Bound Together (editing)

Chapter 6

I cleared my throat, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Cameron is very protective over me."

He laughed, "No kidding. But um, there's something that bothers me."

"And what is that?"

Keeping his eyes on the road, he said, "Do you both honestly think that I'm faking being nice to you, just to get on your brothers good side?"

He looked ashamed, as if his guilt was eating him up inside.

"Why do you care so much?" I questioned.

"I don't really care about what Cameron thinks of me. I know exactly how he feels about me." He said looking a bit nervous.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Then why are you asking?"

He looked towards me for a moment, "Because I care about what you think."

"Oh really?" I replied with a smile.

He returned the gesture, "Of course. You seem like the only girl who doesn't freak out about being next to Jayce Reynolds."

"Well you want to know what I think about the oh so great Jayce Reynolds?"

He smirked and said, "Sure, why not."

I let out a laugh; "You're a dork." I did actually believe that. But his annoyed expression didn't think the same way, "Externally, you are a jock. Internally, you are a sensitive, book loving, weirdo just like the rest of us."

For being known as a cool guy who doesn't seem to have a care in the world, he certainly does care about what other people think of him. I find that sort of relatable. I hadn't noticed how close we were to my home, until we were parked right in front of my house. I looked towards him, and he was staring straight at me, but it wasn't creepy.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, hiding my face with my hair, using it as a curtain separating Jayce and I.

"Because you're the only person who actually knows me, as me. And I think, that we should have more of these talks, because I really like spending time with you."

Was I really special enough to have Jayce wanting to spend more time with me? He seemed serious, so I didn't question if he was joking or not. I've never seen this side of Jayce before – the side where he can be real. He thinks that I'm the one putting on the act, but I don't think he realizes that he's doing the same thing.

"Uh, Alex, if you don't mind me asking, what happened between you and your parents?" He seemed to ask this with caution.

Clearing my throat I responded, "Why do you ask?"

"I mean, um, on the phone your brother sounded so hostile whilst talking to about them, and because it seems that I'm not the only one with daddy issues here." He said.

"Well, that story is for another time, right now doesn't seem like the right moment." I replied.

He laughed, "You sound like some character from one of those deep romance novels."

That seemed to amuse me, "Well if my life were a romance novel, there would be a really good-looking boy fighting for my attention, and as of right now I don't see him."

He leaned back in his seat, "Then you should look harder, because that extremely good-looking boy could be right in front of you."

Just then, I saw a light turn on from the second floor of my house, specifically in Cameron's room.

"Shit." I muttered to myself, quickly unbuckling my seatbelt.

"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.