I'm Here to Fix You - Broken Souls Series #2

How it feels like to be normal

CHAPTER 11 - HOW IT FEELS LIKE TO BE NORMAL

SILVIA'S POV

"May I be honest?" Ryan wondered as we walked down the dock. It's pretty uh ... romantic at night. Tess' idea, of course. Like it was taking him to a football game, since he loves it so much. I thought it'd bore the hell out of me, but damnit, Ryan didn't even pay attention to the game, he spent the whole time chatting with me. I'm sure Tess would say that's one more telltale sign he feels.

"Yeah?" I agreed, discreetly munching on a cookie. Gosh, I've never been this much careful to my every word, my every move, my everything. Hell, I've never put this much effort into trying to get a guy to like me.

Ryan smiled, making my heart skip a few beats as he grabbed my hand, to stop my walk, and pulled me into him. "This was the first time a girl invited me out, not the other way round."

I chuckled nervously. "Really? I thought it happened on a daily basis, given the type ..."

"The type?"

I slyly threw the cookie away and did a background check on my mouth with my tongue, in case any residuals were left. "Well, you know, handsome and sweet ... girls love this kind of guy."

He chuckled. "Oh, really? I thought they went for the bad boy type, like ... your friend there, how was it ..."

"Jake." My stupid mouth. You see, even though the date went beautifully well, there were moments where I was unsure and feared the conversation would die in an awkward silence, so ... well ... I might have filled that silence with um ... anecdotes from the office, and ... a lot of these concerned my boss, so ...

"Yeah, that one. He's the very face of the bad boy, you said?"

I bit my lip. "I think, yeah. The ... tough guy that has everything under control, the one with that ragged look, James Dean style ... that type. Girls definitely do like it."

"But you don't?"

Good thing the gasp died in my mouth. "Well, I mean ..."

"I mean, if you liked that kind of guy, you wouldn't be here with me tonight, would you?" Ryan inquired, and I had a feeling there was an underling to his words for some reason.

"Well, I don't really care much for the bad boy type, to be honest ..."

"Exactly my point." Ryan smiled, caressing my cheek. "So that's why you're here with me and not with your friend Jake."

"Why ..."

"You said you like me because I've got brains more than just good looks, right? Well, you wouldn't insult my intelligence by claiming you have no feelings for him, would you?"

"Rye ..."

"No, it's fine, really. I just want to be sure. I mean, you asked me on a date. We spent a beautiful day together. And I see it, I'm not blind, you've put a lot of effort into this, I just ... can't help but wonder ..."

"How come Jake is in so many of my discourses? That's easy, I-"

"You were nervous and talked about the first person that came to mind, yes. But you see, the point is, how come it was Jake the first and not ... say, Tess? Or your parents. Your country. Anything. Why was it Jake?"

"Oh, come on, I ..."

"You like me."

What the ... ah, fuck. I turned around to spot the very same guy we were arguing about. "Jake ... are you stalking me or what?"