Curvy Girls Can't Date Bad Boys - Kelsie Stelting Page 0,22

took me in, barely concealing his surprise. Still, the gate slid open, and Ronan continued up the drive.

At the front driveway, he turned off his bike, and I got off. I held the helmet to my middle, not willing to let go of the night yet.

“Will I see you again?” I asked.

“Only if you want to.” A flicker of hope flashed across his eyes.

I nodded and got a pen from my clutch. I wrote my number on the inside of his palm, and when I finished, he held my hand in his.

“I’ll call you,” he promised, his voice rough.

As I nodded and walked inside, I could only hope he would.

Fourteen

When I woke tangled in my blankets, every part of me hurt. My feet ached from wearing heels the night before. Soreness permeated my muscles from all the walking and moving. And my eyes burned with exhaustion. Even though what looked like afternoon sun streamed through the window, I was still beyond tired.

Something landed on the bed beside me, and I jerked upright.

My father was in the room, fully dressed for the day in slacks and a dress shirt with his arms folded across his chest. “What is this?”

The rag of a magazine he’d thrown at me had a photo of Ryde and me on the cover with a jagged line through the middle. The title read YOUNG LOVE GOES WRONG with a call out saying How Will Hollywood’s Hottie Deal with Heartbreak?

I shoved the magazine off the bed and groaned. “Couldn’t they have thought of a better headline?”

“You think this is funny?” Dad asked, his voice dangerously low.

Rubbing my face, I said, “I’d have to be a little more awake to think anything, much less be amused.”

He shook his head in disgust. “I want you showered, dressed, and downstairs in half an hour. Ryde is on his way.”

Just the sound of Ryde’s name sent a wave of anxiety rolling through me. The night before had been crazy, but I didn’t regret any of it. I’d rather spend a night on the beach with a complete stranger over an evening with an image-obsessed celebrity any day of the week, even if it meant facing what was sure to be a nasty article written about me in a magazine.

I got up and made my way toward the bathroom. When Dad heard about how Ryde had treated me the night before—the way he’d spoken about my size—surely he would see this was not a good match. Even the Adam Sandler wannabe with an axe-throwing setup in a bar Dad had set me up with would be better than Ryde. At least I’d get some laughs out of the deal, if only at his expense.

That was it, I thought, as I washed the night before from my skin. I would tell Dad he could choose someone—anyone—else and hope that would be enough to keep him at bay.

After showering, I didn’t bother putting on any makeup, and I only dressed in sweats. Ryde was shallow enough that might be enough to get him to call off this whole ordeal. I smiled at the thought. That was my ticket out. My father might still be able to control me, but Ryde was his own superficial, conceited, vain person. He could get out of this if he wanted to.

I lifted my comforter to find my phone, and it tumbled out, bouncing on the mattress and falling on the floor.

A message from a number I didn’t know waited for me, and I hurried to open it.

Ronan: Acribus initiis, incurioso fine.

I thought back to my ninth-grade Latin lessons and the phrases we had to remember. It brought a smile to my lips.

Excited for the beginning, careless how it ends.

Fifteen

I smiled and held the phone to my chest, a giddy excitement working its way through my body. Ronan was like no one I knew. Dark, secretive, brooding, but full of life. Everyone at the Academy or Dad’s work was so done up—carefully curated for the external world. My friends had let me in and shown me their real selves, but they weren’t full of the danger I saw in Ronan’s eyes. My curiosity demanded my attention, drawing my thoughts toward him.

As I pondered his message, I began my trek downstairs. There were several messages from my friends asking about the premiere, and even one with a link to an article about my early exit. I didn’t have time to answer their questions yet, so I tucked my phone in my