Betting On Love

by Danielle Dickson

  She pouts her full lips, mocking me. “Aww, you should’ve thought about that before feeding me poisoned Oreos.”

  “It was mayonnaise, everyone likes mayo.”

  “Not with my Oreos,” she retorts. “Anyway, I’d love to stop and chat but I have to get to work.”

  She starts her engine and I bang on her door. “Billie, don’t leave me here.”

  She flips me off and drives off leaving me to pull out my cell and call a cab.

  I walk into the hall half an hour after the rest of the guys arrive at the school, and although I’m technically the boss at the moment so it doesn’t matter that I arrived a little late, I still hate it. I should be setting an example.

  I’ll get her back for this.

  “Two-hundred more metres, guys, that’s it!” I shout.

  Lord give me strength to survive this class. It’s painful watching fifteen-year-olds barely able to run twice around the track. I blow my whistle and they all walk over slowly to me so I blow my whistle again, impatiently, making them speed up to a slow jog.

  “Your homework is to run for ten minutes every single day,” I say and they all groan. “You can moan all you want, but I’ll know if you’re not doing it. If you don’t improve in my class, then what’s the point in you all being here? You come to school to better yourselves, do you not?” Some nod and some mumble “yes.” “Well then, better yourself! Summer is in four weeks and you can relax and have the time of your lives then, but ten-minute running homework starts from today, anyone that doesn’t want to do that should seriously think about whether they want to take my class again next year. I don’t like being harsh, but if that’s what you need then that’s what I’ll be. Class dismissed.”

  I link my hands behind my neck and blow out a long breath. I hope they take my advice, I don’t want any of them to drop my class, but that’s not my decision to make. I want to help teens better their lifestyles, if you drill it into them now it’s more likely that it’ll stick with them. It’s part of the reason I became a teacher.

  “Miss Tyrant, I like your style,” a deep voice rings out from behind me.

  I turn around to see the brunt of my joke this morning. “What are you doing here, Mac? You can’t just be hanging around school children, it’s weird.”

  His back straightens. “Whoa, I work here too, remember.”

  “For the time being, yeah. So back to my original question, what are you doing here?”

  “I just wanted to come and warn you that it’s on like Donkey Kong. What you did to my car?” He shakes his head. “Not cool.”

  I snort with laughter. “I thought it looked pretty cool.” I dig my mobile out of my pocket and show him my Facebook picture I uploaded when I got to school this morning. “And so do over a thousand people.”

  He pulls my mobile out of my hand. “You put it on Facebook? How many— One thousand three hundred shares already!”

  I giggle at the look on his face; it’s priceless. “I told you I’d get you back.”

  He grins and points at me with my mobile and I take it back from him. “You did say that. Touché, Billie, but expect retaliation in the highest form.”

  I roll my eyes as I start to walk away so that I can get ready for my next class. “If you can come up with something better, I’ll gladly name you ‘Prank King.’”

  “You can start calling me it now then. Hey, I haven’t got your number so the whole ‘talk twenty-four seven’ thing isn’t going to work.” I stop walking and reel off my number to him and he grins wickedly, pressing his screen. My mobile rings in my hand and I look down at the unknown number. “Just checking you didn’t give me a dud number.”

  “Would I do that?” I ask, acting coy.

  He raises a brow and moves closer to me. “I think out of everyone I could think of, you’d be the one to do that. I’ll see you tonight?” When I don’t answer straight away he says, “Come on, Billie, it’s not a trick question, I’m not holding a grudge about this morning so you owe me another date.”

  “I owe you? No, I got you back for feeding me mayo-flavoured Oreos.”

  “Just be ready to go out tonight,” he chuckles.

  “Okay then, pick me up at six.”

  “I’ll be there at five to,” he whispers, kissing me on the cheek before pulling away and winking at me, sauntering off toward the back of the building where all the renovations are being done.

