Tamed by the Bad Boy Next Door

Love Is No Good

Seb narrowed his dark eyes but didn’t otherwise react except to shrug. “I don’t really care,” he said in a flat tone. “Do whatever you want.”

“Yeah, right,” said Lewis with a snort. “Mr. Cool and Brooding ‘I Hate Love’ Martell doesn’t care. We totally believe you.”

Jay pleaded, “Be nice, Seb. Please? She’s on her way.”

‘Would she break up with you if I’m not?’ Seb was tempted to ask. ‘Not much of a relationship, then, is it?’

But aloud, all he said was, “Got it.”

Once they all had their trays filled and Jay’s girlfriend waved them over to an empty table she had secured, Seb was at least relieved to find that That Girl and her friends had already left theirs.

‘Good,’ he thought as he sat, determined to only focus on his food. ‘Good riddance.’

***

Alas, their university was not quite big enough for Seb to be rid of Ainsley for long.

While he, Jay, and Lewis were rounding a corridor to get to their next class, someone small and light crashed into Seb from the other direction.

The corridor had been spacious enough that something like this shouldn’t have happened.

So why did it?

It was because Ainsley had been too busy ogling someone behind her that she failed to watch where she was going. When he noticed her, Seb barely had enough time to stop and didn’t manage to get out of her way.

“Oof,” Ainsley said as the side of her face hit the hard object that was Sebastian’s chest.

Despite it not being his fault, Seb had just been about to apologize when he recognized That Girl’s face.

Thus, the words that came out of his mouth instead were, “Can’t you watch where you’re going?”

“Hey, now,” Lewis immediately intervened in a friendly manner, looking at the girl who was absently rubbing her cheek. “It was just an accident, Seb—no need to pick a fight.”

Jay too was looking at Ainsley and was able to recognize her. Quite recently, Colleen had brought her and her activities to his attention.

Thus, he took this opportunity to talk to her.

“Say, um…” he began awkwardly. From staring wide-eyed at Lewis, Ainsley shifted her shocked gaze to Jay. The guy didn’t know how else to address the matter except to be straightforward, so he continued, “Can I ask you to stop looking at me? Not just now, I mean, but at other times too. It bothers my girlfriend, you see…”

Seemingly struggling to process those words, Ainsley finally blinked her fine-lashed eyes and then frowned in confusion.

“But why would it bother her?” she asked in an innocent tone. “Does my staring make you like her less?”

Jay was at a loss. “W-well, no, but—”

Before he could finish, his friend Lewis cut in. He too was confused because…

“I thought I was the one you liked?” he said with an uncertain smile. “What’s going on?”

Quite baldly, Ainsley answered, “It’s both. I like you both.”

While Jay was completely taken aback by this, Lewis only let out a chuckle.

“Oh, I get it,” he said, clearly nothing but amused. “Not like I mind, but it’s better that you give up on the taken ones.” He pointed at himself and smiled. “I’m free, by the way, and I’m also interested.”

Upon hearing that last part, Ainsley was visibly stymied. All of this was a strictly off-limits territory for her, and for the first time since this whole encounter started, she was full-on panicking.

Before she could recover, Seb decided he’d had enough.

“You better not,” he told Lewis, his tone chilly. “Nothing good could come of associating with someone like her.”

Despite being really offended by that statement, Ainsley recognized the out and was grudgingly grateful for it.

She chirped, “What he said!” and then bolted.

Long after she was out of their sight, the three young men were still left feeling like a tornado had just passed by them, leaving nothing but a huge confusing mess in its wake.

…

Here’s the thing: Ainsley wasn’t actually looking for a relationship.

What sane person would actively want such a headache in their life? She might not seem to be “all there” all the time, but she was as sane as they come.

No. Her whole schtick was all about having the freedom to like whoever she liked. Even though she’d had the opportunity to take her potential “romances” to the next level, she had never been tempted to do it.

After all, she had no actual use for the real thing. When it came down to it, she was basically just a window shopper.

And she saw nothing wrong with that. Everyone liked pretty faces, didn’t they? She was just a bit more extreme in that regard, but that’s all it was. She couldn’t imagine ever having to give up the numerous objects of her admiration just because she happened to enter into a relationship.

Would she magically not have eyes anymore once she got a boyfriend? That just seemed silly. This was part of who she was, and she didn’t want to be put in a position where a hypothetical boyfriend would demand that she looked at no one else but him.

‘No, no, and no,’ she thought blithely as she headed to her next class. It was to be a large lecture that three of her crushes also attended. ‘I can’t live without my eye candies, so no, and thank you very much.’

Just as she had taken her seat at a prime spot in the back where all of her so-called eye candies would be visible from, her phone vibrated in her bag, signaling that she had an incoming call. Since there was time left before the class started, she answered it.

The call was from her dad.

“Hey, Daddy-o!” she greeted cheerfully.

Mr. Torres chuckled. “Too loud, honey. You’re not in class now, are you?”

Ainsley laughed as well before lowering her voice. “Sorry. Class hasn’t started yet anyway, and no one is seated near me. Anyhoo, what’s up?”

Her dad replied, “I’ll be stopping by your school today. What time will you be free for lunch?”

“We’re eating together?” Ainsley asked, her tone lacking in enthusiasm. This would probably mean they’re going to have lunch outside of campus. But since it would only be a day that she’d miss the non-food treats the campus cafeterias had to offer, she decided to let it pass. “I’m free after this period, actually. I’ll be out by 11:30.”

“All right, perfect,” Mr. Torres answered. “I’ll pick you up around then.”

After they briefly discussed the details, Ainsley’s dad added, “A little heads up, sweetie. It won’t be just us today.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding the tiniest bit hopeful. “Is Mommy also coming?”

“Um…” Her dad hesitated. “Sorry, hon, but no. I want to introduce you to someone.”

“Oh.” At first feeling disappointed that her divorced parents weren’t coming to see her together, she then realized what her dad could possibly be getting at. “Ohhh~” she repeated a lot more cheerfully. “Okay, I get it~ Catch you both later, then!”