Beware of Bad Boy (9 page)

CHAPTER
TWELVE

“
Beauty in distress is much the most affecting beauty.
”

-Edmund Burke

CALEB

When Gianna ignored me, I repeated, “Tell me why you were crying.”

“It was nothing,” she
stalled.

“If it was nothing, then wh
y do you need to go home?” I continued to interrogate her ruthlessly.

“I just h
ad a fight with Josh,” she finally admitted, leaning her head against the window dejectedly.

I’d
met plenty of guys like Josh before. I knew the type and I wanted a full explanation. “Tell me, Gianna, or I’m just going to turn this car right around, pull him out of whatever class he has right now and beat the shit out of him.”

She looked
alarmed by my threat. “You can’t do that!”

“I can a
nd I will, if you don’t tell me.” I made sure to look her straight in the eyes so she could tell how serious I was.

She sighed in resignation. “Fine, I was walking to third period when
he pulled me outside and demanded to know if I was seeing someone new.”

Her eyes avoiding mine gave her away.
“Gianna, what are you leaving out?”

She
glanced down at her hands and said softly, “Um, he yelled at me and kissed me a couple times and slammed me against the wall a of couple times.” She lifted her head with new tears in her eyes and her bottom lip trembling.

I
screeched over to the side of the road and she jumped in her seat in alarm. Unbuckling her seatbelt, I pulled her in for a hug. She rested her head against my shoulder and I reached up to feel a bump on the back of her head. He was going to pay for this.

“It’s okay now
. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

She
drew back to look into my face. “What are you going to do?”

“B
eat his ass next time I see him.”

“What if he wins? I don’t want you to get beat up.”
She was so cute.

“Don’t worry, I won’t. What did you tell him when he asked if you were seeing someone new?”
Brushing the hair back from her forehead, I kissed her red nose.

“I told him I wasn’t actually dating anyone new yet since ou
r first date isn’t until Friday.”

Shit! D
id she think we were dating? “Who exactly are you going on a date with?”

“
Seth.”

“Who the hell is S
eth?” I practically yelled at her, making her flinch.

“Seth Nichols. You’ve met him, right? He sits at the same table at lunch as you do. Just at the other end by where Josh and I usually sit.”

I finally realized who she was talking about and had to admit myself it was jealousy I was feeling. “What about your plans to have sex with Jared?”

Her expression turned guarded
. “Oh, Jared is Saturday night. Seth is Friday night.”

“Will you be fucking Seth also?” I ask
ed through clenched teeth.

She
pinched my stomach hard. “Don’t be an ass, Caleb, of course not. I mean, at least not yet. But you never know what will happen in the future. I figure, once I lose my virginity and get that out of the way, everything will change.” The sly look in her beautiful blue eyes worried me.

“What do you mean?” I ask
ed her, not knowing if I wanted the answer.

“Well, look how miserable I’ve been in the past and look how happy you are with the way you live your life. I want to be a player like you. From now on, I don’t even w
ant to hear the word
boyfriend
because it’s a new bad word in my dictionary, the B-word. Just think of me as your protégé!” She seemed delighted at the prospect.

Jesus C
hrist, what had I done? I’d turned an innocent girl into a female player! There had to be a way to prevent this all from happening. But who was I to scold her about it? She was just following my example.

GIANNA

Oh my god! This was hilarious. I could totally tell Caleb was freaking out in his head. His eyes weren’t even focused anymore. I couldn’t believe he was buying it! Like I was just going to go whoring around for the fun of it! When I finally had sex for the first time, I wanted it to mean something. Maybe his way of thinking about sex was so ingrained that he could easily imagine someone else adopting the same attitude.

Without a word, he buckled me back in and
drove us home. The house was quiet with my mom and Scott at work and Chance at school. Fortunately, we wouldn’t have to answer any awkward questions about what we were doing home in the middle of the school day.

Caleb finally spoke again when we entered the house. “Y
ou know, this is number ten on the list, ditch school. This isn’t really your first time ditching is it?” The way he said it, he made me sound lame.

“It’s the first time without my mom’s permission,” I
informed him. “But, I’ll probably have her excuse this one. I’ll tell her I wasn’t feeling good.”

“It doesn’t
count if you do that. Plus, to ditch school and only go home is lame. Some other time we’re going to do it right.”

“S
hould we go back to school then?” I asked, not keen on the idea.

“No, we’ll stay here and watch a movie or something.
”

“Sure, but I get to pick it,” I
announced and headed over to the DVD collection in the living room. I took out
28 Days Later
and put it on.

After I push
ed play on the remote, Caleb asked, “You like zombie movies?”

“I lo
ve zombie movies, but this isn’t a zombie movie. The people in this movie have The Rage virus.”

