#TheBoyfriendDare Read online

  #TheBoyfriendDare

  Yesenia Vargas

  Copyright © 2019 by Yesenia Vargas

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  For my dear sister, Ana, and all her awesome support. And for my daughters.

  Contents

  Book Description

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  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Yesenia Vargas

  Book Description

  Will a game of truth or dare ruin their friendship—or turn it into something more?

  Lena has never kissed a boy for anything other than fun. So when a dare turns into kissing her best guy friend, Ian, she does not expect for fireworks to go off.

  The problem?

  Ian wants his ex-girlfriend back. And to do that, he dares Lena to become his fake girlfriend and remind his ex just what she’s missing out on.

  But it’s all just pretend, right?

  Except the longer this dare goes on, the more Lena falls for Ian. A guy who makes her laugh, cheers her on the soccer field, and… makes kissing for real not so scary.

  Will this fake relationship mess up their friendship for good? Or take it to the next level?

  Fans of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before will fall in love with this next installment of the #BestFriendsForever series. Grab book 4 and continue this popular new series today!

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  One

  You know that one boy in high school? Short and kind of chubby? Could still pass for a seventh grader?

  Everyone leaves for summer break at the end of sophomore year, and he waves goodbye.

  Then you bump into him on the first day of school, and you don’t even recognize him?

  All of a sudden, he’s six feet tall, sporting facial hair, and you can SEE his muscles through his t-shirt?

  That was Ian.

  He was practically my best friend, especially during soccer season.

  And the first day of junior year, I’d been the one to bump into him and practically spit out my iced coffee because I couldn’t believe how ridiculously handsome he’d become in the last three months.

  Amazing what a summer of sleeping in and working out could do for a guy.

  Of course, the girls at school had immediately noticed him, couldn’t get enough of him. I still wasn’t sure how he’d remained single all of last year.

  But as hot as he suddenly was, the two of us had stayed friends. I wasn’t sure I could ever see him as more than that. Maybe that image of the short and chubby version of him was too ingrained into my mind.

  Or maybe I’d never risk the awesome, one-of-a-kind friendship we had. It just wasn’t worth it.

  In any other case, I’d be the first one in my group of best friends to kiss a cute guy just for the fun of it, but even I drew a line when it came to Ian.

  So when soccer season rolled around during senior year, he was still one of my closest friends.

  We sat together on the bus ride home from the first away soccer game of the season.

  This was my favorite time of year because it meant varsity boys and girls soccer games every Friday night. Then eating out after and having a great time, no matter if we won or lost.

  But if we won, there was some guaranteed craziness to be had, usually instigated by me with a hesitant Ian watching nearby.

  That was the case tonight.

  We’d creamed our opponents tonight, totally mopped the floor with them, and it felt awesome.

  Nothing like the high of victory, your muscles still warm, sweat soaking your jersey.

  I joined the screaming guys and girls on the bus and began my favorite chant. Y-E-L-L, Y-E-L-L, EVERYBODY YELL. GO WESTWOOD, YEAH, YEAH, GO WESTWOOD!

  When everyone was nice and loud and Coach covered his ears with his clipboard, I knew my work was done.

  With a wide grin, I sat down and turned to Ian.

  He shook his head and stuck his earbuds in. “You love getting them all riled up,” he said.

  I took that as a compliment. “Why, thank you.”

  I scooted forward so my knees rested on the seat in front of me.

  Ian took his earbuds back out. “I do have to say, though, those two goals you shot tonight were pretty impressive. Especially the one during the last five minutes of the game. You had the entire boys team going wild. I’m pretty sure Chris actually peed his pants.”

  I burst out laughing. “What about you? Were you going wild?”

  Ian scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I was just trying to make sure no one got a concussion or something.”

  It had been a pretty good game. Definitely the best one so far. I couldn’t wait to see what the rest of the season would hold. “You played pretty good yourself,” I said. “You stopped how many goals? At least five?”

  Ian was goalie this year since last year’s goalie had graduated back in the spring. Plus with his six-foot plus stature, he had pretty much been a sure pick, even though the boys’ coach had barely given him a second glance last year.

  Ian had mostly sat on the bench then, hoping to get some game time in, but I was glad he was finally getting his moment to shine.

  It was pretty evident he’d worked really hard over the summer.

  He’d gone from second string to starting every single game, and he deserved it. The boys were on their way to an awesome season thanks to him.

