The Boyfriend List Read online

  The Boyfriend List

  By Renee’ Novelle

  Copyright © 2014 by Renee Novelle

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The purchaser of this book is subject to the condition that he/she shall in no way resell it, nor any part of it, nor make copies of it to distribute freely.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.

  Find out more about this author, and any upcoming works, at the following sites:

  www.ReneeNovelle.com

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  CHAPTER ONE

  Sunday

  This must be hell.

  Twenty-year-old Reagan Carter had never been one for religion or superstition. She loved black cats, could care less if she walked under a ladder, and thought Halloween was charming. Heaven, to her, was reading her favorite books while surrounded by puppies and noshing on chocolate truffles. And that had almost happened, believe it or not – once.

  But somehow, the fifteen-minute cab ride from her apartment near campus to her favorite restaurant downtown had converted her philosophy. If ever there was a time to believe in hell, it was now. And this experience - with the germ laden, cracked, uncomfortable pleather seats in a cab that reeked of stale fast food bags - would be her everlasting punishment for all the times she’d taken her own, sometimes-working vehicle for granted. There was absolutely, positively, no doubt in her mind about that.

  God how she missed her car right now!

  But it wasn’t just the cab ride alone that had her thinking this way, she considered as her destination neared. It had been the entire culmination of events that had turned what should have been an epic spring break victory into a major disaster. And it had all started when her way too cute boyfriend had cancelled their plans together at his family lake house. She’d thought the excuse was strange at the time – no one, absolutely no one, just up and decides to cancel romantic plans with their girlfriend in favor of a family road trip to a distant relatives wedding. That had been a big red flag. Huge.

  And by the end of the week, her suspicions had been confirmed as word had reached Reagan that not only had the road trip never taken place - as she’d suspected - but Justin had spent lots of really close personal time with a stunning brunette. According to the pictures she’d seen, she was the kind of girl that gets put on the cover of men’s magazines, but you never actually end up meeting. At least, you’re not supposed to. The kind that oozes sexuality from every annoying pore in her body. The kind with annoyingly perfect hair, perfect makeup and a perfectly small waist that you’d swear was Photoshopped. Only in this case...she hadn’t been, and she was just as real as Reagan was herself.

  Catching the faint reflection of herself in the car window, she realized she was sulking despite her best intentions not to, and she straightened her shoulders a little in defiance.

  The pictures she’d seen of the two of them, in front of the family lake house, spoke loudly of their intimacy. He didn’t need to admit to Reagan he’d hooked up with the boyfriend stealing slut, it was written plainly enough in the visual that was now seared into her memory forever – thank you Facebook.

  Reagan shook her head as though to shake the memories out. She certainly had a talent for picking the wrong guys. Always had. Probably always would, she sighed. And though the tears had threatened to creep up on more than one occasion when she thought about the disaster, she refused to cry over it. They hadn’t been together long enough, and he wasn’t worth it. Instead, she vowed to never let it happen again, and allowed herself to get mad. Seriously mad. At him. At the boyfriend stealing slut. At herself for letting it happen in the first place. Lesson learned.

  When the car finally rolled to a stop, Reagan nearly danced out of her seat, jumped from the car and kissed the ground. And maybe if there hadn’t been so many people packed onto the sidewalks, she would’ve actually gone through with it. The fact that she’d survived her first cab ride under the most horrendous conditions was worthy enough of the dramatic celebration. But there was no time for such frivolity. If the cab ride had been her hell, then this restaurant was a little slice of heaven. A monument in her private life and a testament that there was still good to be found in the world, the Blue Nickel cafe was a place she very much needed to be at the moment.

  To say it was her favorite restaurant in the city was an understatement. Whenever she’d managed to rustle up a little extra cash, this was where she came to save herself from the cafeteria food her scholarship provided...or worse – her own attempts at cooking. She’d discovered the first semester that one could not live on ramen noodles alone, though she’d given it a pretty good try since her budget was fairly slim. Her mom had managed to save enough to give her a monthly allowance that would pay for the basic necessities so she could focus on her schoolwork instead of spending her time laboring at a part time job. But, the necessities were about all it covered, and extravagances like dining out, weekends of partying and the other typical college experiences just weren’t covered in the budget.

  “Hold on a minute.” Reagan mumbled to the cab driver as she fumbled with her purse. He’d barely made so much of a grunt of communication the entire trip, and she was trying her hardest not to make eye contact with him as she began counting bills into the palm of his stubby, sweaty hand. She felt his eyes trailing over her more than ample cleavage – covered though it was - and it was making her considerably uncomfortable. Still, she couldn’t help but notice the blatant resemblance she saw in a certain well-known Star Wars character as he seemed to overflow from his seat, and she wondered if she had the audacity to mention it to him.

  Deciding that she didn’t, despite everything, she finished her business as quickly as she could and removed herself from the cab. As she breathed in a deep, full breath of clean air, she withdrew her phone from her satchel in preparation to text her friend Petra that she’d finally arrived.

