The Bad Boy's Girl (The Bad Boy's Girl Series Book 1)

by Blair Holden

  “Oh my God.” Megan plops down on the couch after Cole leaves and stares dreamy-eyed at the ceiling. I can tell she’s swooning and I feel an emotion I can’t quite place. It’s strange seeing her react to Cole like that; it feels like our roles have been reversed . . . odd.

  “How haven’t you gotten with that guy by now?” Beth sounds incredulous and I can see it from her perspective. She wasn’t around for much of my and Cole’s earlier animosity and it would all seem strange to her that I’m so opposed to giving him a chance.

  “Easy—he’s the devil,” I say and she shakes her head.

  “He likes you, he really likes you, Tessa,” she tells me with way too much conviction.

  I roll my eyes and snort, “We are not having this conversation again.”

  “I just can’t believe that you don’t see it. I mean, I know your observation skills need serious help but this is just so obvious.”

  I’m about to respond when Megan decides to help me out. “You can’t blame her though, Beth. Everyone saw how Cole was always picking on her and most of the time she ended up crying because of his pranks.”

  I open my mouth to protest that I did not cry all the time!

  “That was then; something must have changed, but the way he treats you, it’s hard to think he could ever be mean to you. What he does now are harmless pranks he pulls to get your attention. It’s all the guy can do since most of the time you’re in la-la land thinking about Jay and your two-point-five children.”

  “I do not!” I exclaim.

  “Oh please,” Megan and Beth say at the same time and I hang my head in shame. I really should stop dreaming about those two-point-five kids and the house with the picket fence. I’d run a successful publishing company and Jay would be a famous baseball player. More importantly, we’d hire Nicole as our nanny after she ends up working behind the counter at KFC after high school.

  ***

  By the time we’ve eaten and I’ve mentally prepared myself for this party, it’s eight o’clock. The house is eerily silent except for the sound of the television coming from the living room. My parents are at a benefit that raises money for Dad’s campaign and Travis is obviously at some random bar getting drunk once again.

  Cole’s been gone for about half an hour now and I have a feeling that there is no emergency at home. I think he wanted me to have this time with my friends so that I could calm down. I don’t know if I’d ever say this to his face but I’m glad that he did that for me. So when he comes back, I try not to look too eager to see him. As he escorts us to his car, he tells me yet again that I look nice.

  “Thanks,” I say shyly, and an awkward silence follows until Beth coughs and nudges me with a smug look on her face.

  I glare at her and she smirks at me, wiggling her eyebrows. Does she really think that Cole might be interested in me like that? It’s obvious the only reason he’s acting like this is because he’s only ever seen me as Fatty Tessie or the Tessa that never wears any makeup or flattering clothes. He’s just a little surprised and taken aback, feeling out of place. It’s perfectly understandable.

  “So should we go?” Beth asks a very flustered-looking Cole. I catch him staring at me and he realizes that I’m watching. He shakes his head a couple of times like he’s getting water out of his ear and gives Beth a thumbs-up. “All systems are go!”

  The three of us give him a confused look and he groans, rubbing his forehead. “I meant let’s go.”

  “Oh,” we three say in unison and follow him out to his car. Like the backstabbing friends they are, Megan and Beth take up the entire backseat of the Volvo leaving me with only one choice, shotgun.

  Glaring at the two of them I take the seat next to Cole, who’s adjusting the rearview mirror, and he can’t help the narcissistic urge to grin at his image in the mirror. Conceited baboon.

  He starts up the car but then looks at me suddenly and I feel conscious of his gaze on me. My hand reaches to my face wondering if I’ve managed to smear my makeup already.

  “What?” I ask as he keeps looking.

  “Open the glove compartment, will you?” He points toward it and I eye it warily.

  “What’s in it? Is it a rat or a spider, because I can deal with those two, but let me warn you, if there’s a cockroach in there, you should say good-bye to your little friend,” I say pointedly.

  He rolls his eyes. “While your concern for little Cole overwhelms me with happiness, shortcake, this conversation isn’t about him. Now open the glove compartment, it’s perfectly safe.”

