When The Bad Boy Says: I Love You | editing

Denial

Chapter Five:

Denial

"Someone who loves you sees what a mess you can be, how moody you can get, how hard you are to handle but still wants you."

Maya Granger

The words on the page were a blur, even though I was wearing my glasses. However, the problem wasn't with my eyes, rather, it was with my mind. Instead of focusing on the book in my hands, my mind kept on going back to the encounter with Byron that afternoon, resulting in me reading the same lines over and over again until I finally tossed it to the side.

I let out a sigh and leaned back into the softness of my pillows, and recall the afternoon's past events.

After the little scene at the mall, Ryder took me to a small ice cream shop, where we sat and got to know each other a little more. I learned that his older sister was twenty-two and goes by the name of Angel, his dad works as a contractor and that his mom died from cancer over a year ago, and his dad had remarried a sweet lady by the name of Visca. Though he was happy to have someone new to call mom, I saw the sadness in his eyes when he mentioned his biological mother. He misses her, so I carefully steered the conversation away from the sensitive topic, and started telling him some of my family's mishaps, and about myself when he asked.

We stayed there for the rest of the afternoon, drifting in and out of conversations, and simply enjoying the other's company. However, as soon as he dropped me home, questions concerning Byron plagued my thoughts, the memory of our encounter replaying in my head like a broken record.

There was something about Byron that seemed...off. It was as if he was furious at Ryder, but was sad at the same time. As if he was really broken hearted over something.

I sighed, knowing full well that all the answers I was looking for were with Ryder. He told me he'd tell me, but the curiosity was eating at me!

A soft knock on my bedroom door snapped me out of my thoughts, making me look up at the new-comer. My thirteen-year-old brother, Nick entered, smiling lightly before sitting next to me on the bed.

I returned the smile and scooted over to the side a little, to give him more room, because for a thirteen-year-old he was already standing at six feet, and I blame my dad for that, who stood a good three inches over six feet.

For as long as I could remember, Nick and I have been really close. We had each other's backs and wasn't afraid to tell each other anything.

"So..." Nick started, "Who's this Ryder person mom has been gushing on and on about?"

I groaned, before leaning my head against his shoulder. Throughout dinner, mom hasn't stopped talking about Ryder. When I told her to just marry him out of good-natured teasing, she gave me a scary look and said, "You're his future wife, you should be gushing about him too." That resulted in me choking on a piece of broccoli I was chewing.

"Just a guy from school who claims to...love me," I answered truthfully. Between Nick and I, we had a no-secret policy, so whenever one asks the other a question, the truth is to be told, and we have to trust that as the truth.

Nick let out a thoughtful hum, and I asked, "Why, you jealous?"

He snorted. "Maybe just a little. But, if he's being a bother to you, I could teach him a lesson you know?"

This time, I snorted. "I'd like to see you try."

"Why, you don't think I could?"

"The guy is made of muscle." I told him, "I punched him on his first day, and it didn't even leave a bruise. I think he was holding the ice-pack to his jaw just for show." Honestly, I think the only reason he fell to the floor was due to the shock.