Page 14 of Scarlett and the Fake Boyfriend (Scarlett #2)

Thursday

“But were the kiss thief’s hands rough?” Sophie asked. “Because I really think it might be Leo the Rugged Thief.”

“I don’t remember,” I said. She’d been asking me questions about the kiss all day and...all I had really been focused on was the way he made me feel. We were about to head to lunch, so at least she’d drop it then. We couldn’t talk about this in front of Axel. In case it was him.

“Did the kiss thief touch your face?”

It felt like he’d touched me everywhere. “I...I don’t remember, Soph.”

She shoved some books in her locker. “It’s Leo the Rugged Thief. It has to be him. Maybe wilderness camp just didn’t roughen up his hands as much as we thought or something. But he’s a literal thief. And I have a feeling about this.”

“You just don’t want it to be Mr. Halifax,” Jacob said as he stopped by our lockers.

I cringed.

Sophie groaned. “I just can’t even fathom the idea that he might have seen me in that fat suit. He’ll never be able to look at me the same if he did. ”

“If he’s the kiss thief, he wasn’t looking at you anyway,” Jacob said.

Sophie shoved his arm. “Shut your whore mouth.”

He laughed. “You’ve been hanging out with Mr. Nigel too much. Speaking of which...he finally texted me back.”

“Please tell me he has backups to the Odegaard security cameras,” I said.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news?”

Sophie and I looked at each other.

“The good news,” Sophie said.

“The good news is that he does have backups.”

“And the bad news?” I asked.

Jacob sighed. “He says it will take him three months to get the footage for us.”

“Three months?” I just stared at him. “But...why?”

“He said he’s super busy.”

“Doesn’t he come to dinner at your house like half the time?”

Jacob nodded. “Yeah. I asked him if we could just meet up at his place tonight and eat and look at the footage together. But he said he was booked full for the foreseeable future.”

“Doing what?” I asked.

“I have no idea. He mentioned something about scheduled time off. And tonight he specifically has plans to hang out with his grandson apparently.”

I laughed. “What? Mr. Nigel doesn’t have a grandson. His kids aren’t even teens.”

“I know, but that’s what he said. I’ll keep pressuring him.”

That didn’t make any sense. What the heck was going on?

“That seems awfully suspicious,” Sophie said.

We both turned to her.

“I’m just saying. Maybe it’s Mr. Nigel. He clearly had access to the security room.”

“Stop it,” I said. “Stop adding people to the suspect list.”

“But...”

“He’s happily married, Sophie. And he’s way too short. It wouldn’t have worked unless he had stilts.” My kiss thief being tall was the only thing I knew about him for sure.

She sighed. “Fine. You’re right. But it’s still suspicious.” She turned to look at Jacob. “Very suspicious.”

“Why are you looking at me?” Jacob asked.

“First off, the kiss thief mysteriously gets by you last night to get in and out of Odegaard. And now you’re the one with access to the guy who does Odegaard’s security? And you’re hiding it from us for months?”

“I told you,” Jacob said. “There’s a back door to Odegaard too. And I’m not the one hiding it. Mr. Nigel is.”

“Mhm.” She turned to me. “I think it’s pretty clear what’s going on here.”

“Um...what?” I asked.

“Jacob is obviously your kiss thief and he’s just pretending not to be.”

“I’m not the kiss thief,” he said. “We’ve already established that.”

“I haven’t. So prove it. Kiss Scarlett. In front of me. Right here, right now. No holding back. Give her everything you got. And go.”

What was she doing? “Sophie... ”

But Jacob grabbed me around the waist, leaned down, and kissed me.

This time I didn’t do anything weird with my tongue. I lifted my hand to his chest as he pulled me closer. His jacket slid off my shoulders as I tilted my head back even more.

But then Jacob let go of my waist and took a step back.

My heart was beating funny in my chest. That had been one of our better kisses. But we’d been pecking a lot in the halls. It was starting to feel more normal. But not like...kiss thief normal.

“I don’t know,” Sophie said. “That looked pretty good to me. Verdict, Scar? Is he or isn’t he?”

I slowly shook my head.

“Trust me,” Jacob said. “I wouldn’t be pulling her into dark closets to hook up with her. I’d be kissing her in the hallways of Empire High. In public. Showing her that I loved her out loud. The way she deserves.”

I swallowed hard.

“Hm,” Sophie said as she looked back and forth between us.

Jacob slid his jacket back up onto my shoulders. And then he grabbed my hand. “We should get to lunch.”

Sophie closed her locker. “Well, if Operation Too Hot to Handle is still a go, we need to think of a way to make Axel jealous.”

“Maybe we could go to the movies tonight,” Jacob said.