  I inhale and exhale slowly, my hand lingering on the clasp of the glove compartment. He wouldn’t do anything potentially life-threatening while he himself is in the car with me, plus he seems to like my friends, so he won’t kill them, either.

  Reluctantly I open it and nothing springs at me like I expect, threatening to claw my eyes out.

  “There.” Cole leans over and points to a corner of the space inside but all I’m aware of is how close he is.

  “What am I looking for exactly?” I ask in confusion and he sighs and leans in further, making me press my body to my seat. Megan pops her head in between the gap of the two seats and looks on excitedly.

  “This, come on Tessie, sharpen up.” He pulls out a small black pouch and places it in my hand. I tentatively tug at the drawstring that opens it, holding my breath.

  “It’s not poison ivy in there, Tessa, show us!” Megan squeals.

  Hands shaking, I reach in and pull out a long-chain silver necklace with a snowflake pendant. I gasp as I hold it in my palm.

  “Whoa, that’s beautiful, put it on,” Beth suggests and, ignoring Cole’s gaze, which is burning a hole in my side, I do so. Immediately I love the dainty piece of jewelry. It’s beautiful and delicate and . . . it’s a gift from Cole?

  “Is this for me?” I ask, still averting my eyes. He nods, cheeks slightly flushing. “I just . . . I don’t know; it looks good on you.”

  “I, uh, thanks.” I’m aware of how my best friends are watching him with rapt attention. Slipping on the necklace, I turn to the two and they grin deviously.

  “Beautiful.” They’re not the ones saying that.

  I catch Cole’s eye and blush.

  “It looks perfect with her outfit. You’ve got quite the taste, Stone,” Beth says.

  “What can I say? I’m good with the ladies.” He winks, and when he notices the color my face is turning, bursts out laughing along with my best friends.

  They keep laughing as we drive off to the party and somewhere along the way I fight a smile coming onto my face too as I see Cole chatting with Beth and Megan. He’s so good with them; he’s put Megan at ease and even managed to chip into Beth’s tough exterior. I watch them fondly from the corner of my eye and somehow feel a little proud that Cole could bring happiness to these two.

  Chapter Six: My Life’s One Big Spanish Soap Opera, Let’s Call It Ugly Tessie

  “Maybe we should slap her?”

  “No, Megan, that only works in the movies,” Beth explains.

  “We could cut off the seatbelt?”

  “Don’t you dare talk about my baby like that!” Cole scolds her and perhaps it’s because Megan realizes that she wouldn’t be having any bright ideas tonight she shuts up for good.

  Then there’s me and the fact that I’ve involuntarily started singing “Call Me Maybe.”

  “What is she doing?” Cole asks Beth, and I think he’s looking a little scared.

  “Oh this? It’s nothing to be worried about, whenever she gets really nervous or scared she starts singing crappy pop songs.” Beth waves her hand over to me, nearly slapping me in the eye.

  “Right.” Cole stretches the word but I can tell he’s still not convinced that I’m completely sane.

  I stutter, chanting the chorus over and over again to stop my body from trembling. I clutch my seatbelt tightly, the silver clasp digging into my skin as I stare off into the distance. Jared the Jock’s house is enormous and
currently packed to capacity. If I’d come here on my own I would’ve run away from the gates seeing the number of cars but since I’m being held hostage, I need to do everything that my kidnappers deem appropriate. Running away yelling “I’m a fatty, get me out of here!” might not be their most desired way to make an entrance. At first I was foolish enough to think we wouldn’t find a parking spot and Cole, being the moody, sometimes inconsiderate, and almost always stubborn jerk that he is would get mad and leave the party. Imagine my surprise when he eased the car into a space that had a sign with his name on it.

  Now I’m sitting in the car because I froze the second everyone got out. I could try to let my embarrassment over singing Carly Rae Jepsen overrule my fear of being amid large crowds; however, that is not happening. My body’s gone into shutdown mode and I’m glued to my seat with my knees knocking together and my arms shaking due to sheer terror.