  I swear I can still feel his lips softly brushing my cheek and heat creeps up my neck at the thought. It’s just a bet. So why do I feel like I’m going back on my word to myself? I said I’d stay away from guys and this is doing the total opposite of that. But as I walk in the opposite direction to him, I realise my heart was pounding the whole time with excitement and, dare I say it, lust.

  It doesn’t surprise me when, true to his word, there’s a knock on my door at five to six. I smooth my hands down my black skinny jeans and my black-and-white-striped top. I’ve purposely wore a low-cut top and tight jeans to tease him, I am not losing this bet.

  I open the door and I can’t help it, I turn to goo as I take in what he’s wearing. Loose, ripped, light denim jeans are slung low on his hips and he’s wearing a similar Henley top to the one he wore the other night with the sleeves pushed halfway up showing his tan, muscular forearms. His dark hair flecked with lighter colours is pulled back into a man bun and he has a grin on his face that would have the stuck-up mums at school ripping off their clothes just to grab his attention. Not me though, he doesn’t affect me at all.

  I clear my throat as I grab my bag and turn around to lock up. “So, what are we doing?”

  “Firstly, hi. Secondly, you look beautiful. And thirdly, follow me.”

  The butterflies in my stomach at him calling me beautiful throws me off course and I stumble slightly, him steadying me as we walk toward the lift, but he doesn’t stop there, he walks past it to the stairs going up to the next floor. “Err, you’re going the wrong way.”

  He turns around and chuckles. “Am I?”

  I follow him anyway and we end up outside the roof door, looking at a “no entry” sign.

  I smirk. “Looks like we’re not allowed up here.”

  “Sure we are,” he says, opening up the door and walking through it.

  I hesitate to follow him. “Mac, there’s a sign clearly saying we aren’t.”

  He reappears and takes my hand, giving me a cheeky grin. “Who do you think put the sign there?”

  I laugh at him and let him pull me through the door and onto the roof; it’s still warm out and the sun is sitting low over the city skyline in the distance. It’s beautiful.

  I feel warm hands wrap around my arms from behind and I shiver as he brushes his thumbs up the inside of them.

  “Come on, I want to show you something,” he whispers in my ear.

  He turns me around and I take in the setup he’s obviously spent time doing today after work. There’s little fairy lights strung up around a white wooden table and chairs, and on the table is place settings for two with a six pack of Bud sitting proudly in the middle. Beside them is a trolley that looks like a food warmer and I feel him come up behind me again when I don’t say anything. I find myself leaning back into his strong chest automatically.

  “Falling in love with me yet?” he whispers in my ear, his breath sending shivers down my spine. Butterflies swarm my belly and I chastise myself, keep it cool, you’re not losing this bet.

  “Actually, no. Nice setup, but I still know you’re going to lose,” I retort, sticking out my bottom lip at him in a mock pout and sitting down in one of the chairs.

  He laughs and shakes his head before opening us up a beer each and serving up our takeaway pizza.

  I raise a brow and he shrugs. “What? I had all this to make look pretty, I didn’t have time to cook as well.”

  Laughing, I take a slice and hesitate before biting into it. “You’ve not salted this or done anything to it, have you?”

  He chuckl
es and leans over the table, taking a bite of the slice I’m holding. “Nope. You’re safe… for now.”

  I roll my eyes and take a bite, tasting the cheesy goodness. I pick up another piece and I notice he’s staring at me. “What?”

  “Just wondering how someone of your size can put away so much.”

  I give him a smug look, biting into the slice I’m holding. “I like to eat what I want when I want, within reason, of course.”

  “Is that why you like to keep in such good shape?”

  “Partly, but that’s mainly just because I love working out. I’ve always been active as far back as I can remember.”

  He nods. “I try to work out as much as I can too; believe it or not, I carried a few extra pounds in my teens.”

  “Yeah, right,” I say, rolling my eyes. I couldn’t imagine him as anything other than the towering figure of muscle he is.

  “No, honestly I—”

  My mobile starts ringing from my bag and he motions for me to answer it. “Are you sure? It’s my mum, I’ll just tell her I’ll call her back tomorrow.”

