Sleepover with the Enemy (How to Catch a Crush Book 5) Read online

  I blinked as it registered that she would be there too. Sure, I’d dated some of her friends briefly, but I’d never hooked up with Madison. Ever since I’d joined Lakeview High, she’d been dating one of the football players and had been off-limits. But I’d heard they’d broken up over Thanksgiving, and now she was single.

  She was fresh meat. Fair game.

  She was mine for the taking.

  I felt a slow smile spread over my face. See? With great sacrifice came great perks. That was the saying, right?

  “Of course I’ll do it,” I said.

  She squealed with excitement and wrapped her arms around my neck in a tight hug. “We’re going to have so much fun.”

  I laughed as I let my hands roam up and down her back. Oh yeah, we were. The kids could do whatever they wanted as far as I was concerned. I was doing a good, selfless deed. I mean, it wasn’t like I knew Madison was volunteering when I’d signed up, right?

  This still counted as a selfless act, and Max would have to eat her words.

  And on top of all that, I’d have a night alone with the hot-as-sin Madison.

  I grinned, my headache finally starting to fade.

  See?

  It was good to be king.

  Three

  Max

  Normally, the hectic atmosphere of the newspaper office was my sanctuary. But today…?

  I took in the insanity going on around me. Not insanity of the work variety. Oh no. This was that weird frenetic crazy that seemed to creep over the entire student population the day before any major school break.

  The day before we all ran away for two weeks to celebrate the holidays and veg out on Netflix marathons.

  Yeah, this brought out the craziest of the crazies in crazytown.

  ‘Crazytown’ meaning the newsroom in this particular instance. Obviously.

  “Hazel,” I said with a weary sigh. “You know I love you dearly, but Will is never going to finish the photo layout with you distracting him like that.”

  My friend, a tall, lanky swim team phenom with more drive and determination than the rest of this school combined turned to me with comically wide eyes as she gestured to herself. “Moi?”

  I gave a reluctant snort of amusement at her faux shock.

  “I would never,” she said teasingly before letting out a little squeal when Will tackled her from behind and lifted her off her feet.

  “She stays with me, boss lady,” Will shouted out. He was using this weird old-timey voice like he was a mobster. While it made Hazel giggle, I rolled my eyes with another sigh.

  The next issue was due by the end of the day, but it would never be finished in time at this rate. And while some people may not think the newspaper was exciting—ahem, Alex—I took pride in making sure each edition not only came out on time but was filled with a mix of stories that were both enlightening and entertaining.

  I would not miss a deadline just because my entire news staff was drunk on vacation excitement.

  Someone tugged my long braid as they passed my desk. I looked up to find my friend Emma grinning at me. Bubbly and quick to laugh, Emma was Hazel’s best friend and polar opposite. “Admit it, you liked her better when she was super serious Hazel.” She dropped her voice about five octaves and frowned as she said it, making the formerly serious Hazel laugh all over again as she picked up a pen from Will’s desk and whipped it at her friend.

  Emma ducked, and then a battle was underway as the two friends and Will started throwing stuff at one another. Our friend Lulu walked in and took in the scene with a tolerant smile and a shake of her head.

  “Lulu, could you please get them out of here?” I was outright begging. That’s how desperate I was. As the one and only photographer for the paper, Will was kind of a necessity.

  Lulu grinned over at me. “I’ll do my best.”

  The permanently-paint-splattered redhead snagged a laughing Emma from behind and started to drag her out into the hallway. “Come on, guys. We’ll be late to meet Simone before the show.”

  That finally got Hazel’s attention, and she turned to give Will one last peck on the cheek before helping Lulu drag Emma toward the door. She and Will were still battling it out in a fake duel with pencils.

  “What about you, Max?” Lulu asked. “Are you coming tonight?”

  Our friend Simone’s best friend Jax was in a band that had a gig tonight at an all-ages club. Most of our little crew was going to support him and hang out with Simone and her boyfriend Andrew, who we all pretty much adored. It was hard not to love the laid-back pitcher or the way he was head over heels for our little loner Simone.