  “Look, why don’t you girls go inside and I’ll bring her when she’s ready,” Cole says after some time to my friends, who shoot me worried glances. They’re all outside of the car already and standing by my door. I can see that they’re debating whether or not it’s a wise decision to leave me with Cole, especially when I’m in this state, but I give a little nod as a go-ahead. I don’t want to spoil this for them.

  “Are you sure, Tessa?” Beth asks seriously and there’s concern all over her face. I feel so guilty that I’m ruining the night for her because of a silly panic attack. “I’m fine. I just need a minute—you guys go ahead.”

  The fact that I say this sounding like Alvin the Chipmunk doesn’t really go in my favor. They eye me skeptically but it’s Cole who convinces them at last.

  “You two look hot, okay? Just go in and have fun. I made you guys come here so she’s my responsibility, okay? I’ll see what I can do.” He winks and this seems to convince them.

  When they leave Cole comes by my side again. The car door is open and the slight chill in the air causes goose bumps to rise on my skin. I don’t know how long I can sit like this before freezing to death and sooner or later I’ll have to make a decision because frankly now I’m just feeling stupid.

  “Why aren’t you saying something?” I’m still looking straight ahead and not at Cole. From the corner of my eye I can see that he’s got his arms folded across his chest and his eyes are studying me curiously. By this time I expect him to be mocking me or to be laughing at me but his silence is scarier.

  “I’m just checking,” he replies after a while and I furrow my eyebrows, my eyes still avoiding looking at him.

  “Checking what?”

  “How much you need to let someone in and see the real you.”

  I’m just trying to decode his words when I feel a strong pair of arms slip beneath my knees and pick me up. I squeal in surprise, my arms instinctively wrapping around Cole’s neck as he starts to lift me.

  “What are you doing?” Before I can stop him, he wraps one arm around my waist and uses his free hand to unhook my seatbelt. Once I’m free from the restraint he picks me up completely and hauls me out of his car.

  “Letting myself in,” he says decisively as he holds me in midair, eyes boring into mine. I expect him to break out laughing any second or say something to demean me but it doesn’t come. Instead his eyes hold mine for the longest time and my skin begins to prickle in the strangest way. I can’t place the emotion I feel when he’s looking at me like this, but I realize that I don’t like it and that I don’t want to feel more of it.

  “Put me down,” I say, breaking the spell of silence and the eye contact at the same time. Something flickers in his eyes, a foreign emotion of his own before he covers it up with mischief.

  “And here I was thinking we’d end this romantic moment with a hot, passionate kiss.” He winks but still doesn’t put me down.

  His unashamed flirting makes my skin break out into goosebumps. The fact that I’m actually enjoying his crude attempts to hit on me is evidence enough that I’m not in the right frame of mind.

  “Please—I wouldn’t even touch those lips if you were dying and needed CPR.” My response is childish and my voice comes out a little breathy at the lack of space between us. It’s all I’m capable of at the moment. I think Cole pities my flustered state and puts me down. I stumble slightly when my feet touch the ground and Cole’s arm immediately reaches out to steady me, placing a hand at the small of my back.

  “Famous last words, Tessie.” He smirks and I elbow him in the side.

  “Never happening.”

  “Relax Tessie, I’m joking. But would it be so bad for you to want this?” He jokingly gestures toward his body. I’m momentarily distracted because damn it, the man is good looking and he knows it. I can just never let him know that I find him remotely good looking.

  “Want you? Of course I do.” I smile sweetly and then grimace at the end of the sentence.

  Cole fans his face. “Sexual tension, it’s just getting too much.”

  I should lighten up, he’s only joking but something about my own feelings annoys me. I’m so all over the place when it comes to him.

  “Do you want me to knee you in the crotch?” I growl and he just shakes his head in amusement. I just don’t understand why he’s being so annoying right now since the way he was in the car with Megan and Beth made me think that he might have a human side to him after all. I just wish I could tell him to stop using his stupid one-liners on me because it just eats away at me that I want to hear these words, just from someone else. Does this make me a bad person? I hang out with one brother but am in love with the other, and he’s in love with my former best friend turned Medusa.

