When The Bad Boy Says: I Love You | editing

Heart of a Maiden In Love

Chapter Twelve:

Heart of a Maiden In Love

"The best love is the one that makes you a better person, without changing you into someone other than yourself."

Maya Granger

Everything was dark.

And that was because I had my face buried in my hands, as I curled myself into a ball in the passenger seat of Ryder's truck, wallowing in embarrassment. The scene where I oh-so-boldly kissed Ryder kept on replaying in my head, and I wanted nothing more than to disappear.

I know I said I wouldn't mind, but doing it in front of his friends, high on jealousy, and in the spur of the moment made me think twice.

From now on, I wouldn't mind, as long as we don't have an audience.

Ryder's all-to-familiar chuckle reached my ears, and I glared at him through my fingers. "Shut it, O'Connel!" I grumbled at him, which only made him chuckle harder.

"Love you, Maya." He said.

I didn't reply, instead, I attempted to sink further into the leather seat. The urge to reply to him was strong, but I managed to keep it, and resorted to retreating into my mind.

My thoughts brought me back to Byron and his gang. Ever since piecing together why Byron had a grudge against Ryder, a question had been nagging at me. So, I asked, finally uncovering my face. "Hey Ryder, I was wondering; why were you mad at Byron when you guys met at the mall? I mean, from what I've heard, he didn't really do anything bad..."

I don't know what kind of answer to expect, however, what I got was definitely not what I had in mind.

I watched in amusement as Ryder glared at the road in fron of him, and jutted out his lower lip in a pout. "Because shortly after I left the gang, Byron decided it was a good idea to get revenge on me. He scratched Lola's sides, and slashed all four of her tires!"

"Lola?"

Ryder grinned at me, and patted the truck's dashboard. "Yep, this is Lola!"

My eyes widened in shock, as I stared at the man, no, boy in front of me in bewilderment. "You were ready to murder Byron because of the damage he did to your truck?" I asked incredulously because of how childish he was being, and because he never told me he named his truck.

He nodded.

"How old were y'all when this happened?" I asked.

"I was turning sixteen, Byron was fourteen."

"Fourteen?!" Byron was two years my junior, and I would've never guessed it. He just looked and acted so mature!

"Quite hard to believe, huh?" Ryder chuckled. "But, now that I got back at him, finally, my anger has been sated."

"So, you didn't beat him up because he kidnapped me?" I raised a brow, trying to stop mysef from smiling when his eyes widened in panic.

I bit my lip to contain my laughter as I watched him trip over his words. "Maya, th-that is not what I meant! Of course I beat him up because he kidnapped you, even though I know he wouldn't hurt you. But you know, I also thought, why not get revenge while I'm at it. It was just killing two birds with one stone!"

I couldn't take it anymore. Ryder was rambling. Ryder O'Connel, a smooth-talking, bad boy was rambling! I laughed, hard and loud, stopping the bad boy from talking. I clutched at my stomach, and bent over, laughing hysterically. I was pretty sure I looked and sounded like a maniac, but I couldn't care less. I was both relieving stress, and simply enjoying seeing Ryder all nervous and panicky. You can't blame me, I had a long day.