My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy novel Chapter 29

Chapter 29 A Deleted Text That Meant Too Much

We needed a plan for tomorrow. Opening day had been a massive shock to the system, but Tuesday was when the real test began. Harper

Vance was going to regroup. She would start looking for the cracks in our story. If Ryder and I weren’t perfectly synchronized, the rumor

would rise right back from the dead.

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My thumb hovered over the keyboard. My hands were still trembling slightly, a residual side effect of the motorcycle ride. I could still feel

the heavy, frantic thumping of his heart against my palm.

I took a shaky breath and started typing.

It’s Raisa. I hit send. The blue bubble popped up on the black screen.

I waited. The silence in the room stretched. The radiator ticked. Five minutes passed. I bit the inside of my cheek, the metallic taste of anxiety returning. He was probably asleep. Or out. Guys like Ryder Steinmann didn’t spend their Monday nights staring at their phones.

The screen illuminated brightly. A soft chime broke the quiet.

Ryder: Saved.

The single word sat there, stark and blunt. I swallowed hard, my thumbs moving quickly over the glass.

Raisa: We need to coordinate tomorrow. Harper is going to be watching us in the A-wing before first period. Should we meet in the visitor lot

and walk in together again?

Three small gray dots appeared instantly. He was typing. The dots vanished, reappeared, and vanished again.

Ryder: No parking lot. I’ll meet you at your locker. 7:45.

Raisa: Are you sure? The locker bay is crowded. If we miss each other, it looks disjointed. It ruins the narrative.

Ryder: I won’t miss you.

A sudden, sharp flutter erupted in the center of my chest. The confidence in his text was absolute. I stared at the three words, reading them over and over until the letters began to blur.

Raisa: Okay. Jenna sits next to me in AP Bio. She was already asking questions today at lunch. We need to make sure our timeline is straight. If she asks about the bookstore again, what details do I give her?

Ryder: I told you, I handle the story. Stop overthinking it.

Raisa: I have to overthink it. My scholarship depends on it. I need a script, Ryder.

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12:48 Fri, Jul 10

Chapter 29 A Deleted Text That Meant Too Much

The gray dots appeared. They stayed on the screen for a long time. I imagined him lying in his own dark room, his dark hair messy, his

bruised knuckles tapping against the screen. I wondered if his room was as cold as mine.

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Ryder: The script is you trusting me to handle it. You follow my lead. Like today.

The memory of the cafeteria crashed over me. The smell of hot oil and salt. The rough pad of his finger grazing my bottom lip. The heavy, dark way he looked at me when he realized I was blushing.

My face flooded with heat all over again. I buried my nose into my pillow, trying to hide from the glow of the screen. I couldn’t do this via text. The distance made it entirely too easy to strip away my defenses.

Raisa: Fine. 7:45 at my locker.

I stared at the send button, telling myself to put the phone on the nightstand and go to sleep. The coordination was done. The

performance was set.

But my right arm throbbed again, a sharp, physical reminder of the afternoon.

My thumb hovered over the keyboard. Before my logical brain could stop me, my fingers were moving, tapping out the words I hadn’t been

brave enough to say in the driveway.

Raisa: Thank you. I hit send.

Raisa: For what you did today. With Harrison. You didn’t have to do that.

The message sent. I immediately regretted it. It was too raw. Too honest. We were supposed to be conducting a transaction, an even trade of services. Bringing up the moment he risked his entire academic future to protect me completely crossed the boundary lines of our

arrangement.

I waited, my heart hammering against my ribs.

One minute. Two minutes.

The screen stayed dark.

He wasn’t going to answer. He was going to ignore the emotional vulnerability and stick to the fake dating script. I let out a slow, shaky exhale, the tension bleeding out of my shoulders. It was better this way. It kept the lines clear.

I reached out to place the phone face-down on my mattress.

Suddenly, the screen flared to life.

A push notification banner dropped down from the very top of my lock screen. The white bubble illuminated the dark space under my blankets, glaring against my tired eyes.

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12:48 Fri, Jul 10

Chapter 29 A Deleted Text That Meant Too Much

Ryder: I’d burn that school to the ground before I let him put his hands on you again.

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The breath left my lungs in a sharp, silent gasp.

I completely froze. My eyes locked onto the words, reading them with a frantic, desperate intensity. The sheer, unadulterated possessiveness radiating from the text was entirely overwhelming. It wasn’t a joke. It wasn’t a snarky comment from the bad boy playing a

part.

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