The Bad Boy with a Heart of Gold

✖ Chapter 19 ✖

"I'm so fucking pissed."

Lina and I tore our eyes away from the painting towards Courtney's direction. She looked incredible in her burgundy sheath dress that emphasized her incredible genes and dedication to the fitness life. The scowl on her face made her achieve the dark Disney villain vibe more than the makeup she'd put on. All three of us had decided to twist the fairy tale theme and wear identical dresses and makeup, and tell anybody who asked that we were the three wicked godmothers.

Both of my friends were ready but I was far from it. I'd arrived to school early in the morning to continue painting. My plan had been to go home, shower and get ready to join the girls and their boyfriends for the pictures before the homecoming baseball game. But I'd missed all that. The painting just hadn't been ready when I'd hoped. I could tell Courtney was mad that the plan got derailed, but frankly I was relieved to not have had to be the third wheel in the pictures.

The problem was that this forced them to cut the pictorial time short so they could stop at my place, get my dress and makeup and bring them to school so they could help me look presentable for the dance. The game started at about the same time I finished the painting, and now we stared at it in its glory.

Meanwhile, I was a disaster.

I cringed. "I'm sorry I missed the pictures. I thought I'd be able to finish a lot earlier but I just couldn't get the last details right. But I'm sure you guys looked incredible in them."

Courtney folded her arms. "I'm not pissed about that."

Lina's lips twitched with a repressed smile. She put one delicate hand on our friend's arm and I zeroed in on her corsage. It had a lovely red rose that went very well with the whole vibe of the look. Then I looked at my own wrist, bare except for splotches of paint, and sighed.

"Then what are you pissed about, my dear?" she asked Courtney.

"I feel like we've been telling Rory to do cool shit like this for ages," as she said this she motioned in the general direction of the canvas. "But she only goes and does it when it's Sawyer who tells her to."

Lina's jaw dropped and I protested, "That's not true-"

It kinda was, and we all knew it. Courtney's baby blues narrowed at me.

"And you say he kept you company every night? That's suspicious."

I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, I also don't understand why he took his breaks here with me-"

She interrupted again. "Breaks from what?"

"Work," I said with a shrug.

Lina's head tilted to the side. "I didn't know your dad's shop opened so late every day."

"Normally we close at 7pm but this week we've had to pull overtime to keep up." I caught myself there and scrunched up my face. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. I don't care why he did it. I got free food out of it and he wasn't too annoying, so I can't complain."

"I can," Courtney stood in front of me and tilted my chin up with her finger. "It almost sounds like you had a date with him. Or dates. And I thought that our goal was to keep him away from you."

I batted her hand away. "That plan got derailed by Mr. Davies, if you recall."

Lina, ever the pacifist, jumped in at that. "Oh, so it was study sessions? Like, he studied while you painted?"

"Um, no," I said.

"So he was just staring at you?" Courtney asked.

"Not at me." I'd had my back turned to him the majority of the time, so who the heck knew for real. Still, I added, "At the painting."