The Not So Bad Boy: Give up EVERYTHING for a bad-boy charm?

by Raquel Belle

  In a perfect world, Hayley would’ve been happy with such a gesture. She’d been waiting her whole life for a man to cook her a nice meal and look after her, rather than the other way around, as had been the pattern in her previous relationships, but this just felt… wrong. Like Eric was trying too hard. Like he was compensating for something. But just what was he compensating for?

  Hayley pondered this as she changed into an old yellow cotton t-shirt and black yoga pants. Could Eric be cheating on her? It was true that he’d had to cancel two of their dates that week because some of his house showings had been rescheduled, but Hayley hadn’t thought anything of it. It’d happened before, and honestly, she’d been glad of the extra time to hang out with Kerry. They’d gotten drinks after work for the first time in what seemed like forever, and Hayley even had time to do some shopping after work one day, buying herself a new dress and eye shadow at a local boutique. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done something like that for herself.

  But Eric would never cheat on her. He still told her he loved her at least once a day, even though she’d told him she wasn’t ready to say it back yet. He texted her at lunch every day to see how she was doing, and even on the nights he had to work late, he always messaged her before she went to bed, even if he was still caught up at a showing. Those were not the actions of a cheater—were they?

  Hayley walked back out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. “Can I help with anything?” she asked, eyeing all the pots and pans littering the stove. She was a firm believer that whomever cooked didn’t have to do the dishes. It was how she’d been raised, and was one of the few rules from her parents’ house that she’d carried into adulthood. She wasn’t a particularly spirited cook, and had always considered herself much better at the washing-up part of the meal, but then again, no one she’d ever dated or lived with had created quite this level of mess. Just thinking about standing at the sink and hand-washing each and every pot, pan, spoon, and spatula made her feel as if she needed to sit down. This was one of the many times she wished her apartment had a dishwasher.

  “Nope, it’s nearly ready. Just go sit down and have some wine,” Eric said, kissing her on the cheek and nodding toward the kitchen table, which he’d laid with placemats Hayley had forgotten she owned and a large bottle of red wine. Hayley didn’t like red, but she poured herself a large glass regardless and plopped into a chair to watch Eric as he whisked, whipped, and mashed.

  The meal itself was delicious—the chicken was cooked perfectly, the mashed potatoes were soft and buttery, and the gravy was gorgeously silky. It was a delectable meal, but Hayley still couldn’t figure out why exactly Eric had made it. In all the time they’d been dating, he’d only cooked for her once. It had been chicken fajitas with one of those kits you buy in the grocery store, and while it had been delicious, it wasn’t exactly the gourmet feast that was now in front of Hayley. She couldn’t help feeling suspicious—why do something like this now, on a Friday night of all nights? Friday nights were for takeout and movies, easy cleanup and chilling in pajamas, not three course meals that left enough dishes to use up all the dish soap she had left on her counter.

  Because, as it turned out, the meal didn’t stop at the first course. Not only had Eric slaved away making the chicken and side dishes, he’d also crafted a Caesar salad, complete with homemade dressing, and a coconut-chocolate cake, which he’d hidden in a box on top of the fridge.

  “I wanted to make some butternut squash soup as well, but Whole Foods didn’t have any squashes I liked the look of.”

  Hayley nodded, like she understood the hardship of not finding the right soup squash, a problem she’d never had in her life. Wasn’t all butternut squash the same?

  Hayley was stuffed after just the main meal, but she couldn’t very well not take a slice of the cake. It was three layers of what looked like fudgy, devilish perfection, complete with coconut chocolate frosting and coconut shavings decorated across the top. One bite had Hayley moaning. “Tis ish sho good,” she mumbled, her mouth full of cake. Eric beamed across from her, obviously happy she was enjoying it. A man who could make a cake like this was obviously worth keeping, even if he had made a complete mess of her kitchen and entered her apartment without her permission.

  Which was why Hayley offered to do the dishes. Sure, it would take her three hours, but she couldn’t expect Eric to do it after the feast he’d crafted. “Go sit on the couch and choose something for us to watch on Netflix, okay? I’ll do the easy stuff and leave everything else to soak, and I’ll come join you.”

