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. But still, it’s not like Jared was learning how to be in a faithful relationship from his old man.

  That’s how Jared ended up in Boston to begin with. His father’s last divorce had gotten so nasty that they had to leave Long Island. But Jared hadn’t really minded. He’d dated most of the talent at his old school and he heard Stanton was stacked with hot chicks. When he heard they also had a ranked lacrosse team he was sold on the move. But what he hadn’t expected was to get wifed-up.

  When Jared saw Beth sitting on the porch across the street from his moving truck he’d been immediately intrigued. It was tempting to have a fine slice so conveniently located, but normally Jared knew better than to start fires so close to home. He would’ve left Beth alone entirely if that ass-hat Parker hadn’t slid his arm around her shoulder like he was marking his territory. That’s when Jared decided it was game on.

  Parker’s move was a blatant challenge. The guy had taken one look at Jared and thought, “Nope, she’s not good enough for you. I’m gonna keep her all for myself.”

  And Parker was right, Jared had no business with a sweet girl like Beth. But being the new guy, Jared knew better than to let that sort of attitude slide. He had to establish dominance if he was gonna stand a chance at Stanton. And that meant putting smucks like Parker in their place before school even started.

  Jared had met plenty of yuppies like Parker at his old schools. They were all high and mighty because life came easy to them since their folks had money. And it’s not that Jared was poor, but he was going to Stanton on a subsidized athletic grant. He knew that wasn’t anything to be ashamed of. Hell, ninety percent of the world couldn’t afford Stanton’s tuition. But still, he knew he’d never be one of them—the Stanton elite.

  As soon as Jared had rolled into his new posh Boston neighborhood, he knew he’d entered another tax bracket. It might as well have been on a different planet. The kids at Stanton were in a whole different league. They had drivers and trust funds. They probably summered on their yachts or in some trustafarian location.

  It was nothing new to Jared. He’d lived close to Manhattan most his life. He knew what those kinds of kids were like. Guys like Parker had been trying to knock Jared down a peg his whole life. But that was fine by him. Let ‘em try. Other peoples’ opinions didn’t mean shit to him.

  Jared was confident in his game. Lacrosse was going to put him through college and his skills with the ladies got him any piece of ass he wanted. Putting down smug pricks like Parker was just a bonus.

  It only took Jared a week to figure out that Beth had no idea her dear best friend, Parker, was in love with her. The poor guy was stuck in the friend zone. Getting Beth to fall for Jared had been too easy. He’d almost given up because it wasn’t a challenge. But the look on Parker’s face when Jared walked out of the movies holding Beth’s hand had made it all worth it. The guy looked like someone pissed in his Cheerios. Jared genuinely thought Parker was gonna stroke out in the parking lot. His face went three shades paler than Jared thought humanly possible. That’s when the new game was born—pissing off Parker.

  Jared almost felt bad for the guy. Parker had probably never even been laid because he was too busy pining after Beth the prude. A few weeks into being Beth’s boyfriend, Jared realized she was still a virgin and the game got fun again. Her parents were strict as hell but Jared’s charm had them eating out of the palm of his hand pretty quickly. He sorta had Parker to thank for that. The guy was such a non-threat that Beth’s folks stupidly thought Jared was just another sweet boy next door, like Parker.

  The plan had been simple. Bag Beth, crush that prick Parker and move on. But now it was six months later and Jared still hadn’t managed to close the deal with Beth. At first, his pride wouldn’t let him move on without the prize. Not after waiting this long. But now, Jared found himself worried for a completely different reason.

  Somewhere between homemade cookies and bagged lunches he’d started to actually care about Beth. It was sorta impossible not to. She was so freaking sweet all the time, and she let him get away with murder. He didn’t have to show up to any of her sappy musicals even though she came to all his lacrosse games. And when she wanted to go see boring movies at the black and white theater he just told her to go with Parker. It’s not like Jared had anything to worry about with that guy.

