The Fake Boyfriend Experiment

by Stephanie Rowe

  Rafe set me back down, his hands still on my hips to keep me from knocking him over. His face was wary and he looked like he was afraid I’d gone insane. “What was that about?”

  I knew my friends couldn’t hear us, as long as we talked quietly. I wrapped my hands around his arms, like I was using him for balance. His biceps flexed under my palms, rippling with muscles that made my whole body tingle. “I wanted to apologize for getting you sucked into my miserable life,” I said, my voice a little breathless as I forced myself to pry my hands off his arms. “Your life is bad enough already, and I’m sorry.” I hadn’t meant to apologize, but suddenly, it seemed like the right thing to do. Yeah, I hadn’t barged into his band on purpose, but it was still my crisis that had prompted Crusty to come up with the solution.

  His eyebrows shot up in surprise, his dark eyes so freaking intense even in the afternoon sunlight. “You’re sorry? Really?”

  “Yes.” I was sorry, but at the same time, it had still been unfair how he’d treated me. So I poked him in the chest. “But you were still a jerk for how you treated me last night.”

  The corner of his mouth curved up and he let go of my waist to flick my bangs off my face. When my dad did that, I felt like he was treating me like a little kid. When Rafe did it, I felt like my legs got all shaky and I forgot how to breathe. “I’m sorry about last night, too” he said.

  I blinked and this time had to hold onto him for real to keep from falling over in surprise. I would never have expected Rafe to apologize. He’d been so mad, and he was just, too…well, cool. “What?”

  He shrugged. “I talked to my aunt afterwards. She said you had nothing to do with it.”

  I lifted my chin. “I told you I didn’t.”

  “I know. Sorry for jumping all over you. I know my aunt well enough that I should have realized she’d railroaded us both into it.” He shrugged his shoulders, looking a little uncomfortable. “The point is, I’m sorry. I was a jerk and you didn’t deserve it.”

  “Oh.” Well, that was kind of nice. Did I still have to be mad at him?

  He gave my ponytail a tug, and I thought I was going to die right there from the feel of his hand drifting over the ends of my hair as he oh-so-slowly let go. “So, what do you say to a truce? We’re stuck with each other for a month, right? We might as well deal with it.”

  I grinned, my heart racing. “I suppose I can forgive you. But only because you’re a good drummer, not because you deserve it.”

  He chuckled. “Such attitude. How does your boyfriend stand it?”

  Oh, right. I forgot about my boyfriend. He had a girlfriend. I had a boyfriend. The ponytail twirling meant nothing. Crud. I sighed. “My boyfriend thinks I’m a goddess. He’s right, of course.”

  His smile got wider. “You’d be impossible as a girlfriend, you know that?”

  My smile faltered. He thought I would be a bad girlfriend? For a split second, I felt totally bummed, then I caught myself.

  What was I doing? It wasn’t like anything was going to happen between us anyway, right? I was going to play in the band, and Rafe and I were friends again. That was as far as it would go. I would not let the boyfriend/girlfriend thing screw up the one good thing I had in my life right now! I slapped on my most arrogant look, the one I used when I was feeling the most scared at a recital and didn’t want to show it. “You’re just jealous.” I spun away with a flip of my hair and started marching toward the building.

  He laughed out loud, and I grinned as I hurried away.

  I peeked at my friends as Rafe caught up and opened the door for me. They were all staring at us with their mouths hanging open in shock.

  The look of stunned disbelief was almost enough to make up for the fact that Rafe thought I would be a terrible girlfriend.

  Almost, but not quite.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  I walked into the practice room a few minutes later, and Chris grinned at me. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a faded gray tee shirt covered with paint splotches. “Good to have you back, Lily.”

  I immediately relaxed under his warmth and smiled back. “I was tortured into it.”

  “So I heard.” His blond hair was sort of wavy, and I realized he had really blue eyes. How could I not have noticed them before?

  A heavy hand landed on my shoulder, and I looked up to find Rafe standing next to me, frowning. “You haven’t met our bass player. Lily, this is Nash Lyons. Nash, Lily.”

