by Sam Crescent
Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2019 Sam Crescent
ISBN: 978-1-77339-943-0
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Karyn White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
FALLING FOR THE BULLY
Falling in Love, 3
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2019
Chapter One
Max Carter checked the time on his watch and saw it was a little after three. He was being really fucking crazy now, but he found when it came to Aria Smith, nothing in his world made sense anymore.
She hadn’t forgiven him, nor had she gotten over what happened between them during high school. Not that he had any good enough excuse for calling her lard ass. Whenever he looked at her, he felt like shit. She rarely gave him the time of day, and considering she was a friend of both of his best friends’ women, it made life a little complicated. They were both single, and it didn’t exactly make for a good match for either of them.
He also wanted her to forgive him, for them both to move on from this and not look back, but he knew she was incredibly hurt by what he’d done.
Her front door opened, and she let out a gasp the moment she caught sight of him.
“You scared me.”
Her rich auburn hair was tied on top of her head with ringlets falling down, framing her face. She looked stunning.
For Max, his attraction to her startled him. She wasn’t slender or like any of the women he normally found attractive. Aria possessed curvy hips and thighs, as well as large tits. Her body drew his attention, and he found it next to impossible to have a coherent thought. All logical common sense left him, which was why he was standing outside of her place at three in the morning, ready to walk her to work.
“I apologize,” he said.
He even talked differently with her. He made an effort, where with other women he couldn’t give a shit if they liked his brashness or not.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m not stalking you.”
“This is really kind of creepy, Max. I don’t get it.” She held a thermos in her hands, and she looked a little worried.
“I don’t like the thought of you walking to work on your own. It’s dark and it’s late, and you don’t have a car.”
“Don’t you have to get up at, like, six in the morning?”
“I do,” he said. He didn’t tell her he’d started to go to bed straight after he’d dropped her off at home after her shift had finished. He ate before picking her up, took a shower, dropped into bed, and then got up at two-thirty to be here.
He wasn’t stalking or possessive or obsessive. All he was being was a good friend.
At least he tried to tell himself that.
“Max, you really don’t have to do this. It’s fine. I can walk myself. It’s not a bad neighborhood.”
He’d tried to let her walk on her own, but the guilt, worry, and fear had been too much for him to bear. So, on the days she didn’t know about, he tended to keep an eye on her from a distance.
“I know, and I’m here now. Can’t you give a guy a break and just let me walk you to work?”
Max saw she wanted to argue. She clearly didn’t want him around, and yes, it frustrated him. This was one of the many reasons he wanted to get her to like him. Their friends were very much aware of her dislike of him.
He couldn’t do anything about it either.
How could he get someone to like him, especially with their history? All it had taken was that one name, and it had stuck. It was like he’d given permission for every other person in that school to bully her. Until he called her that name, she’d been left alone. Afterward, she’d been the school punching bag, but he’d not been there. Now he was the one having to pay the price, and it fucking sucked, big time. He didn’t give people permission to fucking hurt her, and yet they’d taken it upon themselves to do so. If he could go back and change it all, he would, but there wasn’t anything he could do.
“Sure, why not?”
She took a sip of her drink, and they started walking down the street. The lights cast a garish glow across the neighborhood. It looked like something out of a horror film.
“Would you like a drink?” she asked, offering hers toward him.
He was about to refuse when he thought better of it. Taking a sip of her coffee, he found it with no cream or sugar. The bitter liquid burned on the way down, and he winced past the pain.
“Very good.”
She let out a chuckle. “You hate it.”
“How can you drink that kind of thing?”
“Easy. I need to be awake and alert today for baking. This helps.”
“Do you like the morning shift?”
“I used to. It was a lot of fun, now … not so much.”
“What has changed?” he asked.
She pressed her lips together, staring straight ahead. How had he never noticed those full, fuckable lips. They were plump, sexy, and would look so good wrapped around his cock.
“I don’t want to say. You’ll laugh.”
“I won’t laugh.” She gave him a look, and he held his hands up in surrender. He wouldn’t laugh, not even a little bit. “I promise.”
“Okay, fine. If you do though, you’re not having any more of my coffee.”
“Babe, that’s not a problem.”
She flinched away from him, and Max gritted his teeth. Aria hated it when he used terms like “babe,” “sweetheart,” “honey,” “darling”; any kind of words that were endearments. He hated how she responded to them. With Aria, he was always screwing up, and he didn’t know how to stop it.
“I’ve joined a dating site,” she said.