“W
hatever,” he replied indifferently.

I glare
d at him. “You don’t have to sound so excited.”

“
Okay, I won’t.” He grinned at me in a way I was starting to like. “What if I get scared, Gianna? Are you going to hold me?”

My first thought wa
s to call him a wimp, but then I thought better of it. I was supposed to be playing the part of player protégé. Instead, I scanned his body and finally settled my eyes on his crotch. “Where exactly would you like me to hold you?”

His mouth drop
ped open in shock. He was about to say something but closed it. Caleb’s gaze took in my own body. “Princess, you’re asking for trouble.”

I blank
ed out my face. “Would it be like a lesson of some sort?”

H
is eyes clouded over for a moment as if he was going through some sort of internal debate. “I don’t think that’s a lesson you need to learn yet.”

I shrug
ged carelessly. “Whatever, I guess I’ll learn it soon enough.”

Going in
to the kitchen, I searched for something for us to eat and drink. When I returned to the living room, Caleb was laying down on the couch, so I sat in front of him on the floor, with my back against the couch.

Soon after the movie started
, Caleb began playing with my hair. I couldn’t help remarking, “I wonder what my mom would do if I dyed it black.”

“Probably dye it back to dark blonde while you’re sleeping. Don’t dye it
, though, I like it this color.” The compliment made me all happy inside, which was stupid.

I turn
ed around to ask him why he liked the color and he leaned forward to capture my lips with his. As usual, I kissed him back, prompting him to pull me up onto the couch with him. Sucking his bottom lip into my mouth, I luxuriated in his taste. He groaned, pushing his hips up against mine. His own lust fueled mine. I was kissing his neck when I got to where I gave him a hickey yesterday. A giggle slipped through my lips.

“What’s so funny?” he asked playfully
.

I sa
t up, looking down at him. “I guess the hickey didn’t work. It didn’t stop that slutty girl this morning from throwing herself at you.”

“No it didn’t.
Actually, I have a date Friday night, too.”

“What?” I
shouted while jumping off of him. I was incredibly pissed now. Maybe I didn’t have a reason to be mad, since I had a date also, but he started it! He was flirting with that girl before I agreed to the date with Seth. If he hadn’t been, I may have turned Seth down.

“What’s wrong?
Jealous?” he taunted.

“No,
I would
never
be jealous of a guy like you. Who was that girl anyways? What’s her name?”

His eyebrows drew together in concentration.
“You know, I actually can’t remember her name. She did put her number in my phone, so I guess it’s in there.”

“You know you’re horrible, right?”
I was in twisted awe of him. It was incredible what a player he was. I’d think the guy deserved a medal if it didn’t irritate me so much.

“Hey, I thought you wanted to be just like me?”

Dammit, I’d forgotten about that. “You know what? You’re right. Jeez, I suck at this player thing.” An idea came to me. “I have a great idea! How about we all go out on a double date Friday?”

“A double date?” he
repeated skeptically.

“Yes, a double date.
How better for me to learn from the master?”

“A double date?”
He appeared to be having trouble with the concept.

“Just say yes,
” I ordered him.

“Um . . . yes
?” His gorgeous face showed evident pain at the idea.

Good
, I thought to myself. I was going to ruin his stupid date. He thought he could keep kissing me and still mess around with other girls. I didn’t think so. I mean, what the hell? He kissed me and then was like,
oh by the way, I already have plans to be kissing some other girl on Friday and I don’t even know her name
.

S
crew that!

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

“Love is the attempt to form a friendship inspired by beauty.”

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

CALEB

S
eething over Josh attacking Gianna, I was in my room later that night drawing a comic strip of me hitting him with my car. The impact was hard enough that his body parts were strewn across the road. As I drove away in the last picture, my back tire went over his head, squashing it. He obviously hadn’t learned his lesson Friday night, so I’d have to teach him another one. I didn’t ever want to see Gianna hurt again and I couldn’t be with her all the time at school, so the lesson would have to be a good one.

I needed to learn a lesson of my own and stop kissing her all the time.
I couldn’t seem to help myself with her. She was so beautiful and fun to be around. Too bad she was a virgin
and
my stepsister. That made her double off-limits.

The
double date she’d talked me into for Friday seemed like a bad idea. Who did that other than cheesy people on sitcoms? How was I going to get any action with Gianna there? I especially didn’t want to be around her and that Seth guy while they were on a date. I hadn’t talked to him yet, but if he was Josh’s friend maybe I wouldn’t approve. Maybe it was a good thing we’d all be hanging out on Friday, so I could keep an eye on him. It was unreal that she already had a date with another guy. She just broke up with Josh this past weekend.