  Nash was tuning his guitar, but he looked up and gave me a nod. Nash’s hair might have been dark brown, but it was mostly covered by the faded blue Red Sox hat he was wearing. He was also wearing camo pants that were so old they were literally unraveling on the hems, and a black leather cord was around his neck with the letter “S” hanging from it. He nodded back at me, and then he returned to his instrument.

  “Nash doesn’t say much these days,” Rafe said.

  These days? Had there been a time when he’d been chatty? I studied him more closely, and I saw a thick red scar peeking up from the collar of his shirt, like his head had been almost ripped from his neck. What had happened to him?

  “He knows a lot, though.” Rafe tightened his grip on my shoulder and turned me away from Chris and steered me toward the keyboard in the corner. “If I’m not here, Nash is the one you should go to with questions.”

  Chris snorted and I glanced at him. He winked at me. “I’m the expert.”

  “I have no doubt,” I replied, then grinned when Rafe’s scowl got even deeper. I elbowed him. “Lighten up, Rafe. We’re just messing with you.”

  “We’re here to play, not socialize.”

  Chris rolled his eyes and Angel snorted. “You’d never guess Rafe used to be fun, would you?”

  Rafe glared at Angel. “Stuff it, Angel.”

  “Or what?” She didn’t seem at all concerned by him as she strummed her guitar, tuning it up. “You stopped having any input over me when we stopped dating.”

  I knew it! There had been an undercurrent of something between them that first day. That meant that Rafe not only had a current girlfriend in his band, but also a gorgeous ex-girlfriend. I was completely outnumbered.

  Rafe squeezed my shoulder. “Ignore her.”

  I slanted a look at him, ready to give him attitude for trying to tell me what to do, but I clamped my lips shut at the look of pain in Rafe’s eyes. He was upset by what Angel had said! Why? Because she’d pointed out that they were no longer dating? Or because she said he used to be fun?

  Rafe walked to the keyboard. He bent over it, hiding his face from me as he let his fingers fly over the keys. He played a quick tune with such talent that he literally took my breath away. “That’s the melody I want you to play. Got it?” He looked up when I didn’t answer him. “What?”

  How could I answer him? I was too shocked. “You’re amazing on the keyboard.” He was beyond amazing. He was magic, just as he was on the drums.

  He finally grinned and trailed his fingers over the keys. “I play a little.”

  “And the guitar,” Angel complained. “The only reason he needs the rest of us is because he doesn’t have enough hands to play all the instruments. That’s why he thinks he’s in charge of the band, because he can do anything when it comes to music. “

  I met his gaze. “Except sing,” I whispered. Our little secret. There was one thing related to music that he so couldn’t do, and he’d shared it with me.

  He grinned and touched his index finger to my lips. “Shh.”

  My heart skittered in my chest as we exchanged glances, his finger still pressed against my lips. It was our moment, the sharing of something that no one else knew.

  He winked at me, and then turned away, breaking the connection. “Okay, guys, let’s get started. I have to hit the road early tonight.”

  Angel raised her eyebrows, looking surprised. “Early? Since when do you cut out early? It’s Friday night. Shouldn’t we be here until midnight?”

  Midnight? He was worse than
Crusty. And Angel was right. “You said we’d be practicing late tonight because we have to get ready for the recital at the middle school,” I said.

  “Gig,” corrected Chris. “God help me if I ever had to do a recital, I think my head would spin off.”

  Gig. Right. I had to remember that.

  “I gotta take Paige out,” Rafe muttered as he sat down at his drums. “She’s in a mood today.”

  Oh…yeah…because she’d been given the boot to make space for me. I could imagine she wasn’t giving Rafe all the love today. I cleared my throat and made a point of leafing through the sheet music. It wasn’t my fault, and I wasn’t going to feel bad about Paige. Yeah, that’s why my stomach hurt at the mention of his girlfriend. Guilt. Not jealousy or anything stupid like that.

  We started off with a new song, the one Rafe had shown me the melody for. I messed up the first time. I grimaced, hearing Crusty’s voice in my head about how I had to try harder. “Sorry.” I didn’t look up and I tried it once more, screwing up the notes again. “Sorry.” Oh, God. I was a failure already.