  “Okay, baby. Sure thing,” Eric said. Baby? Since when did he call her that? Hayley was thoroughly against such nicknames. They gave her the creeps. Baby, babe, honey—they all gave her a chill up her spine. Each and every one of her past boyfriends had tried to gift her with some term of endearment, and each of them had been met with a Kerry-level glare that quickly shut them up and kept them from ever uttering it again.

  Looks like Hayley was not only going to have to level Eric with that glare, but, given it was on the same topic, she was also going to have to lecture him about his use of the nickname, Hayl. He’d said it again earlier that week, in the middle of sex, and it had nearly kept Hayley from coming. She’d had to engage in some clandestine clitoral stimulation to make sure she came on time after the jolt of hearing “Oh, Hayl, yeah, that’s right, give it to me right there” because Eric was a talker in the bedroom, which normally, Hayley liked—she loved a bit of dirty talk—but with him, it was a never-ending stream of moans and pornstar-eque utterances that always threw her off her game.

  “Hey Eric?” she called from the kitchen.

  “Yeah, babe?” There he went again! What was with him tonight?

  “I don’t like being called ‘baby.’ Or ‘babe.’ Or ‘Hayl’. I’m not really into nicknames,” she said as Eric turned to look at her, bewilderment clear on his face.

  “Oh… sorry. I just, I assumed, you know…” He looked like a lost puppy, his eyes all wide and pathetic. It broke Hayley’s heart a little. He’d just spent hours slaving away for her, and here she was, telling him that he could take his nicknames and shove them where the sun don’t shine, thank you very much.

  “It’s totally fine!” she blurted out. “I just prefer my name, you know? But…” and she took a huge breath before saying, “Do you have any nicknames you like being called?”

  I never should have asked him that. Hayley thought later as Eric took her from behind. “It’s so good, Hayley… fuck, it’s so good,” he said as he pounded into her over and over again. “Tell me how good it is.”

  And Hayley, thanks to her own stupid big mouth, had to say, “It’s so good, Poopsie.” Because that was the nickname Eric wanted her to call him. Poopsie. The least sexy nickname on Earth. No one came from shouting “Poopsie!” No one imagined a sexy Adonis when their partner wanted to be called something that sounded very much like the name given to a miniature poodle with an incontinence problem. But Hayley had no one else but herself to blame. She was stuck in this relationship, with Eric, with Poopsie, and the only way she was going to be able to climax during sex now was if she thought of James. James would never ask her to call him that. James wasn’t a nickname guy, she could tell. As Eric thrust into her one last time, his own orgasm taking over, Hayley collapsed gratefully on the bed, looking forward to Monday, when she could once again spend time with a real man.

  Chapter Seven

  “Teacher’s night out this Friday?” were the first words both Hayley and James read on their phones when they both woke up, in their separate beds, on Monday morning. And both of them grinned, excited by the possibility of seeing each other out in the wild, as it were, away from school and work and in a social setting.

  Hayley’s imagination was rampant as she showered for work that morning. What did James wear when he went out on the town? Tight jeans that showed off his ass? A t-shirt that put his tattoos on display? The possibilities were endless, and all of
them made her wet and wanting.

  The week passed at a glacial pace. Lessons seemed endless, recess interminable, and Hayley was counting down the seconds until she and James were together at the bar. She’d confirmed that he was going early on in the week. “Hell yeah,” was his answer. “I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone a bit better.” He’d given her an innocent smile then, but Hayley had wished it was seeped in deeper meaning, that he’d meant that he wanted to get to know her better. Images of them stood close in a secluded corner of some club, their bodies nearly pressing together, their lips almost touching, flashed unbidden in her head throughout the week, and she was powerless to stop them.

  “So. Broken up with Eric yet?” Kerry asked on Wednesday at lunch. The weather was lovely that day, crisp but warm thanks to the ample sunshine, so they were sitting outside on a bench at the back of the school.

