My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy novel Chapter 62

My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy

Chapter 62 Calm Found in Unexpected Company

“I did today,” I replied, my voice cracking humiliatingly on the final syllable. I stared at the collar of his hoodie, terrified that if I looked into his eyes, I would completely fall apart. “Principal Evans was looking for you yesterday. In the library. Did he find you?”

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The question hung heavy in the damp air.

Ryder’s jaw tightened. He pulled his uninjured left hand out of his jacket pocket and ran it roughly through his dark, messy hair.

“He found me,” Ryder admitted, his tone flat, completely devoid of any fear or regret. “Fourth period. He pulled me out of physics.”

My stomach plummeted. “And?”

“He knows I hit the locker,” he said smoothly. “Miller talked. Half the intersection talked. Evans had the maintenance staff assess the damage. It’s going to cost two grand to replace the metal casing.”

“Ryder, I gasped, the cold dread finally snapping my gaze up to meet his. “They’re going to expel you. That’s destruction of school property. You’re already on probation from the fight last month.”

“I’m not getting expelled, he stated, his voice carrying a dark, absolute certainty that completely threw me off balance.

“How can you possibly know that?” I demanded, the panic rising hot and sharp in my throat. “Evans hates you. The administration has been looking for an excuse to kick you out all semester. This is exactly what they needed!”

Ryder didn’t flinch at my raised voice. He simply watched the frantic, erratic rise and fall of my chest, his hazel eyes darkening to a deep,

mossy green.

Because my last name is Steinmann,” he replied, the words tasting bitter and heavy as they left his mouth. “And in this town, that means

the rules don’t apply.”

I stared at him, the realization slowly clicking into place.

I knew his family was wealthy. Everyone at Crestview had money. But the Steinmann wealth wasn’t just corporate success; it was old money. It was generations of ruthless, ingrained power that dictated the provincial politics of the entire district. His father sat on the town council. His father’s company funded the school’s new science wing.

“Evans called my father, Ryder continued, the disgust in his tone completely unfiltered. “My father had his lawyers call the school board. They cut a check for ten times the cost of the locker and threatened to pull their annual donation to the alumni fund if the

administration put the incident on my permanent record.”

He took another step closer. The scent of damp leather, sharp peppermint, and that devastating, spiced amber completely washed over me.

“Evans gave me two days of in-school suspension starting tomorrow,” Ryder rasped. “Miller was told to drop the harassment complaint or

face disciplinary action himself. It’s done, Raisa. The slate is wiped clean.”

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Chapter 62 Calm Found in Unexpected Company

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The sheer, staggering weight of that kind of power was terrifying. His father hadn’t protected him out of love; he had protected him to

avoid a stain on the family’s immaculate political reputation. It was a cold, calculated transaction.

“You let your father buy your way out,” I breathed, the shock bleeding into my voice.

“I let him do whatever he wanted,” Ryder snapped, a sudden flash of raw, bitter anger breaking through his control. “Because if 1 got expelled, I wouldn’t be able to walk you to class. I wouldn’t be in the hallways to make sure Harper and her clique keep their mouths

shut.

The air completely vanished from the courtyard.

He hadn’t fought the administration. The boy who despised his father’s corrupt, suffocating grip on his life had willingly bowed his head

and taken the buyout, entirely because of me.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I whispered, my vision suddenly blurring with hot, unshed tears. “You shouldn’t have punched the locker. You shouldn’t be making deals with your father just to protect my lie.”

“It’s not a lie anymore, and you know it.”

The words tore out of him, a low, devastatingly rough confession that completely shattered the quiet of the courtyard.

Ryder closed the final foot of distance between us. He didn’t reach for my hands. He reached up, his large palms completely engulfing my face. His bruised, bandaged right hand rested gently against my jawline, while his left thumb swept a frantic, desperate line across my

cheekbone.

His skin was burning hot against the freezing dampness of my skin.

“Don’t stand there and tell me this is just a contract,” he pleaded, his voice dropping into a ragged whisper. He leaned his forehead against mine. I closed my eyes, completely surrendering to the heavy, crushing weight of his touch. “Not after the living room. Not after yesterday in the dark. I can feel your heart beating from here, Raisa.”

My hands came up on pure instinct, my fingers gripping the thick leather lapels of his jacket to keep my knees from completely buckling.

“It’s dangerous,” I cried softly, a single tear escaping and tracking down my cheek. “You’re dangerous, Ryder. You destroy things. You act on impulse, and my entire life is built on planning. If I let this happen… if I let myself feel this…”

‘I won’t destroy you,” he swore, the absolute, terrifying devotion in his voice vibrating straight through my skull. “I’ll destroy anyone who tries to hurt you, but I will never break you. I swear to God.”

He shifted his grip, his hands sliding from my cheeks to tangle deep into the dark hair at the nape of my neck. He angled his head, his mouth hovering a fraction of an inch from mine.

I could feel the erratic, desperate heat of his breath. I could smell the amber and wood he wore just for me.

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