A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl Read Online Free PDF Page A

halls
and he winked at me,
but we never seem to get a chance to talk.
    I was starting to wonder if I was imagining
what was happening
between us
when his car pulls up next to me
about a block from school
and he asks if I want a ride home.
    I let my breath out.
    I didn’t even realize I was holding it.
    I climb in and flash my sexiest smile.
    â€œHow are you? I’ve been missing you,”
trying to sound casual,
but wishing right away I could take it back.
    â€œOh yeah?” he says.
He looks at me.
“Me too.
There’s something special about you, Nic,” he adds.
    Mmmmmm.

THE LONG WAY HOME
    â€œI know a place where we can stop
on the way home,” he says.
    â€œOkay, and then we can study together at my house.”
“Okay.”
    We pull onto Fowler Field and he stops the car.
“Let’s go for a walk.”
    We walk toward the baseball diamond,
then right into the empty dugout.
    â€œWhat’s here?”
“Us,” he says.
    We sit on the bench.
    â€œYou know I really like you, right?” he says.
    What I’m thinking is,
Thank God he said it first.
    What I say is,
“Sure, I get that.”
    â€œSo, will you do something for me?”
He starts unzipping his jeans.
“I promise to return the favor,” he says.
    And there he is, in broad daylight,
standing right in front of me
jeans around his ankles.
Guys.
Not a bashful bone in their bodies.
Why can’t we be like that?
    â€œI think we’re going too fast,
I mean, we haven’t even gone out on a date yet,”
I hear myself say.
(I can’t remember the last time I used the word
date
.)
    â€œWe will, Nic, I promise. But we’re here now,
and I’m dying for you.
Please,
baby.”
    I put my mouth on him
and he groans,
making me want
to please him
even more.
I know how
to take him
over
the
edge.
    â€œNow it’s your turn,” he says.
    Most guys don’t think about what the girl’s getting,
they’re just out for themselves.
    He pulls me to my feet and turns me around
so he’s standing in back of me.
“C’mere.”
    It’s chilly enough to see our breath.
I should be
shivering
but he’s wrapped himself around me
strong body
and hands
warming me all over.
    He turns me around again so I’m facing him,
unzips my pants
eases them down over my hips
and kisses me,
gently guiding me back down
to the bench.
    Then his mouth leaves mine.
    The back of me
stings
from the cold dugout against my skin,
the front of me
steams
from his touch.
    I’m
buzzing.
My eyes are open
but things
aren’t
quite
in
focus.
    His hair so soft through my fingers,
I close my eyes and my head falls back
against the wall.
    My heart
might actually pound
right out of my chest.
    I couldn’t move myself from this spot
if the dugout caught fire.
    On the way home,
head on his shoulder, his
“you’re the best”
whispers down
reaching a spot
in my soul.
    I didn’t realize until later that night
that he never came in to study
when he dropped me off.

FAVOR
    Phone rings.
It’s him.
    â€œDo me a favor?”
“Another one?”
    He laughs.
“Wear a skirt tomorrow.”
    â€œWhy?”
“ ’Cause.”
    â€œ ’Cause why?”
“You’ll see.”
    I couldn’t help it.
I thought about him
all night.

SECOND THOUGHTS
    When I find the note on my locker:
    RLD: Study Hall
    I have second thoughts.
He
had
to have seen me in the cafeteria
this time.
Either that, or he’s blind
or he doesn’t think I’ll like his friends,
or that they’ll like me.
    I decide to go
just so I can find out
what his deal is.
    He’s waiting for me when I get there.
    He looks at my clothes and grins.
    â€œI just happened to want to wear a skirt today.”
    â€œAnd what a lovely skirt it is.”
    â€œHow come you didn’t invite me over at lunch?”
    There, I said it. But I’d also just left myself
wide