My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy novel Chapter 143

Chapter 143 Standing In The Freezing Cold

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We climbed the concrete stairs. The weak security lights cast long, distorted shadows against the painted walls. We reached the second-

floor landing.

A set of massive glass doors sat at the end of the corridor. The doors led to the senior terrace. The wide, open balcony overlooked the South parking lot and the dark tree line bordering the campus.

Ryder pushed the heavy glass doors open.

A fierce gust of wind rushed into the corridor. The spring night hit my flushed face with a staggering, freezing force. The sudden drop in

temperature shocked my system.

I stepped across the metal threshold. I walked out onto the concrete terrace.

The cold offered instant relief. The damp, chilled air soaked into my skin, chasing away the suffocating heat of the gymnasium. I walked to the edge of the balcony. I placed my hands flat on the rough stone railing. I looked out over the dark, empty campus. The stadium lights stood dark. The moon hung low and heavy behind a thick layer of gray clouds. The world outside the brick building felt vast and

silent.

Ryder followed me onto the terrace. He let the heavy glass doors click shut. The lock engaged, sealing us outside.

I took a deep, shaking breath. The oxygen tasted clean and sharp. The midnight blue silk whipped around my ankles, caught in the crosswinds. The chill seeped through the thin fabric, raising goosebumps along my bare arms, but I welcomed the sensation. The cold grounded my racing thoughts.

“Better?” Ryder asked.

His voice sounded rough in the open air. He walked toward the stone railing. He stood beside me. He did not touch me. He kept a deliberate foot of space between our bodies.

“Much better,” I admitted. I kept my gaze fixed on the dark tree line. “The room felt too small. They analyze every single movement. They wait for the fake dating arrangement to crack.”

“The arrangement is dead, Raisa,” he reminded me.

“I know.”

I gripped the rough stone. The truth terrified me. We drafted the rules on college-ruled paper to build a fortress. We used the lie to hide our true motives. The contract gave me a logical excuse to stand near the storm. The contract gave him an excuse to guard my gates.

Tonight, we operated without a script. We burned the safety net. Every touch on the dance floor carried genuine weight. The way he looked at me under the chandeliers stripped away my final defenses. I felt exposed. The vulnerability terrified me more than Trent

Lawson’s cruel mockery.

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Chapter 143 Standing In The Freezing Cold

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“They saw the truth tonight, Ryder continued. He turned his head. He watched my profile in the dim moonlight. “They saw the way I look

at you. The entire school knows.”

“Knows what?” I asked. My voice dropped to a quiet whisper.

“That I am ruined for anyone else.”

The confession struck the center of my chest. The raw honesty in his tone stole the remaining breath from my lungs. I turned my head to

face him.

He looked lethal in the dark. The wind pushed his dark hair across his forehead. The tailored black tuxedo jacket shifted over his broad shoulders. The open collar of his white dress shirt exposed the strong, tanned lines of his throat. He did not look away. He met my stare

with a fierce, unyielding devotion.

“You are not ruined, I argued. I let go of the stone railing. I turned my body to face him completely. “You possess a brilliant mind. You

possess a future.”

“My future means nothing if you are not in it.”

He took a step forward. He destroyed the polite distance he created. He invaded my personal space. The intense heat radiating from his massive frame fought the freezing wind.

I shivered. The cold air penetrated the heavy silk. The adrenaline from our escape faded, leaving my body vulnerable to the biting chill of the spring night. My teeth chattered.

Ryder noticed the tremor.

He shrugged off his heavy, tailored tuxedo jacket. The dark wool slid from his broad shoulders. He stepped closer. He draped the expensive jacket over my shivering shoulders.

The heat from his body lingered in the dark fabric. The scent of worn leather and cedar wrapped around my senses. The jacket hung past my hips, swallowing my smaller frame. The heavy wool blocked the freezing wind.

“Thank you,” I murmured. I pulled the wide lapels closer to my chest.

He stood in front of me in his crisp white dress shirt. The thin cotton offered zero protection against the cold night.

I can handle the cold,’ he said, answering my unspoken concern.

He reached out. He placed his large hands on my waist. His thumbs brushed the smooth silk resting over my ribs. The physical contact sent a new, fierce heat burning through my veins.

We stood on the isolated concrete terrace. The heavy glass doors locked the rest of the world inside the bright building. The affluent elite, the society photographers, the heavy expectations-they all vanished. We existed in a dark, quiet universe built for two people.

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13:49 Fri, Jul 10

Chapter 143 Standing In The Freezing Cold

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He looked down at my face. He studied my features like a man committing a map to memory. He looked at my dark hair blowing in the

wind. He looked at the jacket swallowing my frame. He dropped his gaze to my mouth.

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