As for her
plans to sex with Jared on Saturday, that wouldn’t be happening. I’d stick by her side and not let her out of my sight all weekend. It was no hardship hanging out with her anyways.

With m
usic playing, lying back on my bed, I got an idea for the first part of Josh’s lesson. Eager to make him pay, I changed my clothes and slipped on shoes. Leaving my room, I lightly knocked on Gianna’s door. She opened it wearing just boy shorts and a tank top. Damn, I wanted to fuck her. Gianna deserved to be made love to and I didn’t think I had it in me.

She snap
ped her fingers in my face. “Caleb! What do you want?”

With great effort, I
dragged my gaze away from the bit of skin showing above her waistband. “Oh, um, get dressed.”

“Where are we going?”

Trying not to leer at her cleavage, I told her, “On a field trip, my apprentice. Wear black.”

She
shut the door on me and emerged less than a minute later wearing black leggings and a hoodie. We quietly went down the stairs and out the front door.

In my car
, I asked her, “So, where does Josh live?”

She twisted in her seat, her eyes wide.
“What are you going to do?”

“You mean, what are
we
going to do?”

“We’re going to beat him up together?” she
guessed, eyes going impossibly wider.

“
As romantic as that sounds, princess, we aren’t even going to see him. Now, where does he live?” She supplied me with directions and I parked my car a few houses down from his ten minutes later. Reaching into my backseat, I picked up the shopping bag which still had the cans of spray paint. There would be just enough left.

“Oh my god, we aren’t going to do what I
think we are, are we?”

“See,
you’re already learning from me.” Opening my glove compartment, I took out a black beanie. I placed it on Gianna’s head, hiding some of her dark blonde hair. “There, now you look like an adorable little robber.”

Josh’s truck wa
s black, so we only used the white, aqua blue and hot pink paint. The truck was parked in the driveway, with the driver side closest to the front door, so we painted the passenger side. When he got into his truck the following morning, he probably wouldn’t even see what we’d done. We gathered up the cans when we were finished and put them back in the shopping bag.

Once we
were back in my car and driving away, Gianna busted up laughing. “I can’t believe we did that! He’s going to freak! Oh no, what if he figures out it was us?”

“Don’t worry, princess, I’ll take care of him,” I
assured her, turning up the radio.

High on adrenalin,
I took hold of her hips before we went through the front door and kissed her. She must’ve felt as exhilarated as me because she matched my enthusiasm. Her arms twined around my neck. God, I loved her mouth. I kept telling myself to stop before I became addicted, but already nothing was better than kissing Gianna. As long it didn’t go any further, I figured no harm done.

Gianna was the one to end the kiss. “Thanks for the fun, Caleb.”

“Glad to be of service.” I watched her ass as she went inside and upstairs ahead of me.

*****

The next morning, I drove Gianna to school again. Eating the breakfast burritos Julie made us, we waited in my car in the parking lot for Josh to arrive. When he did, last night’s efforts proved to be well worth it. Everyone who caught the show laughed along with us. Josh exited his truck, still obviously clueless. He had a bewildered look on his face until he rounded the back of his truck to the other side where a crowd was gathering.

Since
my car windows were rolled down his, “Who the fuck did this?” was loud and clear.

Writt
en along the side of his truck was his first and last name, but that wasn’t all. For each letter of his name, coming down from that letter, Gianna and I had added a word to describe the wonderfulness that was Josh Larsen.

J
ackass

O
bsessive

S
hithead

H
ater

L
imp-dick

A
sshole

R
apist

S
leaze

E
vil

N
ecrophiliac

We’d run out of room on the last word, but he’d get the gist of it.
I was itching to go over there and beat the shit out of him for hurting Gianna, but I realized he would know then Gianna and I had vandalized his truck. I didn’t want him going after her for it. A target on my back wouldn’t have bothered me, but Gianna couldn’t fight back. I still owed him a beating. First chance I got, he’d meet my fists. Until then, I’d keep a close eye on Gianna at school.

Still sitting in my car
, I warned her, “Gianna, I want you to be careful at school from now on. Go everywhere with at least one other person and wait at your locker for me after school. I’ll drive you to and from school for awhile.”

Shifting in her seat, she looked
worried. “Okay, I guess.” Then with an impish smile, she added, “Do you think we should offer him the can of black spray paint we didn’t use to cover it up?” She laughed so I knew she wasn’t serious.

Picking up her backpack along with min
e, I said, “Come on, princess, I’ll walk you to first next class.”

I
had second and fourth periods with Gianna and I actually found myself eager to get to them. Last week she ignored me like a stranger, but this week she smiled at me when I came into class. I always sat in the back of my classes, so my view was of the back of her head in second period and her profile in fourth. I was so pathetic, acting like all the other guys at this school who worshipped Gianna.

