Katie Hart - A Good Girl’s Guide To Bad Boys

‘Nope,’ she replied, popping the ‘p’.

‘Have you told your parents?’ She shook her head, chuckling.

‘They’d have a bigger fit than your mum! Especially since Seb is a guy.’ She winked and I laughed.

‘You have a point.’ Kenzi’s mother was worse than mine. As we were both breakdancers, our hobby was made difficult by the attitudes of our parents, but every weekend we’d sneak out and dance in the local clubs for some money and a bit of freedom. It was difficult, but worth it.

***

Just as I was about to ask Kenzi if I should ring Hunter to let him know I was on the way, she slowed the car down and smiled at me. ‘Right, I’ll drop you off first and then I’ll go and get some supplies,’ she said in a chirpy tone as she pulled up into a car park.

The apartments themselves didn’t look too bad, not for the price that Hunter was asking anyway. As I pushed myself out of the car, I felt the cold air blow against my cheeks and through my hair.

Kenzi got out after me, meeting me around the back. ‘I’ve just got to pop to the shop, I need some new toiletries,’ she told me and tapped my back. We hugged. ‘Make sure that you text me about your roommate!’ she called over her shoulder as she got back into the car.

‘Will do!’ I hollered, hauling my suitcase along the car park and towards the door.

The lobby didn’t seem too bad as I made my way to the lift in the corner. Up until then, I’d been quite happy with living with somebody that I didn’t know, but as soon as the lift arrived on the fourth floor, I felt my stomach churn with dread.

Apart from my dancing, the most rebellious thing I’d ever done was put salt in my mum’s tea as a joke. Living with a stranger and lying to my parents about it was a whole new experience, one that I really wasn’t looking forward to anymore.

My flat was at the end of the corridor. It looked quite daunting as I rolled my suitcase up to the door. Hunter had posted me a key so I could get in if he wasn’t there. My stomach jumped and my heart was hammering. I couldn’t help but panic and think I’d made the wrong decision as I put the key in the door.

The passage was a dark blue and once I was in the front room, it didn’t take me long to realise that it was near enough the same. Wooden flooring stretched out in front of me, holding a couch and an armchair. I had no idea why the rent was so low, but I was far from complaining. Maybe the roommate was a bit of a dud.

‘Wow,’ I mumbled, as I put my suitcase down and made myself at home on the sofa, my heart rate slowing and the worry subsiding.

I’d been sitting there for a while before I decided that I should give my dad a ring to get it over with. There was no way that my mum would call to tell him, which meant that the job fell on my shoulders. Since the divorce, they’d barely spoken.

After the third ring, he picked up.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, Dad,’ I replied, sitting back on the sofa and feeling it relax beneath me.

‘Hi, sweet, how is everything?’ he asked. I guessed that he’d moved somewhere else as the background noise of his office quietened.

‘Everything’s good; I was just ringing to tell you that I’m at my dorm and am settling in fine.’ Before hanging up, I was greeted with a similar speech to the one that my mum gave me before I left.

I twisted to my right, hearing a noise from the hallway. A guy strolled into the living room, looking extremely shocked to see me. He sighed and held his hands up defensively.

‘Look, I don’t remember your name, hell, I don’t even remember getting with you. So please, just get out,’ he replied, stepping to the side of the door and gesturing for me to leave. My eyebrows shot up into my hairline and I stared at him in shock.

His broad shoulders in his t-shirt were pretty much covering the doorway, but I wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon.

‘Um, I’m not some stalker ex-girlfriend or hook up or whatever, I’m your new roommate,’ I said as calmly as I could. He hadn’t made a good first impression and the fact that his dark eyes were searching my body head to toe wasn’t making it any better.

‘But you’re a girl,’ he choked out with a confused expression clouding his face.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, looking down at myself and then back at him. ‘It would appear so.’

He frowned. ‘But you said in the email that your name is Andy?’ I nodded in response.

‘Yeah, Andy, short for Andrea.’

He shook his head, running his hand down his face. ‘Look, Andy, I don’t live with girls,’ he explained, glaring.

‘Well, you’re going to have to because I paid rent and I’m not leaving,’ I retorted, my heart hammering. He smirked, moving closer until we were almost flush with each other. It took everything in me not take another step back; he wasn’t going to scare me off. His eyes travelled down the length of my body and then back up to my eyes.

‘Especially not girls like you.’

Chapter 2

I frowned, narrowing my eyes at the attractive jackass in front of me. Who the hell did he think he was?

‘What do you mean, girls like me?’ I crossed my arms over my chest again in irritation.

He looked down at my oversized jumper, baggy jeans and ponytail before rolling his eyes. ‘Polite chicks. Daddy’s girls,’ he muttered and I raised my eyebrows.

‘Do you immediately think that you know everybody, or just me?’ I retorted, glaring into his calm eyes.

‘Don’t flatter yourself, love,’ he said through a chuckle, stepping back so that he could lean on the wall behind him.

Sticking up for myself was a bit of a rarity, but he had sparked my temper and his attitude was beyond irritating. ‘If it’s any consolation, I don’t live with obnoxious arseholes that have egos to match,’ I all but spat and turned on my heel to grab my suitcase.

‘The good girl always falls for the bad boy,’ he sneered and I smirked.

‘You’re in luck because I’m not a good girl,’ I hissed and a small smile appeared on his face.

‘Prove it.’

I narrowed my eyes and raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘How am I meant to prove something like that?’ I asked and he grinned, showing me straight, white teeth.

‘Show me just how bad you are,’ he purred and I shoved his chest, picking up my bag and storming down the hall in the apartment. Amongst all the annoyance and anger, I’d completely forgotten to ask him which room was mine, so was now faced with a dilemma. Should I guess, or should I suck it up and ask him?

He watched me with interest, not moving from his spot on the wall. ‘You hit like a girl,’ he informed me and I huffed.

‘This may come as a shock to you, but I am a girl!’

He chuckled softly, nodding to the right to gesture which door was mine. ‘I can clearly see that,’ he replied as I pushed the door open.

Deciding to ignore him, I went inside and slammed the door behind me. I was surprised that the whole apartment didn’t shake.

The room itself was quite nice, complete with cream walls, a single bed and laminate flooring. I shoved my bag on the bed and sighed, running my hands down my face. I could hear Hunter moving around in the front room, but I wasn’t going out there again for a while, at least not until I’d unpacked. That was when my phone went off and I saw Kenzi’s number on caller ID.

‘Hi,’ I answered, carefully balancing the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I started to put my underwear away.

‘Hey, how is everything?’ she asked and I could hear the TV in the background. She was probably in her room having the time of her life with her roommate. Kenzi was pretty much the opposite of me. She was blonde, whereas I was a brunette; she was confident and totally bonkers. Every weekend when we worked at the club, she’d find someone different to go home with and would have the time of her life bumping and grinding beforehand. Kenzi was the type of girl that Hunter would be interested in.