Being the Bad Boy's Victim (25 page)

“You okay?” Liam asked, pulling away.

I swiped my hand nervously through my hair, slightly shaking.

“Fine,” I said, biting my lip awkwardly.

“What is…?” Liam began to ask, turning. He grew silent when he realized what I just saw—what I was staring at.

I held my breath as he turned back, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Look, Liam, it’s not what…”   

“Connor needs to play it down. No one wants to see that.”

I froze as his words sunk in, realizing he had not been able to put two and two together.

“Oh… er… yeah! You’re right,” I said, shifting back and forth. “Let’s go find Jess!” Grabbing his hand, I led him blindly through the crowd.

“Slow down!” Liam said, grinning.

I laughed nervously, my heart still racing after what happened.

“I’m just…” I paused, pulling out my phone. “I’m just g-going to call Jess. Okay?” At that, I walked off without another word, stopping behind the back of a tent, which was isolated from the hundreds of people wandering around.

After a couple of rings, Jess finally picked up, shouting, which nearly caused me to go deaf. Hearing my voice, she immediately said she would meet me behind the tent. Her perceptive reply reminding me why I consider her my best friend.

A few minutes later

“Bella, is that you?”

I turned to see Jess, wearing a white dress with wings at her back and a halo on her head.

“I’m screwed,” I said, hugging her.

“What happened?” she asked as she pulled away.

I frowned and looked at the ground. As much as I wanted—needed—to tell her, I just didn’t know if I could. Truthfully, I was really only worried about her reaction. Would she be angry? Would she ignore me? Insult me, perhaps? Or worse, would she tell Liam?

“I… Well, it’s just…” I sighed, forcing myself to look into her eyes. “I kissed Connor.”

Silence.

“What?”

“I. Kissed. C——”

“No,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I heard you. But… why?”

Once I finished explaining all that had happened, Jess’ expression went blank. Completely blank.

“Are you mad?” I asked, crossing and uncrossing my legs, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.

“Connor is a fucking asshole,” she muttered, seemingly more to herself rather than as a reply to my question.

“Tell me about it,” I said. “I mean, blackmail? Really?”

“That’s low,” she said, crossing her arms angrily. “Even for Connor.”

I nodded in agreement as I rubbed my hands on my jeans.

“Well, come on,” she said, grabbing my hand. “You should still get to enjoy tonight.”

Connor

“That was… interesting,” I said, pulling away from vacuum girl. She rapidly blinked her left eye in what seemed to be an attempt at being flirtatious. I opened my mouth as if to say something else, but thought better of it and just walked away. As I looked around, I heard the most beautiful, warm, and familiar laugh. Seeing Bella with Jess made my heart stop beating.

Pathetic. I know.

It was like for the first time, ever, I really liked a girl. I wanted to get to know her, to actually have some type of relationship with her.

Tearing my eyes away from her, I mentally kicked myself for fucking everything up. No matter how hard I tried, it just seemed like it was never going to work out. Why? Because I’m a man-whore. I admit it.

And I’m also dangerous. I could destroy Bella, and that was definitely something I didn’t plan on ever doing. Sure, I did some awful things to her. But I guess it was better this way. It was better that she doesn’t want me.

Even though I acted so confident that she wanted me, needed me even, it was as if deep down I knew she didn’t. Why would she? I was awful to her. And the more I tried to get her to like me, the more I seemed to end up pushing her away.

It was true though that I felt a connection when we kissed, something I never felt with anyone else. I guess it was just me though.

“Hey, man!”

I turned to see James and Matt who were both wearing matching elf outfits. They usually did.

“Have you seen Jess?” James asked. He looked around, bouncing a bit.

I looked at Matt who seemed to have caught on and was grinning crazily.

“Yeah,” I said pointing towards the direction where Jess and Bella had just walked off. “She’s with Bella.” I noticed both James and Matt hesitate when they heard her name.

“It’s fine, guys. Come on, let’s go,” I said, heading in the direction where I last saw the girls.