  I pulled out my phone and tapped the camera icon. Then I made a crazy face with my tongue out, leaning my head to the side so Ian was in view.

  Just as I took the picture, he saw what I was doing and smiled. His perfect pearly whites, a huge difference from the braces he wore until freshman year, instantly made the picture Instagram-worthy. Not even counting his disheveled, dirty blonde hair and visible Adam’s apple.

  What was it about a guy’s Adam’s apple that drove me crazy? I had no idea.

  I posted the picture and showed Ian. He grinned and gave me a thumbs up in approval. Then he offered me an earbud.

 
Ian loved music, and he had specific playlists he listened to before a game. I’d made the habit of listening with him since last year, and it’d really made a difference for me when I played. Plus he had really good taste in music.

  After a few minutes, we zoned out to the beat of the songs. Ian stared out the window into the evening sky, and I went through my Instagram notifications. My picture was already up to twenty likes, including the #BFFs.

  Then my phone dinged with a text.

  Tori: He’s cute. Latest #forfunsies guy?

  I shook my head and smiled.

  Lena: No way. That’s Ian.

  Tori: THAT’S IAN? He looks different than I remember.

  Harper: Agreed on the hotness.

  Rey: ^

  Ella: Very nice smile.

  Tori: And hair…

  Lena: What can I say? Growth spurt. Lol. But seriously, he did become pretty handsome. Just friends, though.

  Another ding rang through my ears, but I realized it was Ian’s phone.

  I glanced at him, and he held up his phone, a crooked smile on his face. “Sorry. It’s Bethany.”

  “Here,” I said, giving him back his earbud. Then I scooted away just a tad.

  Bethany was Ian’s girlfriend as of two months ago. Pretty much since the first week of school. She’d been the one to successfully pounce on him and nab him, much to the disappointment of the entire girls’ varsity soccer team.

  Bethany was your typical high school babe. Long legs, long sleek blonde hair down past her shoulders. She always looked like she was on her way to a magazine photo shoot.

  Most boys went crazy over her, but I secretly couldn’t stand her. I held back eye rolls whenever she was around. She thought the world revolved around her. Plus she barely scraped by in school and didn’t bother to do any extracurriculars. Probably for fear of breaking a nail.

  I had no idea what Ian saw in her—probably just the outside—but he’d lost so many cool points when I found out they were an item.

  I went back to the text messages on my phone.

  Oh yeah. Just friends.

  I tapped out another message.

  Lena: Besides, he has a girlfriend, you guys. Bethany?

  Ella sent a blank expression emoji while Tori sent a thumbs down. They weren’t fans of Bethany either.

  Rey: And what if he didn’t have a girlfriend? Would you ever go for it?…

  That was an interesting question.

  I thought about it for a second, taking a quick look at Ian, who was busy texting Bethany.

  There was so much more to him than his good looks. He was also a really great guy.

  But no.

  Lena: Nope. He’s probably the one boy I’d never dare kiss.

  Harper: Not even for funsies? ;)

  Lena: Nuh uh. He’s too good of a friend. Not sure I could even see him as anything more. It’d be weird.

  Sure, I missed us talking like we used to, but that was it.

  My friends and I started chatting about other stuff, but as the bus rumbled on home through the night, I couldn’t get my mind off of Rey’s question.

  If Bethany wasn’t in the picture, would I ever go for it?

  I exhaled. No, I reminded myself.

  Definitely not.

  Ian was just a friend.

  Two

  By the time the bus pulled into Westwood High, our plans for the rest of the night were set.

  Party at one of the boys’ house in an hour.

  Coach pretended not to listen to what we had in store for celebrating and reminded us of a job well done.

  My dad was already waiting for me in his pickup in the parking lot. My parents had just gotten me a car of my own, but on game days, Dad still liked to drop me off at school, pick me up after my game, and ask me how things went on the way home.

  After telling him the play-by-play, he nodded, and I knew that meant he thought I did great. That was his style.

  Unlike me, he was a man of few words, and if he usually had to say something, it was to give me pointers or advice on how to get past defenders or how I should have taken a better shot.

  He’d played and coached for most of his life, so it was really thanks to him that I played soccer so well. He’d taught me from the time I could walk. Same with my older brothers and older sister. My brothers loved to play, my sister not really, but he said I was the one who could really go far if I stuck with it.