  “Hey, Lily.”

  I looked up at Rafe. “What?” He was going to kick me out, wasn’t he?

  He smiled at me. Not a mocking smile, but a real smile, but it didn’t help my stress. “You’re doing great.”

  I shook my head. “No, I’m terrible. I know I’m messing you guys up, and I promise I’ll get it. I’m trying, I really am.”

  “Chill out, Lily,” Chris said.

  I glanced over at him, surprised by the easy tone in his voice. He didn’t sound mad.

  He grinned. “It took Paige a month to even figure out what key it was in. Trust me, you’re already way ahead of where she ever was.”

  I frantically pushed my hair out of my eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I’m better than this. I’m letting you guys down and--”

  “Okay, gang, we’re switching songs,” Rafe interrupted. “The new JamieX song. Everyone on board?”

  I almost cried with relief. I knew I could do that one. I didn’t need music for it. I gave Rafe a look of thanks, and he winked at me.

  Rafe began the drum intro to the song and I felt the beat inch into my gut, past my embarrassment. Nash and Angel started playing their guitars, and I felt the song roll over me.

  Chris nodded at me.

  I took a deep breath and started playing. I kept my attention focused rigidly on the notes dotted across the sheet music. I hit each note carefully and precisely, making sure to get all the notes right, determined to get through it without mistakes.

  Rafe veered off the sheet music and started challenging me the same way he had the last time we’d played together. I shook my head at him. I couldn’t do that tonight. I had to concentrate.

  He kept playing. Challenge flashed in his eyes, and I finally stuck my tongue out at him.

  He grinned and amped it up even more.

  Fine. Be that way. I ditched the sheet music and started improvising with him.

  The rest of the group stopped playing, as Rafe and I played harder, throwing ourselves into the music. I closed my eyes and let the song invade my body as my heart crashed in rhythm with Rafe’s drums. We plowed through the song without stopping, ending in a battle between Rafe and me that shook the walls. He ended with a brilliant drum solo and then threw his sticks up in the air with a whoop, catching them perfectly.

  I leaned back on my heels and grinned, adrenaline rushing through me.

  “If you two are done showing off, we could try that again as an actual band,” Chris remarked dryly.

  “Or you guys could try to keep up,” Rafe shot back.

  “Or we could throw you out the window,” Chris said.

  Angel grinned at me and rolled her eyes. I returned the smile.

  I took my complaints back. This was way better than piano lessons.

  After Rafe and Chris finished knocking each other around, we started to practice seriously. We’d been working on JamieX for almost an hour and I was having a total blast when Miss Jespersen stuck her head in the room.

  My fingers immediately stumbled over the keys. Rafe shot me a questioning look, then he followed my gaze to the door and frowned.

  Crusty walked into the room and sat down in the corner, folding her arms over her chest. I messed up and she made a grunt of disapproval. My throat tightened up and my fingers stiffened.

  No! I would not let her ruin this for me! I jerked my eyes away from her and concentrated on the music, and then screwed up again.

  “I need a break,” Rafe said suddenly. He tossed his drumsticks aside with a clatter. “Lily. Come with me.”

  I clenched my fists and tried to calm down. Why did I let her get to me like this? So what if her disapproval was so thick I could barely breathe? What right did she have to judge me?

  Rafe walked up behind me, his chest brushing against my back. “Lily.” His voice was quiet, for my ears only as he leaned over my shoulder, his cheek almost against mine. “Come on.” He wrapped his fingers around my wrist and tugged my hand. “I have soda in my car,” he said to the rest of the band. “We’ll be right back.”

  Angel raised her brows at me, but I was too upset to worry about it. I let Rafe pull me out of the room, right past the prune-faced Crusty, and out into the parking lot.

  Rafe held onto my wrist the whole way to his car, and I didn’t try to pull away from him. We were both dating other people (ahem) so his heroic move to rescue me from Crusty didn’t mean he wanted to be my true and forever love, but I still felt better with him touching me.

  So sue me. It wasn’t like I was trying to break up his relationship or anything.

