Practice Kissing With The Bad Boy

8: The Cross Road

BLAKE’s POV :

“If you can't make up your mind about me already by now, maybe you shouldn't even bother,"

Her words were haunting me as I drove down the empty road. I wasn’t expecting to have this talk tonight, so I didn’t have the best answer, but I was only trying to be honest.

"So, am I just another Viviane to you?"

Of course not. She was totally different from whatever Viviane was to me. Hell, she was different from all the girls I had been with before.

"Blake, are you ashamed of me?"

Again, no. I was never ashamed of her. But I was scared about dating a girl in general. And not just any girl too, she was my best friend’s little sister. I respected Ryder too much to just screw around. Screwing around wasn’t my intention either. If I wanted to screw around, I had a list of girls in my contacts that would take much less effort and much less complication.

Taya was something else.

Everything was going so well. I had planned everything to the detail, and I wasn’t expecting a stupid text to ruin the entire night. At first, I was just upset. I thought Taya was overreacting. It was just a stupid harmless text. It wasn’t even anything.

But now, I realized that she wasn’t mad about the text, she was upset because I couldn’t tell her what we were. Sure, we had been hanging out for an entire week together, sneaking around school or meeting up after practice to make out. Yeah, it was fun and all, but I didn’t know if that meant we were in a relationship together.

What does it mean then?

This kind of thing was new to me. I was never in a relationship or anything like that before. I hung out with plenty of girls, sure. But that was it. We were hanging out. What else was there?

Do I want more?

My mind started running a hundred miles an hour. I knew we couldn’t just ‘hang out’ forever. There should be some clarity somewhere down the line. And though I didn’t expect it to be this soon, I had to answer the question: do I see a future with this girl?

Yes. Yes, I do.

It didn’t even take a second for my brain to respond. I wanted her. I wanted to get to know her more. She was not only beautiful, but also smart and very interesting to talk to.

But what the f**k did I just do?

I let her go on her own in the middle of the streets. In the nighttime too. That was such a shitty thing to do. I shouldn’t have done that. I should’ve waited and insisted to take her home. I should’ve cleared up all the misunderstandings. The night shouldn’t end like this.

Shit.

Not wasting any more time, I whipped the steering wheel around and the car turned around. Within seconds, I switched the lane and sped back as fast as I could.

Wait for me, Taya. I’m coming back.

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TAYA’s POV :

"Judah?" my voice was shaking, and I couldn’t believe that this was happening.

"You know this chick?" the guy on the other motorcycle said.

"What are you doing here?" Judah said to me, ignoring the other guy.

"It's none of your business," I stated firmly, wiping my face with my hands and straightening my dress, pulling my s**t together.

"Ooh, she's feisty," the other guy chuckled.

There was a girl sitting behind Judah on his motorcycle. She had a helmet on so I couldn't see her face, but her long, gorgeous red hair cascaded out of it.

"Where are you going? Don't you live on the other side of town?" Judah asked again.

"It's fine,” I said casually. “I needed the walk anyway,"

He eyed me suspiciously, noting the flood of mascara on my face and my dirty bare feet.

"It's late. I'll take you home," he said.

"No thanks, I'm good," I insisted.

As grateful as I was for the offer, this was coming from the annoying new kid. I didn’t know if I should trust him. And today was hard enough already.

"Babe, can you ride with Max? I need to take her home. I'll meet you guys there," ignoring me, Judah spoke to the redhead behind him.

"Okay," the girl replied and she let go of her grip around Judah's waist, before jumping off the bike. In one swift movement, she got on and sat on the other guy's motorcycle.

The other motorcycle's engine roared a few times as Judah nodded to them and they speeded away, leaving Judah and me on our own.

"Come on Blondie, let's go. I got places to be," he handed his helmet out to me.

"No Judah, I'm fine. Really, just go," I knew I was being stubborn, but I didn't feel like receiving anyone's pity right now. Especially not his.

But Judah was just as stubborn as me.

He grabbed me by the arm forcefully and pulled me to him. Before I could protest some more, he placed his helmet on my head, securing it tightly.

