The Boyfriend Bet (Boyfriend Chronicles #2) (19 page)

He didn’t reach for the watch. “No. I can’t take that. It means too much to you.”

So did he. I needed him to see that. To see that I trusted him and I thought we were meant to be together. “I trust you to take care of it.”

“Zoe—this isn’t a good idea.”

I swallowed over the lump in my throat. My resolve was fading. “I want you to have it.” I shoved it at him.

He took it and strapped it around his left wrist. “Thank you.” He didn’t sound grateful. He sounded resigned. “I’ll take good care of it.”

I waited for him to say something else, but he just walked around me and opened his car door. My stomach hit the pavement.
What did I expect?

…

Grant

Zoe’s watch felt heavy on my wrist—probably because it came with some monster-sized emotional baggage. Why had she given it to me? A better question was why had I taken it? I’d tried not to, but there are only so many times you can say “no” without making a situation even more awkward.

Why couldn’t things be simple? I remember my mother telling me someone like Lena would be an asset in my life. Not that I wanted Lena, but having someone who helped me, instead of making my life more difficult and confusing, would be a plus.

Maybe it was time to resort to Aiden’s spreadsheet thought processes. On the positive side, Zoe was fun, and she made me smile. On the negative side, she was a drama queen who jumped to conclusions and threatened to shoot me on more than one occasion.

If I tried, I knew I could find another girl like Lena who wore the right clothes and came with the right social status. That would make my mother happy. Would it make me happy? I wasn’t sure.

What would this new girl want from me? She wouldn’t want me to take her to Edison’s to shoot zombies or play air hockey. Then again, I could do those things with Aiden. If Zoe and I could get past this uncomfortable no-longer-dating phase and become friends, we could still shoot zombies and eat pizza together. Was that what I wanted, to keep her as a friend?

By the time I pulled into the driveway I still didn’t have a clue, but I didn’t want to explain to my mother or father where the watch I was wearing came from so I took it off and slid it into my front pocket. Alone in my room, I took the watch out and read the inscription on the back.

Time isn’t as important as the people you spend it with.
Zoe’s grandfather must have been a cool guy. Written on the face of the watch was the brand, Bulova. Curious, I Googled it. Similar watches were still being sold online at Amazon and in local jewelry stores for a couple of hundred dollars. The watch was worth way more than that to Zoe and I knew it, which was why I hadn’t wanted to take it.

Now what? It ticked me off that Zoe had believed the worst about me, without even allowing me to explain. Then again, I had screwed up before. I set Zoe’s watch on the desk next to the computer. She’d given it to me to show that she did trust me. It was a symbol. A peace offering which meant a lot to her. Lena had never given me anything emotionally meaningful. Then again, I had chosen the earrings I gave her because they were the latest style and status symbol. They had meant nothing to me or to her. Now, that seemed shallow.

Zoe wasn’t shallow. She tended to freak out first and ask questions later, which made her difficult, but when she realized she was wrong, she tried to make amends. Some people never admitted they were wrong. I imagined my life without her and it seemed a bit boring. Maybe we should give this relationship thing another try. We just needed to set some ground rules so we both knew where we stood.

I clicked on a link to a local jewelry store that sold and fixed watches.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Zoe

I saw Grant at school the next day, but he wasn’t wearing my grandfather’s watch. Had it meant so little to him? He’d said I could trust him with it. So even though it was killing me, I didn’t ask. Maybe he was afraid to wear it. In Foods class, he made small talk like we were just friends. Is that what he wanted now? I wasn’t sure I could just be his friend, because the first time I saw him kiss another girl I would more than likely cry or throw something at his head.

Wednesday at lunch, he and Aiden sat with us just like they had the day before. I watched as he squirted ketchup onto his fries in his preferred Spiderman style.

“You didn’t ask me about your grandfather’s watch yesterday.”

“I didn’t.”

“Why not?” he asked.

How should I answer this question? I decided to go with painful honesty. “You know how much it means to me, and I trust you to keep it safe.”

“Did you know that jewelry stores still make that kind of watch?” Grant asked.

Where was he going with this? “Sure, I mean, I guess I never thought about it.”

“They also fix those kind of watches.” He wiped his hands with a napkin, reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a small white paper bag.

“This is why I wasn’t wearing it.” From the bag he removed my grandfather’s watch. Except it looked shinier than it had in a long time. The hole I’d punched into the leather using a nail had been cleaned up to look like a part of the watchband, and the hands on the watch were moving.

“You fixed it?” The watch hadn’t worked in forever.

“I did.” Grant placed it on my left wrist where he fastened it in place.

“Thank you.” Not thinking, I leaned over and threw my arms around him in a hug. He hugged me back.

“You’re welcome.” He released me from the hug. “There’s something else we should talk about.”

I wasn’t sure where this was going. It could be great, like he-wanted-us-to-get-back-together kind of great. Or, it could be awful as in the we’re-better-off-just-being-friends kind of talk which would result in me crying in the cafeteria in front of everyone.

“Maybe we should wait and talk in Foods.” At least there the audience would be smaller.

“No. I think we need to do this here. What do you want, Zoe?”

