“I want to be with you, too. But I’d rather keep it kind of quiet for the time being.” He looks at me imploringly. “Can you do that?”
I blink, totally thrown. Never has someone told me that they don’t want to be with me because of who I am—usually that’s what pulls a guy toward me. But Thayer also has a point. Deep down, I’ve known for a long time that what the Lying Game does isn’t exactly nice. We’ve gotten caught up in it, though, fueled by it, and it would be hard to stop now. I picture trying to tell Madeline and Char that the club is ending. Will there be enough to hold us together? Will they move on to someone else and leave me hanging? What if they blame this change on Thayer; what if it causes a rift between him and Madeline?
Should I care that he wants this to be a secret? Or should I just throw caution to the wind? What if I never find something like this again?
I tilt my head up, winding my hands around his lower back and pulling him toward me. “Let’s try it,” I whisper, smiling. Because whatever is happening between us, whatever this is, I want more of it. Lots more.
A cautious smile spreads across Thayer’s face, and his lips find mine. He kisses me softly, then leans so his lips brush against my ear. “Okay.”
He runs his fingers down my spine and I melt, kissing him again with more urgency, more emotion. There’s nothing more to talk about now.
Having a secret boyfriend could actually be kind of hot. Of course, it’ll just be another secret to keep, another lie to tell.
I have a feeling it will be the first of many. But if it means being with Thayer, they’ll all be worth it.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you, readers, for making such a fun novella possible! I had a great time writing about the beginning of Sutton and Thayer’s relationship, and I hope you enjoyed reading it, too. Huge thanks to Micol Ostow—you rock—and to Lanie Davis, Sara Shandler, Josh Bank, Les Morgenstein, Kristin Marang, Katie McGee, and the rest of the fantastic Alloy team. A big yay to Kari Sutherland and Farrin Jacobs as well. And here’s a hug to Volvo, my trusty dog who spent every minute I worked on this book on my bed right next to me. An extra bone for you, big guy.
CREDITS
HAND LETTERING BY PETER HORRIDGE
DOLL DESIGN BY TINA AMANTULA
DOLL PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOWARD HUANG
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2012 by Alloy Entertainment and Sara Shepard.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780062240149
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FIRST EDITION
Contents
1 - Big Girls Don’t Cry
2 - The Exact Opposite of a Walk in the Park
3 - A Little Friendly Conversation
4 - What Happens in Vegas Stays in the Handbook
5 - Good Help Is So Hard to Find
6 - Make New Friends, Ditch the Old?
7 - Luck Be a Lady
8 - Girls Gone Wild
9 - Tied Up in Knots
10 - Down to the Wire
11 - Parks and Recreation
12 - Fear, Itself
13 - Seeing Double
14 - The Lesser of Two Hotties
Acknowledgments
Copyright
1
BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY
It’s a bright Saturday morning in June, and I’m lounging in my terry-cloth yoga pants in my family’s large kitchen. On the table sits a carafe of coffee, just-baked lemon-poppy muffins, and a pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice from our orange tree in the front yard. Out the window, the Arizona sky is a postcard-perfect robin’s-egg blue, and a hummingbird flits to the feeder hanging over the back patio. It would be an idyllic, peaceful moment—if it wasn’t for my little sister, Laurel, being such a pain.
“Pleeeeease, Sutton?” Laurel flutters her long eyelashes at me. Her voice is grating. “You told me I could ride with you to the Vegas’. I’m failing Spanish, and Thayer is my only hope! You promised!”
I pour myself a glass of juice. “I never promised anything like that.”
“Yes, you did.” Laurel pouts. “You’re going over there anyway to see