Falling In Love with a Bad Boy !

Chapter 25 - The Pain is Real

Annabeth POV💖

I could feel Ryder's glare on me throughout the entire cheerleading practice and to be honest, it felt good to have his attention. I know I sound lame but no matter what the boy did I still had feelings for him. I knew that he liked me as much I liked him or if possible more, and I believed that what kept him away from me was his genuine need to protect me. 

Although I had made that announcement in front of him around wearing this cheerleading outfit for other guys, I have to admit that I was regretting my words and I really wanted to go change. I felt cold and naked, and vulnerable and every time one of those burly football players would make eye contact with me I knew he was thinking disgusting sexual thoughts about me. 

Claire on the other hand was super convinced that Ryder had come to watch her today, so she was putting on an extra show for him, she had a seductive look plastered on her face while she did some unnecessary splits and stretches facing him the whole while.  I roll my eyes and smile at Amelie who was sitting closer to us and eating a candy bar looking perplexed at all the moves Claire was doing. I had already asked her as to why she was not sitting with Bryan but she said that she wanted to be as far away as possible from Ryder. 

I do a quick flip and land with my hands on my hips and sneak back a look at Ryder and the boys. Every time I see him it made my heart do flips and I had no idea how to make this feeling go away. Earlier when he held me by the waist I thought I would melt into a puddle. I look away from him and across at the field to see a sweaty and smiling Dylan come running down the field towards me. I wave at him and make my way out to him.

"Hello, Captain" I smile at him when I get close to him. 

He pants and smiles back at me "Hello cheerleader, I saw a few of your splits from there you seem pretty good at this" he chuckles and sits down on the grass.

 I smile looking down at him.  "Yea I used to be a cheerleader at my old school so.." I nod my head at him" I saw a few of your moves out there as well, your pretty good at this captain" I smiled at him. 

He grinned "Yea, it's difficult keeping up with training and eating healthy and studies and matches. I can't ever even lose sight of the goal, or else I can kiss my scholarship goodbye" He reaches his hand out gesturing me to pull him up and I roll my eyes at him " Really?" I smile and grab onto his hand and pull him as hard as I can but he doesn't budge. I huff and cross my arms and pout at him "Not fair"

Dylan laughs and he jumps up and hugs me making me laugh even louder " Ew gross ... your sweaty and disgusting" I push him off me and smile at him " He looks at me intently for about five seconds and then he smiles a light blush covering his cheeks " Look can I drop you today after practice, I need to formally invite your mum and dad for the dinner this weekend" 

I look at him remembering the dinner " Oh yea, sure. Umm but I am going home with Amelie, she has been waiting for me and you know girl code and all" I look at him slyly.

 He smiles back at me  "That's all good, Ill swing by in the evening and invite them and then maybe I can take you out for ice cream?" he winks at me and runs off without waiting for a response.  I turn around and see all the cheerleading squad with their mouths open staring at us a dreamy look on their face. I smile at them and run back to join the practice, I look up for a second but don't see Ryder and his friends, a slight pain crosses my chest but I shake it away and focus on practice. 

After practice, Amelie dropped me home, and the entire way we spoke about Bryan. I wanted to know more about him and she was more than happy to share. Bryan's mum had died when he was young and so he lived with his stepmother and dad who were realtors and from what Amelie said relatively well off. Bryan had pretty much grown up with Ryder, although Amelie wasn't sure if they were neighbors or school friends. Amelie said that every time she brought up the subject of Ryder Bryan would close up so she avoided that subject with him. I was so happy at the way Amelie's eyes were twinkling when she spoke about Bryan and at that moment I prayed they get their happily ever after.

Once I get home, I eat a quick salad and speak to mum for a bit. I tell her about Dylan coming over to invite them for dinner and she was excited, she immediately got on the phone and I could hear her speaking to dad and ordering him to come back for the weekend. 

I quickly take a shower and scrubbed myself with shower gel trying to stop myself from thinking about Ryder. I touch my stomach while I scrubbed myself, reliving the moment he touched me there, 

''Aaargh" I scream to myself and step out, dry myself, and put on a black dress with a denim jacket, and pair it with kitten-heeled gladiator open-toed shoes. I blow dry my hair into curls, do my makeup and when I go down I  see Dylan sitting on the couch holding an animated conversation with my mother.

He looks up and smiles at me  "Wow you look amazing" Mum cranes her neck to see me and her nose wrinkles " Umm, I don't like what your wearing but all good". Dylan looks around at mum and placates her "Aw, I'm sure it's difficult to keep up with your standards, Mary considering how you were a super model, but I think she looks pretty ok ". 

I don't know why but that comment annoys me, for a brief second I contemplate hitting them both on the head with one of my mum's ornate vases but I just smile at them. Dylan stands up holding his arm out to me "Ill bring her back early Mary" I lift my eyebrows at the fact that they were on a first-name basis but  I choose to ignore it. 

Mum smiles widely at him and stands up ushering us to the door " Thank you for the invitation again Dylan, we will most definitely be there"

We walk to the car in silence and Dylan opens the door for me. Once he starts driving he looks at me eyes twinkling " So tell me about yourself Annabeth, I want to know more, what goes on behind those twinkling blue eyes of yours?" I smile at him and talk about my friends at the old school and some of the stuff we used to get up to. I carefully leave out all the drama relating to my mum, for some reason I didn't feel comfortable sharing too much with Dylan.

Dylan pulls up to the ice cream shop and we walk in together with his arm around me which makes me feel rather awkward but I don't want to make it any more awkward by shaking his arm off so I continue in. We buy ice cream in silence with Dylan just staring at my face the entire time which makes me super uncomfortable. I order a scoop of chocolate ice cream and Dylan orders a vanilla milkshake. We sit at the counter eating and drinking while he starts talking about school and his match and his ambitions. I think this was the second or third or fourth time that he was telling me about his football skills but I did not want to interrupt him. I look at my phone to see it ringing with an unknown number, I frown and cut the call.  

I look back at Dylan studying his perfect features and the way his blonde hair curled perfectly wondering why for the life of me I couldn't catch feelings for him, I mean it would most definitely make my life easier. Once we finished our ice creams Dylan drives me back home in silence, occasionally glancing at me. "Are you ok, your awfully silent"? he looks at me quickly.

 I shrug "Just tired from school". All I could think about was a certain rugged handsome bad boy who I couldn't be with and I sigh as Dylan pulls up in front of my gate. 

I step out and wait for him to come to the gate. "Thank you for the ice cream, Dylan.." Before I could complete my sentence he leaned in and kissed me. His mouth was soft against mine and he tasted like the vanilla milkshake but I couldn't bring myself to respond to him. 

I slowly pull away from him after a few seconds once I am over the initial shock. " I'm sorry Dylan, I'm just not ready yet to take this any further.. " he looks at me a brief annoyed look flitting across her face before he masks it with a smile " All good Anna, I completely understand that you want to take it slow, I just wanted you to know how I feel about you, that's all... I'm ok to take it slow" He kisses my cheek and without looking back he gets into his car and drives away.

"Well that was fucking awkward" I jump shrieking and look to the side to see Colton standing there tired and with a black eye. 

"What are you doing here Colton?" I am still clutching my chest trying to calm myself. 

Colton grimaces " I called you a few times, it's Ryder... I need you to come with me"