Why You Shouldn't Lend A Bad Boy Your Clothes

Chapter 1

"Yeah, Emily, I know...Okay. I'll be there on time."

I definitely won't be there on time, I thought, mentally hitting myself on the head repeatedly.

I really hadn't meant to forget about our anniversary and that I wanted to go to the cinema with her, I simply had lost track of time at some point while I had been drawing. It happened sometimes; I started a new portrait and the next thing I knew was that three hours had passed and I had filled a few pages of my sketchbook without looking up once.

Usually I loved those moments, when my train of thought came to a screeching halt and blissful quiet took its place, no thoughts or worries, just the sound of the pencil scratching across the paper. It was, however, quite inconvenient when it resulted in being late to a date which we had been planning for days.

On the other end of the line Emily was still talking, her tone growing more and more impatient by the minute. Holding the phone away from my ear, I quietly ordered a venti caffe latte from the grumpy looking Starbucks barista.

"What? No, why would I forget our anniversary, babe?" I asked with a faked laugh and immediately felt bad for lying to her. If there had been such a thing as a contest for The World's Worst Boyfriend, I was sure that I would've won it by now.

In the meantime, Grumpy-face put my coffee down on the counter and waited impatiently for me to hand him the money. I quickly fished a crinkled bank note out of my pocket and didn't wait for him to give me the change, but left with the hot paper cup in my hand. Maybe the tip could lighten up his mood.

I was pretty sure that almost everyone would've thought that buying coffee instead of heading to meet my girlfriend right away was a waste of time, but it wasn't to me. Sometimes I was pretty sure that caffeine was the only thing keeping my body going, which sounded a little unhealthy when I thought about it, but was entirely accurate nevertheless. If I wanted to get through the day and go on that date, I knew that I needed at least a venti-size cup of coffee. Besides, the Starbucks shop was just down the road, only a stone's throw from the cinema, so it was only a small detour.

"I'm on my way, don't worry. I'll be there in just a minute. Bye, I love you," I said.

Hanging up, I stepped outside and hurriedly crossed the street.

I glanced at the time on my phone, only to realize that I was already eight minutes late. Swearing quietly under my breath, I slipped the phone back into my pocket. However, before I could look up again, I felt myself bumping into someone.

There was a quiet thump as our bodies collided, then a string of hissed curses. Before I could even process what had happened, I stumbled back and looked up to see a furious guy with black coffee spilled all over his white t-shirt.

I stood frozen in shock, blinking up at him and being met with green eyes staring into mine. They belonged to a guy who was around my age but a good few inches taller.

His voice, dark and angry, ripped me out of my daze. "Are you kidding me?"

"Shit, I'm so sorry," I stammered and looked at the ugly coffee stain on his chest. He was slightly taller than me, but he seemed to be my age. "Are you okay? Are you hurt or anything?"

The boy rolled his eyes, anger slowly turning into irritation. "Nah, it's not like you just spilled boiling hot coffee all over me, you idiot."

I scratched the back of my neck in embarrassment and felt my cheeks flushing red.

"But it's okay, I'm hotter than that anyway," he mumbled under his breath.

I was honestly not sure if I had heard wrong, so I just kept my mouth shut, overwhelmed with the entire situation. Then, on an impulse I couldn't explain, I quickly pulled my hoodie over my head and handed it to him. Fortunately, I had been wearing a black t-shirt underneath. "Here, you can wear this. I'm really sorry, mate."