Page 7 of Bad Kind of Love

Laughing, he leans in close. “After you ran off, I imagined it was you.” He confesses.

With bulged eyes, I keep my head down at all costs. “That’s ridiculous.”

“What’s ridiculous is that I never see you with a guy. What’s up with that?” He lifts his chin, studying me like he’s trying to figure me out.

“There’s nothing up with that… like it’s any of your business anyway.”

A sly grin appeared on his face, making it obvious he liked our little back and forth game. “You think I haven’t noticed you before that night?”

There was no way he did. He never even once glanced in my direction throughout all our high school years. I was basically invisible to him and the rest of the boys at Westwood.

“I’m not interested.”

“No?” He raises a dark brow like he’s egging me on.

“Not at all.”

Glancing around his frame, I notice his date, Bree, fuming as she watches our conversation from afar.

“Your total’s 9.50.” I announce, holding out my palm. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out his wallet and hands me a fifty. Placing the bill in my hand, he purposely brushes his fingertips across my palm.

“Keep the change.” He shoves his wallet back in his pocket.

“I’m not keeping that.” I scoff. “I’m not a charity case.”

“I never said you were.” He grabs both cups of ice cream. “I’ll see you around.” He winks before stalking off towards his irate date, who’s giving me a death stare. But as soon as Travis was is in her vicinity, she throws her arms around his neck, and pulls him down onto her lips for an over-the-top kiss. Rolling my eyes, I notice he doesn’t pull away at first. He lets her take charge, letting her run her fake nails down his back and peer over his shoulder with a satisfied twinkle in her eye. She was definitely trying to prove a point that didn’t need to be made.

Travis then pushes her away looking flustered and irritated by her advance, like seconds ago he wasn’t shoving his tongue down her throat. I watched as he leaned in, whispered something that caused her to frown and take a step back. As if he could feel my stare, Travis spun his head around and caught me watching.

Once again.

But this time, I didn’t back down. I stood my ground and leered back as they both made their way for the exit. Opening the door, he lets his date pass through, then stops. He holds the door with his foot.

“See you tomorrow, O’Connor.” He rubs the bottom of his lip, wiping away some chocolate that was stuck in the corner of his mouth. But what I didn’t expect, was for him to put that finger in his mouth and lick it clean.

Scoffing, I don’t bother saying anything back, just continue to focus on cleaning the counters till I hear the door close shut. Relieved he left, my heart began to beat at a normal pace again and I could finally relax.

By tomorrow, Travis will have already forgotten about me. Sure, he seemed to have had fun riling me up and making his date jealous but there’s no way he’d actually pursue me. If anything, he just wanted to get in my pants and get me out of his system. Too bad for him, he’s the last person on earth I’d sleep with.

******

As soon as the clock struck nine, I quickly went through my checklist of closing procedures and was out of there by nine thirty. Knowing tomorrow was going to be an early day for me, I hustled home in a record time of fifteen minutes. The lights were still on inside when I pulled up, so I knew Aunt Claire was sleeping here tonight instead of at her boyfriend’s place.

“Hey, sweetie. How was work?” She yawned, while pushing herself up into a seated position. Her short blonde hair was the same shade as mine, but dyed a darker color of brown underneath, giving her an edgier look. The resemblance between her and my dad was unbelievable, most people thought they were identical but they were only half siblings who shared the same mom.

“It was fine.” I fidget with the torn strings on my shoes trying to unlace them.

“How’s Shane doing?” She asks, running a hand through her bed head. Her and my dad always had a love-hate relationship. Growing up, she was the favored child. Good grades, obedient, and had a promising future, where my dad was the complete opposite.

“He’s good. I didn’t stay for too long though.” I toss my shoes into the small closet beside me.

“Hm.” She pushes herself off the couch, peering off into the distance like she wants to say more. “Well, let’s hope he gets his shit together once he gets out.”

Saying that was like hoping one day the Bears would win the super bowl, highly unlikely. Deep down, I had high hopes for him. That once he’s out, he’ll finally step up and be the man I knew he could be. But Aunt Claire couldn’t disagree more. She knew better than to believe that her brother could be a model citizen.

“Yah.” I nod, agreeing, not wanting to discuss it further. I loved my Aunt Claire. She was the mom I never had, but at times I wished she’d take a little more interest in wanting to visit my dad. After all they were siblings, and the rest of his family shit on him. Maybe knowing there’s people out there that care about him and want to see him succeed, he’d want to put effort in making a better life for himself.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” She squeals, running into the kitchen and coming back with a wrapped box in her hands. Sighing, I give her the “Why’d you get me something” look before taking the box from her grip. “It’s just a little something for your last first day of school tomorrow.” She grins.

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