Page 81 of Loved By The Bad Boy

“Okay, Mommy.”

Ben spreads my legs apart. He is distracting me, but I like it.

“I’m serious, Tessa. Check later.”

I roll my eyes, and he laughs. He is lucky he doesn’t have a dramatic best friend. Oh, wait. I’m his best friend, a closeted dramatic. “Okay, Maria. I’ll check my DM, I promise. Love you.”

“Love you too. Say hi to Ben. Bye,” she says, all in one breath.

After the call ends, I reopen my Instagram. There are more likes already. I don’t understand how this works. Do people just sit by their phones and tap the like button on any picture? It’s so unreal.

Ben snatches my phone from me. “Enough.”

“Sorry.” But I don’t sound apologetic. “I have fifteen thousand likes on my picture, Benny.”

He mimics an explosion sound. “Fifteen thousand.”

The gleam in his eyes stops me from poking his cheek. I lower my voice to sound like Maria. “Your girlfriend will be so popular.” Ben snorts with laughter. I run my fingers through his hair, pushing them all over his forehead. “Wait until you need my autograph. I’m gonna charge you.”

Feigning hurt, he places his hand on his chest. “Aw, babe. No boyfriend privileges?”

“I’ll think about it.” Before he comments, I add, “I love you.”

“I love you more. Can we please go now?”

The table is clean. Someone must have come in while we were talking. I take Ben’s hand and grab my small purse. He collects and throws it over his shoulder, looking out of place with it.

One look at Ben’s face, and I know he doesn’t care what anyone will say. I mean, this guy wore a crop top with an almost low waist jeans to school. We are about to open the door, but it swings on its own. Noah steps inside, and everything Olivia told me comes rushing in. He fucked up.

Knowing what he did, I can’t pretend around him. I step back while they greet and play catchup. We will never be cool, but a bigger part of me wants to understand why he posted that video. Ben throws me a questioning look, but I drag him out before Noah infects him with his evilness.

Humans are weird. Being nice to a person doesn’t guarantee they will also be nice to you, and it is kind of sad. I have been nothing but nice to Noah. For God’s sake, I gave him another chance.

Ben’s eyes bore holes into me as we trek to his car. Once seated, he asks, “What happened back there?” He helps me with my seatbelt and kisses on my cheek. “Didn’t you two use to be cool?”

I almost laugh at the progress of our relationship. Once upon a time, Ben was jealous of Noah because he thought I liked the fool. Those memories are best left in the past, where they belong.

“Yeah, we did. But life happened.” I will him to start the car, but he halts without putting on his seatbelt. My heart beats faster. This is a topic I don’t want to revisit. Fuck Noah. “Let’s go, babe.”

As far as Ben is concerned, Olivia didn’t put up the video, but he doesn’t know it was his friend who did. Olivia didn’t tell me why, and I was too shocked to ask why. I can’t think of a motive.

I force Ben’s seatbelt in place, but he unfastens it. “Benny. Just drive. Let’s go home.”

“We are not going anywhere until you tell me what happened. Did he touch—” I shake my head fast. Noah isn’t that awful. Well, who knows? He’s an unripe potato. “Gracie, please just tell me. Why don’t you two talk anymore? Noah is among my best buds. We played football together.”

I am fully aware of that, which is why I find it harder to swallow.

“And when you were gone, he was there for me, kind of. If he did anything, please tell me.”

“Noah didn’t really do anything. He didn’t touch me.” Anger curtains Ben’s face, and I tuck my hands between my legs. I don’t like this. Ben grounds his teeth in frustration. Here we go. “You remember I told you I saw Olivia? Well, she told me she didn’t put up that video. Noah did.”

Thirty-Five

Ben is quiet.If someone asked what superpower I wanted right now, I would pick mind reading.

The silence is nearly suffocating. Ben’s knuckles have turned white from gripping the steering too hard. I battle with my thoughts for a few minutes, then touch his arm. “Benny. What is it?”

He holds a hand up. I gulp. I didn’t do anything wrong. Why is he mad at me when it’s Noah’s fault? He puts a call to Olivia, interrupting the silence that settles over us. My nails dig into my knees. I try not to overthink it, but my palms sweat. The call connects, and he puts it on speaker.

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