“What movie would you like to see?” I asked.

He was about to open his mouth but Sophie cut him off. “How would that help?” she asked.

Jacob shrugged. “We could get caught making out or something.”

“Jacob, Axel has to be the one to catch you in order for this to work.”

“Then how about a picnic in Central Park? That’s more public.”

“Oh, that sounds fun,” I said.

“And where is Axel in that situation?” Sophie asked.

“We could invite him,” I said.

Sophie shook her head. “You’re both terrible at this. Just follow my lead.”

Oh no. I didn’t like the sound of that.

She pushed open the cafeteria doors.

I hurried after her.

“What would you like for lunch?” Jacob asked when we got to our table. “I can grab it for you.”

“Whatever you’re having,” I said. “You’re the best.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

“You two are seriously the cutest couple ever,” Sophie said. “Don’t you think, Axel?”

“Oh yeah,” he said. “The cutest.”

I thought I heard a touch of sarcasm there, but I couldn’t be sure. This really wasn’t working well. I sat down across from Axel as Sophie joined Jacob in line.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey,” Axel said. “Do anything fun last night?”

“Oh...no...not really. Sophie came over and helped me move my room to the guestroom with the trapdoor. We figured that would be better for coming and going. There aren’t any cameras in there.”

“Interesting. And that’s all you did?”

“Yup.” It wasn’t like I could tell him about Operation Trap. And how it had epically failed .

“I figured you’d be hanging out with your new boyfriend all night.”

I didn’t like all these questions. “Nope. Just me and Soph. Like always.”

“Interesting,” he said again.

Liam and RJ joined us at our table.

“How early is too early to ask a girl to homecoming?” RJ asked as he sat down next to me.

“It’s next weekend,” Liam said. “You probably should have already asked.”

Axel shrugged. “Nah. The day before would be fine.”

I laughed. “The day before? That’s not enough notice.”

“Why?” he asked. “Everyone is already going. And that way the girl knows it’s not like a serious date. Just a casual thing.”

What the hell? “I really think you should give someone more notice than that.”

“Why?”

“Because asking the day before is a dick move.”

Axel laughed. “I don’t know. No one’s ever said no to me before.”

I hated that if he asked me the day before, I’d be one of the pathetic girls that said yes. Jacob was right. I’d completely lost my self-confidence. And self-respect.

“Who are you asking to homecoming, Axel?” RJ asked. “A special someone?” He subtly winked at me.

Stop it.

“Yup,” Axel said. “I asked your sister.”

RJ looked at me and then at Axel. “Wait, what? You like Sophie? When did that happen?”

“We’re going as friends,” Sophie said as she sat down right next to Axel.

“Kind of lame to go with your cousin,” Liam said.

“We’re not technically cousins, man. But it’s going to be fun hanging out together all night,” Axel said. “The four of us.”

“Axel ditched us last year,” Sophie said. “And it’s our senior year. It really is going to be fun.”

“If you say so,” Liam said.

Jacob walked over and placed a tray down in front of me. He’d gotten me a grilled chicken sandwich. And an ice cream cone.

I smiled at him as he sat down. “Thanks,” I said. “This is perfect.”

“We’re sharing that ice cream though,” he said.

I laughed.

“Has anyone seen Leo?” Sophie asked. “I really want to shake his hand.”

“Why?” Axel asked.

“For research. I have a theory that men with rough hands are better lovers. And whenever I touch someone’s hand I remember how it feels against my skin. I think most people do.”

I just shook my head. I’m sorry I don’t remember!

“Okay then,” Axel said. “Dude, what’s that on your neck?”

I looked up at him. He was talking to Jacob instead of Sophie now.

“What?” Jacob touched the front of his neck.

“Do you have paint on your neck?” Axel asked.

There was indeed a small amount of white mime paint left there from last night .

“Oh. Yeah. That.” Jacob tried to get it off but he was going to need some soap or something.

I reached over to try and help him, but it was no use. His mime paint was really on there.

“Were you painting?” Axel asked.

“They were actually painting together,” Sophie quickly said. “Right, guys?”

“Um...yes,” I said.

Axel stared at me. “When?”

“Last night,” Sophie said.

Screw me. I’d just told him I wasn’t hanging out with Jacob last night.

“Interesting,” Axel said.

Stop saying interesting!

“What were you two painting last night ?” he asked me.

Gah. He’d caught me in a lie, but for some reason he wasn’t calling me out.

“They were painting each other,” Sophie interjected. “In a painting class they attended together last night.”

I was having a really hard time keeping track of all these lies.

“Like...portraits?” he asked.

“Nudes,” Sophie said.

My eyes grew round.