  It was pretty much the perfect set up. Parker did all the lame boyfriend shit that Jared wanted no part of, and Jared just got the perks, like making out with Beth and flaunting her as arm candy in the halls at Stanton.

  Walking the halls with Beth was a huge ego boost. It made Jared every guy’s hero for supposedly cracking the virgin queen, and every girl’s fantasy for supposedly waiting for the virgin queen. Jared couldn’t lose. At least he thought he couldn’t—until Caroline came into the picture.

  Jared should’ve known better than to think he could handle a girl like Caroline. But he was a teenaged boy—he had only so much will power. And Caroline had so many curves in all the right places, and damn did she know how to use them.

  It was the first day of school when Jared met Caroline. He’d only been dating Beth for a few weeks at that point and planned to break up with her after he got campus credibility for being with Stanton’s virgin queen.

  Jared didn’t do steady girlfriends and he was already growing bored of his game. Beth didn’t put out and Parker didn’t put up a fight. Jared figured he’d milk the girlfriend goldmine Beth got him for a few more days and then dump her after school to avoid a scene. What he hadn’t planned was running into quite possibly the hottest girl he’d ever met in real life.

  She was smoking a cigarette in the hall between first and second period. She wore knee high black stiletto boots and a devilish smile. Her legs went on for miles and her plaid skirt did nothing to hide them. She caught the hungry look in Jared’s eyes and answered with one of her own before pulling Jared into a janitor’s closet.

  Caroline Voss hadn’t known Jared was with Beth. And Jared hadn’t known Caroline was Beth’s friend. They hadn’t known a thing about each other, only that their attraction was instant and perfect. They didn’t ask questions. They didn’t talk at all, really. Their bodies did all the communicating.

  Jared walked away from his encounter feeling like a million bucks. He was gonna do just fine at Stanton. But then of course, everything went to shit when he showed up for lunch to find Caroline and Beth sitting together.

  Jared had been trying to dig himself out of that mess ever since. After it happened, his first thought was to break up with Beth and move on. But when he drove Beth home from school that day, she’d stunned him by blurting out, “Jared, I’ve never had sex before, but I want to, and I want it to be you. But can we wait and make it special?”

  He’d never been so flattered in his life and he’d stupidly kissed her, forgetting all about his plans to break up with her
. She’d had so much damn hope in her adorable brown eyes that he hadn’t even been able to help himself. He’d kissed her and told her they’d wait and it would be epic. He’d never seen Beth smile so bright. She had a tiny dimple in her right cheek that was only visible when she was truly ecstatic.

  Jared tabled his thoughts on Caroline, figuring he could just ask her to keep her mouth shut. And the next day he did.

  Jared found Caroline waiting for him near their fateful janitor’s closet the next day. But he hadn’t been expecting the first words to come out of Caroline’s mouth.

  “You need to break up with Beth,” she hissed.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I want you to break up with her.”

  “Um, you don’t get to make that decision.”

  Caroline put her hands on her hips. “I think I do. You’re not good enough for her. What we did is proof of that. She’s my only friend and I never would’ve done what we did if I knew you were with her.”

  “It takes two to do what we did, Caroline.”

  “Yeah, but you’re the asshole in the scenario. I didn’t know you were dating anyone.”

  “You didn’t ask,” Jared countered.

  Caroline narrowed her eyes. “Neither did you.”

  Jared raked his hand over his face trying to keep his temper under wraps. “Look, it was a mistake, so let’s not make a big deal out of nothing. Let’s just pretend it never happened, okay?”

  “You’re not going to tell her?” Caroline asked.

  “No, and as long as you don’t, we’re good.”

  But they weren’t good. Caroline couldn’t let it go. She was always interfering in his relationship with Beth. Caroline even hit on Jared in front of Beth. It was like Caroline was testing him, always holding their secret over his head. If only Jared had just come clean back when it all started. Now he was in way over his head.