  Most of my brothers had been decent or even good, but they hadn’t stuck with it.

  For me, though, soccer was everything.

  It was the main reason I tolerated school and got good grades. So I could stay on the team.

  Dribbling the ball at my feet, surrounded by bright green grass, the field a blur all around me, and the rapid rise and fall of my chest as I pushed my body to the max to outrun a defender and shoot… There wasn’t anything else quite like it.

  Except maybe kissing boys.

  My dad didn’t really know about that, though, so we kept our conversations around soccer.

  We got home, and with a quick thanks to Dad, I ran into the house.

  Within forty-five minutes, I was back out of my room. Showered. Hair blow-dried and straightened. Favorite outfit on. Eyeliner and lip gloss on point.

  I found my parents in the living room. My older brothers had long ago moved out, and my sister was out with her friends. I had plans for my Friday night too.

  Standing by the TV, I said, “Hey, is it okay if I go to a party for a couple hours?”

  My dad turned his gaze from their usual Mexican soap to me. “A donde y con quien?” he asked in Spanish.

  I said something about hanging out with the soccer team and parents being there, but I wasn’t even sure about the second part.

  He grunted in response, and I knew that meant yes. I shrieked and gave him a hug.

  My mom didn’t look so happy about it. “Text us when you get there, Lena. Don’t forget. And make sure you’re home by eleven,” she chided.

  I went in and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I won’t forget. I’ll text you guys when I get there and before I leave. Promise.”

  My parents used to make my brothers chaperone me when I was in middle school up until ninth grade. Then it was my older sister Maria, and we had to go everywhere together if we were allowed to do anything.

  Now that she was in college and I was almost eighteen, my mom and dad seemed to be adapting to modern times and letting us girls go out alone and unsupervised. Not that my brothers ever had that problem.

  #BeingLatina

  Or maybe my newfound freedom was due to the fact that I was the youngest and my dad had always given me free reign compared to her. That’s what Maria always said anyway.

  Maria said a lot of things, though.

  Within fifteen minutes, I was at the party. It was already in full swing, and I’d texted the #BFFs before leaving the house, inviting them to join us.

  My phone buzzed as I walked in. But before I could look at it, Chris and several of the varsity boys whooped and cheered when they saw me.

  “Lena! You’re our hero!” Chris said.

  I gave them a dazzling smile and joined everybody in the living room. “Where’s Ian?” I asked Perry.

  “Not here yet,” she replied.

  I wondered if he’d bring Bethany along with him. She usually hung onto him like a barnacle or something.

  Whipping my phone out of my back pocket, I finally checked my messages.

  One from Ian. A couple new ones in the #BFFs thread.

  I opened the message from Ian first.

  Ian: Where are you?

  Lena: Just got to the party. I thought you were coming?

  I waited for a reply and chatted with some of the girls, but after a couple minutes, nothing.

  Then I remembered to read my other messages.

  Tori: Be there soon :)

  Rey: Is it going to be all soccer people?

  She sent a side-looking eye emoji after th
at.

  Harper: Assuming it’s okay if we bring bfs? :)

  Lena: BFs welcome <3 and yes, mostly soccer people lol but it’s going to be a lot of fun!

  Half an hour later, the party was really going. Great music, dancing, and lots of laughing. Plus my mom would have been happy to know that Chris’s mom popped in from time to time.

  My friends walked through the door, but still no Ian. Maybe he’d decided to hang out with Bethany alone, so I gave my full attention to my friends.

  I tried giving them the play-by-play too, but it was way over their heads.

  After trying to explain off-sides too many times, I gave up. “Basically, I made two goals, which was awesome,” I said.

  Rey stared blankly. “Only two? So four points?” she tried.

  I giggled. “No, two goals. Two points total. In soccer, that’s a big deal. I think you’re thinking basketball, where each basket is worth two points.”

  Ella nodded. “That’s what Jesse plays, remember?”

  Tori made a motion like she was shooting a ball.

  Rey frowned and continued staring blankly. “I don’t get it,” she said.

  Harper leaned in toward her and whispered loudly. “Me neither. I pretend. Just nod along.”

  We laughed and got up to go get refills on our drinks.

  I poured out orange soda for myself and passed the two-liter bottle around. Then Ian walked in, his hands in his jacket pockets.

  “Ian,” I said. “You came.”