“Are you okay?” Ryder asked. I nodded. I hadn’t told him about the messages because I didn’t want him to cause any trouble or overreact. I was sure it was Chace being vindictive and trying to make himself feel better about being punched, but it still hurt.
“Don’t lie to me, Bailey.” Ryder grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back so he could look into my eyes. I stared straight back at him. I didn’t want to give anything away. “What happened?”
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
“You can hide the bags under your eyes with makeup, but they’re still there. You’ve been crying.” He clenched his jaw.
I folded. I couldn’t lie. I knew he’d find out eventually somehow or other. So I told him about the messages and made him promise not to do or say anything about it. I just wanted to forget it and wanted him to as well.
“Ryder, please just forget it. I want to pretend that he doesn’t exist. I want to not let him bother me anymore.”
“Fine. Just focus on me and remember his face when you admitted the other night that sex was so much better with me. It’s what keeps me going,” Ryder said a little too loudly. He gave me a wink as a few people turned to stare at us.
“Ryder!” I hit him in the chest, trying to scold him but failing because I was giggling. If anything, Ryder knew how to make me laugh and take my mind off things.
“What? It’s true. You know it, I know it, and so does everyone else now.”
“You forget one important thing.” I stood up on my toes to whisper in his ear so no one else could hear. “We haven’t had sex yet, so I’m just taking your word for it.” I pulled back to give him a serious look.
“Yet?” His eyes lit up, and he licked his lips as he smiled mischievously. Oh, crap! “Challenge accepted.”
“Keep dreaming, Jones.” I rolled my eyes and looked up at the ceiling to avoid eye contact with him. Bad idea. Ryder leant in and pressed a kiss to the base of my throat, sucking gently on the skin before pulling back with a glint in his eye.
“Well, either way, I stay true to my word.” He smiled and grabbed my wrist to bring my hand up to his hair. When I gave him a questioning look, he just shrugged his shoulders.
“I kinda like when you play with my hair,” he admitted quietly before looking down the hall. Okay? I kind of liked playing with his hair. It was soft, thick, and curly, and so shiny. I was a little jealous. “Come on. Let’s go in.”
As soon as we walked into the room, all eyes turned to us, and everyone fell silent. It was like this every day. Like they were all waiting for things to break apart or for Chace to finally snap and hit Ryder. Their eyes flickered between us and Chace, who was already sitting in his seat next to Christina. I instinctively pressed myself into Ryder’s side as we made our way across the room to the seats.
“Jerk,” I heard Chace mutter under his breath. Christina was fussing over him, rubbing his face, fixing his hair, and shooting death glares at me. He looked like he was in more pain than when Ryder had punched him. I felt a little sorry for him.
No, I didn’t. He deserved it.
Yes, I did…Deep down, I felt bad. Ahhh! Why were breakups so hard? I shouldn’t have felt bad, but I did.
“Jealous.” Ryder responded to Chace in a sing-song voice, not bothering to keep his voice quiet, earning him a few soft chuckles from around the room. He pulled out my chair for me and kissed my cheek. He was really making a show of the boyfriend thing that morning.
I focused on Ryder’s actions and not on Chace. I was blocking all the bad thoughts and memories of him so that I wouldn’t cry.
“Smooth, Jones. Real smooth.” I smiled up at him and batted my eyelashes, maybe overdoing the girlfriend act a little. But that was what it was all about. Being the cheesy girlfriend. Being happy and carefree. And after the text messages the previous night, I was sure Chace was expecting me to be upset, but I wasn’t giving him the satisfaction. Ryder winked at me, grasping my knee in his hand. Just that little bit of contact between us and the pain was dulled instantly.
“Does that mean I’m gettin’ lucky today?” He lifted his eyebrow, a gleam of humour in his eyes. His lip twitched like he was trying not to laugh—most likely at the memory of Chace’s face in the bookshop the other night. So we were playing it like that. Like we were flirty, horny teenagers. Well, in all honesty, he was a flirty, horny teenager.
“Maybe,” I said coyly, grabbing a handful of his hair. Knowing that he liked it made it less weird for me to do. I took my lips to his ears and whispered, “Tone it down, Romeo.” I knew that it looked like I was whispering something sexy to him instead.
“Don’t start something you’re not willing to finish, unless you wanna ditch and go to my place.” Ryder smirked as I pulled away. I laughed at his attempt to make Chace jealous by completely ignoring my warning. He winked at me, grabbed my hand, and leant in again to whisper in my ear.
“Keep smiling and laughing like that and you’ll even have me fooled.” His mouth pressed against the skin just below my ear, sending an involuntary shiver up my spine. A small sigh escaped my lips. A sigh that didn’t go unnoticed by Ryder.
“Like that, huh?” he asked. I could feel his breath against my ear.
“Uh.” I felt my cheeks warming. I clamped my mouth shut to stop myself from saying anything stupid. I wasn’t sure if he was doing this for show or if he was trying to mess with me. I needed to be careful I didn’t read too much into anything he said or did. He was a major flirt. He had a reputation to keep up, even if he did have a girlfriend. So I guessed Ryder was just acting like he would with any other girl.
“What the hell happened to you?” Christina’s voice interrupted us from behind. “You’ve changed your attitude, your behaviour, and your appearance. I don’t like it.” I glanced at Ryder, who squeezed me gently in support, before I turned to face Christina with a sudden burst of courage and what I hoped was a genuine-looking smile plastered over my face.
“You don’t have to like it. I let go of all the drama and fakeness in my life. I stopped pretending to be someone I’m not. I stopped trying to be you.” I paused for dramatic effect and let that sink in. Christina gasped and scowled. “This is me, and I am finally happy. I’m happier than I’ve ever been.” I gave her an overdramatic smile before spinning back to face the front of the class where the teacher was busy reading the paper and ignoring us. Letting out a deep, shaky breath of relief when she didn’t reply, I chanced a look at Ryder, who I noticed looked somewhat impressed.
***
“I’ll see you at lunch.” Ryder pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth after acting as the perfect boyfriend and walking me to class. I watched him walk away before he paused and tilted his head, as though he were looking at something. He spun around. He had that look in his eye. The one I was quickly learning meant trouble.