My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy novel Chapter 96

Chapter 96 Shutting Me Out Completely

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Ryder slammed the passenger door shut. He walked around the front grille of the truck, his head bowed against the downpour. He opened

the driver’s side door and slid behind the steering wheel.

He shoved the key into the ignition. The engine roared to life. He cranked the heater dial to the highest setting, blasting hot, dry air into

the confined space.

He shifted the gear into drive. He did not look at me. He stared straight ahead through the water-streaked windshield. He hit the gas pedal. The heavy truck lurched forward, leaving the East Side lot behind.

The drive back to my neighborhood was a nightmare.

The heat blowing from the vents did nothing to warm the ice sitting in my stomach. The silence in the cab possessed a heavy, crushing weight. It was not the comfortable quiet we shared during our study sessions. It was a barricade. It was a vault door swinging shut and

locking from the inside.

I watched his profile. His jaw clamped into a rigid, unforgiving line. The muscles in his forearms strained against his wet sleeves as he gripped the steering wheel. His knuckles turned white.

He was drowning in guilt. I could see the self-loathing radiating from his posture. The near-miss with the switchblade. The dirty water from the street. The entire night served as a twisted validation of his darkest fears. He believed he dragged me down into the mud. He believed he tainted the honor student.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I said. My voice sounded thin against the hum of the heater.

“Don’t, he interrupted.

‘I am the one who sneaked out. I made the choice to get on that bus.”

And you almost got a knife through your chest, he shot back. His gaze remained glued to the road. ‘Because of me. Because they knew my name. Because I let myself get close to you.”

“You saved me.”

I should never have put you in a position to need saving!” he yelled. The sudden volume filled the small cab, ringing in my ears.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a fraction of a second. A tremor racked his massive shoulders. He dragged a ragged breath into his lungs, fighting to regain control over the fractured pieces of his sanity.

You don’t understand the damage I cause,” he rasped, his voice dropping to a hollow whisper. “I am toxic, Raisa. My father is right. Everything I touch ends up broken. I look at you, and I see the only good thing in my life, and then I pull you into a warehouse full of

criminals

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Chapter 96 Shutting Me Out Completely

“That is not true,” I argued, my throat burning.

“The contract was a mistake,” he stated.

The air rushed out of my lungs.

“You don’t mean that, I whispered.

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“I do.” He kept his face turned away. “I played a game. I dragged you into my mess because I was selfish. But the game is over. You are

going back to your life, and I am going back to the dark.”

He turned onto my street. The familiar, quiet row of small houses passed by the window. He pulled the heavy truck up to my curb.

My mother’s car was gone. She was at the diner, serving coffee, unaware of the horror her daughter just survived. The porch light was off. The front of my house looked dark, empty, and cold.

Ryder shifted the gear into park. He kept the engine running.

He did not turn to look at me. He did not unbuckle his seatbelt. He kept his hands locked in a death grip on the steering wheel.

“Get out,” he commanded.

I sat frozen in the passenger seat. The heater blasted hot air against my numb legs. My clothes felt heavy and soaked with filthy water. I wanted to scream. I wanted to reach across the center console and shake him until the golden warmth returned to his eyes. I wanted to force him to acknowledge the kiss we shared in the rain.

But I looked at the rigid, impenetrable set of his shoulders. The walls were back.

I reached for the door handle.

I pulled it open. The biting wind rushed into the heated cab.

I stepped out onto the curb. I shut the heavy metal door.

I stood on the wet concrete. I waited for him to roll the window down. I waited for a final glance. I waited for a single crack in his armor.

Ryder stared straight ahead. He shifted the truck into drive. He pressed his foot on the gas.

The dark blue Ford accelerated down the empty street. The red taillights blurred in the rain, shrinking into two tiny, glowing dots before vanishing completely around the corner.

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