Page 62 of Obnoxious Bad Boy

It’s Kai, who stares at me from the back door of Rainbowology and keeps clapping. I would have lashed out if this was Levi, but Kai is even tinier than Aaron, and he could break if I as much as pinched him.

“I didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but I was on my break, and this is a public space,” he says before pointing at the wall above me. My shoulders sag when I see a small open window. I can’t fucking believe we had an audience during the whole pitiful exchange.

I shake my head, crumbling under the invisible weight of Aaron’s disapproval. “Go on. Say whatever you gotta say, and I’ll go.”

Kai crosses his arms on his chest. “I’m not, like, besties with Aaron, but he’s a friend. He’s gentle, romantic, and loyal. He’s had a crush on you for years, and he would have given you everything. You’re the biggest dumbass if you’re willing to miss out on that because of a stupid not-even-sex-tape.”

He doesn’t know the whole story, or how many other complications there are, but he’s right about all of Aaron’s lovely qualities. Because Aaron’s great—smart, interesting, funny, and amazingly sweet.

I can’t fucking understand how no one snatched him up already, but he chose me, even though I offered him close to nothing.

“Yeah, all that’s true,” I mumble. “But you saw for yourself what he thinks about me now.”

Kai makes a face as if he’s bitten into a lemon. “Then fix it or leave him alone. He’s gone through enough.”

The door behind him opens, letting light into the alley. Levi leans out. “Kai! Break’s been over for ten minutes. I need you—” He glances at me suspiciously. “Everything all right here?”

I raise my hand, stumbling away from the two men like some drunk idiot. “Yeah, sorry for keeping him here. Enjoy your day, and all that,” I say as I flee the alley, jogging down the street, past my studio, and then farther, without any idea what I want to do next.

The hurt in Aaron’s gaze is the only thing on my mind, burning so intensely I can’t focus on anything, even ways to make this right.

Chapter 18

Aaron

I lie in bed, replaying the conversation with Vex in my head for sleepless hours. At least I’m in my dorm now and I don’t have to deal with my parents and their judgemental looks.

I’m hurt, heartbroken, and I regret going on that stupid arranged date with an idiot who has a list of requirements. I’m not a contestant on The Bachelor, and I’m definitely not taking up tennis for some dumbass.

I roll over under the covers and stare toward the window, at the moon shining down on my miserable self. I'm still angry at Vex for spying on me and then accosting me in the alley, as if I owed him my attention, but there's a part of me that enjoyed being grabbed and seeing that he cared whether I was around or not.

Maybe it was just about easy access to sex, but I mattered to him somehow.

I don’t know if I’m glad that I had the strength to reject him, or if I regret it. Maybe if I called him and established that we could have a purely sexual thing—

I groan and punch the wall as I turn in bed.

No. That’s no way to live. I need to rebuild some dignity, because God knows I lost a lot of it in the past weeks. And enjoyed it.

Maybe I’m secretly a masochist?

Something clicks beyond the cocoon I made from the comforter by tossing around. I dismiss it as some of my neighbors making noise in the corridor, but then there’s another two clicks, and after that—my door opens.

I freeze, petrified, but my brain goes at a hundred miles per hour, wondering what I can use as a weapon. I left a glass on my bedside table. It could be my first port of call.

I open one eye, but the man sneaking into my room is only a shadow. Does this burglar think I didn’t come back after the Holidays because of my disgrace and wants to take advantage of a room he thinks is empty? If this is just some drunk student, he would have knocked on my door first.

I count to three and jump out of bed with a desperate roar. I’m like an animal, trying to make itself bigger in the face of a predator. I grab the glass and throw it at the stranger, but it bounces off him and falls to the floor without shattering.

He slaps the wall, and when the light switches on, blinding me enough that I need to squint, the familiar silhouette makes me stall.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I demand as Vex pushes back his hood and then casually locks the door he’s opened without a key.

“You ignored me!”

“What?”

“I texted you.”