  “Hey! You gonna stand there all day, or do I gotta teach you how to close a door?”

  Reagan turned slowly back, glaring daggers at the man from under her thick eyelashes. Good thing she hadn’t given him a tip. Then, offering up her fakest, most sarcastic smile, she slammed the door as hard as she could and flipped him off in the process. It was the best she could do at being a bitch, and it seemed to have had the desired effect. As the cab squealed away, irreverent of the pedestrians crossing the road, Reagan stepped up onto the sidewalk, into the busy crowd... and right in the way of a pedestrian who solidly hit her shoulder before offering a rushed apology.

  But it was too late. The iPhone had been knocked from her hand and was tumbling toward the cement as though in slow motion. There was nothing she could do other than offer a loud groan of disgust at the newfound cracks across the sleek back. Chalk it up to the week from hell! It certainly wasn’t getting replaced any time soon.

  The scowl on her face, however, was quickly replaced by a wickedly happy smile as the caller ID summoned her attention.

  Ian Scott.

  Her neighbor, newest best friend, study partner and occasional classmate, Ian had moved into her building around the same time as Reagan and from day one, they’d hit it off. In fact, the
y’d been practically inseparable ever since. To the point where people naturally assumed they were dating, though that would never happen, Reagan smirked. She’d made a point of keeping him in the friend zone, and that’s exactly where he’d remain.

  It wasn’t that he was unattractive. In fact, it was really the very opposite. An intriguing combination of Zac Efron and Alex Pettyfer, the guy had more confidence, more charisma and swagger than anyone in college had the right to. A natural flirt, he’d earned the reputation of a heart breaker since he had never committed to a relationship throughout his entire college experience. And who could blame him? It wasn’t like he needed to. He didn’t even have to go searching for women like the average guy on campus. They found him. Their radars seemed to zero in on him as soon as he walked into the room. She couldn’t blame them, he was gorgeous in every possible way. But watching it happen right in front of her had provided entertainment on more than one occasion – desperate girls could really be comical.

  And that was one of the many reasons why Reagan had decided early on that it would be much more fun to be his friend than his ex. Not to mention she didn’t consider herself competition to the beautiful girls who regularly flung themselves at him, so best not to get her hopes up. Sure, she was attractive enough. Though she had an average build, slim by most standards, she had ample curves in all the right places that gave her a shapely, hourglass silhouette. Plenty enough guys had found her cute over the years, she supposed.

  But cute wasn’t good enough when the topic was Ian Scott. Cute couldn’t compete with the sorority girl cheerleaders, and the wannabe actresses that the campus was littered with. Not when she was just simple, ordinary Reagan. No, when she fell for a guy, she wanted to feel beautiful in his eyes. Perfect. As though she were the only one in the room, and the most intriguing person in the world to him. And wasn’t that what every girl ultimately deserved? To feel special? Hell, even Rihanna had written a song about wanting a man to make her feel like that...

  Yet even as a friend, Ian had given her a taste of what that would be like. When he talked to her, his eyes lit up, and fixated on her as though she were the only one in his world. It was a piercing, heavy, desirous stare that had left her breathless on more than one occasion and speechless on several others. And if he could make her feel like that when he was only her friend, she could just imagine how his lovers must feel.

  And what it must be like when the light in his eyes had turned cold on them again...

  No, Reagan had decided, she had no desire experience that part of it; it just wasn’t worth it. Ian was much better off remaining her friend, and since he’d never pressed the issue of taking it further, she could only assume he was perfectly content to stay right where she’d placed him.

  “What do you want Scott?” Struggling to make her voice sound irritated as she pressed her fingers to her eyes in concentration, she could already feel the edges of her mouth turning up. She just couldn’t seem to stay upset around him, even when every moment of the last week had been a living nightmare.

  “Nice to hear your cheery voice.” Reagan could just picture his dark eyes sparkling with immeasurable boyish charm as he continued. But what she wouldn’t be able to picture, that was happening during the lengthy pause between his statements, was the flight attendant with smoldering sex appeal as she slipped a piece of paper into Ian’s back pants pocket while he was waiting to collect his luggage at the airport. Giving him a nice little pat on his rear to reinforce the gesture, she walked away with a wink. He looked at her in confusion, but quickly returned to his conversation. “How about tryin’ this instead. ‘Good to hear from you Ian! Are you having a nice day? I haven’t heard from you in so long.’ Then I say, ‘Thanks so much. I am. And you?’” Reagan was giggling uncontrollably. “Whadya think, should we try that?” Picking the paper out of his pocket, he looked quizzically at the scrawled number before tossing it into a nearby trashcan.

  Shaking her head as a smirk crossed her lips, Reagan replied. “Go to hell.”

  “If it would make you happy, Beautiful, I just might. I’m back in town. Want to meet up?”