"That's enough, let's go," he stated firmly.

At this point, I gave up. I followed meekly as he gestured for me to get on. I was struggling too, while that girl made it look so easy.

"Hold tight," he said and I complied, linking my arms around his stomach.

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BLAKE’s POV :

I was speeding like damn Paul Walker in the Fast and Furious movies.

Ignoring all the red lights, my Audi was roaring through the streets. All the while, I kept my eye out for any sign of Taya. I had been driving for about fifteen minutes before I turned around, so Taya was still probably somewhere around the place I left her last.

Looking out at the dark night streets, I suddenly felt an immense amount of guilt. I was a total ass. I let a girl walk by herself in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere too. And not just any girl, it was Taya. Ryder would kick my ass if he knew.

Hell, I feel like kicking my own ass right now.

When I reached the place where Taya got out of the car, I couldn’t find her anywhere. I tried calling her phone, but it went straight to voicemail. I was full on panicking now, worried that something bad might happened to her.

Shit.

Looking around the streets, everything was dark and empty. I tried driving around some more, just in case I might have missed her. But no, I found nothing. Not even a single person around.

Did she leave already?

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TAYA’s POV :

I won’t be surprised if someday Judah was cast in The Fast and Furious movies.

He was riding so damn fast, I swear my life had flashed before my eyes. Throughout the entire ride, I was certain I was gonna get blown away by all the wind. Still, I tried my best not to whimper like a baby and held my grip tighter around him.

Judah only asked for my street address and we didn't speak one word after that.

Before I knew it, we had arrived back at my house. It was so ridiculously fast. And thank God, I was good with my curfew. After Judah killed the engine and parked the car in front of our driveway, I got off the motorcycle as ungracefully as I got on it.

"Gee, I thought I wouldn't make it back in one piece," I joked as I handed him his helmet back. “Thanks for the ride,”

He ignored my comment and took out a cigarette and a lighter from his jacket, doing his usual routine.

"You wanna tell me what happened out there?" he mumbled through the cigarette hanging on his mouth.

I shook my head and gave him a small smile. “Not tonight,” I said.

He sighed in response, but I was glad he didn't press on.

Using the back of my hand, I wiped my face and combed my hair with my fingers. I knew for sure I looked like a total car wreck. I turned to him again and said, "Does this scream 'train wreck' to you, or do you think my mom won't notice?"

I thought he would at least c***k out a laugh, but he just looked at me with a blank stare. Then his hand reached up to my cheek, picking up a strand of my fallen eyelash before throwing it to the ground.

“I should’ve made a wish first,” I joked again, but he wasn’t amused. His face was stern and serious.

"You're not gonna make fun of me? That's so unlike you," I said lowly.

"Nah, there'd be other days," he stifled a laugh and I rolled my eyes naturally.

"Good night Blondie,"

"Good night..."

I was about to turn to the house when suddenly a thought came to my mind. Judah had turned his motorcycle engine back on, signaling that he was about to leave.

"Hey..." I said quickly to grab his attention. He looked at me and a cloud of white smoke escaped his lips.

I swallowed hard and said, "I hope lung cancer won't get you,"

He stifled another laugh, giving me a knowing smile before speeding away.

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BLAKE’s POV :

I was speeding so fast, I almost crashed into this motorcycle that passed my car. Luckily, the guy dodged me and I kept driving. I needed to make sure that Taya was home, which was why I was racing over to her house.

When I finally got to her house, I saw that the second floor light was on, and I caught her shadow by the window. I let out the biggest sigh of relief. She was at home. She was safe and at home.

I tried to call her cell again, but she wasn’t answering. I texted her about a million times already, and there was no response. She didn’t even read the texts. They were only delivered.

Why are girls so damn difficult?

I spent about half an hour just sitting in my car, staring at the phone in my hand. It was already late at night, so I couldn’t possibly knock on the door and wake her entire family up. I found myself staring at the second floor window for the longest time, looking for signs of movement. And suddenly, the lights in the room went out. It was pitch black and I couldn’t see anything anymore.

Fuck. What am I supposed to do now?

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- - - To Be Continued - - -