Max didn’t speak for several seconds. “A dating site? The kind where you meet your forever person?”
She giggled. “You make it sound like I’m looking for a dog.”
“Are you?”
“No. Not a dog. I’m twenty-five years old now, and I’d really like to start dating. I’ve got a great job, and a place of my own. June was the one who suggested I should give it a try.”
“Of course she did.” He was going to have to have a few words with June about this. Dating websites were bad news, weren’t they? They were in the news with how men and women ended up dead because of them.
There’s no way he could let Aria go on a date.
“You sure you don’t want to look a little closer to home? There are lots of eligible guys here who’d love to take you out.” He was one of them. If it would help her to forgive him, he’d gladly take her on a date.
Aria snorted. “Not happening. With the dating site I can find people who are not in this town and live maybe a short drive away.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to date someone from this town? I can say we’re pretty awesome.” He wanted to cringe at his own words, especially as their history already dictated that he wasn’t a good suggestion.
Aria stared at him and shook her head. “No thanks.”
“Look, not all the guys are like me, okay.”
“I know they’re not all like you, but I went to school with a selection. Others are married. The others will never get married and are players, and then you’ve got the ones
that are gay. Forgive me for this, but no. I want someone I don’t know who he went with in high school, or anything else like that. Can’t you give me this?”
He wanted to tell her no and to yell at her for being so stupid, but again, the guilt filled him because of his past actions, and it pissed him off.
“Of course.”
She smiled, and as she did, it really made his heart race. He’d never noticed her smile in high school, and if he had, she’d have belonged to him, no question about it. The moment she did, her eyes held this sparkle, and it lit up her whole face. She was breathtaking.
“Thank you.” She sipped at her coffee, and he wanted to make her smile again.
Tapping his fingers against his thigh, he tried to think of what else to say to help this along, but again, nothing.
He couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
All too soon, his morning walk came to an end as June’s bakery came into view. Over the road held Trey’s tattoo parlor where he worked when time was slow on the construction side of his life.
No matter what he did, he wanted to work with his hands. Rubbing the back of his head as they came to the store, he watched as Aria bent over. Her jacket lifted up, and he got a show of her curvy rear. So round, so sexy, and he’d give anything to have it nestled against his pelvis as he fucked her hard.
He didn’t know when he wanted to start fucking her, but he had, and now, it was driving him crazy.
She was on a dating site.
How was he going to make sure she was making the right decision?
“Would you like me to make you a coffee? I know my taste is a little on the extreme.”
“I’d love one.” He’d already made an agreement with himself that he wouldn’t turn her down or away when she asked him for something. It was the start, he hoped, for her to trust him.
****
“What’s wrong?” June asked. “You look a little lost there, sweetie.”
Aria pulled out of her thoughts as she looked down at the guy who’d been texting her on and off for the past couple of hours. She hadn’t expected to get a hit on the dating website so soon, but now that she had, she was really nervous.
David Wild wanted to meet up for drinks tonight, but thinking about going and meeting a total stranger, her nerves were back. Max walking her to work didn’t help matters either. She struggled to think and to process properly.
This was why she hated dating. At twenty-five years old, she was still a freaking virgin and hadn’t been on a real date ever.
Most of the guys she knew, she didn’t want to date.
“What do you think?” she asked, passing June her cell phone.
June had given birth to a little bouncy boy a few months ago, but even though she shouldn’t be in the shop, she always found a reason to stop by. Motherhood suited the other woman, and Aria couldn’t help but envy her. She had a wonderful, attentive husband, good friends, and now an angel for a son.
While Aria had her work and her books.
That was all she had.
No one to snuggle up with. No one to go see a movie with. She’d stopped going to the movies as waiting in line behind so many couples and even guys and girls as friends, and all combinations in between, she would be the lonely loser with a single ticket.
It sucked, big time.
“Wow, do you know him?” June asked.
“No. Isn’t that the point of a dating website? To not know who they are.” She sighed.
“We’re back to my original question, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I think I’m going insane.” She didn’t respond to the message and slid the phone back into her pocket, grabbing her coffee to take a sip.
“Okay, something is clearly bugging you. Why didn’t you respond to that guy?” June asked.
Swallowing the hot coffee, Aria stared at her friend, hearing Molly deal with the customers. Aria had been in the kitchen since a little after three baking for the entire day. It was close to closing time, and she was exhausted. The thought of going on any date right now didn’t exactly thrill her.
“I don’t think I’m cut out for all of this dating stuff. I don’t have what it takes to hold a conversation with a guy.”
