Bad Boy Best Friend - Hope Ford Page 0,19

crowds when he wasn’t hanging out with you. But that’s one thing I’ll give him, I never have to worry about you as long as you’re with him. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but it’s been a long time since I’ve heard of him stirring things up.”

“Well, people are bound to lose their temper from time to time.”

My dad shrugs. “He sounded concerned about you. Don’t forget to call him back.”

I nod and finish my coffee and breakfast and decide it’s a great day to drive out to the next town or maybe the one after that and do a little shopping. If I hang around the house or around town I’ll run into Austin, and I’m not ready to talk to him yet.

13

Austin

I’m fed up with the silent treatment I’m getting from Laney. She was MIA all day and night Saturday. I drove by her parents’ house several times and her car wasn’t there until late Saturday night. She hasn’t bothered to turn on her phone or if she did, she hasn’t returned any of the text messages I sent or voicemail messages I left. We’ve had fights, small ones in the past, but she’s never ignored me like this. Almost always, she’s ended up forgiving me before the day is out. So knowing that she is still avoiding me makes me realize just how much I fucked up.

Saturday I tried to convince myself that it was just misplaced emotion that drove me to kiss her the way I had, but even as I tried I didn’t believe it. Sunday brought with it my acceptance that I want to kiss her. Fuck, I want to do so much more than that with her. Just because I am ready to accept that we are fucking perfect for each other doesn’t mean that Laney is. If nothing else, the continued silence lets me know that she is afraid.

Maybe she is afraid because she sees how crazy I am for her and she doesn’t really feel that way about me. Just thinking it makes my chest hurt. What the fuck will I do if she doesn’t feel the same way?

I try her phone a few times Sunday, once in the morning and twice after lunchtime. I’m resigned to the idea that I won’t get to talk to her until she comes in for work on Monday. That is, if she even comes in at all. I don’t want to wait, but it is more important not to scare her away, so I have to be patient, even though it’s fucking hard.

My phone dings as I’m sitting on my couch, and when I look at it, I notice the clock says six in the evening and it’s a text from Rod.

Thought you might want to know so you don’t keep driving by Laney’s house… She’s here at the bar.

I don’t even care that people have taken notice that I’ve been driving by Laney’s family home. I’m just happy to know where she is and that she’s safe. For one brief second, I think about staying home and giving her the peace and distance that she seems to need. But then I start to think about it, and there’s no way I can hold off any longer. I have to know where her head’s at. And I’m going to have to admit to her what I’m thinking. I grab my keys for the motorcycle and leave my place for the bar.

Laney

The plan was to drink enough that I’d be sure to sleep since the last two nights were a bust in the sleeping department. I also thought that the bar would have very few people in it since Monday is a workday, but I was wrong.

Several of the guys from work have already tapped me on the shoulder and said hello. It isn’t the kind of atmosphere where I can be alone with my thoughts, but I’m not ready to go home yet either.

I’m only on my second beer when Austin takes the stool next to me at the bar. I know it’s him by the sexy scent that is just him. He’s always had it, and I’ve never been immune to it. I look over at him and his dark hair has that sexy, tousled look, and his blue eyes are clear and intense. I can tell he’s worried and knowing that makes me feel a little guilty for the way I’ve ghosted him the last couple of days. But what was