Resisting the Rebel

by Lisa Brown Roberts

  To…kiss her.

  …

  Mandy stared out the window as Caleb drove too fast. “You’re speeding.”

  “Thank you, Captain Obvious.” But he slowed down. A little.

  “Can I put on some music?”

  He shot her a glare. “Not your crappy disco. Anything but that.”

  She leaned against the headrest and closed her eyes. She couldn’t wait to get home. She still had leftover ice cream. And M&M’s. And Ryan Gosling.

  He cleared his throat, and her body tensed at the gravelly sound. She couldn’t believe she was trapped with the demon chauffeur again, but it was better than taking the bus.

  “So, you really want to go to homecoming with Gus, huh?”

  Her eyes flew open. They’d stopped at a red light, and he glanced at her, his expression unreadable.

  “I…well, yeah, I do, but—”

  “Some guys are clueless, unless you throw it in their face.”

  “Throw what in their face?”

  The light turned green, and the car accelerated, along with her heart rate.

  “Some guys only want what other guys have.”

  “I don’t understand.” She had no idea what he was talking about, but something inside her zinged with nervous energy.

  He sighed next to her, probably annoyed with her stupidity, since his brain was so big and all, and hers was skittering around like a kindergartner on crack.

  “If you hook up with someone else, maybe Gus will notice you. The way you want him to.”

  Her body flushed with heat. What was he suggesting? “And how would I manage that?”

  He sped up, shifting into third gear. “Find a fake boyfriend.”

  “What?!” She screeched so loudly she even scared herself. Caleb swore and swerved, then shot her a glare.

  “Damn it, Disco. Calm the hell down.”

  She leaned forward, straining against her seat belt. “That’s a horrible idea. I hate lies. And besides, even if I wanted to do it, where would I find a fake boyfriend? J.T.’s gay, and he’s the only guy I’d trust enough to—”

  “You’re not gonna marry the guy. It’s a business arrangement. You’d both know it’s fake. You only do it until Gus asks you to the dance, then it’s over.”

  They’d arrived at her house. He parked and turned to look at her, and she caught her breath. He was…hard to look away from, that was for sure.

  “Thanks for your, uh, suggestion, Caleb, but no way is that happening.”

  “You’d probably only have to fake it for two weeks. Three, max, if Gus is a total loser and doesn’t ask you ’til the last minute.”

  She sighed. Why was he so insistent? “It’s not happening. Anyway, who would I ever convince to do that for me?”

  He studied her, his intense gaze unnerving her, then his low voice said one simple word. “Me.”

  They stared at each other for so long she wondered if time had stopped, like in that X-Men movie when that guy froze time and ran around while that old song played, knocking bullets out of the way, and guns out of hands, and hats off heads and—

  “I’ve got a stalker ex I need to get off my case,” Caleb said, his dark gaze locked on hers. “You’ve got a dork you’re trying to seduce. It’s a win-win.”

  “Gus isn’t a dork,” she whispered, but for a second, she couldn’t see Gus’s sweet face in her mind’s eye. Instead all she saw was the stony-faced badass drumming his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. She swallowed. “Gus is a sweetheart.”

  “Dork. Sweetheart. Semantics.” His lips curved in a mocking smile that did something to her stomach.

  “N-no one would ever believe it,” she stammered. “That you and I would…” She blushed, unable to finish the sentence.

  “That we’d what, Disco?” He unbuckled his seat belt and turned toward her. Her breath caught in her throat as he reached out and touched her hair, twirling a long strand around his finger. He leaned in so close she could see a faint shadow of stubble on his jaw. “Go to a dance together?” He shifted even closer, moving in so that his lips barely brushed her cheek as he whispered in her ear. “Or just hook up?”

  This wasn’t…he wasn’t…but she didn’t…not with him…she…Gus… Her thoughts spun out of control, just like her hormones. God, what was he—

  He dropped her lock of hair and leaned back against his seat, smirking. “I think everyone would believe that. You did, didn’t you? Just for a second?”

