Bad Boy's Protection (Protector #1)

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

When Grayson dropped Belle and I off at my house, I was a bit curious to see what my parent's reaction would be when they see Belle. The last time she came to my house, or when my parents saw here, was before the first assault.

Belle climbed out of Grayson's car and I got out afterwards.

I was about to go to my house when Grayson said, "Poppy?" I turned towards him. "Any chance we can be together again?"

I wanted to give him a sarcastic comment like, 'No, we never can even though I kissed you earlier and you told me that you love me.' However, I decided to kiss him on the cheek. "I'll see you later," I said before going to my house.

Belle was waiting by the front door. "Quick question. Do you parents hate me for what Ben did?"

"No, of course not," I said as I opened the front door. "Mom?! Dad?! You won't mind if I have a friend spend the night, would you?!"

"Depends who," Mom said from the kitchen. She then walked in the living room, stopping when she saw Belle. "Belle. Long time, no see."

"So can Belle spend the night?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure," Mom said. "Your father and I are leaving in a few minutes. We'll be back tomorrow before dinner."

"Okay," I said. I then gestured for Belle to follow me to my bedroom.

"So," Belle said as she sat down on my bed. "How are you feeling about everything that happened? You know, with Ben."

I sighed and sat down at my desk. "I could ask you the same thing," I said. "Honestly, the second time was a bit rough at first, but I'm somewhat over it."

Belle looked down. "If it's any consolation, I haven't talked to him since. He's back in jail and I am most likely not going to visit him."

"Even though he's your brother?" I asked.

Belle shrugged. "I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I threw away my friendship with my best friend all because he was my brother and I wanted to believe him." She sighed and shook her head. "I'm fine though. I'm upset, but I'm fine."

Mom announced that she and Dad were leaving. When I heard the front door close, I got up from the chair. "Want to watch a movie in the basement?" I asked. "I have a lot of movies."

"Sure," Belle said.

We went downstairs and to the basement. Since Belle was the guest, I let her pick a movie. She picked the scariest movie I owned and popped it into the DVD player.

I did enjoy scary movies. Even though I got scared, I loved being held in suspense. Some of the jump scares were predictable, but it still scared me.

Halfway through the movie, I felt a weird presence in the basement. I shook it off, thinking my imagination was just playing with me because of the movie. That was until something touched my shoulder, causing me to scream. And judging by the way Belle screamed, it touched her shoulder as well.

I turned around, seeing Grayson trying to contain his laughter as he leaned on the couch. "You scared the living crap out of me!" I yelled. "How the hell did you get in here in the first place?!"

Grayson jumped over the couch and sat on the other side of me. "I found the spare key under the welcome mat," he said. "So, what are we watching?"

"Nothing," I said. "You are leaving."

Grayson gave me a pout. "You're no fun."

"Just let him stay," Belle said. "If he leaves, he can come back at scare us again at anytime."

"I'll take that as a yes," Grayson said. "Thanks Belle. You saved me from babysitting my little sister."

"You're supposed to be babysitting and you're here?" I asked.

Grayson nodded. "I told my dad that I'm just getting something to eat. Jokes on him because I am not going back home."

"Grayson," I said. "What if he gets mad?"

"When isn't he mad?" Grayson asked. "Flower, I told you what happened with my family. Why should I babysit my little sister after everything that happened?" I sighed. Grayson did have a point. His dad abused him and his mom left him to get abused. I could see why Grayson didn't want to do anything for them.

"And what if your dad realizes you're not going back to babysit and comes here to check?" I asked.

"Then I'll get in my car and drive far away," Grayson said. "He won't, though. Graeme was also home, but my dad wanted me to babysit. At least now, he can get his favorite son to babysit."

"Not to be rude, but can we not talk about families?" Belle asked.

"Right," Grayson said. "I forgot."

We finished watching the movie, as well as one more before Belle announced that she was tired and wanted to go to bed. I was tired as well, so I told Grayson to go home now. He refused, saying he was going to crash on the basement couch. He was even already laying on it.

Belle went upstairs while I tried getting Grayson to leave. It wasn't like I didn't want him to stay, I did, but my parents probably wouldn't appreciate it when they found out that a boy slept over, even if there was a whole floor between us.

After a few minutes of trying to convince him, I gave up. If he wanted to stay, then whatever. I was too tired to argue with him any longer.

"Flower?" Grayson asked as I was about to go upstairs. "You never gave me a goodnight kiss yet."

I sighed and walked over to him. I gave him a quick kiss, but he grabbed my wrist. "That doesn't count," he said.

"Grayson, I'm tired," I told him. "Let me go to bed."

"You can always sleep on the couch with me," he said.

I sighed and shook my head. "I'd rather sleep on my bed."

"Ouch," Grayson said, grasping his heart with the hand that wasn't holding my wrist. "You wounded me. I'm dying in pain now."

I rolled my eyes at his overdramatic act. "Yeah, sure. You're lucky I love you or I would have forced you to leave."

Grayson looked at me and blinked a few times before sitting up. "What was that?"

"What was what?" I asked, extremely confused.

"What you just said," Grayson said.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I would have forced you to leave?"

Grayson shook his head. "No, before that."

"Yeah, sure?" I tried. What on earth was he talking about.

"After that," Grayson said.

"You're lucky I love you?"

Grayson smiled. "Yes, that!"

"What about it?" I asked.

"Poppy, you just said that you love me," Grayson said.

I did. I just realized that I loved Grayson. When he told me that he loved me, I was just happy that he felt that way but I didn't even realize that I felt the exact same way.

I couldn't help but smile. "I love you, Grayson."

Grayson leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine in a short but sweet kiss. "I love you too, Flower," he said. "Now since you admitted, you can sleep on the couch with me."

I kissed him one more time before standing up. "I'm going to sleep upstairs."

Grayson sighed. "Fine. But if I have nightmares, I'm coming up there so you could protect me," he teased.

I tolled my eyes and went upstairs. He was one interesting boy.

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I don't know why, but I love this chapter a lot! I just loved the way Poppy admitted to Grayson her feelings; completely accidental.

I don't know how many chapters are left of this book. There are still a few things that have to happen, but I think it will be ending soon.