  “Not exactly. He’s just been so sweet lately. I told you about the dinner he made me, right?”

  Kerry nodded, chewing on her salad. “Yes, you did, and I believe I said it sounded like the dinner you make for someone when you can tell they’re leaving or about to leave.”

  Hayley gave Kerry side eye as she took another bite of her sandwich. She chewed and then said, “So presumably you remember me saying that Eric would never leave me, because he loves me?”

  Kerry put down her container of salad and turned to Hayley. “Yes, but do you love him? Because if you don’t, then you need to end it. It’s okay to be single, Hayley. Even if things don’t work out with James, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It’s better to be alone than with someone you don’t love, and it’s not fair to Eric. He’s a bit of an odd ball, but he deserves someone who feels as strongly for him as he does for them.”

  Hayley harrumphed and went back to eating her sandwich. Yes, it was definitely the right thing to do to break up with Eric, but that didn’t mean it was easy. He was kind to her, and she was still not used to guys being like that. She just wanted to hold onto him a little longer, until she’d gotten her confidence to a place where she could be alone without freaking out that she’d end up a lonely spinster with no one to love.

  She said as much to Kerry, and instead of responding, Kerry leveled her with a heart-piercing stare, a raised eyebrow, and then gathered her lunch and walked back into school. Hayley spent the rest of her lunch break staring out at the budding flowers and bushes surrounding her, willing them to give her a sign, an answer to how the hell she was supposed to get her life together.

  ***

  Friday night finally came, and Hayley packed up her makeup and clothes and walked to Kerry’s to get ready at her apartment. She’d been carefully planning her outfit all week, wanting to find the perfect ensemble that exuded sexiness without trying too hard or requiring a lot of underwire. She’d finally settled on a black silk body-con dress with a jean jacket and leopard-print wedges. A black lace balconette bra and booty shorts completed the look because she needed the confidence only sexy lingerie could provide. Kerry had curled her hair for her so it fell in ringlets down her back, and she’d gone for a subtle, smoky eye and her signature, peach lip-gloss.

  Kerry was a fan of the classic style, so she too had gone for a little black dress, but she’d accessorized hers with a leather jacket, red lipstick, fishnets, and peep-toe black patent leather pumps. She was an absolute knockout. Her opinion was echoed by Kerry’s girlfriend, Samantha, who was leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom she and Kerry shared as the girls got ready.

  “Damn, I pick ‘em good,” Samantha said as she gave Kerry a once-over. Kerry flicked her hair over her shoulder, walked over to Samantha, and gave her a hot, wet kiss that made Hayley blush.

  “Geez! Save it for later!” Hayley joked, and Kerry and Samantha laughed. They’d met one night when Kerry was on what she described as the worst date of all time. Samantha had been bartending at the bar where she and her date had gone, and she’d ditched her date at the end of the night and ended up in bed with Samantha. It’d been four years, and they were still just as in love as when they first met. They were Hayley’s goal relationship, both best friends and lovers in equal measure.

  “I’ll be home by three, okay?” Kerry told Samantha over her shoulder as she and Hayley walked toward the door.

  “As long as you come back in that outfit, I don’t care when you come home,” Samantha said with a smile, waving the girls goodbye and wishing them a fun night.

  Kerry had planned the night to start at a local bar close to the downtown area. From there, they could choose one of about thirty clubs nearby. Hayley wasn’t a huge fan of clubs, preferring the low-key atmosphere of sports bars and the occasional wine bar, but she had long ago accepted that any night on the town that included the staff of Brightside had to include a dance club. It was the only chance that some of the teachers, especially the ones with kids of their own, got to blow off some steam, and because Samantha owned a dance club further south of the city, all Kerry had to do was mention her girlfriend’s name to bartenders and she was rewarded with free shot after free shot.