  Her hand flew up to slap him, but he grabbed it like he’d been expecting it. “Two weeks. It won’t even take that long. Lover boy Gus only needs to see you and me do that once, and he’s yours. All yours.”

  “Y-you’re such a—” He was still holding her hand, though he’d loosened his grip.

  “Jackass. I know. But let me pretend to be your jackass boyfriend and we’ll both get what we want.”

  Everything in her screamed no, but when she finally opened her mouth, the word that fell out was “Okay.”

  …

  Caleb watched Mandy wobble up the cracked sidewalk. She wore ridiculous shoes, as usual. Her house was small and shabby, the opposite of the huge, sterile house he and his dad rattled around in, along with their housekeeper Helen. He probably should’ve walked her to the door, but he needed a minute before he drove home.

  That stunt he’d just pulled hadn’t gone the way he’d planned. He’d just meant to prove what a good actor he was and how easy it would be to convince everyone of the fake boyfriend act. He hadn’t expected her to look at him like she actually wanted him to kiss her.

  And he sure as hell hadn’t expected a freaking tornado of lust to shoot through him when he leaned in to whisper in her ear, when he caught a scent of her perfume as his fingers played with her soft hair.

  Shit.

  Now he was thoroughly screwed because, for whatever reason, she’d agreed to his idiotic plan. And the last thing he needed was to fall under some freaky hippie spell.

  Even though she was fun to spar with, she was still crazy. A total train wreck.

  And he didn’t do crazy.

  Chapter Four

  Stayin’ Alive

  Tuesday, September 20

  “We need an emergency meeting,” Mandy told Cammie and J.T. as soon as she spotted them in the hallway.

  Cammie looked perfect as always, her dark hair and lashes highlighting her delicate olive-skinned features. J.T., on the other hand, looked like he’d just escaped a wind tunnel, his blond hair going in twenty different directions, his clothes disheveled. But his killer smile and sexy David Bowie eyes—one green, one blue—overshadowed the messiness.

  Gus sauntered toward them, grinning, making her stomach flutter.

  “Hey,” he said, stopping next to them.

  “Hi,” Mandy said, wishing she’d never seen him kiss Kay. If she could just pretend it never happened…

  “There you are!”

  Speak of the devil. Kay bore down on them, her predatory gaze locked on Gus. She stopped next to them and looped her arm through Gus’s. “We’re having lunch together. Just you and me.”

  Gus blinked in surprise. “We are? I was thinking I’d eat with these guys today.” He gestured toward them, but Kay ignored it.

  “You can eat lunch with them whenever. Today, I need you.” Kay ran a finger down his chest.

  Gus’s neck flushed, but he shrugged. “Okay. Sounds good.”

  Mandy’s heart sank to her feet. She didn’t have a chance, not against Kay.

  “Cool with us,” J.T. said. “We have stuff to do.”

  Mandy glanced at him, surprised. Shouldn’t he be on her side? Or at least anti-Kay?

  The first class bell rang, sending everyone scrambling down the hall because their principal, Dr. Harris, aka Dr. Hairy, was a stickler about tardies.

  “We need to talk,” Mandy said before they separated. She should’ve called them last night, but she’d been paralyzed by panic. She’d tossed and turned all night, stressin
g over Caleb’s proposition.

  J.T. nodded, and Cammie squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Whatever it is, we’ve got your back.”

  Mandy smiled her thanks, then rushed to her first-period class. She could always change her mind. It was a crazy plan. Ridiculous. Complicated.

  Doomed.

  At lunch, Mandy and her friends piled into J.T.’s clunker, scarfing down fries and chocolate shakes in the fast-food parking lot. Mandy sat in the backseat while her two friends angled in the front seats to face her like she was the criminal and they were the jury.

  “What do you mean, Caleb wants to be your fake boyfriend?” Cammie demanded. “This has disaster written all over it.”

  “Maybe,” J.T. said around a french fry. “Maybe not.”

  “What?!” Cammie exclaimed. “Did we not establish his certified assholery after he drove Mandy home Saturday night, attacking her with insults?”

  “We did,” J.T. agreed. “He hates everything and everyone.” He paused. “Except you, apparently.” J.T. waggled his eyebrows at Mandy. “So maybe this will work.”