I knew what I wanted…to be his girlfriend. Just him and me. No blondes—twins or otherwise—allowed. Is that what he wanted? I wasn’t sure, but I did know that I didn’t want to set myself up for humiliation in the cafeteria, so I turned the question back around on him. “What do you want?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about that lately.” He paused and seemed to be waiting for me to volunteer something.

“You’re dragging this out to torment me, aren’t you?”

He leaned closer until we were nose to nose. “Zoe Cain, you are a foul tempered evil girl, who shoots zombies for fun, but I like you and if you’re interested, I want you to be my girlfriend.”

I sucked in a breath, and then I kissed him. A happy sunshine warmth filled my body all the way down to my toes. When we broke apart, it felt like I was floating.

“I’m guessing that was a yes.” Grant said.

“It was.” And then I saw the cafeteria monitor approaching. “Uh-oh.”

When he was a few feet from the table he said, “You know what I’m going to say.”

“Detention for both of us?” I asked.

He nodded and walked off.

“Is it me, or is detention starting to sound sort of romantic?” Grant asked.

He had a point. “I do sort of think of it as a package deal now, you know, detention and dinner.”

“I never said anything about dinner,” he teased, “and I hope you have a ride home.”

“Don’t worry. My
boyfriend
, will take care of me.”

He gave a fake shudder. “You’re a scary girl who uses scary words, but on that topic.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out another white paper bag. “To keep your brother from being a jerk and to make sure that no one thinks you’re the Ringer, I bought you this.”

Not knowing what to expect, I reached into the bag and pulled out a silver charm bracelet. I recognized one charm as a heart, and then I laughed. “Is that a shotgun?”

“Yes.” He fastened the bracelet around my right wrist and then pointed at each charm. “A cupcake for Foods, a pair of hedge clippers, since you like to threaten me with them, a zombie, a coffee cup, and this one.”

I loved that he’d put so much thought into the charms. They were perfect. I leaned closer to read the flat circular charm. In tiny print, it said, “Girlfriend.”

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“I love it.”

“The saleslady at the jewelry store tried to steer me toward traditional girly hearts or red and pink crystals, but I knew that wasn’t you.”

…

On my way to the last class of the day, Amber approached me with a self-satisfied smile on her face. I braced myself for whatever dirt she was about to fling my way.

“After that display in the cafeteria today, I guess you and Grant are together now.”

“We are.”

“It looks like you get a tacky charm bracelet, and he wins the bet.”

“First of all, it’s not tacky, it’s unique. Second, what bet are you talking about?”

“The Boyfriend Bet he made with Aiden. You didn’t know about that?” She pretended to be shocked.

“No, but you obviously knew about it, or you wouldn’t be enjoying this so much.” I shifted my backpack higher on my shoulder.

“The day you told Lena that Grant was a dick and she could have him back, I told Grant what you said, and he bet Aiden that he could get you back if he wanted.”

I dug my nails into my palm. “And you know this how?”

“After I told him about you, I sat at the table next to him. I guess he didn’t realize I could still hear what he was saying. Go ahead and ask him if you don’t believe me.”

I was
not
going to play her game. “You know what, I believe you. That sounds exactly like something Grant and Aiden would do.” And then I headed to class. My stomach churned as I turned this information over and over again in my brain. Should I be mad? Grant asking me to be his girlfriend didn’t have anything to do with some stupid boyfriend bet. Grant and Aiden bet on things all the time but I hated that there was a tiny splinter of doubt in my mind.

I could text Grant and ask him about the bet, but that would make it look like I didn’t trust him. And I did trust him. One thing I knew for sure…I needed to rein in my drama queen tendencies. Transforming into a jealous, controlling girlfriend was the surest way to screw up this brand new relationship. I decided to go with slightly insecure, possibly plotting-to-slash-his-tires-if-he-dumps-me-after-winning-the-money type of girlfriend, instead.

After class ended, I headed to detention. What should I say to Grant? Should I ask about the bet? Knowing Amber, she’d probably already told the entire school about it, so I’d just play it cool and wait for him to bring it up. If he didn’t mention it, I wouldn’t either.

Grant pacing outside the office door showed he was worried about my reaction.

“Nervous about detention?” I asked. “Because I’m pretty sure we know how to do this.”

He studied me. “You’re not mad?”

“About?” Okay I knew he was talking about the bet, but I wanted to see how much he was going to admit.

“Amber texted me that she told you about a bet Aiden and I made.”

“The Boyfriend Bet? Yes, she mentioned that.” I shrugged. “You guys bet all the time. I don’t think that’s the reason we’re together now. Is it?”

“No. It’s not.” He exhaled like he’d been holding his breath and now he could relax.

“Thanks for not freaking out.”

“I am trying to tone down my drama queen ways.” Grant may not be perfect, but he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me on purpose. I knew he wasn’t trying to make me the Ringer. I didn’t know how this relationship would end up, but I guess that’s how all relationships start out…taking a leap of faith and trusting that the other person cares for you.

…

That night while I sat crocheting in the living room with my grandma and my mom, I showed them my bracelet and told them the happy news.

“Thank goodness,” my grandmother said. “Now I can see Everett again.”