“You talk with Dale and Trey perfectly fine. Even Max. Admittedly, you don’t say much to him, but it’s a start.”
“It’s not a date though. I mean, what am I going to talk about? What do men expect on dates?”
June gave her a pointed look.
“See, that’s my point. I don’t know. I’m not good with this.” The more she started to think about going on a date, the less Aria even wanted to.
“You totally should go on this date,” June said. “I think it’ll be good for you.”
“Why?”
“This guy isn’t a local, and you can get a feel for what dating is really like rather than being terrified.” June shrugged. “It’s the only way you’re going to feel even a little safe about it.”
Reaching into her cell phone, Aria nibbled her lip and felt completely out of her comfort zone. This was the point though. The only reason she went on the dating site was to find someone. Her soulmate.
“Okay, yes.” She agreed to dinner and drinks, pressing the “send” button.
The moment she did, she started to panic.
“I can’t do this,” she said.
“Yes, you can,” June said. “You’re more capable of doing these things than you give yourself credit for.”
“What’s going on?” Molly asked.
“Aria is going on a date, and tomorrow this place is opening up later. You don’t have to worry about getting in here so early. I know you’re probably tired after a long day.”
She had started to get tired, but she’d not been sleeping well at night, either.
“How exciting. We need to get you ready. This place is spotless as usual. We need to shut up shop and get her ready,” Molly said.
“Guys, it’s fine. Really. I can do this.”
“You can?” June asked.
“Yes, of course. I can dress myself and get to wherever he wants to go for drinks. It’s easy.” She forced a smile to her lips.
“We can finish up here,” June said. “Go on. We want pics of how good you look. Go on.”
Aria was herded out of the shop within a matter of minutes. Much to her surprise, Molly and June were really excited about her date, while she was terrified.
This would be her first official date.
Pulling her bag high up onto her shoulder, she walked the short distance home. This was the first time in a while she’d walked home alone. Max was always there to talk to her about something or just to keep her company, not that she enjoyed his company, or even missed him. Of course not. She had more interesting things to think about and to do than think about the guy who used to bully her.
Aria pushed thoughts of Max out of her head as she entered her home, and went straight to the bathroom. Stripping out of her clothes, she threw them into the laundry basket, as she hated mess of any kind. There were times her need for cleanliness got in the way of her baking as she hated to be a messy baker or cook. She was always cleaning her utensils, wiping down counters. It was a habit she’d gotten into early in life, and it had only extended from there.
Humming to herself, she stepped beneath the shower and let out a little gasp as the cold water washed over her body. She’d forgotten to give it a second to warm up. Crossing her arms over her chest, she tilted her head back and waited. The moment it warmed up, she turned in the water, giving it a chance to warm her bones.
It felt so good, so very good.
Once she was all wet, she soaped her body, and then shampooed and conditioned her hair, taking her time. Wasn’t that what women did for a date? Took their time? Had fun?
She was so not used to this kind of thing.
After her shower, she wrapped her hair in a towel, dried her body, and went to her closet to grab the only cocktail dress she o
wned. It was black, and she’d worn it to a funeral. She had no other use for it, so with some new black lingerie she had a weakness for, she pulled them on, followed by the dress, and started to get her hair ready. There was no need for her to even contemplate makeup. She’d never taken the time to get used to wearing the stuff, and now, it would only make her more frazzled.
Calling a cab, she waited for it to arrive as she stared down at the text.
They were going to meet in a small restaurant bar near the mall. She could do this. It would be super easy. Nothing too intrusive.
Her cab arrived and one last look at her home, and she slowly left, trying to think of a really good excuse not to go.
Instead, she locked the door and headed toward the driver.
Giving him the location, she climbed into the back of the car, finding her nerves were shot. Her hands shook, and her palms were sweaty. She could do this.
She really could do this.
Even as she thought this, though, she felt a little sick at the prospect of meeting some strange man and having drinks.
You can do this. Just don’t accept a drink from him. You don’t want him to spike your drink. Order a salad, even though you hate cucumbers. Just order one.
Over and over in her mind, she kept on repeating what she should and shouldn’t do until she started to get all panicky and worried.
There was no time to panic though because the cab driver pulled up, and any chance she had of leaving was gone.
She paid the cab driver his price and climbed out of the car, staring at the building where she would meet her very first date.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped toward the door, and when she opened it, she felt incredibly sick and nervous.
This would be easy.
She had to start somewhere to find her soulmate. With that in mind, she stepped into the restaurant with a little spring in her step.