Page 83 of Bullied By The Bad Boy

“I won’t,” Maria promises. With the way Ben is staring at her, she dares not say otherwise.

Ben’s gaze lowers to my face, and my heart thumps against my ribcage. I know I told him not to ignore me, but this is too much. He is holding my hand! I move in front of him to block my view of the small crowd that has gathered to watch us. He pecks me again, and my knees turn to jelly.

His hand snakes around my waist to steady me. “Are you okay?” he whispers. Is he kidding me? How can I be okay when he’s being so touchy in front of everyone? I manage a shaky nod, and he winks. Jesus. “How was your weekend?” I open my mouth, but it seems I have lost my ability to talk. His blue eyes flash with mischief. He flicks a finger over my nose and chuckles. “Guess what I found?”

I forget about everything but us. We are in our world, and Ben is the only person who matters. A childish excitement washes over me, I bounce on my toes, and his eyes light up with equal joy.

“What?”

“It’s called a guess for a reason,” he says. I push myself on my toes and press a kiss to his nose. Ben sighs, but I can’t think right now. “You have to guess, Gracie. You didn’t even try. Guess.”

A poke on my side drags me out of our bubble. I glower at a frowning Maria, and Ben’s gaze alternates between us. She mutters an apology and steps back, as she should have done long ago.

We are back to our bubble. Ben’s hands reach behind him, and he whispers, “Close your eyes.”

I oblige him. With Ben, I can’t think straight. Something cold settles on my neck. I pry my eyes open and stare at the object. Hayden’s necklace. Tears well up in my eyes and drop to my cheek. I missed my necklace. Ben offers me a big smile. I punch his shoulder hard, and he jumps back.

“Normal people would say thank you, Gracie,” he teases, thumb brushing the tears on my cheek.

“Normal people wouldn’t take my necklace in the first place.” He squints. “Fine. Thank you.”

Ben’s chest puffs like I said more than thanks. He swings his arm around my shoulders, guiding me toward our class. For the first time, I notice we are alone. When did Maria leave?

I have a lot of questions to answer. Questions I don’t have answers to because I don’t completely understand Ben. It’s like he switched to a new personality after our talk. I steal a glance at him as he rambles about something Asher did. I should speak my mind more often if it will yield positive results like this.

“Did I scare your friend?” he asks when we are in front of my class. I peek inside. It’s empty, and I don’t bother to go in. A part of me wants everyone to see us together. The perfect mismatched pair.

“Maybe,” I reply.

Ben must have had the same silly thought as me. He curls his arms around my waist and tucks his head into the crook of my neck. The hallway is empty, so we have it to ourselves. I hook my arms on his waist, closing my eyes as the need to understand our relationship hits me.

“What are we?” I ask without breaking the hug. He’s big, warm, and cuddly. I like it and can get used to it.

Ben captures my lips in a brief kiss, and I am left breathless by the time we come up for air.

“My Gracie. My babe,” he answers. Ben presses his forehead to mine, his perfect dentition on display, and my heart riots in my chest. My back arches against the wall. He pecks my lips again and again until I melt against him. I can get used to this. “So? Does that answer your question?”

Not entirely.

We kissed. He called me his babe, his Gracie. Babe, not girlfriend. They are not the same. People use babe even with friends. We still haven’t defined our relationship. Are we friends with benefits? As appealing as that might sound, I want something more intimate and explicit from him. Like a relationship status. Are we dating now? Must he ask me out before I can call him my boyfriend? I mean, he walked me to class. He pecked me in front of everyone. Those are boyfriend duties.

“Yes.” I place my hands on his chest to feel his heartbeat. He bites my nose. “It does, babe.”

Someone clears their throat, and we jump apart to see Abigail glaring at us. “This is a school, not a brothel.” Ben snickers, and her irritation heightens. She redirects her gaze to me. “You should take your shenanigans elsewhere. Some of us would like to study without fear of getting an STD.”

Abigail shoves me out of the way before I can think of a proper comeback. Of course, I am the one who has to bear the brunt of her anger. Ben snaps out of his trance when she jams the door close. I stop him from going after her, and he frowns down at me. She’s not worth it.

A breath leaves his lips. His chest falls and rises. “Just ignore her, Gracie. She’s upset I’m off the market.” My heart slams against my chest. Did he just say what I think he did? That he is off the market. Wow, it’s official. Ben is mine. I press a kiss to his lips, then another. “What was that for?”

“For being the best babe a girl could ask for,” I answer.

Ben kisses a corner of my lips and offers me his hand. “Ready to go in?”

I glance at the end of the hallway. I shouldn’t have.

A chill travels down my spine. I swallow hard as Olivia’s blood-red lips move into an evil smirk. We haven’t spoken since that night. She makes a slicing motion across her neck and winks.

Crazy bitch.

---