A Bad Boy's Worst Nightmare (Book 1)

13. Fruit

I noticed three things when I woke up. One, it was morning already. Two, there was a person under me. Well, half under me. But, as it was comfortable, I stayed put and didn't complain about the person being there beneath me. And third, I was way too comfortable. Slowly I woke up further, realizing that I should probably figure out who was beneath me, even though I already had a pretty good idea of who it was. Sitting up a little, careful not to push on the person and put more pressure on them, I looked upon the face of--surprise--Corey. He was very clearly asleep, his eyes relaxed and shifting a little as he dreamed. His hood had fallen off, or maybe he had pushed it off during the night, I reached out and brushed my fingers through it gently, enjoying the feel of his smooth, soft hair against my fingers.

Deciding that I should probably get up, I started to move and get off of him as subtly as possible so that I didn't wake him up.

His arm tightened around my waist almost immediately, pulling him back against him. "Don't even think about it," he said quietly. His voice was deeper than usual from sleep, and I laid back against him easily. I hadn't really wanted to get up, anyway; he was very comfortable to lay with, despite his muscled body.

After a few more minutes, I began thinking again.

Bear was dead.

Kale was completely gone now.

I was alone again.

I felt myself begin to shake a little bit. Being alone, while normal for me, was never okay. It was horrible, leaving only me and my thoughts. My thoughts were my worst enemy; they had been for the past five years. A thumb rubbed my arm gently as I shook, and I realized something: I wasn't alone this time. Corey was there. I had Kelsey. I had Devon. I didn't have to be alone this time.

Corey mumbled against my hair. "Stop crying, Ry. It's going to be okay."

"He was the last of Kale," I whispered.

"I know," he murmured, continuing to brush his thumb over my arm.

For some reason, I think hearing him say that was enough for me. Because, moments later, I was done shaking. I wasn't going to cry over Bear anymore. He had died Tuesday, and I had taken my time to mourn him, and now I needed to put on big girl pants and go on with my life. The words 'I know' had been enough to snap me out of whatever daze I was in. Suddenly, I did something that I thought I would have never done. Especially with Corey. I sat back, leaned toward him, and kissed him on the cheek gently. "Thank you, Corey," I said quietly, looking away from his eyes as they stared at me. Finally, I stood up and stretched. "Alright. It's Saturday I guess. What're we going to do today?"

"I was just going to hang out at my house," Corey said with a shrug, returning to normal. "I'd be just as happy to stay here with you, though."

I smiled at him. "I'm gonna make breakfast, then we can go to your house."

Something flashed in his eyes.

"If that's alright," I added quickly. "I mean, you've basically been living here recently and I haven't even seen your house. That's not very fair, if you ask me."

"You sure you'd want to do that?" he asked cautiously.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"It's just...that'd mean meeting my family."

"And?"

"I..." he shook his head, as if to clear it. "Whatever. Sure, you can come over if you want."

"Great. What do you want to eat?"

"Actually, I want to go somewhere."

I tilted my head. "Where did you have in mind?"

"Restaurant."

"Very specific," I commented, "thank you for the riveting detail."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Come on. We're going out for breakfast, then we're going to my house."

I nodded. "Alright. I'm gonna change first, though."

"Alright."

Sending him one more smile, I disappeared up the stairs into my room to change. I looked at myself in the mirror as I leaned against the foot of my bed. My cheeks looked a little more red than usual. My hair was still a bit messy from sleep, and my clothes were wrinkled. But somehow, I wasn't embarrassed that Corey had seen me like this. He'd seen me cry, and laugh, and smile, and scowl, and he still wanted to be around me. And in realizing that, I felt special.

* * * * *

There was no one at the breakfast place Corey had selected; just him, me, and what seemed to be a single waitress. She kept eyeing him with interest, but his eyes were locked on me for the entire time she was talking to us. She payed less attention when I was speaking than when he was speaking, but it didn't bother me. He was attractive after all, and as long as I got my food, I didn't care if she looked at him. However, it did bother me a little bit when she asked if we were dating. Corey had politely told her that we were just friends, and while it was true, it seemed to make her overly happy.

Once our food came, Corey pulled the waitress a little closer and told her something quietly enough that I couldn't hear it.

I glared at my food and speared an egg on my fork. Why was I getting so mad about him talking to a girl? He was male. She wasn't. Therefore she could very reasonably attracted his attention.

When she came back, he took the little mini-pitcher and poured it into his fruit bowl, scooting it over in front of me. I looked at the bowl in confusion, and realized that he had poured cream in to a bowl of strawberry slices. My cheeks turned roughly the same color as the strawberries, and he looked like he was trying to hold back a grin as he began working on his own food that had been set in front of him.

He seriously remembered that? That was kind of...sweet.

I started nibbling on my fruit appreciatively and suppressed the urge to ask about him remembering that Kelsey had mentioned my love of fruit and cream. The thick liquid on top of fresh fruit was the best thing that had ever existed.

We ate quietly, but not awkward silence; more like comfortable silence between friends.

Holy hell. Was he my friend now? How had he pulled that off?

We walked back to his car around nine and I looked at him from the corner of my eye as he sat in the driver's seat.

How did you manage to get me to like you? You're infuriating, and rude, and...nice? How does that work exactly? Why don't I hate you like I thought I did? I looked at him for a while longer before he noticed and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked.

I looked away from him, out of my window. "Nothing. I was thinking, that's all."

"About what?"

I paused, considering telling him what I was thinking about. "You," I said finally after a long pause.

"What about me?"

Turning to face him again, I smiled. "Nothing. Just random things is all. It's not important really."

He chuckled, talking under his breath; something about girls being vague intentionally.

I smiled out of the window..

This weirdo had really gotten to me.