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35
HAILEY
“Wait. We’re going to see Percie?” I pulled my hand back. “No. He would not be so happy to see me. Besides, I’m sick, remember?”
Lexie rolled her eyes. “Sick? Colds? That’s what’s stopping you to apologize to someone you love?”
“Who said I love him?” I glared stubbornly.
“Isn’t that obvious? You can deny all you want, but I don’t buy if you said you’re not in love with Percie, and besides, he needs you right now, Hailey.” She put a little emphasis on besides.
My face heated. I guessed, maybe she was right, but I was not going to admit it to her. “You told me that his grandma is okay, and her injury isn’t so bad.”
“Oh, my God. You’re so clueless who much Percie’s struggling right now. He’s torn between staying here with you and in the hospital. That’s why he asked a favor to keep an eye on you before his grandma is gonna be discharge. That dude is madly in love with you, Hailey. You mean the wor
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Broken Bad Boy 36
HAILEY Oh, my God!My eyes nearly popped out from each socket. I threw my books and ran towards Percie, folding my clothes. “What are you doing?” “Hey. How were your classes?” I grabbed my shirt from his hand. “The hell?” He glared at me. My eyes narrowed to slits. “The hell? Privacy, Percie. Does it ring a bell?” His brow arched. “On your laundry? I saw you almost naked, and they’re just clothes, Hailey.” I looked down.Oh, my God!My panties are neatly folded like they were ironed. My cheeks burned. I was beyond mad at the same time I was impressed. “A kiss would suffice.” I took all my folded clothes. “Kiss my butt.” “I will.” “Shut up.” I brought them to my room. When I came back, he was still folding my jeans—the only clothes left unfolded. “You don’t do that again, got it? No going through my clothes.” H
Broken Bad Boy 37
HAILEY “So, how’s your baby grumpy?” I pretended not to listen to Victoria. I opened my book instead. I was about to start reading when Megan shut the book close. “What the hell?” I glared at them as they twisted their lips at me. “He’s in his class.” “We saw him earlier, and he looked like he just hit the jackpot. Later, Lee,” Megan mimicked Percie’s voice. “Then what else do you wanna know?” I suddenly remembered what we did last night. After that eventful moments, he went to his room to change, and so did. When he came back, I already changed to PJs. We had dinner together in serenity. “Hey.” Megan nudged me. “We’re waiting here.” “Omg.” Victoria covered her mouth instantly, staring at me with wide eyes. “You finally slept with him,” she whispered. I looked around to make sure that no one listened. “We did not.” “You’re lying.” Victoria did not buy my words. It was shown all over her face.
Broken Bad Boy 38
HAILEY “Can I pick up tomorrow night?” he was insisting for a hundred times. “We already talked about it. I’ll see you on Monday morning, Percie.” He wasn’t impressed with my decision, but I knew he’d respect it in the end. I already spent my whole Saturday with him. He rubbed the back of his neck before he knocked on my parents’ door. “You can go now. I’m sure the squirrel can’t kidnap me to its lair,” I cracked a joke before he left me with those sad eyes. “If you change your mind.” “I won’t.” I cut him off. “Now go before Mom would ask you what we did in the lake house.” “And what if they’d ask you?” His eyes glinted with mischief. “We sat on the deck, ate our lunch, talked about school projects—” “And we made out. That was a whole lot of—” I covered his mouth with my hand when I heard footsteps from the house. “Go,” I warned him with a look. He was right, though. We made ou
Broken Bad Boy 39
HAILEY We arrived at the old warehouse where the party was held. It was crowded that we could barely make it to see their stupid game. Two students were assigned to record the game. The crowd started laughing when one of the jocks asked an overweight student who looked so drunk. If he wasn’t tied, he might have fallen off the chair. Anger raged beneath my skin as I noticed Remy was one of the jocks, and he seemed not enjoying the way they treated the poor guy. But if what Victoria and Megan had told me was true, their parents were elite club members. That was how they became buddies. And it seemed that he didn’t have a choice but to be a part of this, or he would look weak, and he would be the target of these stupid rich kids. “Where’s Lexie?” I asked Megan. I couldn’t call Percie. He needed his undivided attention in searching for Lexie. Once he knew I came over to help, he would just be mad at me. “Percie hasn’t still call
Broken Bad Boy 40
HAILEY “What the hell were you thinking?” I was still pressing a tissue against my swollen nose, wincing in pain. “Who are you now, Hailey? I don’t recognize you anymore?” Dad was shaking with anger down at me. “It was my fault, Mr. Ward. I went to your house to tell Hailey about Lexie,” Victoria said as we gathered in the precinct. “No. It was my fault. I was the one who told Victoria to go to Hailey—” “I don’t care who’s fault who! You all could have gotten hurt. Why didn’t you just call the police or call 911?” “And tell what, Dad?” I met Dad’s gaze. “That someone held a party? As far as I know, it’s not illegal.” “Underage drinking. Taking of drug substance. How about bullying? I don’t care if they own the city, I still took an oath to protect the people.” “Are we under arrest, Mr. Ward?” “No. But you will stay here until morning.” Dad turned to me. “And you are grounded. You will stay and go to schoo
Broken Bad Boy 41
HAILEY Percie looked right into my eyes, and my heart just broke to see how deep sadness lingered in. “Come home with me.” “But Dad—” “We would understand. I’ll take the fall.” He took a deep breath, not breaking eye contact. “I need you right now.” He pressed his lips against my forehead. “I-I thought I’d lost you. I couldn’t watch it again. You couldn’t know the feeling of watching someone you love—someone you cared about slipping through your finger—or through your sight until they’re gone. And I’d rather die before I’d go through that again, Hailey.” I nodded, and I didn’t know if I should answer or kiss him again. “Don’t ever do that stupid heroism again. Come with me. I need to feel you because right now, I feel like I’m still dreaming of you that every time I want to reach out to you, you slip through my grasp.” I cupped his face. “I’m here. I’m alive. I’m right here with you.” “Please?” The
Broken Bad Boy 42
HAILEY It was amazing! I was not exhausted of some sort, but I had barely enough energy left to breathe when he drew me into his arms and never let me go. His sigh of contentment was a relief that there would be no awkward moment after sex—one of the post-sex things I heard and read in books. I let myself sag into his arms, nuzzling my nose into the crook of his neck before I closed my eyes. We stayed like that for a long while. Percie lazily trailed his fingers on my back down to my spine while I just placed my hand on his chest, feeling the rises and drops as he breathed. Things came into my mind—was there anything going to change between us? What should I say if he built back his walls? Should I pretend that I did not enjoy my first time or pretend it did not happen? And so on. “What now?” When I couldn’t bear the thoughts spinning in my head. He kissed the top of my head and lifted m
Broken Bad Boy 43
HAILEY It’s Monday. Since I spent my Sunday with my parents, I hadn’t seen Percie asides from video calls. I was excited to see him. Percie said it was better for me because if I stayed with him last weekend, he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. As if I ever complained. Considering that I was still sore, it wasn’t good for me, as well, to stay closer to him for the past twenty-four hours. I met Victoria and Megan on my way to the building when a commotion suddenly appeared around us. “What’s going on?” I asked with pure shock. All I could hear was my name. I looked around. I found students taking pictures of me—some took selfies even if I didn’t give them my permission, even this feeling social media influencer that I thought her posts were nothing but nonsense. “Hey, guys. This Eve, and I’m with Hailey Ward right now. You know her, right? Guys, don’t forget to tweet #womenempowerment.
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