The Bad Boy's Heart: When The Dust Settles...

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"It's fine, water under the bridge. Besides, honestly, I was dreading the trip."

My brows furrowed. "What?"

"Spending my time at an art center isn't exactly my idea of an 'ideal afternoon'. Plus, you mentioned it being a 'date', and I didn't want to give you the impression that things were changing between us."

"So why didn't you just tell me that, rather than agreeing to it?"

"Your offer sounded good at the moment: I changed my mind after." He grinned. "I was gonna mention it, but then the way you kept asking me to go was so cute that I couldn't bring myself to do it."

What the fuck?

My fists clenched. I stuttered, "Are- are you kidding me? You had me begging you for so long 'cause it was...cute?"

The grin left his face. "What? You clearly didn't want to go with me so badly yourself, seeing as you went with someone else."

"I went with someone else because you kept standing me up!"

He looked away. After a bit, he said, "You seem pissed: I'll give you time to cool off."

My heart rate quickened. So we end the conversation on a rough note? What if he decides that he doesn't want to deal with me again, so he cuts me off?

I took a deep breath, then said, "No, I'm fine. I wish you had told me sooner, that's all."

Looking back at me, he nodded. "Okay, I hear you."

"If you like, we can talk for a while longer."

He smiled. "Sounds good to me. How have you been? Anything new?"

. . .

About thirty minutes later, a call from Tim interrupted Angelo and I's conversation. By then, I was mostly over the earlier revelation he'd given, albeit a feeling of unease lurked in the back of my mind.

I said to Angelo, "Shit, I gotta go. Tim is giving his once-in-a-blue-moon call: who knows when next I'll get the chance to talk to him if I don't take it now?"

He chuckled. "Gotcha. Tell him I say hi! And feel free to reach out whenever you wanna talk again; I'm only a message away."

Smiling, I nodded. "Will do, and sure!"

"Great!" He blew me a kiss. "Talk to you later!"

Scrunching my face, I ducked. "Eww, I don't want your cooties!"

"Hey, no fair, you can't use my words against me!"

I burst out laughing. "I just did, bitch. Bye!"

"Who you calling a-"

Grinning, I hung up before he had the chance to finish the sentence, then called Tim.

When he picked up, he said, "Hey, stranger."

I lay back on my bed, holding the phone to my ear. "Hey, stranger."

"Hey, that's my line!"

My mind flashbacked to Angelo. I giggled.

"What's got you laughing?" Tim asked.

"Oh- none of your business! Anyway, funny how you called me 'stranger' - when was the last time you called?"

"When was the last time you called?"

"I-" My face warmed. A moment later, I huffed, "That's not important! Anyways, how have you been? Still haven't burned the house down, I hope?"

"Haha. I'm alright; midterm break starts this Friday, so I'm about to be better."

My brow rose. "Same for me! I'm coming back home, so luckily we'll have a lot of time to spend together."

He groaned, "Oh no, first dad comes home, now you want to? Maybe I should consider moving out!"

Grinning, I retorted, "Please do; you'll be doing me a favor!"

"Right, 'cause I'm sure you'll love to live alone with Dad."

"Oh yeah, is he...in a bad mood?"

He sighed, "No, he has been chill. Surprising, considering that he didn't bring one of his hoes home."

"Tim!"

"Sorry, sorry!" I could practically hear him grinning as he said, "One of his 'lady friends'."

I held back a laugh. "That's right."

"So when are you coming home?"

"Probably on Saturday."

"Sweet, we can catch up then."

I let out an exaggerated gasp. "Is this your way of ending the conversation?"

"Yup, goodnight!"

Smiling, I rolled my eyes. "Goodnight, talk later."

Shortly after he hung up, there was a knock on my door. Sitting up, I called out, "Who is it?"

Nabila replied, "Can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah!"

She walked in, smiling widely. "Hey. Are you busy?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I recognize that look, Bila: what do you want?"

"Oh, nothing much..."

"But..."

"Well...if you're bored and want something to take your mind off things, might I suggest you try one of my games?"

I groaned, falling back onto my bed. "I should have known!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Bila, I guarantee you: no matter how many games you try to put me on, I'm not becoming a gamer!"

"But you haven't even tried the one I have in mind! It'll be a great opportunity for us to bond as well. Please?"

I bit my lip, frowning at her. She met my stare with a hopeful gaze.

After a while, I sighed. "Fine!"

She clapped her hands together. "Yay!"

"But it'll have to be sometime tomorrow; I have class early tomorrow, so I'm heading to bed soon."

"No problem! If you happen to forget about it, don't worry: I'll be sure to remind you!"

. . .

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