  Cammie crossed her arms over her generous cleavage, of which Mandy was not-so-secretly jealous. “I don’t want Mandy getting hurt.”

  “Why would she?” J.T. said. “Caleb’s not going to accidentally fall for her, and she’s definitely not going to fall for him. And maybe this will finally make Gus see the girl who’s been there for him all along.”

  J.T. and Cammie shot each other meaningful glances. Mandy sighed and searched for a mantra. The universe brings me exactly who I need, when I need them. Her friends were there for her. Always. Even when they acted like she was their little sister they had to protect. She adored them, but sometimes they made her feel incompetent, and she already had enough of that going on with her classes.

  “I know it’s a crazy idea. But when I see Gus with Kay…” Her words trailed away. Kay was evil. Gus didn’t belong with her. He belonged with Mandy, who appreciated him. Who wouldn’t suck out his soul.

  “Maybe try it with Caleb for a day or two,” J.T. said. “See what happens.”

  “Speaking of, why aren’t you with him right now?” Cammie asked. “Shouldn’t you be eating lunch with your fake boyfriend?”

  Mandy choked on her drink, then finally managed to squeak out a reply. “I haven’t seen him today.” Because she’d hidden from him every time she’d caught a glimpse of the black leather jacket and rock star hair. “Maybe he’ll forget,” she said hopefully. “Maybe it was all a bad dream and—”

  “He won’t.” J.T. shoved a handful of fries in his mouth.

  “Why not?” Cammie demanded.

  J.T. shrugged. “A guy like Caleb doesn’t throw out that kind of deal and forget about it. Do you think Lucifer forgets when he makes deals for people’s souls?”

  “Well, I don’t think you should do it,” Cammie said. “Relationships built on lies never last.”

  “But I’m not having a relationship with Caleb,” Mandy said, blushing as she remembered how she’d responded to him last night in his car. Jerk. She’d never get suckered in by his fake seductions again.

  Cammie’s face crinkled in sympathy. “Sweetie, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I think Gus is so sucked in by the Kay spell that he’s not going to notice anyone else. Not even you and Caleb trying to make him jealous.”

  “But he can’t be,” Mandy protested. “Not already. They just hooked up over the weekend. That doesn’t have to mean anything, does it? If he and I could just go out, the two of us…” She thought of her favorite Chinese restaurant, the Silk Lamp. She imagined staring at Gus over candlelight, reaching across the table to hold his hand.

  J.T. and Cammie gave each other the look again, and a jolt of anger and determination shot through her.

  “I don’t care what you guys say. I’m going to try it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

  “Famous last words,” Cammie muttered under her breath.

  …

  Caleb ate by himself as usual, reading at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. He’d seen Mandy and her minions leave, and he’d felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. Mostly relief, he told himself.

  She’d been avoiding him all day. She probably thought she was being sly, but it was hard to miss her darting around corners and ducking into classrooms whenever he came near her. Her shirt glittered so much it could probably be seen from outer space.

  He took a swig from his soda and refocused on his book, a worn collection of short stories he’d found in his favorite used bookstore.

  A freshman scurried by, tripped, and his tray flew through the air, sending an avalanche of food onto Caleb’s table. The cafeteria went dead silent as everyone waited for the explosion.

  Caleb wiped food off his jacket before aiming his glare at the kid, who looked like he weighed maybe sixty pounds.

  “I-I’m s-sorry, sir,” the kid stammered and Caleb almost laughed.

  Sir? Seriously?

  “Watch where you’re going next time.” Caleb moved his book out of the way of a spreading puddle of soda. Murmurs rose around him and he knew people were waiting for him to lose it, to go ballistic on the kid. Just because he’d lost it one time.

  The story had been told and retold so many times he didn’t even recognize it anymore, but the reputation had followed him for years, even though he hadn’t been in a fight since ninth grade.

  “Get outta here, kid,” Caleb said. He stood up and the kid took off, tripping over his shoelaces.

