All Chapters of My Bully Next Door: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Beckett I know the exact moment I screw up. Not when Tyler makes the joke. Not when Colt starts laughing. Not even when I laugh with them out of habit. It’s the second I see Ella’s face. The second she looks at me. Because suddenly I understand something I’ve been trying very hard not to understand. She expected more from me. And I let her down anyway. That realization sits in my chest like a brick while she walks away. She doesn’t yell. Doesn’t cry. Doesn’t make a scene. Honestly, I almost wish she would. At least then I could tell myself she was overreacting. Instead, she just looks disappointed. Like she finally got confirmation of something she’d been afraid of all along. And somehow that hurts worse. “Dude,” Sean says quietly beside me, “you should probably go after her.” I don’t move. For a second, I just stand there staring after her. Then I turn around. Fast. Too fast. “What the hell was that?” The entire group goes quiet. Colt blinks. “What was what

Ella By the time Monopoly finally ended, I felt emotionally wrung out. Part of that was because Mason had spent nearly the entire game trying to marry me off to his older brother. The other part was because Beckett had spent the entire night being impossible. Not mean. Not cold. Not the Beckett I dealt with at school. Just… impossible. Every time I looked up, he was looking at me. Every time I laughed, his attention seemed to lock onto me like he couldn’t help it. And every time I started to relax, my stupid heart reminded me that this was the same boy who had hurt me less than twenty-four hours ago. “You’re gonna share a room when you’re married.” Mason tossed the comment out while moving a Monopoly house. “Buddy,” Beckett groaned for what had to be the fiftieth time that night, “that is not how this works.” Mason looked genuinely confused. “Then why do Mom and Dad share one?” I laughed so hard I nearly knocked over my stack of Monopoly money. Across the board, Becket

Beckett I barely slept. Again. At this point, I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d gotten a full night’s sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, my brain found a new way to torture me. Ella laughing in the kitchen. Ella curled up on the couch with Mason. Ella looking at me in the hallway after I laughed with Tyler and Colt. Ella whispering, Yeah. And then, because apparently my subconscious hated me, my mom’s voice joined the party. She deserves someone who’s proud to stand beside her. I groaned and rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling. Why was everybody acting like this was some huge thing? It wasn’t. It couldn’t be. This was Ella. The girl next door. The girl who used to wear hoodies so big she practically disappeared inside them. The girl I was never supposed to notice. And somehow she’d become the first thing I thought about when I woke up and the last thing I thought about before I fell asleep. It made absolutely no sense. Ella wasn’t my type. At lea

Beckett I fucked up. Again. But this time felt different. Worse. Because as I stood there in the middle of the courtyard watching Ella walk away, I knew this wasn’t something I could fix with one apology and a guilty look. Not this time. Not after what I’d said. Girls like you. Jesus Christ. The words wouldn’t stop replaying in my head. I dragged both hands through my hair and stared at the ground, wishing I could go back five minutes and physically tackle myself before I opened my mouth. Around me, the courtyard had gone strangely quiet. People were still staring. Some pretending not to. Most not bothering to pretend at all. Fair enough. I’d basically just detonated a bomb in public. “Dude.” I looked up. Noah was still standing there. His expression was somewhere between disgusted and concerned. “Shut up.” “I didn’t even say anything.” “You were about to.” He shook his head. “That was brutal, man.” The worst part? He wasn’t wrong. Because the second those

Beckett I think I’m falling in love with you. The words hung in the air between us long after I’d said them. And the worst part? I couldn’t even pretend they had slipped out by accident anymore. Not really. Sure, I hadn’t planned to say them. God knows I hadn’t walked upstairs carrying a pint of cookie dough ice cream with the intention of confessing my feelings like some guy in a terrible romantic comedy. But the second the words left my mouth, I knew they were true. That was the problem. I was standing in front of Ella’s bedroom door staring at her while my own confession echoed around my skull like a car crash replaying in slow motion. I think I’m falling in love with you. What the hell? Ella looked just as stunned as I felt. Her eyes were wide. Her lips parted slightly. Like she couldn’t quite figure out if she’d imagined what I said. Honestly, part of me was wondering the same thing. This wasn’t supposed to happen. The plan had been simple. Apologize. Bring ice