But honestly, and as sad as it might sound, it really wasn’t fine.

Bella

I tensed as I saw the three figures approaching us.
Oh God, please no,
I thought to myself, wishing the ground would swallow them up.

“Hey, guys,” James said, sitting down at our table, his eyes trained on Jess.

I began to smile in that Oh-hey-my-friend’s-crush-is-talking-to-her way, looking at the two of them.

“Hey,” Jess said casually, continuing to eat her fries.

“So, uh… how’s your night going?” James tried again, glancing awkwardly at Matt and Connor.

“Good.”

“Okay, you’re done,” I said, grabbing her fries and tossing the rest in the trash.

Her jaw dropped open and she stared at the trashcan, almost as if she was willing them to come back to the table.

“What the hell, Bella?” she snapped, glaring at me.

I shrugged and stood up, looking at Matt and Connor, and motioning them to do the same.

“You two should talk.” With that, I grabbed the other two, leading them away from the semi-furious Jess and the happy James.

“Hey, I still want to play games,” Matt whined, the bell on the top of his hat jingling.

“Sure you do,” I said with a sigh.

After playing a bunch of carnival games, Connor decided it was time to go into the haunted house, which, in all honesty, completely freaked me out. What was worse? Matt refused to go inside—something about past experiences—and let me go in alone with Connor.

Connor!

The inside of the house was really dark, but there were small lamps at every corner—the only things we could depend on to be able to move around. I managed to stifle a scream when the first three guys popped out. But after a while, I was beginning to crack.

“Ah!” I shrieked as a limp body fell to the ground.

Connor’s laugh caused me to whirl around, straight into his chest.

“Shut up,” I mumbled as I backed away. Then, I jumped a little when I felt his arm slide over my shoulders, pulling me to his side. We continued to walk like this until a shrieking boy ran between us, separating us.

“Connor?” I called, feeling around blindly. My heart began racing when there was no response.

“Connor!” I said a little louder.

“Bella, where are…?”

Then my scream was muffled by a large hand, and I was dragged backwards into what seemed to be a small room. Panic filled my shaking body as I fought my attacker. He kicked me in the stomach as I struggled to get up.

“Bella? Bella!”

I could hear Connor at the other side of the door, pounding his fists against it.

“I’ve waited too long.” The voice was deep and husky. It was familiar, but it was almost as if the person had altered it slightly so that I wouldn’t recognize it.

I felt a cold hand slide into my shirt, trailing up to my bra.

The next thing I knew, a loud bang went through the room. My attacker was pulled away and roughly shoved to the ground, where he was kicked in the stomach by Connor.

“I’ve got you,” Connor whispered, his hands landing on my waist as he lifted me into his arms, carrying me out of the house.

By that time, I was sobbing. Tears were streaming down my face as Connor whispered things in my ear. He brought me to a bench, gently setting me down in his lap as he sat down.

“Bella, calm down,” Connor whispered, brushing away my tears.

I hiccupped as I continued to cry, clutching onto Connor tightly, refusing to let go. I sobbed for at least ten minutes before I was able to calm down, and I rested my face in the crook of his neck.

“Do you want me to go back…?”

“Don’t leave me,” I whispered, pulling away slightly so that I could look into his eyes.

Connor didn’t even hesitate when he replied, “I won’t go anywhere.”

Now I really, really, shouldn’t have done it. But I did.

I kissed him.

No, Connor wasn’t the one who kissed me.

I kissed him.

That blissful moment, when you feel the rush going through you, the emotions, the electricity—everything. You just couldn’t forget it.

It was such a perfect moment. A moment that couldn’t be ruined, until…

“Bella?”

Oh, hey, Liam!

I pulled back, hastily standing up and stepping away from Connor.

“I… Liam, it’s… well, I…”

“I kissed your girlfriend,” Connor said, facing Liam.

Silence. Liam just stared at the two of us, letting a few moments by before he simply nodded his head.

“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go onto the Ferris wheel but…”

“Yes,” I said a little breathlessly, grabbing hold of his hand.