Bailey And The Bad Boy

by R. Linda

  Cole was concentrating so hard on getting one of his cars into the garage that his tongue was poking out, a weird habit I’d noticed Ryder had whenever he was concentrating. Cole’s blond curls were falling in his eyes, and he kept brushing them off his forehead exactly the same way Ryder did. The similarities were unbelievable. I couldn’t see any of Chace in Cole at all, which was a good thing. Whatever Kenzie had been doing, she’d been doing it right. Particularly if he turned out like Ryder.

  “I’m sleepy, Bayey,” Cole announced, rubbing his eyes.

  “Okay, sweetheart. Let’s have a nap, yeah?” I stood up and reached my hand out to him. He smiled and jumped up, running over to the corner, where he picked up a book.

  “Storwee?” He held out the book to me.

  “Sure.” I smiled at him. I had no idea where he was sleeping, so I took him over to the sofa and let him curl up on my lap. He was adorable as he snuggled in close with his little fingers twisting through the ends of my hair as I read him the story.

  Cole was fast asleep in minutes. I just sat gently playing with his curls until Ryder came back. He stopped in the doorway and was chewing on his lip ring as he watched Cole and me. He had a strange expression on his face.

  “He was tired. Sorry,” I apologised, unsure whether I should have let him sleep or not. Maybe it wasn’t his naptime.

  “That’s okay, love. I’ll go put him in bed. Kenz is out like a light, too.” He crossed the room and picked Cole up out of my arms. “I’ll just be a sec.”

  I was picking up toys and packing away Cole’s cars when Ryder came back. I didn’t want there to be a mess when Kenzie woke up. She’d had a big day, and I felt for her. I turned around to see him hovering in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot and tugging on his hair slightly. He looked nervous.

  “Sorry. I was just tidying up.” I smiled at him, but he didn’t say anything. I took a step toward him, and he spun around and walked out of the room.

  I wasn’t sure what I had done wrong, but before I could move to chase after him, he was back, storming across the room in my direction. He slammed his mouth into mine, forcing his tongue between my lips. His fingers dug into my hips as he pulled my body into his. I immediately dropped the car and teddy bear I was holding and wrapped my arms around his neck. His kiss was heated, rough, and way too quick. Before I could even open my eyes, he had pulled away and spoken.

  “I fucking love you.”

  I opened my eyes, and he was gone again. My mouth went dry, and those butterflies burst to life in my stomach again. I stood there frozen for a moment, not believing I had actually heard him correctly. Then I heard his footsteps racing up the stairs, and my brain kicked in. I ran after him.

  “You’re an idiot, Jones! You know that?” I called after him as I followed him into his room and shoved him in the back.

  “What the hell, Bai…” He stumbled slightly and turned around, towering over me.

  “I fucking love you too.” I panted, gasping for breath from running so fast up the stairs to catch up to him.

  And then his mouth was on mine, and we tumbled to the floor.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Six

  The gossip mill at our school was going absolutely crazy. It was worse than when Ryder and I had walked in as a couple that first day back. And it certainly didn’t help that Chace and Christina had been M.I.A. since Kenzie’s appearance a couple of days ago.

  But the strangest thing was the sudden increase in people who wanted to talk to us, sit with us, or have lunch with us. It seemed like Ryder and I couldn’t take three steps down the school halls without people harassing us asking whether Kenzie’s outburst was legitimate and if Chace really was the father. Others felt the need to apologise on their behalf for what they did to us, almost begging for our forgiveness. It was surreal.

  “You know what? This is bullshit, Bailey,” Ryder snapped while we sat in his car waiting for the hordes of people to make their way to class. Once again, he was a living contradiction. His tone was harsh and angry, yet his touch on my hand was soft and gentle as he caressed my fingers.

  “I know. I didn’t think it would turn out this way. It’s nuts.” If I didn’t know any better, I would think that people were moving unusually slow, almost like they were waiting for us.