  He smiles and waves me off. “Go talk to her, I can wait.”

  I hesitate for a second before answering the call. “Hey, Mum, everything alright?”

  “Billie, darling. Yes of course everything’s alright, I’ve just had something on my mind all day yesterday and today. I wanted to apologise about me being so forward the other night. I know you don’t like to talk to me about sex but I just can’t help it, it’s my job.”

  I cringe when I see the smirk on Mac’s face. “Err, actually, Mum, this isn’t a good time to talk about that.”

  “Oh, Billie, it’s just sex. It’s completely natural—”

  “Mum!” I’ve no doubt gone a hundred shades of red by now.

  “It is. If you don’t want to have sex with that fine specimen of a man, then you don’t have to. Although I—”

  Mac snorts out a laugh and spits out his drink on the floor.

  “Not the time, so not the time,” I squeak out in reply.

  “Fine, I just wanted to apologise and say that I’m always here when you’re ready to talk.”

  I sigh and shoot Mac an apologetic smile but he just grins back at me and winks. Arse. “Yup, got it. I’ve really got to go but I’ll give you a ring tomorrow when I finish work, okay?”

  “Alright then, love. We can talk about you moving back then, yeah?”

  I sigh. “No, Mum, I live here now.”

  “I know, sweetheart, I just miss you that’s all. I…” She hesitates clearly not sure whether she should continue what she’s saying, but she does anyway. “I bumped into Jessica and Callum yesterday, they asked how you were doing, of course I told them to shove their questions where the sun don’t shine, but I just thought I should let you know.”

  And just like that, the wound I’ve worked so hard to close over the past two months is opened back up; although it was never really closed, it was just pushed to the back of my mind. I moved to a different country to try and get as far away from the situation as possible; I isolated myself from all my friends and family, desperately trying to keep the hole closed, until now.

  I clear my throat and turn around in my chair, facing away from Mac, wondering what I should say.

  “Billie? Are you still there?”

  “Yes, Mum, I’m still here, but I need to go.”

  “I can’t hear you properly, sweetheart, you’ll have to speak up. Hello? Oh, bollocks. Ed? I think I’ve broke the phone again,” Mum shouts down her end.

  I laugh unexpectedly. “I think you’ve just turned the volume down.”

  She ignores me and starts swearing at the phone so I pull it away from my ear.

  “Phone trouble?” Mac asks, holding in a laugh.

  “She’s technologically challenged, I can guarantee this happens almost every phone call we have,” I reply, turning to face him again now that I’ve got my emotions under control.

  “Hello? Billie? Wilhemina?”

  My eyes widen as Mac spits out his drink again on a laugh, I shoot him a glare that says don’t you dare and he carries on choking on his beer. “Mum, if you can hear me then I’ll give you a ring tomorrow. Love you.”

  I hang up and send Dad a quick text to let him know to be around when I call her tomorrow, letting them both know I love and miss them. And I do, so much.

  I place my mobile on the table and cross my arms in front of me, waiting for Mac to say something. I can see the amusement clawing its way through him, ready to burst out at any moment.

  “Your real name is Wilhemina?” he finally asks.

  And there it is.

  I sigh. “My full name is, but it’s shortened to Billie. So as far as you know, my name is just Billie, okay?”

  He stifles a laugh. “Whatever you say… Wilhemina.”

  I stick two fingers up at him and he laughs some more. I look down at my remaining pizza, ignoring him, but I don’t have much of an appetite anymore.

  “You okay?” Mac asks, his laughter dying down.

  “So, what else do you have up your sleeve?” I try steering the conversation onto something else.

  He grasps that I don’t want to talk about it and thankfully goes with it. “Dessert is downstairs at my place, you up for something sweet?”

  I narrow my eyes at him and decide to play up to his underlying question, bending forward over the table so my boobs are in direct line of his gaze. His eyes widen and he struggles to pull his eyes away to meet mine as I say, “I’m always up for something sweet,” as seductively as I can.

