𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐲'𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞

18 | 𝑇𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒

"How'd it go?" Victor pressed, looking directly down at the papers on his desk whilst I laid on his bed.

"Amazing!" I breathed. "You won't believe it!" I shifted over on my stomach, the soles of my feet up at the ceiling, elbows matted to the bed and my head in my hands. "We shared a blanket and he put his arm around me."

"That's great. Did you make a move?" he asked, glancing up to me for a moment. Retreating to his papers in seconds.

"A move?" I repeated. "I mean, if getting him a glass of water is a move then I'm a pro."

"I mean, did you try and kiss him?" he questioned dumbly, now looking up and reclining back in his office chair with a pencil in-between his fingers as if it was a joint. His arms were crossed over his chest. He wore gray sweatpants and a black tank.

"If I tried and kissed him, I think I'd be telling you that," I muttered, swinging my legs around his bed to dangle off the edge. "If I tell you something, can you promise not to tell anyone?" I implored softly.

He quirked a brow and I knew what he was going to say before he even said it. He was becoming predictable. "We're not thirteen years old," he quipped.

My eyes fell to his floor, subtly scoping out his arms which were relaxed along his chest, the grooves gradually moving down to his wrist. I sighed heavily, picking up my head and stated, "I've never actually kissed anyone."

"For real?" he urged, then laughed.

"Stop," I declared with a smile. "It's not that unusual."

"Well," he started. "I'm always available for practice--"

"In your dreams, Mr. Vislocky," I teased, throwing him an eye roll. He was chuckling in his chair, shaking his head dismissively. "I don't know, but no one's ever really liked me."

He cleared his throat as if I was oblivious, removing an arm from his chest and gracefully lowering in the air, beckoning to his body. "I'm fucking attracted--"

A flare of redness lined my complexion. "You can say that about any girl," I remarked.

He shrugged, wheeling around and scribbling a few things after studying his laptop. "We can try this," he muttered. "I downloaded this app that contacts families of the same DNA, and the only one registered here that I know, is my grandmother."

"Great," I beamed, slipping off the bed and walking over to him. I hovered over his shoulder, observing the website to see the grandmothers' address. "Victor," I started lowly. "This woman lives in Montana."

"I know--" he started, "but, does that really matter? It's four hours away, that's nothing."

"Victor," I warned, but breathed sharply. I couldn't lie to my mom again, besides, she'd never let me go alone with Victor, even after she'd met him.

"Come on," he begged and I noticed something tapering within the yellow lines of his irises. It wasn't one of his usual playful, seductive, or mysterious glares, it was desperation, and I couldn't hide the fact that I wanted to help him, but everything within me told me that this was wrong, very wrong. He was the bad boy known for hooking up with girls and ghosting them days after.

"When in your life do you get to help a guy find his little brother?" he teased lightly, forcing a tight lipped grimace.

I shook my head, but my eyes were deepening the stare. "Don't guilt me," I warned with a faint grin. "Why can't you go without me?"

There was a long pause before he said anything. It was actually a while before he spoke again. He just stared into my eyes, then deviated his attention to the desk sorrowfully. "Really?" he asked me, almost disappointed. "I don't want to go alone, Rhy." He thrummed his fingernail along the lines of the wood in his desk as he murmured, "no, you're right. Don't go, it's fine. I shouldn't have put that on you."