  “We should just skip today. Maybe every other day until forever. Let’s not go back to school, or let’s just change schools. We can go across town to Jayden’s sch—” I leant over and pressed my fingers to his lips to shut him up. I was not ditching school again, and I was not changing schools just because he didn’t like all the extra attention he was getting. It never seemed to bother him when it was girls throwing themselves at him. He was just going to have to man up and get over it.

  “Ryder, we can’t skip today. I already ditched the other day and—” I started to tell him, but he interrupted me.

  “And it was a great fucking day, Bailey. Let’s have a repeat.” He wound his hand around the back of my neck and pulled my lips to his. All thoughts of Chace and Christina and the craziness going on in our school were forgotten instantly, only to be replaced by thoughts of Ryder and those magical lips of his.

  “Yes, Ryder. It was a beautiful day, and I would love nothing more than to have a repeat of it,” I said when I broke our kiss. It was too easy to get caught up in Ryder and forget about the world around me. He just had that effect on me.

  “It’s settled then. Let’s go.” He released his grip on my neck and moved to turn the keys in the ignition so he could drive out of the parking lot.

  “No, stop. I would love nothing more than a repeat of that day every day, but come on. Be realistic. We can’t avoid school forever. It might not be as bad today.” I leant over and pecked him on the cheek quickly before jumping out of the car, giving him no choice but to leave me there or follow me. He decided to follow, grumbling beside me the entire time it took us to get to homeroom.

  “Relax, Jones. It’ll be fine. Ignore them. Just focus on me,” I told him when he paused outside the door to the classroom.

  “I really don’t like this attention, Bailey. It makes me uncomfortable.” He whined and dropped his shoulders while pouting at me.

  “You, uncomfortable? I don’t think so.” I raised my eyebrow at him in disbelief. There was no way he was uncomfortable with the attention. He loved it.

  “Well, maybe you’re right, but I think our luck might be changing anyway.” He suddenly perked up as he looked over my shoulder. I turned and followed his gaze into the room behind us and felt my mouth fall open.

  “Chace and Christina are back.” I whipped my head around to Ryder.

  “Yep, today might just be a good day, Bailey. Come on. We’ll be late for homeroom.” He smiled that dimple-showing smile of his before twisting his fingers in mine and dragging me into the classroom.

  The classroom fell silent as everyone watched to see how we reacted to each other. I tried my best to ignore the tension between everyone as Ryder tugged me over to our seats that were unfortunately still in front of Chace and Christina.

  “Relax, love. This is going to be interesting.” He winked at me. I rolled my eyes and turned to face the front, blocking out the looks and the whispers by closing my eyes and secretly wishing that I had agreed to ditch with Ryder ten minutes ago. We could have been having a repeat of the other day instead of sitting there providing entertainment to the entire school.

  “You’re smiling,” Ryder whispered in my ear. I didn’t realise I was doing it. Just thinking about that day made me giddy and tingly.

  “Just thinking about the other day,” I told him, trying to stop the smile but failing when he grinned at me, obviously thinking about it too.

  I zoned out remembering the afternoon we had together after finding Kenzie a mess on the sofa. Chace had really hurt her. I still couldn’t believe he was so cruel, but she was strong. She’d made it this far without his help, and she’d do perfectly fine in the future.

  I
pictured Ryder’s face when he told me he loved me and bolted from the room. I was too stunned to do anything or say anything at first, but once I’d finally collected myself, I chased him up the stairs and shoved him hard in the back. Who declared their love for someone before running away and hiding? We weren’t six years old. How could he have not realised I felt the same way? After telling him I loved him too and falling to the floor, his lips were warm and urgent on mine, and his arms were tight around my back. He held me close, squeezing me as if afraid I’d leave. I wasn’t leaving. His smile lit up the room when he looked at me. It was so bright I could barely look at it but was too afraid to look away.

  “Bailey. Hey, wake up,” Ryder said, snapping me out of my daydream. I turned to see him smiling. “You’ve been staring into space with that stupid grin on your face for five minutes.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t realise I was doing it again.” I leant forward and pecked him on the lips before following him out of the room the moment the bell rang.