  I shook my head. “Nah, I’ve gotta stay and finish up this issue. It’s gonna be a late night.”

  “Lame.” A low voice boomed behind me and made me jerk. I didn’t have to turn around to know who it was, and the winces from my friends confirmed it.

  “What are you doing here, Alex?” I asked, not bothering to face him. If I did, I feared I’d sneer or growl or maybe just smack him once and for all.

  “Looking for Avery. I’m supposed to give her a ride to meet up with Cristian.”

  I arched a brow and glanced over my shoulder. “Playing third wheel again?”

  His smile was slow and irritating. “Jealous you weren’t invited?”

  I scoffed. Please. “Avery knows I’m busy.”

  “Oh yeah. I forgot about your jam-packed social calendar.” He eyed the hectic newsroom with a bored expression. “I suppose you have articles to write and edit and—” He cut himself off with a loud yawn. “Sorry, I almost fell asleep for a second there.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him just how hilarious he was, but a breathy voice from the other side of the room interrupted. “Hey Alex!”

  We both swung our gazes to see Madison beaming at him from her desk in the far corner.

  I winced at her obvious excitement. The last thing Alex’s gigantic ego needed was a pretty blonde gazing at him adoringly just because he’d deigned to enter the room.

  “Oh, hey, Madison.” He turned back to me. “So. You know where she is?”

  I felt my lips curving into a sneer at his rudely bored expression. He couldn’t even be bothered to be polite when talking to me—Avery’s keeper, apparently.

  “No idea,” I said. “Maybe she forgot you existed. Again.”

  He gave a huff of a laugh at that. For some reason, he found it amusing that Avery had ever had a crush on him, and rather than be put out that she’d chosen his brother, he seemed to think it was funny.

  Some might think this meant his pride could handle it, but I knew better. He was just so very egotistical that he found it hilarious on that one occasion when he didn’t get the girl.

  And besides, he wouldn’t have dated her anyway. The guy didn’t know the meaning of the word commitment, which was why he’d better steer clear of Madison.

  She was way too sweet and innocent for the likes of him.

  “What?” he asked when my eyes narrowed into a glare.

  “She’s a nice girl,” I said under my breath.

  His eyes widened in surprise, and then his gaze flickered between me and Madison and back again as he connected the dots. When he did, he smirked.

  Gah! I hated that smirk.

  “I didn’t realize you two were friends.” His gaze raked over me, taking in my not-so-stylish long braid and my even-less-stylish clothes. I hated myself for adjusting my oversized cardigan as if that would somehow make the tan, wool thrift-store purchase more pleasing to the eye.

  His meaning was clear. Madison was everything a cheerleader was expected to be. I didn’t have to look back over at her to know that her blonde hair was perfectly styled and that her pretty features were perfectly made up. Her clothes were tight and no doubt the best brand, and overall she looked like she’d just stepped off the set of a Neutrogena commercial—all fresh faced and adorable.

  But the thing was, she was also nice. She had none of the mean girl tendencies on
e stereotypically equated with cheerleaders, and she was kind to everyone, loser and cool kid alike.

  She was a sweetheart, plain and simple. Kind of like Avery, but I didn’t know her as well, so I had no idea if she shared Avery’s insane optimism or her penchant for romance. So no, I wouldn’t say she was my friend, but when she’d shown up in the newsroom office last month and asked if she could join the staff, I hadn’t had the heart to turn her away.

  Everyone in the school had heard about her breakup with Kyle-the-football-king. When she’d come to talk to me, behind that smile, beneath the perfect makeup, she’d seemed...vulnerable.

  I might not have been a sweetheart like Avery or an outgoing friend to everyone like Emma, but I wasn’t heartless either.

