Tamed by the Bad Boy Next Door

Mr. Impartial

“Uh…” Ainsley began, completely at a loss. “What’s your deal, dude?”

For several moments, Seb looked at her like he had a lot of harsh words to say. Ainsley waited, intrigued and worried despite herself.

What exactly had she done to make Sebastian say that to her?

But in the end, Seb only faced his door again and said, “Whatever. Just get inside.”

After saying that, he himself made no move to resume entering his apartment.

Ainsley also stayed right where she was.

“Tell me what it’s about first,” she insisted.

“It’s too late,” Seb replied, addressing his door. “There’s no use even if I tell you. And speaking of late…” He turned his head slightly to get Ainsley in his periphery. “Do you have any idea what time it is? You should be sleeping.”

Ainsley’s cheeks puffed. “Well, so should you, mister—we’re literally the same age. What were you talking about anyway? Tell me already.”

“I said it’s no use, didn’t I?” Seb answered. “So just get inside.”

Seb’s tone and sideways glare just about made Ainsley stomp her foot. “Fine!” With quick and heavy strides, she approached her own door. “You think I’d be able to fall asleep while worrying about this? Thanks for nothing, you ass!”

Using her key, Ainsley unlocked her door and promptly shut it again upon entering.

“Lock it,” she heard Seb call out from outside.

She had been just about to do so, but now that that hateful guy had practically ordered her to, she wanted to be contrary.

Ainsley stuck her tongue out at the door.

But even though Seb shouldn’t have been able to see her, it was as if he knew what she was thinking and doing anyway. Then again, perhaps it’s because he heard no click when that sound should have immediately followed the door’s closing.

Seb thus repeated louder, “I said lock it!”

In response, Ainsley made more faces.

When a moment too long passed and Seb still heard no clicking sound, he lost his patience. He approached Ainsley’s door himself, twisted the knob, and opened the door by a few inches.

“Are you a damn kid?” he angrily told Ainsley, who had been too surprised by Seb’s actions to school her expression back to innocence.

Following this, Seb reached inside to click the doorknob’s lock himself and then pulled the door shut again. Only then did he return to his own door. This time, with him no longer so drunk thanks to Ainsley’s antics, he succeeded in fishing out his key and finally opened and locked his door after himself.

***

Ainsley did find it difficult to fall asleep, but luckily for her, she still managed to do so at some point.

Hours before then, she had also managed to figure out what Seb’s accusations might have been about. There were only a couple of possibilities, really.

Unfortunately, even if she wanted to approach Seb to confirm it—and she didn’t—the guy had already made it clear that he didn’t want to tell her anything.

That left her with a few other options.

The very next day, it seemed luck was favoring her again. She came across one of Sebastian’s friends who was presently all by himself.

Since it was Lewis, though… maybe it wasn’t so lucky. Ainsley found it awkward to approach him on the park bench where he sat, but approach him she did.

Noticing her well beforehand, Lewis stayed where he was and smiled welcomingly.

“Ainsley, right?” he asked when the girl reached him.

Ainsley nodded wordlessly and looked even more awkward as she stood to one side. Correctly guessing the reason, Lewis chuckled.

“You don’t even know my name, do you?” he said good-naturedly. Seeing the other person coloring in embarrassment, unable to look at him directly, he didn’t wait for an answer and simply stated, “It’s Lewis. What can I help you with, Ainsley?”

The girl didn’t beat around the bush.

“Sebastian told me I did something,” she answered, finally meeting Lewis’ eyes. “But he wouldn’t tell me what. I’m guessing it has something to do with your other friend. Can you please tell me what I did wrong?”

“Well…” Lewis began, looking around watchfully before scooting to the side to make space on the bench. “Take a seat first.” Once Ainsley had reluctantly done so, Lewis asked in a low voice, “Did Seb really blame you for what happened?”

Staring at the ground, Ainsley shrugged. “He said I ‘wreaked havoc in other people’s lives.’ Don’t know about you, but that sounds like blame to me.” She paused self-consciously. “You, um… didn’t fight with your friend, did you?”

Lewis displayed a small but kind smile. “Don’t worry. That’s not what it was about.”

But hearing that only made Ainsley deflate even more. “Then it really is about your friend and his girlfriend. Did those two break up? Because of me…?”

When she said that last part, Ainsley looked and sounded like she was in complete disbelief. It was as if she was thinking, how could silly old her cause that much damage to anyone? All she actually did was stare, and when she was told to stop, she stopped.

She really never imagined that what she considered to be mere harmless fun could lead to something this serious.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Lewis replied carefully. “Strictly speaking, it is because of you. But in my opinion, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your fault.”

Amid Ainsley’s obvious skepticism, Lewis went on to explain how it was mostly due to a bad mix of misunderstandings that the couple broke up. In his earnest desire not to look suspicious in front of Colleen, Jay had unfortunately achieved the exact opposite.

Lewis and his other friends had also since learned that Colleen’s boyfriend before Jay had made a habit of cheating on her. They’d had a long-distance relationship, but even during the rare times when they were together, the guy would think nothing of checking other girls out, sometimes even flirting with them outright in front of her.

Colleen had endured a lot of heartache before she finally found the courage and self-respect to break things off with him. From there, she had sworn to make a better choice if she ever got into a relationship again.

One could suppose that she was still highly sensitive when it came to her partner’s faithfulness. Jay’s friends knew he was not the same kind of guy as Colleen’s ex, but Colleen didn’t. Or at least, she couldn’t afford to blindly trust that his awkward actions weren’t actually signs of betrayal.

“So you see,” Lewis went on with a heavy sigh, “the circumstances really just stacked against them. Even if you weren’t in the picture, I feel like Colleen would have still found something else about Jay to trigger her mistrust. Maybe she just wasn’t ready for a new relationship yet. I know Jay wasn’t, the poor guy. He really isn’t equipped to handle any of this.”

All throughout Lewis’ speech, Ainsley had quietly listened. She was gripping the edge of the bench on either side of her body, and if she were to bow her head any more, she would end up doubled over.

“Is it too late to fix this?” she asked in a small voice, seemingly addressing the ground.

“You know what,” Lewis replied with another sigh, “I honestly don’t know. It’s just not up to anyone else, is it? This is their problem.”

At that, Ainsley abruptly stood up. “Thank you,” she said, finally addressing Lewis this time around. “For telling me all this.” She paused and shyly kicked the ground. “Can I ask you about something else, though…?”