My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy novel Chapter 67

Chapter 67 Laughter Captured in a Candid Moment

The corner of his mouth twitched.

It wasn’t his usual arrogant, bad-boy smirk. It was a tiny, involuntary break in his armor.

“It’s a flawless strategy,” he murmured, the rough gravel in his voice softening. “Commit to the bit until you get hypothermia.”

“Exactly,” I said, a genuine, startled laugh escaping my throat before I could stop it. “It shows dedication.”

I went to take another bite, but my hands were shaking so badly from the cold that I completely fumbled the cheap plastic spoon. It slipped through my numb fingers, bouncing off my knee and clattering onto the asphalt below the tailgate.

“Oh, come on, I groaned, staring down at the white plastic spoon resting in a dirty puddle.

I looked at the towering swirl of ice cream in my cup. It was already starting to melt, the edges dripping down the sides of the paper. Without thinking, I tilted the cup and tried to catch a melting drop with my tongue.

I missed.

A cold, sticky smear of vanilla ice cream landed squarely on the edge of my chin.

I squeezed my eyes shut in sheer mortification. “Please tell me that didn’t just happen.”

A deep, rumbling sound vibrated through the metal of the truck bed.

I opened my eyes.

Ryder was laughing.

It wasn’t a chuckle. It was a real, full, chest-deep laugh that completely transformed his face. The dark, brooding shadows vanished. The tight, guarded lines around his eyes smoothed out, replaced by a bright, unguarded warmth that literally stole the breath from my lungs. The gold shards in his hazel eyes were shining under the flickering neon light.

It was the exact same laugh I had heard outside the community center room, but this time, it was entirely for me.

“You missed, he managed to say, his voice thick with genuine amusement.

“Shut up, I muttered, my cheeks flushing a hot, bright red that had nothing to do with the freezing wind. I reached up with the back of my hand, frantically trying to wipe the sticky mess away.

“Stop, you’re just smearing it,” Ryder laughed, shaking his head.

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Chapter 67 Laughter Captured in a Candid Moment

He didn’t pull away. He didn’t put his walls back up.

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He set his hot chocolate down on the metal truck bed. He shifted his weight, sliding across the corrugated metal until the distance between us was entirely gone. His knee pressed flush against mine, the solid, burning heat of his body instantly cutting through the

biting cold.

He reached out.

His large, bruised hand hovered near my face for a fraction of a second. The laughter faded from his eyes, replaced by something much deeper, much heavier. It was that raw, starving intensity that I had felt in the dark library aisle, but completely stripped of any panic.

He wasn’t running away right now. He was right here.

“Hold still, he murmured, his voice dropping into a dark, rough whisper that made the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand straight

His hand closed the remaining distance. His rough, calloused thumb gently swiped across the edge of my chin.

The touch was incredibly soft, a stark, breathtaking contrast to the heavy silver rings on his fingers and the fading purple bruises on his knuckles. His skin was scorching hot against my freezing face. He wiped the melted vanilla away, but he didn’t drop his hand.

His thumb lingered, tracing the line of my jaw with an agonizing, deliberate slowness.

My heart slammed against my ribs with brutal, punishing force. The plastic cup of ice cream in my hands was entirely forgotten. The deafening roar of the highway traffic faded into absolute nothingness.

The fake dating contract completely dissolved into the freezing air.

This wasn’t a performance for the three cars of Crestview juniors parked across the lot. They couldn’t even see us from this angle. This was entirely, terrifyingly real.

I looked up into his eyes. The fear and the self-loathing that had consumed him in the stairwell were gone, completely eclipsed by a quiet, desperate devotion that pinned me to the metal tailgate. He was looking at me like I was the only thing anchoring him to the earth.

I leaned into his touch, my eyes fluttering shut for a fraction of a second, completely surrendering to the overwhelming gravity of him.

Ryder’s breath hitched. His fingers curled slightly, cupping the side of my face, his thumb sweeping a slow, heavy rhythm against my

cheekbone.

A sudden, bright flash of white light exploded in my peripheral vision, momentarily blinding me.

I gasped, my eyes flying open. I jerked backward, my spine hitting the cold metal side of the truck bed.

Ryder’s hand dropped instantly, the spell breaking with violent speed. His jaw locked, the dark, lethal tension snapping back into his

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Chapter 67 Laughter Captured in a Candid Moment

broad shoulders. He whipped his head toward the source of the light, his eyes narrowing into two sharp, dangerous slits.

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Across the parking lot, standing near the edge of the picnic tables, was Benji Higgins.

He was a junior from my AP English class, and the lead photographer for the Crestview Chronicle. He was holding a large DSLR camera, the massive lens pointed directly at the back of Ryder’s truck.

Benji lowered the camera, looking slightly terrified that he had just fired a flash at the school’s most notorious burnout. He gave a small, awkward wave, then practically sprinted toward his beat-up sedan.

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