Untamed (bxb)

32. relationship

My teeth grind against each other, blood boiling quicker than a fucking kettle. "We work together, Reese. Just let it go."

Reese scoffs. "Alright, sure." He raises his beer bottle to his lips.

I stare him down as he takes a swig, no longer wanting to be anywhere near his presence, I push myself up from the fence and walk straight into the kitchen. My hands rest on the counter and I glance down the hall, my eyes colliding with that familiar blonde hair.

Ciara.

She's not meant to be here. We said it would be strictly a boys night.

My fists crumble into balls and I thank God that Ash left when he did because he does not deserve to be in the middle of this shit. Especially when I told him that she wouldn't be here. Because she's not meant to be.

Her blue eyes collide with mine and I stare back at her. I have nothing to say to her, so if she walks straight past me then she'll be doing me a massive favour. But she doesn't, she stops right beside me and I instantly straighten my spine.

"Bodi," she flicks her hair over her bare shoulder.

"What are you doing here?"

"Reese invited me," she shrugs simply.

I narrow my eyes at her but more because I'm pissed off at Reese. He's purposely trying to fuck me over, with Ash. He did this to stir some more drama. It's the fact he knows I purposely wanted to avoid Ciara for a while, to give us time to digest what happened between us.

And now he's gone behind my back and done this. He's a fucking snake.

"I should go," I graze my fingers through the back of my hair.

"Wait," she grabs my arm. "Stay, I was hoping we could talk."

I shake my head instantly. "There isn't anything to talk about, Ciara. And this really isn't helping our situation. It would be better if I just left."

Ciara frowns instantly and drops her hand. "Okay, I just wanted to apologise for how I acted at the cafe. Things have just been going on and I've been taking my anger out on our situation, that wasn't fair and I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry you've been going through shit, Ciara," I say sincerely.

"I am working towards getting over you and you're right, maybe seeing each other this soon isn't going to help. But I hope we can be somewhat civil the next time I see you, I get if you're still angry at me. The way I acted wasn't okay and I said some horrible things," she sighs loudly and then lowers her gaze to the floor.

Never in my life have I seen this side of Ciara. Normally she owns her bad attitude and foul language, but today she's actually apologising for it? I must be dreaming.

"It's okay," I take one step backwards. "And yeah, hopefully the next time we see each other we can be civil but I still need time."

Ciara purses her lips and nods as I loop around her and head towards the front door. "Well thank you for trying to be civil, even though I probably don't deserve it."

I force a smile over my shoulder before heading home, not even being able to face Reese because I'm sure I would have punched him and it would not end well. Definitely not for him or for my criminal record.

✣

On Monday I head to probation early, before Ash so he doesn't have to be here alone. I've been getting a lot better at getting here at least ten minutes before we start so he doesn't freak out.

I hear footsteps outside and when I peek my head around the door, Ash is walking straight into the foyer. Eyes glued to the walls like he can hear voices but I walk towards him, catching his eye. He jumps a couple inches off the floor at the sight of me.