  “I’ll see you at lunch,” I said to him as we stopped outside the door to my literature class, trying once again to ignore the stares from everyone as Chace and Christina walked down the hall toward us. I couldn’t help but notice people turning away from them, giving them disgusted looks and calling them names. They’d been back at school for fifteen minutes and had already become outcasts. It made me smile. I wanted to jump for joy and fist pump the air. Instead, I settled for gracefully sticking my middle finger up at them. It was childish, I knew, but they deserved it.

  “Of course, love.” Ryder laughed, closing his hand around my finger and pushing it back down. He dipped his head and captured my mouth with his, allowing his other hand to trail along my cheeks.

  He pulled away too soon and started walking away. I watched him for a minute, still in awe of the person he was and that he loved me. Just before I turned and entered my class, he spun around to face me with a giant smile on his face as he continued stepping backwards. That smile just made me want to squeal with happiness when it was directed at me. I smiled back, noticing the glint in his eyes. Oh.

  “Hey, B!” he shouted down the hallway. In my peripheral vision, I saw Chace snap his head around to Ryder and then to me. His mouth was hanging open. I used to hate being called B, but I could probably get used to it the way it sounded coming from Ryder.

  “Jones!” I called back, trying not to laugh at the entire situation as I had a feeling what was coming next.

  “I fucking love you,” he said. And if it was even possible, I could have sworn his smile got wider as he winked.

  No one moved. All eyes in the hallway darted back and forth between Ryder and me. So much for him hating the attention. Everyone was dead silent, except for the thud of Chace’s books as he dropped them to the floor. Ryder freaking Jones had just declared his love for me in front of half the hall. That urge to squeal just tripled. But Indie beat me to it when she poked her head out the door from the classroom.

  “I fucking love you too,” I called back, spinning on my heel and walking into the room after Indie.

  Epilogue

  Eight months later

  Indie’s birthday was a bittersweet disaster. I was glad we were leaving for uni the following day. The year had flown by in a whirlwind of kisses and laughter, and before I knew it, we had graduated. By the end of senior year, no one in school would even look at Chace and Christina, let alone speak to them. They had become total outcasts. Their lockers were trashed, and their cars were covered in toilet paper. They’d lost all of their friends. They had no one but each other. Word traveled fast in small towns, and high school kids could be bitter and resentful. Miraculously, though, their relationship lasted through the rest of the year, and they too were preparing to graduate.

  Chace’s family lost a lot of standing in our community once word got out about the money they tried to use to pay Kenzie off, and they moved away about a month ago, just sending Chace back to school every day. Having a teenage son with an illegitimate child was apparently cause for concern in their social circle. In a town as small as Blackhill, social standing (if you had it) was everything and very easy to lose. Although I had heard that Chace’s family had planned on leaving Blackhill after graduation anyway—something about his father going into politics or whatever.

  I occasionally felt sorry that it turned out so terrible for them. Never in my wildest dreams when I agreed to be Ryder’s fake girlfriend had I thought that it would result in shunting Chace’s family from the town. But then I would look at Cole, see what a perfect little boy he was, and feel completely disgusted by Chace and, in particular, his family for what they did to Kenzie. All feelings of sympathy and remorse were completely thrown out the window.

  I felt proud of Kenzie for being so strong and raising such a perfect little boy. We became close friends throughout the year, hanging out whenever Ryder was at work. I loved Cole to bits and always jumped at the chance to babysit him when Kenzie had to work.

  It was going to be hard to say goodbye to them when we left for uni, but I knew we’d see them often. Ryder would want to go home and visit as much as possible.

  But for now, we were still celebrating. Celebrating our final year of high school. Celebrating life. Celebrating the fact that we’d ruined Christina and (mostly) Chace’s reputations. They got what they deserved.

  And celebrating Indie’s eighteenth birthday.

  We were at her house for what started off as a great evening but went downhill very quickly when someone suggested a game of spin the bottle. We were eighteen, not thirteen. This was our last chance to relax and have fun before heading off to uni across the country.

