Page 70 of Bratty Badboys

Feeling my eyes on them, they turned towards me. I gave a small smile before sitting beside Kyle and finding his plate of breakfast full.

“Good morning,” I said as a greeting, not knowing why there was tension in the kitchen. It felt heavy and even Kyle couldn’t hide it by constantly adjusting his glasses and the boxy tee shirt he had borrowed from Caleb.

“Hi!” The young woman waved at me, pursing her lips and raising her brows at Caleb, who was oblivious as he served me a plate of eggs and a bowl of yogurt with blueberries.

Blueberries were my favorite fruit, and I loved eating them with Greek yogurt for extra protein in the morning.

“Thank you,” I said, digging in since I didn’t have much time before the classes started. I was mentally going through my to-do list when Kyle cleared his throat and finished his breakfast.

“I didn’t know you had… people over,” the girl said, hovering beside Caleb, her hair freshly blow dried by how voluminous it was. She was pretty in a sort of girl-next-door way, and I didn’t know why, but the way she kept eyeing Caleb made me squirm and my stomach knot and throat burn.

Caleb ran a hand through his damp hair, water droplets falling on his naked shoulder, making his tattooed skin appear delicious. Did I have enough time to lick it off and leave a hickey on him?

Gosh no, why am I thinking like Caleb?

He shrugged and said, “Yeah.”

It was almost funny how he didn’t even look at her and kept his eyes on us, making sure we finished everything. But it was pitying since the girl had woken up early and came over to surprise him?

“Caleb, I got us tickets for that football game?—”

“Chelsey,” Caleb interrupted and turned towards her, her eyes averting to his abs before looking up. I swallowed the food in my mouth and stood up from the chair, following Kyle out of the kitchen after putting our empty plates in the sink. “I thought I made it clear…”

We heard his voice trail off and took a deep breath of the fresh air in the backyard. Birds chittered and the scent of dew hung in the air.

“Isn’t she one of Aaron’s friends?” Kyle asked, breaking the silence.

I thought her face looked familiar. “She could be their friends.”

“I don’t look at my friends like that,” Kyle said, a small frown on his lips making me chuckle. “What?”

“You look cute when you’re jealous, Kyle,” I teased, nudging his shoulder. “I don’t think he has told any of his friends about us.”

“Neither have I.”

“Same. I should talk to Katie,” I said, wondering how my younger sister would react. “She has been getting suspicious.” She’d probably come to understand it like Cillian in some time, but I feared my mom’s reaction. She’d be more than upset. I didn’t even want to think about her judgmental opinions and looked back at Kyle when he squeezed my hand.

“It’ll be okay,” he whispered, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. “We will make it work.”

I smiled at the reassurance in his voice and closed my eyes when he kissed me on the lips. It was soft and gentle, my stomach flipping at the teasing touch of his tongue.

We jumped and pulled away when the slam of the front door echoed to the backyard. When we walked back to the kitchen, Caleb was alone.

Before we could ask anything, he looked at us and said, “Sorry about that. She came unannounced and… I had to lie about us.”

“Are you okay?” I asked, touching his arm.

“I’m fine.” He sighed and dropped his head on my shoulder and mumbled, “But I hate lying about us. I want to tell everyone that you’re mine. Both of you.”

I ran my hand through his hair as Kyle chimed in, “Feeling’s mutual.”

“Let’s take it one day at a time, okay? We will figure it out.”

“What time should I come pick you up?” Kyle asked, cutting the engine off his car once we reached my studio.

“I should be done by four. June is going to take the last two classes, but I’ll call you if anything changes.” I kissed his cheek and was about to get out when Caleb climbed out from the back seat and opened the door for me.

I didn’t know why he tagged along when Kyle was going to drop me at the studio before going home. But I should’ve known that Caleb is clingy and overprotective.

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