Chapter 12
Twelve
Hayden
I didn’t think I needed the tune-up that much.
If I’m being completely honest, when Kayden told me he wouldn’t do the tune-up on my car I was over it and didn’t care.
The main reason why he didn’t want to do the tune-up is because my car is already fast and there was no point in fucking with the engine especially since I still have warranty on the car. I’m giving my car to him in a few days and he should be finished with it in about a week because he is also working on other cars for the auto shop he works at.
But again, I was over the tune-up. Yea, I’ve been asking him about it but I accepted that he couldn’t do it.
So why did I agree to help a girl I’m supposed to hate ?
Just looking at her pisses me off and makes me mad for so many reasons but when she talks I want to know more. I don’t care what she is talking about but the sound of her voice is calming.
The other thing I like about her is the heat in her eyes whenever she is arguing or challenging me.
And let’s not forget that kiss in the closet.
I don’t know if she knows I’m the one who kissed her.
The way she felt in my hands was just right. It seemed like everything was right where it was supposed to be. She felt like she belonged with me, in my arms.
I left right after that kiss because I was afraid that if I saw her I would push her into one of the rooms and have my way with her.
Something about this girl, even four years ago, something caught my attention when it came to her. She has sadness laced in her eyes but at the same time she still likes a challenge and won’t ever back down.
The front door opens and I see Jaclyn.
Jaclyn is wearing black shorts that show off her long legs with thighs that any guy would want wrapped around their waist, and a black oversized crew neck with the words “NEW YORK” in red patches on the front.
She moves aside and lets me in. I walk in slowly and take in the surroundings. She has a nice house. There are no pictures on the walls, only art hung up. Kitchen is to the left of the house while the living room is to the right. There are stairs that lead up to probably bedrooms and bathrooms and then a hallway right under the second floor.
“Come on, my uncle is working in the dining room so we can go to my room.” Jaclyn says, making me look down at her.
She has her hands hidden in her sleeves and she is fidgeting with the fabric. I can’t help but let my eyes wander to her legs again. She shaved, it looks like she just shaved with how smooth they are.
Jaclyn starts walking away and I follow her while still looking around the house. I look through the kitchen as we walk past it and I see two guys sitting at the kitchen island. They are on their laptops while talking about websites and designs. Jaclyn walks us to her room which is on the bottom floor, towards the end of the hallway.
She opens her door and lets me in before closing the door. I stand in her room and look around. It looks like a normal girls room. She has a small bookshelf against the wall, a tv right in front of her bed which is also against the wall, a desk on the left side of her room in front of the window, and then a dresser under the tv. She has only one picture on her dresser.
Jaclyn sits on her bed while I walk towards her dresser to look at the picture. It’s a picture of a baby and an older woman. I’m guessing the baby is Jaclyn and the older woman is a grandma, definitely not her mother. I look at her bookshelf and see she organized her bookshelf by color.
She has books like Darling Venom , Twisted Games , Broken Beauty , Haunting Adeline , and a whole bunch of other books.
I grab Broken Beauty and flip to a random page. Before I can even read a page the book gets taken out of my hand. I look at Jaclyn who puts the book back.
“I'd rather you not touch my things.” She gives me a tight lipped smile before moving to the bed. “You can sit at the desk. Did you bring your laptop or a notebook?” She looks away from her computer and looks at my hands which are in my pockets. “How do you expect to do the project if you don’t have anything?”
“I’m not worried,” I say before sitting at her desk. “You are really eager to finish this project,” I state before my eyes go to the desk. I notice a familiar white bandana. I pick it up and turn around to look at her. “I was wondering where this was.”
Jaclyn looks up from her laptop and her eyes go to the bandana in my hand. Her face turns a shade darker, blushing.
“I couldn’t find you that night and I was going to give it back to you.”
“Mhm,” I say, looking at the bandana, those memories of her lips and body on mine roll through my mind. Jaclyn is probably having the same memories because her face is still red and she is smiling softly. “Did you like the game?” I ask.
“It was interesting,” she answers, her eyes staring at mine intensely.
“Interesting,” I repeat in a snicker which earns me a glare from her.
Are we going to play the game where we just don’t acknowledge that we kissed each other until we couldn’t breathe?
