Page 54 of Obnoxious Bad Boy

Vex gives my finger the gentlest tug. “No one’s gonna hurt you, okay? And I’m sure if your dad’s a lawyer, he’ll manage to get you out of this. People have been let off with a slap on the wrist for much bigger crimes.”

My stomach aches as soon as I think about my parents, but Vex’s logic does help. We didn’t ruin anything, didn’t steal. It was hardly even public indecency, since there was no public to speak of. Trespassing is the most likely charge.

“Okay. We need a gameplan if they’re to help out. Now that they’ll know you’re my boyfriend, what will be the official story of how we met?”

Vex pulls his hand away and leans over the floor, staring at the bars. “We’re not boyfriends. We’ll just say it was a misunderstanding.”

I have to take a deep breath, but it feels like swallowing razors. “Vex… come on. I know we talked about the thing between us being just casual, but is it really?” Can he not admit that he really, really likes me? He broke into a museum for me, for fuck's sake!

Vex flattens his back against the wall, but his face remains tense. “Goddamn it, Aaron. This wasn’t meant to happen. You’re a great guy, but I’m not gonna come out in any shape or form until I’m certain it’s not gonna hurt my business.”

I cross my arms on my chest and bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from screaming. As if this night wasn’t bad enough, this is what I’m getting from the man I’m in love with? Do I really mean so little?

“Jesus Christ, Vex. How bad could it be? Or do you just not want to be attached to me?” I ask sharply, unsure which part hurts more.

He shakes his head and lowers his head to look at me. “No, it’s not you. You’re great. You’re hot. I really like spending time with you, but I can’t be in a relationship, and I told you that already. I’m a tattoo artist, yeah, but my social media presence, the brand deals, are based on my reputation. I can’t have a boyfriend.”

The cell feels much colder than before. I think of all the time we’ve spent together over the past months. About the movie marathons, that time I let him paint all over my skin with water soluble markers, or when we took Inkblot to the vet together.

Really? It meant nothing? Just a transient kind of I-like-you’?

Am I this bad at reading people?

I’ve just told him I was ready to introduce him to my parents, and all he can think of is how badly he doesn’t want to be my boyfriend?

I get up as bits of shattered self-esteem cut into my aching heart. “Fine. You don’t have a boyfriend then.” I kick the bars several times, hoping to get some attention from the cops.

Vex remains quiet, almost as if he were relieved that he doesn’t have to bother with me anymore. I can’t believe I almost had sex without condoms with him earlier.

The door opens, and a cop peeks inside, rubbing her eyes. She might have been napping next door, and doesn’t seem happy about being called over. “What is it, kid?”

“I’m sorry, I know it’s late, but can I please make my call?” I ask as politely as possible. The silence behind me is deafening. Vex can have it his way.

The cop sighs as if the weight of the world is on her shoulders, but then she grabs a set of keys and approaches. “Okay, you deserve it for the show you gave us all.”

My smile is fake when I look back at her. She doesn’t even bother to cuff me and takes me away from Vex, who remains silent, as if his body has become a black hole sucking out whatever joy was left in me. The station’s quiet—not surprising in a town as small as Springton—so I follow her to a corner, where she sits me down and chooses the number for me.

I’m glad I haven’t eaten, because the moment I hear my dad’s voice, I feel like throwing up again.

“Aaron? Is everything alright?”

I take a deep breath and struggle not to cry. “I’m so sorry, but I got arrested. Can you please help me out?”

I can barely stand the shame of being picked up like this. So maybe I am a future lawyer, but I half expected my parents to pay bail for me, which is ridiculous, since I haven’t seen a judge. I wouldn’t have asked them to do the same for Vex, of course, not after the bitter parting last night.

I begged the cop to not lock me in with him again, and she complied, since it was a quiet night, though I needed to listen to a wild sex story from her past as payment. Which she told me to point out how well she understood the awkwardness of being stuck with the guy you no longer want. I tried not to cry, but by the end of her story I did. She offered me tissues.

At least this means that by the time my parents arrive, I’ve cried my eyes out and can pretend to have some dignity.

Mom won’t meet my gaze, and Dad is stone-cold fury personified. They’re like two marble figures of angry gods, who no longer bestow good fortune on me.

My misery knows no end, because it’s also raining when we walk out of the door, and all I have is my Balenciaga jacket. The one I got specifically for my birthday, to look cool for whatever Vex planned for us. And as exciting and magical the museum break-in was in the moment, I have to accept the truth. He didn’t plan anything, because he doesn’t care.

If he wanted to, he would have.

He forgot, and then charmed me into following his lead and breaking into a museum. And had I really considered stealing Mark Twain’s fountain pen? I must have gone through a moment of absolute madness.

There’s no hugs or hellos when I reach the car in the small parking lot by the police station.