Worse for Hope- Book #2 in the WF Series

Chapter 22: Baking

✿Bethane's POV:✿

"So you're moving in with him even though you said you hated and never wanted him in your life again?" Ben summarizes as we pack the final box from my old apartment.

"You know how everyone goes through a midlife crisis?" I ask him and he nods. "I'm having one at the ripe age of twenty."

He laughs at me as he tapes up the box.

I'm not joking about what I told Ben. This may very well be a midlife crisis and it could end up in death. Not mine though. Let's just say that ever since I ran into Rider, I've had some dreams about banging his head on a marble countertop each time he tells me that I don't hate him. But not in a crazy way.

I hate to admit it, I really do, but Rider's right.

That sounded like disgust put into words.

That neighborhood was dangerous and the crime rate was extremely high. That's probably the reason why it was so cheap, but I need cheap. Rider's the only other option I have at this point no matter how much he makes me want to rip my brain out sometimes. Plus, it's not like we're sleeping in the same bed or anything like that. Rider said my room would be the guest bedroom and his would be down the hallway which may not be far enough, but I guess it'll do for the next two torturous months.

I'll stay in my own zone and he'll hopefully stay in his. Soon, I'll leave, and so will he. It'll be fine.

I'm still surprised that he and Roman are actually going to be playing together for the 49ers. That's not a small deal, and nor is it an easy thing to do. On top of that, they're doing it together.

Ben tells me he's going to go start up the car to get it heated, and I nod before taking a seat with a breath of satisfaction that we're finally done. When I collapse on the couch which I'm leaving here, I stare at the oven that took a long thirty minutes to clean for the people who'll live here next. A mess was an understatement, and it wasn't even my fault. It was the people who lived here before me that forgot to clean out the stains in the corners that I had never noticed until now.

I don't even bake so there was no chance I had any part in it.

Flashback:

Monday, October 23

I get to school after this weekend of my mom geeking out about how much she likes Rider, while my dad kept repeating either an 'I don't see it' or 'He was alright'.

I really hope that horse riding thing was a rhetorical question though and Rider thinks that as well. My mom already told the woman that I was coming, so I have no choice. Plus, there's no way I'm doing anything on Halloween anyway.

Maybe it'll get my mind off of the holiday.

No, it won't.

I take a seat at my desk and go through the Calc work pretty easily. For a while, my head usually can't get into focusing on math and I get left confused, at least, that's how it's been for the past few months. Although, today, I was actually kind of able to focus. I say kind of because Rider was in class and would sometimes glance over at me and my brain would somehow know and send me a signal to look back.