  Alex sauntered over with his hands in his pockets. I expected him to keep walking, taking my words of warning as a challenge to go hit on Madison. But instead, he stopped next to my desk and leaned against the edge. “You worried that I’m going to corrupt the sweet and gorgeous Madison, or…” He leaned in so close that I jerked my head back as a reflex. His eyes glittered dangerously. “Are you just jealous?”

  My heart did something weird in my chest. It was because he was so close, that was all. I wasn’t used to having guys in my space. Or anyone, really. Aside from my mom and Avery, who were big on hugging, I wasn't a touchy-feely person.

  His words registered a second too late. When they did, I shoved him away from me so hard he stumbled back. “Oh please. This is the second time you’ve accused me of being jealous. Has it ever occured to you that we’re not all looking for validation and approval on a regular basis? Did you ever stop and think that maybe some of us are confident enough in ourselves that we don’t need some musclehead to tell us we’re pretty or to be invited to every gathering just to feel like we belong?”

  He blinked and pulled back. “Whoa, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh wait. You’re this grumpy every day, I forgot.”

  “And that’s our cue to leave,” Hazel said, shaking her head as she gave Alex a mildly pitying look.

  To my annoyance, my friends were all laughing as they left me alone with him. Well, they’d left me alone with Alex and a roomful of my staff. But still.

  “Traitors,” I muttered as they headed out the door, still giggling.

  “I’ve got your back, chief,” Will called out with a wink.

  I jabbed a finger in his direction. “You need to get back to work. And besides…” I cast Alex a sidelong look. “There’s nothing here I can’t handle.”

  Alex’s grin was all cocky arrogance as he slid a hand down his chest to his abs, showing off a veritable cornucopia of muscles underneath his thin T-shirt. “Oh baby, you definitely can’t handle this.”

  Madison’s quiet giggles in the corner made me sigh. The girl was nice, but she was horrible for Alex’s ego.

  I stood up and planted my hands on my hips. “Was there something else you needed?” I looked around meaningfully. “We have work to do.”

  He held his hands up in mock defense as he backed away. “I’m going, I’m going.”

  He left, and I could have sworn I heard Madison and the three underclassmen girls in the room sigh as the door clicked shut behind him.

  It was no wonder he was a self-absorbed egomaniac.

  “Tawny, how’s that assembly article coming along?” I asked as I strode through the aisle between desks to reach one of the underclassmen who’d been gaping at Alex like he was a celebrity.

  The short dark-haired girl with wire-rimmed glasses nodded quickly. “Almost done.”

  I went down the row, checking on the reporters’ and editors’ status. This issue would be done in time, dang it. I wasn’t about to ruin my perfect record as editor-in-chief just because my staff was distracted by things like concerts and girlfriends and the two-week break that hovered in front of us.

  I winced at the thought of all the free time to come.

  Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t like I was some sort of workaholic or something. I was just dreading this upcoming break.

  No, that wasn’t completely accurate, either. I wasn’t dreading all of it. In fact, I was looking forward to vegging out in my pajamas, for the most part. It was just this upcoming weekend that was the problem.

  My phone dinged in my back pocket.

  He was the problem. My father. See, back in November when he’d come to town to celebrate Thanksgiving with me, he’d hit me with the news that things were getting serious with him and the latest girlfriend. So serious that he was planning to propose.

  Yay! I was getting a new stepmommy. New strangers to call family. That was exactly what I needed more of in my life.

  So yeah, after he’d left, I supposed I’d been a bit immature in avoiding his calls and texts. But honestly, I’d had zero desire to hear about wedding plans or, heaven forbid, bridesmaids dresses.

  In hindsight, I really should have called him back earlier. Not that it would have made the news easier to digest, but at least I’d have had more time to get used to it. Needless to say, I’d finally called him after his incessant texts the other day. This latest bit of news...well, I hadn’t seen this coming.

  My phone dinged again, and I pretended I didn’t hear it.

  I have more good news, he’d said the moment he’d picked up the phone.