We’re going to ignore this little back and forth game?
She’s in for a challenge then.
Sure, there is something about her that just rubs me the wrong way but I still promised to ruin her. And the best way to ruin any woman is faking everything. Bringing Jaclyn down will be one of the most pleasurable things because that heat and challenge in her eyes along the way will all be worth the hate she will have for me.
“Let’s just get this over with so you can go back to whatever it was that you were doing,” Jaclyn mumbles before looking back down at her computer.
Before coming here I wasn’t actually doing anything. I did go to the gym this morning and then went to a meeting with Marco before coming here. The rest of the day I’m free until later tonight because I have a fight. After that Marco needs me to run “errands” with him.
He’s fucking needy as fuck .
“Why do you read?” I ask, starting the conversation while leaning into her chair.
She looks up at me with those brown doe eyes that would probably make any guy fall to his knees for her.
When asked that question her eyes spark up and she looks almost excited to answer.
“I love reading. It makes me happy. I feel like with reading you can travel anywhere, fall in love with anyone, experience a sense of grief, or trauma, without actually having to go anywhere or actually go through that experience. For me, reading was always an escape because my mother was strict with me so I couldn’t really go out and do anything,” Jaclyn answers smoothly. It’s like she has been waiting to answer that question forever but never got the chance to. “Why do you fight?”
My muscles tighten. I don’t care if anyone knows why I like fighting or why I continue to put myself through that kind of pain but at the same time the whole reason why I started fighting is dark and filled with haunted memories that no one but Freddy, my mentor, knows.
“I like the adrenaline. I like the pain. There are a whole bunch of reasons why I like fighting. It’s not just one reason.”
Jaclyn’s eyes gloss over and she furrows her eyebrows. “You like pain?”
I blink and narrow my eyes. Jaclyn blinks too, still keeping her eyes on me. “Everyone likes a little pain. It makes them feel alive. Don’t you like pain?”
Jaclyn swallows and she looks down at her computer. “There is a part that everyone doesn’t like to share about themself. Why don’t you like to share that part with anyone?” She looks away from her computer and looks at me.
“It’s better if I keep people at a distance. I don’t share anything with anyone because I feel like it’s just better for them and for me if I keep them away.” She nods her head and nips her bottom lip making my eyes go down to her lips. Those same lips I had on mine not too long ago. She types a few things on her computer and looks up at me. I look away from her lips. “What about you?”
Jaclyn shrugs lightly. “I don’t like getting vulnerable with people. What’s the point if they are going to leave anyway? People don’t stay in your life forever.”
“You have trust issues.”
Jaclyn gives me a sarcastic laugh and shakes her head lightly. “You have no clue.”
I bite the inside of my cheek.
Someone hurt Jaclyn. Or maybe multiple people did.
It makes me wonder if she plans on keeping Natalia at a distance and if she keeps everyone at a distance with herself. If she thinks everyone is going to leave her it makes me assume she is insecure but it’s not her fault. It's the people that have wronged her in her life .
And I can’t help but want to know more.
“What is your opinion on yourself? No filter, just be blunt. What do you think about yourself?”
Jaclyn swallows and breathes out. She sits up straighter and I can tell she tenses by the way her shoulders contract.
“I think a lot is wrong with me. I feel like I’m not good enough.” Jaclyn looks down at her hands. “I’m not pretty enough, skinny enough, my hair is not long enough. I’m too high maintenance sometimes. I overthink a lot which makes me get in trouble at times because it’s really bad when I overthink. I feel like I’m unlovable or something because whenever I have someone I love they never show me that same kind of love back.”
Hearing that makes me wonder why?
Why would a girl like her with such perfectly imperfect features be that insecure?
Who in the world fucked this girl up?
“I think you’re none of those things. Those opinions are based upon the people around you. You have to surround yourself with people who bring you up and praise you. You need to be complimented and given attention for you to be and feel like a better version of yourself.”
“Have you ever felt like that?” Jaclyn asks and I can tell she is trying to hold in the tears she desperately wants to let loose .
You can tell she wants to cry because of how she is biting her bottom lip that is shaking lightly. Her eyes are glossed over but no tears have fallen yet.
“Everyone feels like that, Jaclyn. You just have to learn that all the good things outweigh the bad eventually.”