  Wow, my life’s one big Spanish soap opera; let’s call it Ugly Tessie.

  “I can’t promise I won’t hit on you anymore, but I’ll stop for the night because we’re here.” He sounds smug and as I end my little internal monologue I realize that I’ve got one foot inside the house and the other’s just resting on the threshold. My eyes widen as I take in the jam-packed space with the music blasting so loud that the glass windows are vibrating. I also see dozens of red Solo cups everywhere, lining the floor, in people’s hands, and on the head of an expensive-looking mermaid statue.

  That’s when it sinks in. I’m at a high school party and it’s as cheap and tacky as any party I’ve seen on Jersey Shore. This is awesome!

  “I take it you like it?” Cole sounds amused as we walk around, dodging grabby couples. I shudder and realize that what I’ve been missing for most of my life is a bunch of really horny teenagers getting drunk and dry-humping in the middle of the dance floor.

  “No, actually, I’m happy that this is as horrible as I’ve always imagined it to be.” I beam at him and he looks at me like I’ve managed to lose yet another brain cell.

  “You’re weird, Tessie,” he says simply and I shrug.

  “And you’re a pain in my ass. What’s your point?”

  I don’t know where the sudden bravery’s coming from. I haven’t even touched the alcohol yet and I still experience this exhilarating rush that makes me want to do headstands and pirouettes at the same time. I blame it on the pulsating music. My foot’s tapping incessantly, and this need to just let go and have fun is surging through me. Consequences be damned, I just want to enjoy myself!

  “Hey Tessie?” Cole cocks his head to the side and is watching me with an amused smile on his face.

  “Hmm?” I ask distractedly, looking around for a corner I can dissolve in unnoticed and dance my heart out.

  “You like this, don’t you?”

  I don’t know what gave it away, maybe the big fat grin on my face or the fact that I’ve started swaying my body, but whatever it is, I don’t try to hide it. I nod my head vigorously. “I do. This is sure as heck better than staying in my room and studying.” I grin at him and he grins back.

  Uh-oh, my skin’s prickling again.

  “Come on, let’s give you a night you’ll never forget.”

  Cole grabs my h
and and we pass through the crowd. I can sense a lull in the commotion wherever we pass through. People are staring and I’m not surprised that they are. This party is for Cole and it doesn’t make sense for the main attraction to be hanging out with the outcast.

  I get past the curious onlookers and the girls whose faces remind me of the time my mom let me use my paints to draw on her face. Yeah, I think what I achieved was far superior. There’s one girl, though, that I don’t want to run into tonight and even the thought of seeing her has me rushing for the door. Nicole will not be too pleased to see me so blatantly disregard her laws, but Queen Bitch can drown in the ocean for all I care tonight.

  I see Megan dancing with someone but I can’t make out who he is since his back is toward me, but he’s tall and has blond, closely cropped hair, and whoever he is, he looks like he’s making Megan happy. Her cheeks are flushed, her green eyes shining like emeralds, and I can just see her falling for this guy even though she probably just met him.

  My mouth waters at the sight of all the junk food, which is placed on a long community table that is obviously rented. My feet gravitate toward all the food like we’re the opposite poles of a magnet. I reach for the bowl of Cheetos, dying to taste the cheesy goodness, but my hand is swatted away before I can get to them.

  “Oh no, the first rule of any party is to not eat the food if it’s openly accessible.” Cole warns.

  “But I . . .” I whimper at the sight of all the food. “Just one Cheeto, please!”

  “You do realize that this bowl has more germs than a communal toilet?”

  I scrunch my face in disgust as he begins explaining how different hands have been in the bowl and where those hands could have possibly been.

  Let’s just say I’m never eating at a party ever again.

  “I got you these, though.” He offers me a bag of gummy worms and I all but jump at them, grabbing the bag right out of his hands and opening them at the speed of light. I pick out all the red ones and eat them greedily. Gummy bears are my weakness; only KitKats exceed the love I have for them. You put a pack of those chewy delights in front of me and I’m as good as gone.