All Chapters of The Bad Boy’s Bet: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Emily’s POVThe old greenhouse sat hidden behind the west athletic fields, forgotten by most students and teachers. Cracked glass panes let in fractured moonlight, and thick vines twisted up the iron frame like nature was slowly reclaiming it. The air inside smelled of damp earth, old wood, and faint traces of flowers that had long since gone wild. It had become our new secret place after the rooftop.I shouldn’t have come.That thought repeated in my head like a warning as I slipped through the slightly ajar door. Aiden was already there, leaning against one of the weathered wooden workbenches, hands in his pockets, watching the entrance like he’d been waiting for hours.When he saw me, his entire expression softened in a way that made my stomach twist.“You came,” he said quietly.“I told myself I wouldn’t.” I stepped further inside, hugging my arms around myself. The night air was cooler here, carrying the scent of rain that had fallen earlier. “But here I am.”Aiden didn’t move cl

I barely slept that night.Every time I closed my eyes, I felt Aiden’s breath against my lips in the greenhouse. The warmth of his forehead resting near mine. The way his voice had cracked when he said he wasn’t going anywhere. The almost-kiss haunted me like a half-remembered dream I couldn’t shake.By morning, my head was a mess of conflicting voices.You’re falling too fast.He’s different with you.Your family needs you focused.What if he really means it?I stared at my reflection in the small bathroom mirror as I brushed my teeth. My eyes looked tired. Worried. The scholarship girl who was supposed to be unbreakable was slowly unraveling because of a boy with stormy gray eyes and a lonely heart.“Emily!” Mom called from the kitchen. “Breakfast is ready. Come eat before it gets cold.”I joined my parents at our tiny dining table. Dad looked exhausted from his night shift, but he still smiled when I sat down.“How’s my brilliant daughter doing at that fancy school?” he asked, slid

The days blurred together in a strange, aching rhythm.I had asked for space, and Aiden was giving it to me exactly as I’d requested. He still came to the library some afternoons, but he sat three tables away, head down in his books, occasionally glancing up with those stormy gray eyes that made my chest tighten. No pressure. No notes. No attempts to close the distance. Just quiet presence.And it was killing me.I sat at our old table alone on Thursday afternoon, staring at the empty chair across from me. The hot chocolate he used to bring me had been replaced by plain water. The quiet conversations about his lonely mansion and my family’s struggles had been replaced by silence. Even the air felt heavier without him sitting nearby.I missed him.The realization hit me like a quiet wave, not dramatic, not sudden, but deep and undeniable. I missed the way he listened like my words mattered. I missed the way his shoulders relaxed when I brought him food. I missed the almost-kiss in the

I told myself it was just one time.One innocent hangout. Nothing romantic. Nothing that would make my parents’ warnings echo louder in my head. Just two people who needed to talk somewhere other than the library, where the walls felt like they were closing in with every stolen glance.That’s what I kept repeating as I waited on the corner two blocks from Westbridge, wearing jeans and a simple sweater instead of my uniform. My heart hammered against my ribs when I saw Aiden’s black car pull up, nothing flashy, just a sleek, dark SUV that still screamed money.He stepped out, looking nervous in a way I’d rarely seen. Dark jeans, gray hoodie, hair slightly messy like he’d run his hands through it too many times.“You came,” he said, voice warm but cautious.“I said I would.” I offered a small smile. “But somewhere quiet, okay? No big gestures.”Aiden nodded immediately. “I know a place. No one goes there much. Just… normal.”We drove in comfortable silence for fifteen minutes, leaving t

I was losing the battle against myself.It had been three days since our quiet afternoon at the park, and Aiden’s words kept replaying in my mind like a song I couldn’t turn off.“You make me want to be better… You’re the first person who’s ever made this empty house feel less like a tomb.”I sat cross-legged on my bed, textbooks spread around me, but I hadn’t read a single page in over an hour. The small lamp on my nightstand cast a warm glow over the room, but it did nothing to calm the storm inside my chest.I missed him.Not just the conversations or the way he looked at me. I missed the feeling of being around him, that strange mix of safety and danger, comfort and butterflies. Even when we were sitting in silence in the library, the air felt charged. Alive.Sophie’s warning echoed in my head again: “Be careful. Guys like him don’t change.”But he was changing. I had seen it with my own eyes. The way he defended Leo in the hallway. The way he respected my request for space even t