Who Needs Boys?
The Girlfriend’s Guide to Boys Series - Book 3

Meet Allie Morrison, the girl every boy wants to date. Everyboy except one, that is. 

This was supposed to be the best summer of Allie's life. Instead, she's lugging vegetables around at a farm stand, partnered with a boy who thinks she's useless.

Sure, she's noticed that Tad has the best smile. Yes, she's a little jealous of how well her friends get along with him.

But that's okay, right? She wants a mature guy. Preferably someone in college, certainly not some random high school sophomore who doesn't even have a car. And she has never wasted her time on a guy who isn't interested.

Except her friends think Tad is perfect for her, and Allie is beginning to agree. Problem is, she has no clue how to win over a guy who thinks she's invisible. What's a girl got to do to get herself a boyfriend?

***

"WHO NEEDS BOYS? is a fabulous young teen angst tale starring a terrific lock key protagonist."
~ The Best Reviews

"Mesmerizing."
~ Round Table Reviews

"WHO NEEDS BOYS ? is [a] tremendously funny and provides a glimpse into the life and drama of teenage girls. With a flair rarely seen in young adult books, [Stephanie Rowe] lights the stage for fun with charm and witticism. The characters spice up this interesting tale through the charisma present in all of them. The evolution seen in each of the characters is flawless; they grow with their surroundings while still retaining the original magic that turned readers on in the first book. WHO NEEDS BOYS? shows the quirky, sweet personality of its author, a fact that makes it truly refreshing. This is a Perfect 10!"
~ Romance Reviews Today

"[Stephanie Rowe] has a knack for creating characters that every teenage girl can relate to. Her true-to-life situations bring each story she tells to life, and make the reader feel as if they are reading about themselves, or their best friend. Her hip prose will appeal to pre-teen and teenage girls, as they will feel as if they are being spoken to, rather than spoken down to, which is always a plus when choosing books. A fabulous book that MUST be read by all."
~ The Community Bugle Newspaper

"Like Ally, the book itself is more than it seems. Her lostness and neediness will speak to the young readers who are in a broken home, and her triumph will give them hope. With the feeling of an old fashioned romance from years ago, Ally and Tad's story is heartwarming on multiple levels."
~ Huntress Reviews

***

Tad and I went for a midnight swim to cool off my bee stings again. We swam out pretty far, and then Tad stopped and treaded water. "Can you float on your back?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Do it, and look at the sky."

I glanced up and realized the black sky was dotted with more stars than I'd ever seen in my entire life. I immediately rolled onto my back and puffed up my chest so I didn't sink. The dark night stretched endlessly above my head, a blackness illuminated with glittering diamonds as far as I could see. Millions and millions of dots of light. It was incredible, daunting, and the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life. I felt tiny, but at the same time, I felt drawn into the magnificence of the sky, as if it were a part of me, and I was a part of it. "It's incredible," I whispered.

"I know. I could stay out for hours," Tad said, floating so close that his shoulder brushed into mine. "Did you see that?" Tad asked.

"See what?" I was too busy thinking about the tingling in my arm from touching Tad to be paying attention to anything else.

He pointed off to the right, his hand coming across my field of vision. "The shooting star. Off toward shore."

"No, darn it. I've never seen one." I turned so I could study the sky over the land. "What am I looking for?"

"A streak of light." Tad bumped against my leg. "Sorry."

"No problem." Really. It was no problem. I was beginning to be fond of him touching me, though it had only been to tackle me into the water in a bee rescue and to hold ice on my arm. I wondered what it would be like if he held my hand, just to hold it.

I saw a streak of light and shrieked. "Was that one?"

"Yeah. Cool, huh?"

"Incredible." The most incredible thing I'd ever seen. It was like the universe was lighting up just for us.

We stayed floating forever, and I saw eight shooting stars. It was, quite possibly, the most amazing night I had ever had.

* * *

"One shooting star for each bee sting," Tad said later as we were slogging through the water back to shore.

"Don't remind me." I hugged my arms against the shivers that had finally set in. We'd floated for so long that the night had cooled off and the water had felt cold.

"Want to sit for a minute?" He nodded at a flat rock on the shore.

My stomach jiggled, and suddenly I wasn't cold anymore. "Definitely."

He spread out his towel and we sat next to each other. Not touching. Normally, I'd have no qualms about leaning against him and giving him some broad hints, but I didn't. I had no idea what he was thinking about me. Or why I was having guy/girl thoughts about him.

So we simply sat in silence for a while, listening to the water lapping at the shore.

"Can I ask you something, Allie?" he said.

"Of course." I crossed my fingers behind my back and hoped it was something good.

"What happened with Rand last night?"

Rand? Wow. It felt like an eternity had passed since then. I picked up a stick and began picking the bark off it. "We had a difference of opinion."

