The Boyfriend List by R.S. Novelle, Renee Novelle Read Free Book Online Page A

Reagan
suggested, recognizing they’d been standing in the hallway for far too long. If
they stayed that way much longer, their freshmen neighbors would begin to make
comments.
    “Where do you want this?”
He was gesturing the pizza box as he stepped over the threshold.
      “Anywhere!” She twirled her hand above
her head, encompassing the entire living area as she disappeared behind the
wall to retrieve some napkins. It was then she noticed with horror that the
margarita mess was still lingering in the kitchen, as was the empty tequila
bottle. Reagan wasn’t exactly an OCD neat freak, but she appreciated a tidy space
when she was entertaining guests, and the kitchen was far from tidy as Ian came
striding through. But there was no time to fix the situation.
    “Whoa...I thought I smelled
tequila.” His comment was more to himself than to Reagan as he set the box down
and picked up the sticky pitcher to examine it. “Having a party?”
    “Something like that.”
She winked.
    Where was all this flirtation coming from? She asked herself, her panic
suddenly rising. It was as though she was having an out of body experience, and
was watching someone else – an alter ego she didn’t even know she had -
take over. She couldn’t do anything to jeopardize their friendship, and if this
continued at the rate it was, despite her best intentions for it not to, Ian
might start to get the wrong idea. As the thoughts and worries swirled around
her head like the margaritas in the blender, her heart started to pound against
her chest.
    And then she glanced over
at the empty tequila bottle.
    And then she remembered
the checklists she and Petra had made.
    And then she could hear
Petra’s voice echoing in her head... Just
a little insight. And suddenly, she felt almost completely relieved.
    Right! She was having an out of body experience.
Petra had penetrated her thoughts with her devious subliminal messaging and that’s why she was acting so weird
around Ian right now. Reagan blamed it all on Petra and her ridiculous attempt
at matchmaking. And the tequila. She still blamed the tequila.
    Gulping down a bottle of
water, she regrouped her thoughts.
    “You okay?” Ian was
looking at her with concern etched into his brow.
    “Better now.” She nodded,
though it’d been a close call for a minute there. “I might be a tad bit drunky
already.”
    “You think?” And when he
chuckled again, Reagan remembered this time how it had felt when the laughter
moved through her body. She pressed her eyes closed, pushed it from her mind,
then hit him playfully as she moved around in the kitchen. What she didn’t know
as she occupied herself with her quick tasks, was that Ian had begun watching
her, his fascination growing at this new side she was letting slip through.
Despite himself, his eyes fell below her waist, lingering at her sensuously
full hips as a hint of a smile wrapped its way around his lips. When he caught
himself, he immediately turned around and tried to change the subject. “When
were you going to tell me about Justin?”
    Reagan spun quickly,
nearly knocking over everything she’d placed on the counter in the process.
    “You’ve heard already
too?” She groaned in frustration as Ian looked back and nodded sympathetically.
“Have you seen the pictures?” Without waiting for an answer, she whipped her
phone out and stuck it in his face.
    “Your battery’s dead.” He
stated calmly.
    “Great. Perfect.” She
sulked. “Anyway, it’s a picture of them at his lake house. The very same lake
house he was supposed to take me to!”
Reagan slammed her phone down on the counter with considerable force, then,
having realized what she’d done, checked to make sure she hadn’t cracked it in
the process. She had. Of course. “And on top of all that, apparently I just cracked
my phone, and my transmission in my car is broken. Just blew out for no
apparent reason.”
    “Ouch.” He was scrunching
up his face at the