Unexpected Attraction (BxB Fantasy) | Completed

Chapter 7

"So?"

"What?"

"Did you find him?"

Mikael's cheeks warmed. "Yes," he replied quietly.

Gram grinned and nudged Mikael's side. "Did you figure some things out?"

"Not really, but I at least know that he likes me a lot, too. And that we're comfortable together in silence. So that's a good start."

"Ah, I see."

Mikael stopped before he got onto the bus. "Hey, Gram, could you give me a ride to West Cottonwood?"

Gram raised an eyebrow. "Sure, what's the location?"

"A cafe I went to with Grayson and my brother once. I want to pick something up for the latter."

"Oh, no problem. If it's not too far, I can just drop you off at home."

"It's about a mile and a half away, so I can just walk."

"Are you sure? It's not a problem. I actually planned to ditch Cat today. She was being a pain in the ass—more so than usual."

Mikael smiled. "If you're okay with me, then that would be great."

"You're my best bud, so of course it's okay. Let's get going before Cat starts running over."

Mikael laughed and followed Gram to the small Toyota. He was a little amazed by how far the seat could go back for his friend's long legs. It did kind of remind him of a clown car whenever Gram got out of his vehicle. Mikael opened the door and climbed in, settling himself in the passenger seat as Gram quickly started it up.

The shorter teen was watching for Caterpillar-Lashes' reaction when she noticed her brother backing out of the parking space. Mikael burst into laughter as she screeched and ran down the hill, but she didn't make it in time. Cat was shouting obscenities at Gram as he cracked an evil grin at Mikael and turned up his pop-rock music.

"You're evil."

Gram laughed. "Nah, we're at each other's throats all the time. She's my sister and I care about her, but she gets on my nerves so damn much. It's only natural that she should take the bus sometimes."

"I'm guessing that's what happened the first day I started here."

"Pretty much," grumbled Gram, then sighed aloud. "Enough about Cat. Tell me about the situation with Grayson. Has he been leaving you alone since that interaction with Sullivan? Now that I think about it, that was such a bold and protective action he did for you."

"Grayson hasn't bothered me since then, but if I do come across him again, I will make sure he knows I'm not interested."

"Good!"

Mikael chuckled. "As for Raphael, I'm not sure what you meant about him being 'bold'."

"Ah," started Gram, appearing to be very hesitant to talk about it. "Well, Sullivan stays away from people as much as possible now. He's practically invisible and almost no one wants to mess with him, anyway. But there is a guy in school that is absolute trash. While Sullivan has an actual reason to fight back, this other guy has no reason to attack others. And Sullivan is his favorite target.

"So every time Sullivan steps out of the shadows, he gets targeted and ruthlessly attacked. Anyone who tries to defend your boyfriend also becomes a target and Sullivan knows that issue. That's likely why he's avoiding meeting you out in a crowd. And that is also why I was shocked by his bold move to make Grayson leave you alone in the hallway a few days ago."

"Wow, I had no idea."

Mikael felt awful. Hopefully he hadn't attracted the bully's attention towards Raphael while searching for his boyfriend. And he knew he should have dealt with Grayson a lot earlier. If Raphael got hurt because of him, Mikael would never forgive himself.