Bad Boy's Baby Girl

Pretty Tame

*Monroe's POV*

The second Cade's step dad walks into the room I understand why he doesn't like him. That look he's giving me is the same look that used to make me want to crawl out of my skin when it started coming from my dad's friends. I instantly put my walls up and school my features into the look of cool indifference that I've perfected over the years.

I'm thankful that our conversation is cut short when Sue comes in and tells us that dinner will be in 20 minutes. I take the opportunity to remove myself from the situation before I can do something I'll probably regret.

I head into the kitchen and say, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Oh, sure. That would be wonderful. How about if you set the table?"

"Of course," I say with a smile and she points me to the correct cupboards. Once everything is set at the table I walk back over to her and say, "What next?"

She hands me some fresh rolls and says, "The buns could use some cutting." I nod and start slicing the bread as she mixes the salad. She looks towards me and says, "You know, he's never brought a girl here before."

I look at her, not quite sure how I'm supposed to respond to that. She says, "He likes you. And I think you're a good influence on him. He spent his Sunday doing homework and he put on a tiara. Not even his sisters have managed to talk him into that before."

I can't help but smile at her and I say, "Well I'm glad because I like him too."

"Don't tell him I told you this, but he didn't have the easiest childhood and it made him put up a shield that makes it hard to get to know him, but I promise, it's worth it."

I don't tell her, but I already knew that because I'm the exact same way. Instead I say, "I won't tell him that if you don't tell him I told you I like him. Wouldn't want it to go to his head or anything."

She laughs at that and says, "You have a deal." We start putting the food out and then her timer goes off, indicating the chicken is done. As she's pulling it out of the oven, Ben comes down the stairs and gives me another look. "I'll go get Cade and the girls," I say, not waiting for a response before walking away.

"Dinner's ready," I say into the living room. The girls run into the kitchen and Cade walks over to me and says, "Sorry about Ben."

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing I can't handle. Besides, you shouldn't have to apologize for him."

He kisses me on the lips and then guides me into the dining room with his hand on my back.

We take a seat beside each other. Lily and Hanna sit opposite us with Sue and Ben on either end of the table. We start distributing food and Sue is the first one to start speaking.

"I hope the girls didn't cause you too much trouble while you worked on your philosophy project today."

"No, no they were great. We're feeling pretty confident about the presentation tomorrow," I say.

"What's your project on?" Ben asks. I catch the look of surprise on Cade's face which tells me Ben doesn't normally give a fuck about this kind of stuff. I know he's only doing it for my sake.

I swallow my bite of food slowly before saying, "It's on Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz."

"Ah, yes he's quite the famous philosopher," He says.

I nod and say, "Well, he was famous for many other things too but yes, his philosophical musings were quite famous."

"Hm yes, I'm a fan of his works" he says and I can tell he's just saying that to try and impress me and also that he has no fucking clue what he's talking about so I reply, "Oh really? Which of his principles do you most agree with?"

"I, erm, I'm not sure. So many to choose from."

"Seven isn't that many," I say, taking another bite of my burger. He knows he's not going to win this fight so he says, "Right, well it doesn't really matter what I think, only what your teacher thinks. I'm sure you will do just fine tomorrow."

The rest of the dinner consists of slightly awkward small talk and the second everyone finishes eating and we put our dishes in the dishwasher, Cade says, "We're gonna go put some finishing touches on the project," and drags me up to his room.

Once we're inside, he shuts the door and flops backwards on his bed with a groan, his legs hanging off the side. I go and climb on top of him and he sits up so that I'm straddling his lap and hugs me close to his chest, resting his chin on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, again about Ben."

"Hey, no, don't do that. You don't need to apologize for his behaviour. It's not your fault. Besides, I think I handled it pretty well," I say with a smirk.

He pulls his head back to look me in the eye and says, "Yeah, you did, I've never seen anyone put him in his place like you did. It's just that, you shouldn't have to deal with that."

"Seriously, it's fine. He's actually pretty tame compared to -" I stop myself before I can finish that thought.

"Compared to who?" He asks, anger flaring in his eyes.

"Nobody. Just forget I said that."

"What the fuck? How am I supposed to just let that go Monroe?"

"You're going to let it go because I asked you to," I say, letting some of the lingering emotions seep into my voice. I'm not sure if it's that or the look in my eyes that stops him, but he doesn't ask anymore questions. Instead he just kisses me and holds me tight to his body as though he's expecting me to disappear at any moment.

I pull away after a few minutes and lean my forehead against his and say, "It's getting late, and we have school tomorrow so I should really get going."

"Ugh, why do you have to be so responsable?" He grumbles.

"One of us has to be," I say with a wink. I remove myself from his lap and collect my bag from his floor. He follows me down the stairs and when we pass his mom she says, "Leaving so soon?"

"Yeah, you know, school night and all. Thank you for having me over and for the amazing dinner."

"Oh no, thank you for watching the girls and helping with dinner. Seriously, you can come here anytime," she says with a smile. I nod and say, "I'll keep that in mind."

Cade walks me out to my motorcycle and when I get on, he stands in front of it with his hands on the handlebars and kisses me. "So, I'll see you tomorrow then?" He asks.

"Of course, we have a presentation to ace," I reply with a wink. He releases my bike as I do up my helmet and then I see him wave as I drive away.