“Sounds fun,” RJ said. “I want so many more details about that. Is it a weekly class? Where is it located? Can I be a model next time?”

I elbowed him in his side and he laughed.

“Does sound fun,” Axel said.

“And tonight Jacob is taking her to a sexy X-rated film,” Sophie said .

Good Lord.

“Have fun at the movies,” Axel said.

“Oh, shoot,” Sophie said. “I forgot that we were supposed to flesh out our concepts for our coding class. Didn’t your dad say he wanted that by Friday?”

I slowly nodded. He had said that.

“So you’ll probably have to ditch the movie to hang out with Axel tonight.”

Okay, finally. This was actually a good plan. Much better than the weird nude portraits lie.

“I can’t tonight,” Axel said.

“Why?” Sophie asked.

“I have a date. And now I’m thinking about taking her to that nude painting class. Where did you say it was?”

For some reason everyone looked at me. Even though I wasn’t the one who’d come up with this ridiculousness.

“Um...Soho,” I said.

“Shoot me the address and I’ll text my date.” He pulled out his phone.

“I’ll have to look it up when I get home,” I said.

He shrugged and slid his phone back in his pocket. “Cool. Just text me when you have it.”

I couldn’t text him a made up place! Damn it, Sophie!

“Who is your date with?” Sophie asked. “Because you’re not allowed to ditch me for homecoming, Axel. You promised.”

“It’s just one date. I’m taking Gemma out.”

Gemma? As in...one of the Triple Gs?

“Gemma Gemma?” Sophie asked.

“Yup.”

She scrunched up her face in disgust. “Ew. Why?”

“Because she’s hot. ”

“She is not.”

Liam shrugged. “She is kinda hot...”

“Shut it, Liam,” Sophie said. “You can’t go on a date with Gemma, Axel. She’s a Triple G. She’s been torturing Scarlett for years under Gigi’s reign of terror.”

“Reign of terror?” Axel asked. “I think that’s stretching it.”

He knew how much Gigi, Gemma, and Georgia tortured me. It wasn’t stretching it. They were awful to me.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Sophie said.

“I’d kiss Gigi instead,” Axel said. “But I already checked her off.”

“Checked her off what?” Sophie asked.

“I’m trying to make my way through the whole cheerleading squad before graduation. Although at this rate, I’ll probably finish by the end of the first semester.”

I bit the inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t do something stupid like burst out in tears. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. Waiting to see how I’d react. But I didn’t want to react at all. I bit the inside of my cheek harder and looked down at my food.

Sophie cleared her throat. “Why do you want to do that? Are you trying to get an STD as a fun send off to college?”

Axel laughed. “No. I made a deal with someone. And I plan on making good on my end of it.”

He was talking about our deal. The one I hadn’t meant to agree to. That if I hooked up with anyone on his team, he’d hook up with the whole cheerleading squad. And I was currently fake-dating Jacob. Real dating as far as Axel knew. And he was making good on his threat.

After a few days had passed since I’d announced Jacob was my boyfriend, I thought Axel wasn’t going to do it.

I thought I’d lucked out.

I thought that maybe, just maybe...he actually did like me.

But he was doing it. Starting tonight. Hell, maybe he’d already started. I was just unfortunate enough to hear about this one.

“I almost forgot,” Jacob said and stood up. “I have a surprise for you, love.” He didn’t wait for me to respond. He grabbed my ice cream cone and my hand and pulled me toward the exit of the cafeteria. “It’s okay,” he said. “He’s not looking. You can let it out.”

“It’s fine.”

“Scarlett.”

I felt my lower lip trembling.

“I’ve got you,” he said. He pulled me down the hall and out the front doors of Empire High.

The smell of the fall air always reminded me of the beginning of school. Fresh starts. A new chance to get Axel to fall in love with me.

But the air suddenly felt stale.

“I hate him,” I said.

“No you don’t.”

“I do.” My resolve finally broke and tears streamed down my face.

Jacob pulled me against his chest. He held me tight as I got the front of his blazer wet with my tears. And he kept holding me. Until my tears finally dried on my cheeks.

I sniffed. “I do,” I said again .

He laughed and dropped his arms from around me. “You don’t.” He handed me my ice cream cone.

He knew exactly how to make me feel better.

I opened it up and licked around the top of the cone.

Jacob did that thing where he watched me lick it. In that way that made my heart race.

“Here,” I said. “I promised I’d share.”

“It’s all yours, Scarlett.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “You still up for that movie tonight?”

I smiled. “Absolutely. Nothing scary though.”

He didn’t respond.

“Promise me you won’t choose a scary movie.”

“We should probably get back inside.” He turned to walk back up the steps.

“Jacob!” I laughed and ran after him.