Page 13 of His Secret Santa
“I’ve never heard Lincoln even mention him,” she admitted.
That kind of hurt, too.
What did you want her to say—that he talked “sweet” about you? Either he’s talking shit about you, or he doesn’t “see” you at all. Which do you want?
Holden honestly didn’t know the answer. In some ways, being entirely invisible to his dream guy felt worse than the other. But how could he not be aware of Holden when McKenna said he knew Holden had a crush on him? And if everyone else knew, too, then they surely razzed him about being crushed on by a fag boy.
He felt the compulsion to ask her straight out if McKenna was telling the truth—but what if she wasn’t? What if she’d sent the cheerleader over there to get some inside information from them by acting nice? He didn’t want to confess his crush on Lincoln, in case they didn’t already know about it.
“McKenna says you two are…” The girl fidgeted. “… boyfriends.” She chewed her lower lip. “Are… you?”
Holden cut in when he spotted McKenna and a couple of the other cheerleaders up the line ahead of them, looking back at Holden and Jamie—and laughing among themselves. She is a spy. “Stop talking to her, Jamie,” he mumbled tensely. “She’s just messing with us, trying to get stuff on us that she can tell the queen bitch.”
Jamie looked doubtful… and uncertain.
“No… I’m not,” the cheerleader murmured. She sounded sincere, but girls like McKenna and her group were master manipulators and could fake sincerity and emotion with the best of them.
“You’ve never talked to us before,” Jamie pointed out with a note of suspicion. “Why now?”
“I…” the girl shifted anxiously. “I don’t know. McKenna intimidates me. I was afraid of what she would say if she knew I didn’t not like you guys. It shouldn’t have mattered what she thought. But I don’t care anymore. I don’t even like her.”
“So, you would sit with us, eat lunch with us, in front of everyone?” Jamie asked doubtfully, but also with a smidgeon of… hope? Holden barely caught it in his voice, but yeah, there it was. Why would Jamie want a cheerleader to sit with them? Cheerleaders weren’t his type.
“I-I would,” she whispered.
What if this was all part of the ruse? Maybe McKenna told her to say all these things, even the part about not liking McKenna and the other cheerleaders. Surely, she knew Holden and Jaimie wouldn’t trust one of her cheerleaders at face value—the girl would have to prove herself first.
“All right, then,” Jamie said. “It’s a date.”
What? Was he really falling for this? Jamie wasn’t stupid or naïve. This had to be a test.
“Okay,” the cheerleader smiled shyly. “I’m Abby, by the way.” She held out her hand and Jamie shook it. Holden turned away without accepting the gesture, but not before he caught the starry-eyed look on Jamie’s face as he held the girl’s hand.
Don’t fall for it, Jamie—please don’t. She’ll tear your beautiful heart apart.
Holden blinked as his throat knotted.
Like the quarterback is tearing mine apart… without even knowing it.
Chapter 3
“Are you guys excited about the Secret Santa thing?” Abby sat on Jamie’s side of the table with minimal space between them. Holden noted the shy looks she cast his friend. Looks that were met by equally shy glances from Jamie. He’d never known Jamie to be shy. But then, this was the first time he’d seen Jamie truly interested in a girl. He’d liked other girls before, but this seemed different. Holden reserved judgment about the girl. He wasn’t ready to lower his guard and trust her just yet.
“Not really,” Jamie admitted.
“Not at all,” Holden mumbled.
Abby frowned. “How come? It sounds fun. I love buying gifts for others, even if I don’t know them.”
“You’re one of the elites, so I see how it would be fun for you. We’re not exactly popular.” Jamie smiled. “In case you haven’t noticed. No one is going to want to get us gifts—or get gifts from us.”
Abby shook her head. “I don’t get this. In my old school, you guys would be the elites. They loved gay kids. It was a very inclusive, accepting school.”
Holden wondered if she was telling the truth. She seemed sincere and, for Jamie’s sake, he hoped she was. “Must’ve been a social shock transferring from that school to this one.”
“Kind of, yeah. I’m not used to so much…” She chewed her lower lip.
“Bigotry?” Holden finished for her.