For The Love Of A Bad Boy

XXV

I got a call from Mike on Saturday. I didn't hesitant to pick up on the first ring. All he wanted was to make sure I was there. I figured I could scream at him through the phone and he couldn't get to me, since Jeremy was home to protect me. But I'd face the consequences on Monday.

Jeremy and Noah were in Jeremy's room, and I didn't want to disturb them.

They'd been in there since Noah arrived. The door was closed and I desperately wanted to know what they were doing.

Jeremy was so weird when he was in a relationship. He was like an eleven year old girl with her first crush.

It was so nice to be in love.

Jeremy hadn't cared about someone since he was my age. Even then, he wasn't as infatuated.

There was a knock on my door. I sighed, "Come in."
Noah opened the door slightly, "Hi."

"Oh, hey. I thought you were with Jeremy."

"Yeah, but it was rude of me not to say hello to you after being here so long."

"It's okay. By the way, why were you in my brother's room?"

"He asked me not to tell you."

"Of course he did."

"He said you'd say that too."

"Jeremy thinks he's psychic when it comes to me."

"And he's not?"

"Sometimes. He thinks he's smarter than he really is."

"I heard that!" Jeremy screamed from down the hall.

"Anyways," I rolled my eyes, "I wanted to...apologize for what I said a couple days ago."

"I didn't mind. I get it, you don't want to share your brother with me."

"It's fine now. If he's dating you, he won't pay as much attention to me."

"And that's good because...."

"I can do what I want without Jeremy being nosy."

If I was going to be secretive about what was happening with Mike, Jeremy needed to be distracted.

"But he says you're a good kid."

"Exactly. He won't suspect me."

"Smart." Noah smiled.

"Noah," Jeremy called from down the hall.

"What?" He called back.

"You left me."

"Hold on a second."

"You don't love me."

I laughed, "Does he really say that to you?"

"Only when he wants something," Noah had a look of admiration on his face, but it turned to concern quickly, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing...you should get back to Jeremy."

He nodded, closing my door as he went back into the hall.

I nervously reached for my phone when I heard the ringtone. I had a text message from Mike.

Where are you?

Home.

What are you doing?

Nothing.

My game is over.

Did you win?

Nope. Don't even care.

Oh.

Are you busy?

I could of said I was, so I'd have a night away from him. But for some odd reason, I trusted him. Over the phone, at least.

No.

~

"You look so upset." Mike said, giving me a frown.

I shrugged, "I'm okay."

He hadn't said anything remotely threatening to me since he got to my house. He was being nice, which only put me on edge. He could of snapped at any second for the dumbest reason.

"You're so far away."

That was true, I was. I was sitting on my bed and Mike was in the window seat.

If he was going to hurt me, I could run from the room before he had a chance to get to me.

"Come here."

I did what I was told and went over to him cautiously.

I stood in front of him instead of sitting with him like I knew he wanted me to.

"You look terrified. You know that, right?" Mike said, taking my hand.

I simply shook my head.

"I'm not going to hurt you. You haven't done anything wrong."

Was I doing something
wrong when he hurt me the first time?

I hated that Mike was trying to make it my fault.

He gently pulled me down to sit in between his legs, wrapping his arms around me.

His touch was so restricting, even though he wasn't hurting me at all.

"You shouldn't be scared of me. I don't want you to be. You're safe with me."

"I am?"

"Yes."

Everything Mike was saying was the exact opposite of when he laid down the 'rules' before.

I didn't know which Mike to believe.

I wanted to trust the Mike that was holding me like he truly loved me. The Mike that had just made me a sweet promise.

"I knew you before I asked you out." Mike said out of the blue, "I never told you that because you'd think I was obsessed or something."

"I was kind of invisible. Still am. I don't know how you ever thought about me."

"It was kind of hard to miss you. I had a huge, embarrassing crush on you. But you were with Anthony and I couldn't do anything about it."

"You liked me then? That was....a while ago."

I realized how long it had been since Anthony and I were a couple. I didn't feel anything, surprisingly. Just a void. Just emptiness.

"Yeah. I almost gave up, actually. But I couldn't. I was too crazy about you."

"Do you still feel that way?"

"More than ever."

He was fooling me. He had to be. It was the only explanation that made sense. Mike wanted to give me a false sense of security.

Or maybe I was being paranoid.

Maybe that's what Mike needed me to think. It was all a head game.

But I took the security anyway.

"Tell me you love me?" I asked, closing my eyes.

"I love you." He kissed my temple.

"Love you too."

If I pretended Mike and I were different people, I could really love him back.