  Caleb shoved his book in his pocket and stalked out of the cafeteria, debating whether or not to stick around for the rest of the day. He had calc next, a class he wasn’t doing great in. He should probably stay for that, but he could miss the rest of the afternoon since he was killing AP English and history.

  Elle pounced on him as he rounded the corner. “Hey, gorgeous, where have you been hiding?”

  Crap. He took in her skintight dress that barely covered her ass. He knew she’d worn it for his benefit and was surprised she hadn’t been sent home for violating the dress code.

  “I wasn’t hiding.” He kept moving, hoping she’d get the hint.

  She didn’t.

  “So anyway…I was thinking about homecoming. It’s only two and a half weeks away.”

  He stopped at his locker and willed her to disappear.

  She didn’t.

  He made the mistake of glancing at her. She didn’t look all misty-eyed like she was in love with him. She looked…fanatical. Scary. Like she’d be just as happy killing him as kissing him.

  It sort of scared the crap out of him.

  He glanced up and down the hall at the swarms of students returning from lunch.

  Where the hell was his fake girlfriend when he needed her?

  Chapter Five

  Disco Inferno

  Tuesday, September 20

  When Mandy and her friends returned from lunch, she spotted Caleb at his locker, his ex-girlfriend Elle rubbing up against him like a cat. Her earlier determination faltered, but Cammie gave her a gentle push.

  “Go on. If you’re gonna do this, you need to go all in.”

  “She’s right,” J.T. said. “Go save him from his stalker.”

  Mandy swallowed and took a breath, then started down the hall, her gaze fixated on Caleb. He noticed Mandy when she was about six feet away, his expression transforming from desperation to relief, which surprised her. Then his expression changed again, from relief to…uh…Mandy slowed. He was doing it again, the fake seducer act, looking at her like she was his favorite dessert.

  Elle spun around to see who he was looking at, and Mandy almost fled when she saw the angry fire in Elle’s eyes. Maybe Caleb wasn’t exaggerating about the stalker thing. But Caleb was fast, closing the gap between them and draping his arm over her shoulders, his thumb rubbing soft circles on her neck and shutting down her brain functions.

  “There you are, babe,” he said, his voice low and sexy. �
�I missed you at lunch.”

  Elle glared daggers at her.

  “Uh, yeah, I, um, was with J.T. and Cammie,” she finally managed, unable to tear her gaze from Elle.

  Caleb’s fingers continued to massage her neck, and she wondered briefly if he could sense her panic and was trying to soothe her. Which was stupid on his part, because the last thing she felt right now was soothed, since his touch shot tingles through her whole body.

  “You and Caleb?” Elle snapped. “Are you kidding me?” She glared at Caleb. “You dumped me for this freak show?”

  Caleb pulled Mandy in even closer. “Shut it, Elle.” His voice was a threatening growl, and out of the corner of her eye she noticed Kay and Gus watching them, with J.T. and Cammie not far behind, staring openmouthed.

  Showtime. She squared her shoulders, determined to follow through on her part of the deal.

  “So you’re coming to the spirit committee meeting today, right babe?” she asked, turning to flutter her eyelashes at him. It gave her a secret thrill to throw babe back in his face.

  A spark of acknowledgment and appreciation flashed in his dark eyes, and his lips curved dangerously. “Wouldn’t miss it, babe.”

  She smiled at him for real because this was kind of fun, like a tennis match. And she was excellent at tennis.

  “This is bullsh—” Elle began, but the class bell drowned out the rest of her protest.

  Caleb steered Mandy down the hall, his grip firm around her shoulders. Everyone stared at them like they were aliens, or celebrities, or maybe a weird combination of the two. Her pulse rate ratcheted up. She hadn’t considered that this fake boyfriend thing would actually become public knowledge. Like, really public.

  He stopped at his calc classroom, releasing her from his grip.

  “Thanks, Disco.” He smirked. “You just saved me from being shanked by a psycho.”

  So he was back to jerk Caleb again. She steeled herself and decided two could play this game.

  “Sure. But now you owe me, so I expect to see you at the spirit committee meeting today. Three thirty. Starbucks.”

  His eyes widened in surprise. “Why would I—”