  “Actually I can’t.” She confessed, regretfully eyeing the door in front of her. “I’ve already got plans.”

  “Meeting a secret lover for a hot affair? What would Justin think about that?” He teased.

  Very little at the moment, was her first thought as she scrunched up her nose at the mention of her recently ex-boyfriend’s name. Ian still didn’t know what had happened, and she wasn’t quite ready to tell him yet since he often took the news harder than she did herself. Considering the unfavorable feelings he’d already established toward Justin, she could only imagine the reaction he’d have. “No, you’re my only secret in that department.”

  A drawn out, arrogant Aahhh! could be heard from the other end. “Which of course translates to you’re meeting up with Petra.”

  “An emergency lunch might have been called.”

  “And you didn’t invite me.” Sigh.

  It was hardly a convincing act of disappointment, she thought. Her two best friends had always gotten along, but she often wondered if it wasn’t only for her sake. They seemed to butt heads more often than they agreed on anything. Still, Petra was a little more his type as far as appearances were concerned...

  “You can stay far away from my friends, thank you very much. I don’t have time to counsel their broken hearts on your behalf. What are you doing tonight though?”

  He ignored her accusatory comment. “Nothing, if you want to take me out on a date.”

  “How many times are you going to hint?” She couldn’t even get the question out without laughing, it had always been a running joke between them.

  “Until I get an honest reply.”

  But this time, this time, the way he answered threw her off. It wasn’t so much his actual statement, as that had been his canned answer since the joke had begun. But there was something in the tone of his voice, the quality of it that had changed somehow. It had deepened, softened, and she could almost feel the shift reverberating through her body. If she hadn’t known better, if she hadn’t known everything there was to know about him, including the type of girl he was attracted to, she almost could’ve been led to believe that his statement had been sincere.

  It was one of those moments that had happened so infrequently she could probably count them on one hand. And yet here she was, completely caught off guard by him. Completely speechless. Completely mesmerized. No freakin’ wonder the man has lines of females falling at his feet!, she decided. And here she’d begun to think she’d become impervious to his charm over the years. Apparently, she was wrong. Again. Go figure.

  But this was Ian, she reminded herself. And he was never serious about anyone, or anything. He was playing around, as usual. She had to remind herself that. Deep breath, recover, ready to go.

  “I might. If you’re lucky.” She’d succeeded in keeping her voice light. Barely. “Gotta run. Call me later. Bye.”

  “Bye, Beautiful.”

  She could almost hear his smile, if that were at all possible.

  There was still something lingering in the center of her stomach as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. But Regan did her best to push the sensation further down and ignore it. Hunger, she decided. It had to be hunger, she was absolutely starving. She’d been watching as droves of characters filed through the revolving doors in endless lines. Hungry people with discontented faces entered, and satisfied, smiling people emerged. The whiffs of air that were coming from inside were absolutely delectable and her stomach growled angrily at her refusal to move forward.

  Running a hand quickly through her shiny, caramel hair, she listened to the demands of her body and braced herself as she pushed against the polished rod of the door.

  With the slightest crack of opening came volumes of noise pouring from within that hadn’t been audible on the outside. She quickly found herself being jostled between the starving artists
in consignment and the CEO’s in Armani, and it was yet another reason why she cherished the place, she thought. Besides its food, Blue Nickel provided a great atmosphere and a never-ending supply of characters with which she could hone her people watching skills.

  Bumping and excusing her way through the crowd with as much dignity as she could muster, Reagan eventually slipped past the hostess and away from the waiting area. A quick scan of the dining room, and she saw a jewel bedecked hand as it shot up over the heads of the other diners and enthusiastically waved her over. Thank god!, she thought as she rushed to the seat, unable to fathom how early Petra must have gotten there to not only already be seated, but have a tall glass of raspberry tea waiting for her at the table. Sometimes, Petra managed to be surprisingly thoughtful...

  After a quick peck on the cheek from her friend, Reagan plopped down into the cozy booth and sipped the tea from the thin, plastic straw. Instantly the dull throbbing at her temples began to subside and her mood brightened just a little more. It was good to have her friends back in town.

  She smiled at the colorful costume Petra had chosen to celebrate the warm spring weather in. The vivid tones of pink brought out the rose in her porcelain skin, and her long, golden hair was laying in loose curls down her back against the simple, fitted dress. It must’ve been new, she’d not yet seen the ensemble. But she didn’t expect anything less of her. Nothing had changed much over the fourteen years that they’d known each other. Petra had been just as high maintenance then as she was now. And just as spoiled then as she was now. Refusing to wear the same outfit twice? That was just part of the package that was Petra. She was another kind of annoyingly perfect, with annoyingly perfect parents who were rich enough to cater to her every whim. But she managed to be real enough – and blunt enough on many an occasion – that you just couldn’t help but to like her. And if there was anything Petra was, it was fiercely and undeniably loyal. Despite their many other differences, they at least had a common ground on that.