  He released my wrist to reach into the back of the Jeep. “I’ll talk to my aunt and ask her not to come to any more rehearsals. Don’t let her get to you.”

  There was no point in lying. He knew what was up with me. I groaned and sat down on the rear bumper. “How can I not?”

  He retrieved a paper grocery bag and set it in my arms. “She likes you, Lily. That’s why she’s here.”

  The bag was heavy, so I rested it on my lap. “I hate her.”

  Darkness flickered on Rafe’s face, reminding me that this was his aunt we were talking about. Now I felt bad again.

  “She’s just trying to support you,” he said.

  “No, she’s trying to pressure me! Do you have any idea what it’s like to be called a failure all the time?” I blinked at the sudden moisture in my eyes. Oh, God. How embarrassing. I wiped my wrist over my eyes, turning away so Rafe wouldn’t see what a wimp I was. “She has no right to make me feel so awful!”

  He brushed his fingers over my cheek, and I froze. “You don’t suck, Lily.”

  I swallowed hard and let him turn my face toward him. There was no way to hide the tears in my eyes, and I felt one slide down my cheek. “That’s not what she says. Or my mother.”

  Rafe swore under his breath. “Screw them, Lily,” he said quietly as he brushed his thumb over my tears.

  I stared at him, too shocked to answer. His thumb burned across my cheek, and his voice was so nice. He wasn’t judging me for crying. Why was he being so nice to me if he wasn’t interested in me? “But she says it all the time,” I whispered.

  “So?” His voice got hard and he turned away, his hand dropping from my face. “Who cares what adults say? You think they’re always right?”

  I bit my lip while he fished another bag out of the Jeep, watching his tattoo ripple over his muscles as he hoisted the bag out. “You don’t think she’s right?”

  He rested the grocery sack on his hip. “Adults have their own baggage and they take it out on us. The only thing to do is blow them off. They aren’t worth crying over, Lily, trust me.”

  A smile pulled at the corner of my mouth at his flippant attitude. Like it was that easy to just ignore them. “How am I supposed to blow her off? She’s in there giving me the evil eye.”

  “So what? You can ignore it. Don’t let her bug you.”

&nb
sp; I raised my eyebrows. “If you’re so tough, how come she was able to bully you into letting me in the band?”

  He shrugged. “I decided it was easier to go along with her than fight it, which is not the same thing as allowing her to ruin my life. Besides, I owe her. She got us free practice space at the school.” His eyes narrowed and he averted his gaze from me. “Plus, I gotta keep her happy enough so she doesn’t ditch me. Next step foster care, right?”

  I couldn’t stop my mouth from dropping open. “Seriously? Your parents would let you go to foster care?”

  He turned away and started walking back toward the building. “Let’s go.”

  “Hey!” I tried to catch up to him, but there was no way I could run with my bag of drinks. It was way too heavy. So I sort of hobbled across the lawn, trying to catch up to him. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m sorry.”

  He didn’t turn around, walking even faster. “You got plans for Sunday morning?”

  I blinked at the change in subject. “Um, I usually practice the piano then, so I guess I’m free.”

  “Meet me here at nine. I’ll get you up to speed on the new material.” He was getting even further away from me, apparently not hampered by the weight of the bag he was carrying Clearly, he was carrying cotton balls in his bag and he’d given me the bag of cement blocks.

  I wrinkled my nose at his back. “You’re more of a slave driver than Crusty is.”

  He shrugged and tossed me a careless glance over his shoulder. “Or you can learn it in front of the band.”

  Ah, no thanks. “Fine. I’ll see if my mom can drive me.”

  “I’ll pick you up,” he said as he turned to face me. “It’s on my way.”

  Yes! I should have Erin spend the night so she could see him pick me up. “I guess that would be okay.” My arms felt like they were going to fall off from carrying the bag.

  “Good.” He stopped to let me catch up. As soon as I reached him, he grabbed my bag, his arm brushing against my stomach as he scooped it off me. My skin tingled where he’d touched me and I sucked in my breath. Ack! What was my problem? So he accidentally touched me? I had to get over that and fast.