Bailey and the Bad Boy (Originally titled: Payback's a B****)

Chapter Two

Christmas came and went quietly. We'd never been a family to throw a big celebration for anything really, so my mother and I just spent the morning lounging at the beach soaking up the sun and the afternoon on the sofa watching It's a Wonderful Life and classic eighties movies. It was our tradition. Mum loved watching old movies, and we'd done this every year since I could remember. I loved it too, mostly because picturing my mum growing up in the eighties with huge hair, big hoop earrings, and leg warmers was hilarious and not at all like her now.

I kept checking my phone for a text from Chace. Anything. But there was nothing. Christina and Indie stopped by for a few minutes to exchange gifts between visiting their families. I was glad that my mum and I never celebrated and that it was just the two of us. Watching Indie and Christina both rush from one grandparent's house to the next for huge meals was crazy.

"We will pick you up in the morning. About seven a.m.," Christina said as she was leaving, the photo album I bought her under her arm.

I smiled and thanked her again for the Chanel handbag that she had bought me. I hated it when she spent so much money on gifts for me because I could never even dream of being able to afford something like that for her, but she would always argue that money didn't matter.

I wasn't looking forward to the road trip at all. A whole month with Chace. Even though I'd not seen him for a couple of weeks, the pain was there. Just the thought of seeing him brought tears to my eyes. But I could never have imagined how many more tears were to come.

It was on the road trip when it happened. The worst thing ever. The most shocking thing. The Betrayal.

Knowing how unreliable Christina and Indie were with time frames, I decided I would be ready to leave at eight-thirty in the morning, even though Christina had said seven. I still had to wait another thirty minutes for them to pick me up. Honestly, it was a miracle they made it to school on time most days.

Things were going okay. As good as could be expected. I was miserable, and Chace was happy. I was moping around, and Chace was enjoying his holiday. I was shutting myself off, and Chace was the centre of attention. How could he not be? With that bronzed body and those baby blue eyes and his luscious...I had to stop torturing myself.

I wanted to go home. But I was stuck. I didn't have a car. I was riding shotgun in Indie's car with Christina. The freedom that should have come along with this trip felt suffocating. I didn't feel free. I felt trapped trying to pretend that seeing a smiling Chace every day wasn't ripping a hole in my chest.

Indie at least attempted to liven things up for me with her terrible karaoke skills and game of I Spy a Hot Guy whenever we drove through a town. The random, and initially surprising, texts from Ryder freaking Jones distracted me sometimes. I almost dropped my phone in the ocean when I opened his first message about two days into the trip. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that Ryder would text me.

We seemed to have the same text conversation every couple of days.

Ryder: How's the douche? Are you enjoying your trip?

Me: He's great. No, I'm not.

He shocked me one afternoon with an unexpected offer.

Ryder: Say the words and I'll come get you.

I couldn't think why he would go to all that trouble to drive 800 kilometres to pick me up. It didn't make sense. Something screamed at me to not trust him. The fact that he'd offered to help me get revenge on Chace out of the blue was a little unsettling and weird.