I held up the scarf and eyed the previous row, checking to see if it was even. “You wouldn’t go out with him because of me?”

“Of course not.” Light flashed off her pink metallic crochet hook as she worked on her latest afghan. “I couldn’t spend time with a man whose grandson hurt my granddaughter.”

“Thank you. I guess now you can go have dinner with his lovely daughter-in-law.”

“No way. I’m insisting we go out to eat.”

…

Grant

I hadn’t planned on mentioning the fact that I’d asked Zoe to be my girlfriend, but my grandfather outed me at dinner by saying, “I heard you worked things out with Monica’s granddaughter.”

“I did.”

“Maybe you two should go on a double date,” my dad said from behind his tablet.

“That has bad idea written all over it.” I glanced toward my mother’s vacant chair. “And we probably shouldn’t mention any of this to Mom.”

My grandfather chuckled. “I heard about the scene at school. Even when she was a girl, Monica was not one to keep her opinions to herself.”

My dad set his tablet down. “Your mother told me about what happened that day, how she insisted Zoe be kicked out of school and honestly, I don’t think it’s that she dislikes Zoe.”

“Really, because that’s exactly what it looked like.”

“I think your mom liked seeing you with Lena because she and Lena have similar personalities. She thought Lena would take care of you the way she’s always taken care of me.”

Huh
. “Maybe that’s true but the last time we talked about this, you seemed to resent how she handled you.”

“I thought I resented her for hovering over me. When she backed off, I missed having her around.”

My mother entered the dining room with a smile on her face. “Missed having who around?”

“You.” My dad smiled at her, and his emotions seemed genuine.

She blushed. “Thank you.”

Should I confess my relationship with Zoe and risk ruining the first harmonious family dinner we’d had in ages?

“It’s nice to see you two happy around each other again,” my grandfather said. “Every marriage goes through rough spots. The key is to hold on to the people who make your life fun.”

“I think you’re right.” She sat and took a sip of her wine. “And I might have been wrong about something else. Grant, does this Zoe girl you’ve been seeing make you happy?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll give her a chance.”

“Thank you.” It felt like the last piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. Zoe made my life fun. I didn’t know what would happen long term, but for now, she made me happy. The one thing that would make the situation better is if I could get Aiden on board with Delia. I bet if Zoe and I put our heads together we could make it happen.

…

Zoe

I held my breath as the bake sale auctioneer announced our entry. “Here we have a dozen edible cupcake roses, also known as, I’m-sorry-I-was-an-idiot flowers.” She laughed. “Men, take note. This is something you could all use from time to time.”

“What if no one bids?” I whispered to Grant.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.”

“How?”

“I asked my grandfather to bid on it.”

“Thank you.”

“We’ll start the bidding at ten dollars,” the auctioneer announced. People around us held up their numbered paper paddles. The auctioneer went so fast, I wasn’t sure what the final bid was, but it was more than a hundred dollars. It might not have been the highest price of the evening, but it was in the top half.

“Thank goodness that’s over,” I said. “Now I can finally relax.”

“Hello, Grant.” I heard two feminine voices say in unison.

We turned to see who was talking. The tall, tan, blonde twins from the Chinese restaurant were back. Fabulous. A tingle of insecurity trickled down my spine.

“Hello, Georgette, Angeline. I believe you’ve met my girlfriend, Zoe.”

“That’s right, “Georgette said with her fake smile on high-beam. “Hello.”

“Hello, nice to see you again,” I lied through my teeth.

Angeline’s smile was a little weak as she nodded at me. “Nice to see you, too.”

I smiled and nodded as they talked with Grant about places I’d never been and would probably never go.

By the time they walked away, my face hurt.

Grant looked at me like he expected me to say something.

“What?” I asked.

“Better than the Chinese restaurant?”

“Much better. Thank you.”

“Maybe I should write a guide on how to be a good boyfriend.”

I laughed. “Seriously?”

“I aced that situation, thank you very much.”

“You’re right. You did. So what would you call this guide?”

He squinted like he was thinking. “What about the
Boyfriend Book
, or
The Best Boyfriend
.”

“Or,
How to Be the Best Boyfriend You Can Be
.”

“Too wordy,” he said. “Wouldn’t look good on a book cover.”

“True.” I thought about it. “You know, it’s not such a ridiculous idea.”

“There you are,” a woman said from behind us. I turned to see Grant’s mother, wearing a polite, if somewhat strained, smile.

“Hello, Mother. I’m sure you remember Zoe.”

“I do.” She nodded at me.

“Hello.” I had no idea what else to say.

“You seem to make my son happy.”

Why did it feel like I was walking into a trap?
“He makes me happy, too.”

“I think we started off on the wrong foot. If you could avoid landing Grant in detention, I’m willing to start over.”

“Okay.” I glanced at Grant. “But it’s not always my fault.”

Grant laughed. “We will make a sincere effort to avoid detention.”

“Good. Now I better go see what your father is up to. He thinks he wants to bid on a box of smelly cigars. Can you imagine?” And she walked off.

That was a little odd, but one fact stood out. “Your mom doesn’t hate me.”