  I’d waited to hear about the wedding plans, the new family, blah blah blah. Sure enough, he’d started in on how great this wife-to-be and her girls were. I’d rolled my eyes on my end of the line, just like I always did when he gushed about a new relationship and kids who were not biologically his.

  I loved my dad because, you know, he was my dad. I wanted him to be happy. I just wished his happiness didn’t mean finding love and family with everyone but his own kid.

  She has two daughters, he’d said for the tenth time.

  Of course she did.

  They’re around your age.

  Of course they were.

  And I’m bringing them to live near you so we can be one big family!

  Wait...what?

  That was where the totally expected conversation had derailed in spectacular fashion.

  My phone dinged as I was leaning over Will’s desk to see what he’d done with the sports layout.

  “Um, chief?” Will said.

  “Stop calling me that.”

  “Are you going to check your phone? Because it’s distracting.”

  “I’ll turn off the sound,” I said. But I didn’t reach for my phone. I didn’t want to see the messages coming in. The messages would be from one of three people: my dad asking if I was okay, my mom asking if I was okay, or Avery...asking if I was okay.

  They were the only three people who knew that my world as I knew it was about to come crashing down. Okay, okay...that was way too melodramatic. What I should have said was, my worlds were about to collide.

  See, since my dad left us in grade school, my dad interactions had existed in their own little universe. The occasional weekend, some summer break vacations, and every other major holiday. I’d be on my best behavior, and he would let me eat too much junk food. Then I’d go home. We’d chat on the phone occasionally, and that was that.

  It was what we did. And I was cool with that. I really was. I didn’t need a super-tight relationship with my father, because I had that kind of close-knit, ‘just the two of us against the world’ thing going on with my mom.

  Until this year, of course, when she’d remarried. And now I had a stepdad and three strangers who I now had to refer to as my stepsiblings.

  Which was fine. It really was. I mean, I was happy for my mom. She was over the moon with my stepdad, and his kids were tolerable. Nice, even. I mean, West was so nice that Charlotte fell in love with him over one weekend away together, so...yeah, they were good people.

  But that didn’t mean it still didn’t feel like I was living amongst strangers.

  And now this. Two more strange sib
lings would be entering into my world, and my relationship with my dad was going to be totally off-kilter because he’d be here. In my town. Not a three-hour drive away but a three-minute bike ride if he got the house he had his eye on in my neighborhood.

  My phone started ringing, and Will arched his brows.

  Nope. Definitely not going to answer that. I still hadn’t figured out how to tell my dad that I didn’t want to have dinner with him tomorrow night while he was in town looking at houses and making plans to move.

  It was one weekend, my mom kept pointing out. And yeah, I got it. I should probably see him while he was here and get the lowdown on him and his new family and their game plan, but…

  I didn’t want to.

  There. I said it. I had no desire to see him, even if he was flying solo this weekend without the new fam. I’d been hoping I could tell him I was under the weather or that I already had plans with my mom’s new family. But my mom wasn’t about to let me off the hook and lie. She was all about honesty and straightforwardness, and while in principle I agreed, and I generally tried to live my life like that—this was a different matter because…

  Well, because I really, really didn’t want to.

  I couldn’t see my dad right now, not when my head was spinning with this latest news and my emotions were churning out of control. I just needed some time. Some space. I just needed to wrap my head around things, that was all.

  The bell rang just as my phone stopped dinging. Half the staff bolted out of their seats, but a few remained to help. I made a mental note of who was sticking around to help so I could give them the best assignments when we all returned to normal after the holidays.There had to be some perks when you were editor-in-chief, right? Being able to reward the hard workers was one of those perks.

  I was a little surprised to find Madison had stuck around. I would have thought she’d have things to do on a Friday night after school let out for the holidays, but she seemed content to keep her head down and finish whatever it was she was working on.

  I did the same because...well, let’s face it. It was easier to focus on work right now than all the family drama I was avoiding. Sure enough, when I finally went to check my texts a little while later, most of them were from my dad.