  Kerry and Hayley walked into the bar to find many of the teachers already posted up at a table off to the right. Hayley’s eyes immediately went to James. He was wearing the outfit she’d hoped he’d have on: a tight t-shirt that showed off his sculpted biceps and the gorgeous ink swirling around his arms, fitted jeans that, despite the table blocking them from view, she knew would show his legs to advantage, and a leather jacket slung over his arm. His hair was messy, a just-rolled-out-of-bed look that made Hayley immediately think, for perhaps the millionth time, about what he might be like in bed. She shook off those thoughts though; worried they’d make her blush too obviously. She needed to keep her cool tonight around James. They were just friends, just co-workers. Nothing more. She would not imagine him naked tonight. Definitely, definitely not.

  “I’ll get us drinks. You head over,” Kerry said, giving Hayley a wink as she sauntered up to the bar. Hayley walked over to the table and said hello to everyone, though her eyes kept catching James’. He and one of the pre-K teachers were chatting about ice hockey and how the Chicago Blackhawks were doing.

  “I definitely think they can make the playoffs. They’ve had a few hiccups this season, but I think they can pull through,” James said, taking a swill of his Heineken.

  “I dunno, man. That game against the Ducks was pretty brutal. I’m not sure they can come back from that,” Andrew, the pre-K teacher responded.

  Their conversation continued in that vein for another ten minutes. Hayley took the opportunity to catch up with a few of the other Kindergarten teachers, comparing war stories of who’d been peed on the most that semester.

  “Definitely me. Alice Hannigan has ruined four of my skirts with her incontinence. I feel for her, but I also feel for my dry cleaning bill,” Lydia, the teacher whose classroom was across from Hayley’s said as she gulped down some of her vodka cranberry.

  Hayley laughed, glad that she’d managed to avoid the same fate this year. It was a hazard of the job, but one she’d thankfully mostly avoided with her class this year.

  She was saved from more shoptalk by Kerry, who walked over with their drinks. “Vodka cranberry for you, gin and tonic for me,” she said and tapped her glass against Hayley’s before taking a sip. Kerry sauntered over to Andrew and began asking him about his new house. He’d just moved to the suburbs, and Kerry’s sister, a real estate agent in the area, had helped him find the property.

  This gave Hayley the perfect opportunity to steal James’ attention. “Hey” was the best opening she could come up with. Christ, she needed to work on her openers. She took a sip of her drink, hoping the alcohol would fortify her. A powerful hit of vodka got her in the throat—Kerry had obviously gotten her a double, and for once, Hayley was grateful, because it allowed her to look up and into James’ sexy eyes with confidence and see that he, too, was a little uneasy. She felt better knowing she wasn’t alone in her awkwardnes
s.

  “Weird seeing teachers outside of school, right?” he ventured, laughing self-consciously as he took a long pull from his beer.

  “Ha. Yeah. Is Dan here?” Hayley asked. She was hoping James would say no. She loved spending time with Dan, but the few times he’d come to a teacher’s night out, she hadn’t been able to fully relax. Everyone else seemed fine getting trashed around him, but she didn’t feel she could in good conscience get wasted in front of her boss, mentor, and superior and still expect the same level of respect from him come Monday morning. She breathed a sigh of relief when James shook his head, indicating that Dan was skipping the night out. “He and Lucy are up at their cabin in Michigan this weekend. They’re getting it ready for spring. It’s a shame—this is actually one of his favorite bars.”

  “Really?” Hayley asked. She’d been for a drink with Dan and his wife numerous times over the years, but they’d never gone here. They usually stuck to a sports bar closer to Lucy’s office.

  “Yeah, my dad and I used to meet him here all the time after we closed the shop for the day.” James’ life pre-teaching was something Hayley always wanted to learn more about. Really, she just wanted to know more about him in general. He mentioned his dad often, but never said what he was doing now that their tattoo shop had closed, so Hayley took the opportunity to ask more about the man James mentioned so often.

  “So what does your dad do now that the shop is closed?”

  James’ eyes turned sad, and his smile dimmed. “He… he died. Last year. Heart attack while he was doing a cycle race for charity.”

  Hayley was speechless. She felt so guilty. Why did she have to open her big mouth and ask such a personal question, especially in such a social setting? Bars were for meaningless chitchat, not this.