"I'd like to hear about it."

He didn't demand. He didn't judge. He simply asked nicely, and that was one of things I liked about him. He respected me, and he showed it. I angled my head so I could look at him, but he was staring across the lake. His face was lit by the moon, so his skin was a bluish, grayish, glowing color. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because."

Because he liked me and wanted to know whether Rand was out of the picture? I could only hope. On the chance my wish might come true, it was worth it to tell Tad what had happened. "He wanted to kiss me, and I didn't want to."

His neck tensed, but he still didn't look at me. "Why not?"

"Um ..." I chewed my lower lip while I tried to figure out how to explain something I wasn't sure I even understood.

"I thought you liked him." Tad still didn't look at me.

"I did. Or I thought I did." I'd been wrong.

"What changed?" He stole a sideways glance at me, then focused on the horizon again.

I rubbed my chin. "I'm not sure. I guess... well... I'm tired of people ditching me."

"What makes you think he would have ditched you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Give me a break. I'm the queen of short relationships. I look for that kind of guy, and Rand is the perfect specimen. No attention span, which is exactly what I wanted."

Tad finally gave up the pretense of not listening and turned to look at me. "So, if he's perfect, why'd you dunk him? Playing hard to get?"

"No." I pursed my lips. "I'm just sick of being ditched. I don't want to play that game anymore." There. I'd said it. I'd put the truth out there. And you know what? It wasn't so hard, and it didn't feel so scary.

We were quiet for a moment, letting my confession linger in the night.

"Who ditched you?" Tad finally asked.

I hugged my knees to my chest. "My dad."

He made a noise of sympathy. "What happened? Divorce?"

"Well, yeah, but that's not the problem. He took off for California, and I haven't spent very much time with him in six years. I was supposed to go out and stay with him for the summer and get to know the woman he's going to marry, but then he called the night before I was supposed to leave and disinvited me." I bit my lip. Jerk.

Tad sighed. "That sucks."

I couldn't help but laugh at his emphatic tone. "I know." Then I sobered. "Most people think it's cool that I have no parental supervision. My friends tell me all the time how lucky I am that my mom is never home and no one cares if I stay out all night."

"It has its advantages," Tad said. "But it sucks to be ditched by your parents." He paused, then gently elbowed me. "You want parental supervision? Then come hang at my house." He grinned. "My family loves you."

Warmth settled in my belly. "Really?" I mean, that made me feel great that his family loved me, because they were amazing. but what about him? How did he feel about me?

"Yep. You heard them. My mom already has you on her list of potential superstars that she has to mold into greatness."

Greatness? There was the possibility of greatness in my future? I remembered how excited Tad's mom had been about my voice, and how awesome that had felt. "Maybe I will come over to your place."

He nodded. and then I wasn't sure what to say next. It was just him, just me, sitting side by side on a towel in our bathing suits. Moonlight on the lake, a warm breeze, wet hair. It was completely romantic, and I suddenly wanted him to kiss me. Not some older guy. Not some college kid. I wanted Tad, so much it actually kind of hurt. So... what now?

Tad cleared his throat. "Ready to head up to camp?"

Oh. disappointment surged through me. I'd been thinking about kissing him, and he'd been thinking that it was time to go back? "Sure." I tried not to sound bummed.

Tad hopped down and took my hand to help me jump off, but then he let go once I was on the ground. He walked me to my tent, then sort of stood there for a minute. "So, um, tomorrow we head back."

Yeah. to the farm. "Back to real life."

He nodded. "Back to carrots and tomatoes."

My stomach turned to sludge at the thought. What if he returned to the old Tad? "Tad?"

He was watching me closely. "What?"

"Are you going to be mean again on Monday?"

He lifted a brow. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you were pretty impatient with me when we were at work. Nothing like how you've been up here." Gah. How pathetic did I sound? I was a major loser. As if whether Tad was nice or not could affect me. But it did. I wanted him to keep being like this.

His hand went toward my arm, but he dropped it before he actually touched me. "I thought you were different from how you really are. I misjudged you."

I relaxed a little bit. That wasn't exactly an apology, but it was close. "You did?"

He nodded. "We'll be cool."

Cool? What did that mean? Why didn't he just grab me and kiss me and tell me he was so glad I wasn't interested in Rand because he couldn't live without me?

He touched my shoulder. "See you in the morning. "

"In the morning." Yeah, that was so romantic.

Then he turned away and walked off to his tent. Gave me a little wave, then disappeared through the flaps.

Never had I wanted a boy to kiss me more, and never had I felt more at a loss for how to let him know. Or maybe he did know, and he didn't care. Or maybe he did know and the thought repulsed him. Was there any chance that he did want to kiss me and didn't have the courage?

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