The rest of the day passed slowly. I found myself looking forward to our fake date on Friday night and didn’t know why. When class was over for the day, I made my way out to the parking lot to wait for Ryder. After ten minutes, I was beginning to worry. The school was almost empty, and he was nowhere to be seen. He was never late.
I pulled out my phone to call him when I suddenly caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up to see Ryder walking toward me with blood running down his face.
“Ryder, what happened? Are you okay?” I rushed over to meet him. I reached up and gently touched the side of his face, inspecting the cut on his eyebrow and apologising when he winced in pain. It didn’t look too deep, but it would need to be cleaned. His cheek was red, and a bruise was starting to form under his eye.
“Sorry for making you wait, love. I’m okay now. Let’s just go home.” He wrapped one arm around my shoulders and pressed a kiss to my head despite the fact that he was the injured one. Shouldn’t I be kissing him better?
“Love?” I asked, putting my arm around his waist and leading him to his car.
“Yeah, you don’t like B unless the tool’s around, so I needed a name for you when no one is around.” And he chose love? He could call me Bailey. Love was a weird choice, but I liked it when it came from his lips.
“Okay,” I said, climbing into the car next to him. “Wanna tell me why you’re bruised and bleeding?”
“Chace. He jumped me from behind before I saw it coming,” he said, turning the car on and pulling out of the lot and heading in the direction of my house.
“He didn’t?” I gasped. I was angry at Chace for stooping that low, but I guessed he knew he wouldn’t have had a chance against Ryder if it was a fair fight.
“He did, but it’s fine. He’s a lot worse off than me anyway.” Ryder grinned, and I nodded. I was surprisingly glad that Chace was hurt more than Ryder. I’d never been one to condone violence, but Chace needed his arse kicked. How could I have ever loved him?
Loved? Not love. Loved? I don’t even like him anymore. In fact, I thoroughly despised him. Oh my God! I am over him. When did this happen?
“Bailey? Hey, are you listening?” Ryder was saying something, but I hadn’t heard him. My mind was focused on the fact that not only did I despise Chace, but I no longer loved him. I felt free. Like a weight had been lifted. It’s funny, I always thought that expression was stupid, but it was true. I felt lighter, happier, and no longer cared. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Oh, uhm, nothing, I just…I’m…I…I never mind,” I stuttered. I didn’t want to tell Ryder what I had just realised. I think I was worried that if I told him, he would want to pull the plug on this whole fake relationship, but I wasn’t ready for that. Even though I didn’t love Chace anymore, it still hurt knowing he chose Christina over me, but that pain disappeared when Ryder was around. Besides, I’d gotten so used to him being in my life, I didn’t want to lose him yet. I knew that when we would eventually break up, we would have to keep our distance. You couldn’t remain friends with an ex, even if he was a fake ex. I didn’t want to lose Ryder as a friend. When did this whole thing get so complicated and messy?
“Hey, we’re here. Damn it, Bailey. What’s wrong? You’ve been silent since I told you what happened. I’m sorry I punched him if that’s what’s got you upset.” He reached over and grabbed my hand.
Upset? No, I wasn’t upset. Well, I was but not about him punching Chace again. Chace deserved it.
“No, it’s not that. He deserves it anyway. Uhm, I just, I…” I started to tell him I realised I was over Chace, but I chickened out. “Are you sure you’re okay? Wanna come in and let me patch that up?” I asked hopefully. He gave me a confused look before shaking his head.
“Nah. It’s fine. Nothing I can’t fix myself.” He smiled that half smile of his when something amused him.
“Oh, okay. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow? And tomorrow night, yeah?” I asked nervously. My stomach fluttered at the idea of a date with Ryder, and even though it was fake, I was looking forward to it. Only, I wasn’t sure he was anymore. Not after Chace’s jump.
“Of course. I really want to piss him off now.” Ryder’s voice had dropped to a low growl. “If you still want to go?” he asked, releasing my hand and putting both of his on the steering wheel.
He looked…I didn’t know how he looked. Not angry or sad. Defeated, maybe. Like he was losing a game. I didn’t like that look. I liked the happy Ryder. The fun Ryder. The confident Ryder.
“Yes,” I whispered before leaning over and turning his face to mine. “I want to go still.”
I crushed my mouth to his, catching us both off guard, but it only took a second before one of his hands found its way around my neck, and he was winding his fingers into my hair. His other hand was digging into my hips, pulling me closer. I realised that I was kissing him outside of my house, where we no longer needed to pretend. I tried to pull away, but Ryder held me closer. I had no choice but to just enjoy the moment and hope it didn’t ruin things.
Ryder released his grip, and I pulled back, leaving us both panting for breath. I opened the door and climbed out of the car before he could see my embarrassment or question why I’d kissed him just then. I couldn’t answer him if he did. I didn’t know why I’d done it.
I didn’t turn around until I was inside and closing the front door, but Ryder was still parked in my driveway, and I could see him tracing his fingers over his lips while they curled into a small smile. Just as I was about close the door completely, he stuck his head out the window with a big grin on his face.
“See you in the a.m., love.”