  Indie’s eyes lit up, and she smiled at me. “This is my chance.”

  “For what?”

  “I’m going to kiss Linc.” She clapped her hand to her mouth to stifle her squeal. I groaned and shook my head, knowing it could only end badly. I knew she’d never had a boyfriend. Or even kissed a boy before. She’d been holding out hope of Lincoln falling madly in love with her for her entire life. It wasn’t going to happen, but I couldn’t tell her that. I had to support her.

  “You are?”

  “Yes. If we get him to play, I’ll spin the bottle so it lands on him, and he’ll have to kiss me.” She whispered in my ear so Ryder couldn’t hear her.

  “And what if it lands on Allen or someone other than Linc?” I asked. I knew the chances of her actually getting what she wanted were slim to none.

  “It won’t. Come on. Let’s play.” She grabbed me by the hand and began to drag me to the circle.

  “Like hell.” Ryder growled and tugged me back to him. “She’s staying here with me, away from that bottle. Those lips belong to me.” He traced his finger across my mouth and smirked.

  “Sorry, In. You’re on your own.” I gave her an apologetic smile and snuggled into Ryder’s side.

  “You guys suck.” She poked her tongue out and joined the circle next to Kenzie.

  Lincoln sauntered over with a bottle in his hand and a smirk on his face. He stepped into the circle and placed it in the centre. “I’ll start,” he announced, staring straight at Indie, whose mouth was hanging open.

  Ryder snickered beside me and used his finger to close my mouth. Apparently, I was just as shocked as Indie that he actually wanted to play. I didn’t get it. She glanced over her shoulder at me with a broad smile on her face before whipping her hair around to watch Linc spin.

  I held my breath.

  Indie held her breath and crossed her fingers. She knelt forward on her knees to get a better look as the vodka bottle dragged to a stop. I fell to the floor behind Indie as she gasped.

  “Well, go on.” I nudged her. She was in a daze, frozen from shock. Lincoln spun the bottle, and it landed on her. “Your birthday wish is about to come true,” I quietly said so that Linc wouldn’t hear.

  Indie stood up on shaky legs and took Linc’s hand when he reached out for her. I looked at Ryder, who just shrugged. W
here was Nate? He was Indie’s brother and Linc’s best friend. I was sure he wouldn’t be impressed with Linc taking Indie into the study for seven minutes, but I couldn’t see him anywhere.

  Everyone waited in anticipation for the seven minutes to end, and when it finally did, Ryder jumped at the chance to run down the hall and go and call time, but before he could, Linc came back into the room with Nate. I waited for Indie, but she never showed.

  “This is bad,” I whispered to Ryder. “I need to go and find her.”

  “Want me to come with?”

  “Nah, I’ll only be a minute.”

  I ducked out of the room and headed straight upstairs to Indie’s room. She was lying on her bed. Crying.

  “What happened?”

  “He doesn’t want me.” She sniffed. “I heard him tell Nate that I was like his sister, and nothing happened.”

  “Did something happen?” I asked, wondering if Linc would be that much of a jerk to actually kiss her when it meant nothing to him.

  “He told me he would miss me when I went to uni, and then he kissed me.”

  He would be that much of a jerk then. I wanted to go and find him and beat some sense into him. He had been giving her false signals for years. And this was taking it too far.

  “Come on. Get up,” I told her. She needed to get back out there and show him that she didn’t care what he thought and that she wasn’t affected by him.

  It was like déjà vu, only this time it wasn’t me crying on the bed all heartbroken.

  “No, just tell everyone I have a stomach ache. Please, Bailey. I can’t face him now.”

  I nodded and softly closed Indie’s door behind me. Linc was a jerk, and if I saw him, I was going to make sure he knew it.

  When I returned, Ryder was in the hall scowling at the study door.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Watching.”

  “Watching a door?” I leant into him and smiled. He didn’t smile back. He folded his arms across his chest and glared at the door. “Ryder, what’s wrong?”