  He jumps up and I stand and follow him as he opens the door for me, letting me go down the stairs first and grabbing my hand as we walk to his apartment. He opens his door which actually only happens to be a few doors down from mine, who knew?

  I hesitate before walking inside, the butterflies flying around my stomach alert me to the fact that I’m nervous. There’s something about Mac that I can’t quite decipher, he gives off mixed vibes and sometimes it feels like he’s fighting to keep up this cocky persona when in reality, his softer, chilled-out side is more appealing.

  I shake off any unwanted feelings; he’s made his intentions clear, as long as I try to stay impassive, I’ll be fine. I walk in before him and I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe a dirty bachelor pad? But instead I’m greeted with a huge apartment that has an urban, homely feel to it.

  The walls have been stripped back to their original brick and it’s all open plan, showing the rustic walnut benches of his kitchen and wrought iron and wood stools that sit beside it. It has a large living area space with burgundy chesterfields sitting in front of a brick, electric fireplace and a huge bookcase right in the middle of the biggest wall.

  “Wow,” I breathe out, it really is incredible.

  He gives me a small smile. “Mi casa es su casa. Take a look around while I get dessert ready if you want to.”

  He flips a switch and a ceiling fan hanging low, just above the living area, spins to life, dissipating the warm air that’s collected during the hot day.

  I walk more into the apartment and sulk a little, it comes with an incredible view and is much better than mine. I walk up to the floor-length, black-framed windows and marvel at the view he has of the city skyline. Walking around the perimeter of the large room, I get to see the apartment from this angle, and there’s more surprises.

  On the other side of the wall you couldn’t see when you walked in is four floating stairs and a small square platform that leads to a ladder that looks like it’s made from metal pipes. Up above there seems to be a platform area and my curiosity gets the better of me. I walk over to the stairs and start to climb, until a hand wraps around my wrist and pulls me back, stopping me.

  “Ah, ah, ah. Patience, Billie,” Mac says.

  I frown. “What’s up there?”

  He hands me a bottle of Bud and motions to follow him into the kitchen. “I’ll show you sometime.”

  I po
ut, my curiosity screaming at me to find out now, but I give in and follow him.

  We walk into the kitchen and I see he has all the trimmings laid out for a chocolate fondue. Yum!

  I sit at one side of his breakfast bar and he sits at the other, waiting for me to go first. I pick up an Oreo and screw the top off, checking there’s no mayonnaise in these ones. He laughs and I roll my eyes and dip it into the melted chocolatey goodness, popping it into my mouth. “Oh my God, this is so good.”

  I watch her intently as she licks the chocolate from her lips and all I can say is that I’m glad I’m on the other side of this counter right now. I know it’s too soon to try anything with her, she’s guarded right now, but I will loosen her up. I can see there’s a side to her that is carefree and fun, she just needs to let herself go. I skewer a strawberry and cover it in chocolate, she’s right, it is good.

  “So, what’s up there?” she asks again, pointing to the raised platform.

  I eat a few more pieces of broken up waffle and fruit before I answer her. “Are you always so impatiently curious?”

  She nods her head. “Yeah, I am. I’m also very persistent, so you may as well tell me now.”

  I snort and shake my head. “I’ll do you one better, I’ll show you.”

  She beams at me and takes my outstretched hand. I walk us toward the ladder smirking, thinking about the fact that I get to stare at that ass again, and I do just that as she makes her way swiftly up the stairs and ladder without any help from me.

  Her intake of breath as she reaches the top of the ladder has me smiling, I know I’ve built a pretty cool home, with the help of Connor and the guys, of course.

  She turns around and faces me, awe written on her face. “Is this your room?”

  I grin at her. “Only on special occasions.”

  She scoffs at my comment and looks around at the mattress that’s only lifted off the floor by some old palettes, and then to the clawfoot tub in the middle of the room, finally landing on my movie corner that’s set up with a giant beanbag and projector. “This where you bring back all of your conquests?”

  “Sometimes. But most of the time I go back to their place.”