The Love of My Bully

“You.”

“What?”

“I … I want you. I don’t want this to mean anything but when I’m with you, I forget all of the other shit and I can think. You’re all I can think about, and I don’t get it.”

She turned toward her door. “You’re confusing me. This can’t be happening between us. We’re going over the same old ground. We sound like a broken record.”

He gripped her arm and she turned toward him. “I know. I really do.”

She couldn’t help but look at him. He sounded so lost.

“All of my life I’ve been told to look at people like you as if you’re nothing. You’re nothing to me because you could never be in the same league as me. My parents would make your and your family’s life a misery, and that’s being nice about it, if they even knew I was driving you home. This can’t be anything.”

Pru sat back. “Then what do you want?” She kept asking the same question in the hope that he would just tell her what he wanted. This back-and-forth was grating on her nerves. She didn’t know what to expect and, quite frankly, it just wasn’t worth the pain or the confusion.

“I want you,” Drake said, completely shocking her to the core with his honesty.

“What?”

“You heard me and I’m not going to repeat myself.” He turned to face the road once again.

Pru opened her mouth, then closed it, and opened it again. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am serious, Pru. I know you feel it too. I get that we’re different people. That this is completely fucking stupid and you know what, you’re right. It’s crazy and stupid but I still don’t care because it’s what I want.”

She licked her lips. Drake made no move to pull away from the curb. The windshield wipers moved back and forth. She looked around at the passing cars. None of them stopped or belted out their horn, they simply moved around Drake’s car. Did they know who he was? What he was capable of? She didn’t have a clue.

“Let’s go back to my place,” she said. The words fell out of her mouth before she could stop them. Once she had spoken, there was no taking them back. She didn’t want to. This was her choice to make, and she chose finding out more about where this would lead with Drake. It wasn’t going to end well. She knew that, deep down into her soul. This was going to end badly for both of them.

Drake drove and they stayed silent.

There was no need for words. What was the point of talking? She nibbled her lip, recalling her parents weren’t home. They were busy working as they usually were during the summer season. This was their time to put in as much overtime as possible so they could pay off all their debts.

It was the only time in her home there wasn’t a single argument about money. For a split second, she worried Sean would see Drake’s car but then pushed it to the back of her mind. Sean was busy doing whatever it was he was doing.

Climbing out of the car, she was all too aware of Drake’s presence at her back. He stood right there, waiting. Sliding the key into the lock with a surprisingly steady hand, she twisted the key and entered her home.

The silence was deafening, if that was even possible. Her heart pounded as she closed the door behind Drake, who had slid in behind her. With the door locked, she turned toward him. He simply watched her.

As she clasped her hands together, the metal of the key dug into her palm, but she made no move to stop it. Maybe the bite of pain from the key would help her to get her head on straight.

Drake took a step toward her, then another. She didn’t move back, simply tilted her head to look at him. Like this, he seemed so much taller than her. He reached out and she didn’t even flinch as he cupped her cheek. His touch felt right, natural, and at that moment, she knew she had to be losing her mind. How could his touch feel like this?

“Do you feel that?” he asked.

“Yes.” There was no point in arguing.

They’d been arguing for too long now and it hadn’t gotten them anywhere. She didn’t want to argue or fight with him anymore. She placed her hands on his shoulders, feeling the strength within him.

One look into his eyes, and Pru stopped fighting. She let her body take control and she closed the distance between them, which wasn’t much. She couldn’t believe Drake was in her living room, or that she was about to do what she was. Pressing her lips against his, she kissed him. This wasn’t their first or second kiss, but this did feel like it was going to change her life.