My Bad Boy

Chapter ten

I was still running on nerves from the fact that I still had six nights to spend with the infuriating Julio and the fact that I had to play nice to five guys I never met.

That just puts me more on edge.

Ever since Kayla decided to live the more .. uh, free lifestyle, I have never judged her.

For one, every guy she meets and actually gets intimate with is single, as is she, so what gave me the right to judge?

Plus, the only time I used the word slut, was when Mia got a gummy worm stuck in my hair our junior year, on the day we had pictures. And even then, I felt so bad that I brought her a whole new thing of gummy worms.

And a soda.

“Kayla, “ I breath out her name and I look at her from in-between my fingers. “You know I didn’t mean that. I would never call you anything close to a slut. I have this thing going on, and then Julio-”

“Julio?” Mia pipes in, loud and curious and I snap my mouth shut.

Great, I’ve said too much. Man, when was I going to learn to keep my mouth shut?

“Uh,” I drop my hands and start to play with Nick’s beanie that somehow managed to make its way to my lap.

“Yeah, me and him kind of made a deal.”

Mia startles back a little and her eyes land on Kayla, who seemed to have forgiven me. Kayla looks at Mia and they do this whole weird thing where they communicate without actually talking.

Mia shakes her head, to something Kayla evidently did not say, and Kayla nods her head, going back to twisting her nose ring.

“Okay! Just tell me what the hell you two are .. whatever you two are doing. What?”

I look at each of them, dropping the beanie and Mia smiles and shakes her head, shrugging just like Kayla did a minute ago.

“Nothing. Just I hope you and Lio have a good deal going on. Whatever it may or may not be.”

I roll my eyes and laugh a little, thinking the whole thing was ridiculous.” I know what you are thinking, and no. The deal is strictly business.”

At Least, I think it was. Though, when did letting six nights of your life go into the hands of some Latino badboy who would didn’t even know what the word “Control” even meant?

Hell, I don’t even think it was in his vocabulary.

“So you say,” Kayla finally quips in and I look up at the ceiling, holding in my groan.

“I’m never going to live this down, am I?” I ask, still looking up.

“Nope,” I hear Mia say, followed by her saying something to someone else. I look over to see her waving to a waitress, telling her to come over. I look at Kayla and aim my question at her.

“No matter what I say, even if it is the 100% truth, you are not going to believe a word of it, are you?” She smiles, bunching up her nose, and raises one shoulder.

“It’s very unlikely.”

I don’t say anything else as Mia’s friend and co-worker heads over.

We make our introductions, and when Kayla and Mia get in a heated discussion with her about why they think it might snow early this year, I look out the window.

The clouds over head are dark, but still light enough to let sun shine through. The wind blows outside, obvious by the way the tree in front of the little restaurant leaves go back and forth, as if dancing to some sort of rhythm that they can only hear.

It’s times like these, when the world around you seems to be doing the same things, while you are thinking about the hardest things to face in the world, when you realise how great it must be to have someone there for you.

I look over at Mia, as she laughs and says something to her friend.

I wonder what it must be like for her, to have someone of the opposite sex, to understand her. To show her how beautiful the world and she can be.

It reminds me of the one time in sixth grade, when my teacher went around the room asking if we wanted to one day get married.

I, of course, said yes. Thinking that the world was filled with these loving men who would sweep me away like some Disney princess.

Though, reality is that life is no Disney movie and men are nothing close to princes. They are more like the evil step mothers in the stories, making our lives hell.

Though, when the question came up again, a month ago when Kayla asked Mia if she ever considered tieing the knot with Aiden in the future, I told them both I could never see myself married.

Though, it was a lie.

I mean, come on people! No matter what girl you meet, no matter what the girl has been through or what they want, everyone deep down wants that forever kind of love.

Even me.

The girl who has been searching for it for so long, that she gave up on it awhile ago.

I let out a tense breath and turn back to looking out the window, watching the people walk by. When I see a mom with a child, walking down the sidewalk, I know I need to call my mother.

Which was going to be hell.

I lay my head on my hand, wondering if I could get a headache from just imagining what my mother was going to say to me, when I see something black pass by the window.

I wouldn’t have paid it much attention, if it wasn’t for the tattoo that was so obvious.

I straighten out and I narrow my eyes and when I see a guy with tan colored skin, with a black work shirt on and a leather jacket in one hand, I know who it is immediately.

Julio.

He seems to be paying attention to something across the street and I peek over my shoulder at my group, to see if they noticed him too, but they were too busy with another discussion.

I turn back to see Julio pass over the non busy street, common in the cold days in Michigan, and I see him heading toward a pretty conspicuous black car with tinted windows on the other side.

Not being able to hide my curiosity, I lean forward and press my face to the window.

I watch as he looks both ways, either checking to see if anyone was around or because he was nervous, and brings in a hard breath.

He brings his knuckles to the glass window, knocks twice, and the door opens just enough to let him in.

I see Julio tense up as he pulls his leather jacket on over his shoulders and gets in the car, closing it behind him.

After that?

Nothing.

Literally, the car just sits there and it was like Julio never entered it in the first place. I sit there, still looking at the car, when I feel someone poke me in the arm.

Hard.

“Shit!” I shout a little to loud, startling back at the sudden contact. Mia looks at me a little worried while Kayla looks at me oddly.

“Are you okay? You seemed a little spaced out there for a moment.” I rub the spot where she poked me and I put on a fake smile .

“It was nothing. I just saw a hot guy and it seemed as if he enticed me at first glance.” I  try to make a smoldering look, while Mia’s friend laughs and she nods her head.

“Some men can do that. Did I ever tell you about this man I met in Kentucky once? Oh, he was so delicious. So, it started when I was ….”

They go back to listening to her Kentucky story, though Mia shoots me a few wondering glances and each time I send her a smile.

Though, the minute she turns around, I go back to thinking of Julio and that car.

  Sure, it was a human thing. Getting in a car and all of that, but they way Julio acted seemed... out of place. 

Maybe all this five blind dates and the six nights he owes me was getting to my head. Plus, I still had that test in Literature due next week.

Maybe all this stress and nerves was getting to my head?

Though, when I turn around and look out the window, expecting to see the car sitting there, instead all I see is a blank spot.

Julio and the car nowhere in sight.

And for some reason, I can’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

And that this was just the beginning.