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.

Every day was a test of his nerves waiting to see what Caroline would throw at him next. The girl’s moods were more unpredictable than the frosty Boston weather. One minute she was hitting on him, the next she was telling him to break up with Beth because he wasn’t good enough for her. Jared found himself promising Caroline all kinds of ridiculous things to keep her from blowing up his situation with Beth.

He’d agreed to accompany Caroline when she wanted to go to seedy underground clubs in Boston. He’d hung out at college parties with her after school. He’d taken care of her when she drank too much. He was pretty much at her beck and call. And he had to keep all of it a secret from Beth.

But Jared was getting tired of living a double life. It’d been six months of torment for one tiny mistake. He was exhausted and beginning to weigh the cost of just telling Beth the truth. It had to be better than constantly looking over his shoulder. Plus, Parker watched Jared like a hawk. It was almost like Parker somehow knew what Jared had done. It didn’t matter how much he regretted it now. Jared had made two terrible mistakes; cheating with Caroline and falling for Beth. And now he spent every day terrified that someone would tell Beth the truth and take her away from him.

So as Jared drove Beth home from Sullivan’s party that night, he tried and failed to ignore the guilt that stabbed his heart while Beth chattered excitedly about spring break.

“So I’m all packed. I even got some new bikinis and lingerie.”

“Oh yeah?” Jared replied half-heartedly.

“Yes!” Beth said kissing his cheek as he pulled into his driveway. “You’ve been so patient with me. I’m going to make this totally worth your while.”

Jared tried to smile back at Beth, but what had started out as a game was suddenly starting to feel a little too real. It would only get more serious once he slept with Beth. Jared had never been anyone’s first before, but he knew what a big deal it was. He still remembered his first, and how badly she’d broken his heart. If he was honest, that relationship was the reason Jared had never let himself get serious with anyone else. That and the fact that his father’s failed relationships gave him little faith successful ones exist.

“Wait until you see the lingerie,” Beth continued, breaking into Jared’s worries. “Caroline helped me pick it out if that tells you anything.”

“What? When did you go shopping with Caroline?”

“We didn’t. We just picked stuff out online and shipped it to her house so my parents wouldn’t see.”

Jared felt sick. He must’ve made a face because Beth looked concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just think it’s weird. Caroline shouldn’t be picking stuff out like that. I don’t bring the guys with me when I buy things for you.”

Beth giggled. “Jared, that’s just what girls do. It’s not weird. And besides, when do you buy me things?”

“I got you that necklace,” he said defensively.

“And I love it,” Beth replied sweetly, brushing her fingers over the gold number twenty-five that hung from the thin gold chain around her neck.

Jared had broken one of his rules in doing so—Don’t get attached. Don’t buy gifts. Don’t fall in love. But when he’d seen the damn necklace at the store, he’d immediately thought of how good it would look resting on Beth’s perky chest. And then how pissed off it would make Parker to see Beth wearing his lacrosse number around her neck. It’d been an impulse buy. But now, it felt like a leash tethering him to a commitment he wasn’t ready to make.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Beth reached into the back seat. “I got you enchiladas from Zuma today. I know how much you love them and thought you’d probably be hungry after the game. I know you already had pizza, but you’re always hungry, right?”

“Right.” Jared’s heart plummeted.

Enchiladas! That’s what was going to do him in. He couldn’t keep this secret anymore. He felt like such a prick. He didn’t deserve Beth. Not after what he’d let happen with Caroline. He should’ve put a stop to it when he had the chance, but now it’d been too long and Caroline was toying with him. Jared didn’t know what her end game was but he didn’t like the way she was using their secret like a weapon. He never would’ve done anything with her if he’d known she and Beth were friends. He wasn’t a total asshole. It’d been a stupid mistake, and he needed to come clean before things got any worse.

Jared took a deep breath, but when he started to speak, Beth put her lips to his and it was impossible not to kiss her. Especially when she climbed onto his lap and made those noises he loved.

He leaned into her kisses, resolved to table his guilt for a while longer. He would tell her soon. They had all of spring break together. That’s when he’d come clean.

Parker

Parker had been waiting up for Beth. He needed to tell her about his conversation with Caroline. At first, he thought he wouldn’t because it was too embarrassing. There was no way to tell Beth about what Caroline had suggested without admitting that he was in love with Beth. But if he didn’t tell her, what kind of friend did that make him?

He’d run six miles while mulling over the different scenarios for breaking the news to Beth and still hadn’t come up with anything good. He only hoped it would come to him when he saw Beth. They’d always been able to talk about the important things. It was part of the reason he knew they were so perfect for each other.

Parker turned on the strand of white star-shaped lights that hung in his bedroom window. Beth had a matching set, and it was their symbol when they needed to talk. The lights were a bit childish, but his mother had put them up and Parker didn’t have the heart to take them down. With one last look at Beth’s dark window, Parker hopped in the shower and prayed for the strength to put his friendship with her above his love for her.

It was after ten when Parker saw Jared drive up with Beth in his car. They parked in Jared’s driveway. That was fifteen minutes ago. And they still hadn’t gotten out. There was only one reason they’d be in the car that long and Parker didn’t want to think about it. He begrudgingly yanked the plug from the wall, bathing his bedroom in darkness as the star lights winked out.