I definitely need
ed to get laid on Friday night. That’d clear my head of her. During fourth period, I browsed through the contacts in my phone to figure out my date’s name on Friday. Desiree was her name. Such a gentleman, making sure I knew the name of the girl I’d be screwing. Gianna would be proud.

Catching
up with Gianna at the end of fourth period, I took her backpack off her shoulder and carried it. “Princess, we’re going to work on number eleven now.”

She looked at me quizzically.
“Number eleven?”

“Yep, make new friends.
”

“I can’t do that,” she
breathed out.

“
Why the hell not?”

“Because I belong with the popular
group. The other kids always treat me weird, like I’m so above them. They won’t have a real conversation with me or anything. They just agree with whatever I say and stare at me.” Her face was so sad I couldn’t resist putting my arm around her and bringing her close. The situation was ridiculous and it just showed how silly kids my age could be.

“Well, that’s where I come in.”
Confidence mixed with humility always worked.

“What do y
ou mean?” she asked suspiciously. As if I’d ever steered her wrong!

I
smiled knowingly at her. “You’ll see.”

We
went through the lunch line. “So, being brave, where’d you like to sit?”

She
scanned the lunchroom before her blue eyes settled on a table. “Do you see those people over there?”

Following
her gaze, I spotted a group of guys and girls near the windows. “Yeah, why them?”

“Well, I was friends with a couple of them in elementary school. Do you see how they don’t all dress the same? From looking at them, you wouldn’t even think
they had a lot in common, but they’re friends. That tells me they all accept each other for who they are, not for what they look like or what they wear. I’ve always thought it’d be cool to hang out with them.” From her pink cheeks, she was embarrassed about opening up about something she’d obviously given a lot of thought to.

Not wanting to discourage her, I ignored her embarrassment.
“Wise choice, let’s go introduce ourselves.”

Her nervousness was cute
as we walked to their table. It was funny that the most popular girl in the school was afraid of not being accepted by what looked like a group of misfits. I liked them for that alone. Taking an empty seat at their table, I pulled Gianna down onto the seat next to mine.

I start eating my food as if sitting with them was an everyday occurrence,
but Gianna sat there looking down at her food. Swallowing my food, I glanced around the group of shocked faces. “What?”

A petite Asian girl with
red streaks in her hair whispered shyly, “Why are you guys sitting here? Shouldn’t you be over there, with your friends?”

“And what if we want to sit here?” I
challenged her, taking another bite.

A guy with
a face pierced like a pincushion said, “That’d be cool, I guess,” but he was looking at Gianna as he said it. That, I hadn’t anticipated. If he hit on her, perhaps we’d find a new group of potential
real
friends.

My eyes met
Gianna’s to see her staring nervously back at me. Breaking the ice apparently wasn’t her forte. “I’m Caleb, I started here last week. Do you guys all know my stepsister, Gianna?”

A kid with spiked blonde hair and
black Buddy Holly glasses answered for the table, “Everybody knows who Gianna is. She’s like a
celebrity
here.” His sarcasm wasn’t appreciated.

Gianna
stiffened next to me and I sensed her disappointment. I quickly blurted out, “Celebrity?” and laughed derisively. “That’s ridiculous! Besides, she’s sitting right here, so you shouldn’t speak as if she isn’t here.”

“So
rry,” the blonde kid mumbled.

I nudge
d Gianna and she finally spoke to the Asian girl, “Hey, Kara, do you remember when we used to walk home from school together in elementary school?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Kara answered
shyly. Then she laughed abruptly. “Do you remember that one time we raced and you fell into a puddle of mud in that dirt field?”

Gianna
joined her laughter. “I remember that. My mom was so mad at me for ripping a hole in my jeans.”

The rest of lunch
was more relaxed and we got to know the other kids at the table. They were actually pretty cool. Definitely cooler and less fake than the
friends
Gianna had before. The entire lunch period, I saw kids from other tables staring and whispering. Thankfully Gianna was oblivious to it. It was the first time I’d seen her like this at school, happy. By the end of lunch, Gianna had talked about tattoos with a guy whose brother was a tattoo artist and she’d invited all of them to come watch her and her crew on Saturday at a battle. They were pretty surprised to find out Gianna was a breaker.

Leaving
the lunchroom, Gianna spontaneously hugged me. “Thanks, Caleb.” I watched her walking to her locker, feeling good I’d had a hand in her joy. As much as I appreciated her gratitude, when she hugged me, I couldn’t help thinking about how hot her body against mine.

After school, I
waited for her by her locker. As she dumped some books in it, she said, “I missed cheerleading practice yesterday. I can’t miss today or they’re gonna bitch.”