Boyfriend’s Responsibility

Ryan glanced at the stun gun and then at Rose, his face showing doubt. She was too cute and innocent for him not to worry.

"You think that's enough?" Ryan questioned, grabbing her free hand. "What if multiple people attack you?"

"Don't I have you? We can fight off evil with the two of us," Rose replied happily, the incident from a moment ago not affecting her in the slightest. "I don't go out alone anyway so I rarely need it. I usually have Sebastian who accompanies me."

Ryan wanted to continue the subject, making sure she would place her safety as a priority when he paused, hearing a male name coming off her mouth.

"Sebastian?" Ryan asked, looking at her curiously.

"Haha," Rose laughed at his reaction while putting the stun gun back into her bag and booped his nose playfully, "Are you jealous?"

"Is he your bodyguard?" Ryan guessed, knowing there shouldn't be any other boys around her.

Rose didn't reply right away and instead looked around first. Seeing the people returned to their seats not far from them, Rose pulled him to the back and explained, "Yes, but he is working mostly as my driver. Whenever I go shopping, he tags along and carries my bags. He is an ex-commando so I was always safe."

"How come your parents let you go out with me then? Aren't they worried?" Ryan asked, somewhat expecting such an answer. "I'm definitely not on the level of a commando."

"Well, they didn't. I had to fight them to let me go out with you without Sebastian following us everywhere," Rose admitted with a shrug. "Remember when I told you I talked with mom in the morning? That's when we argued."

"It's good they let you in the end. It would be weird to have someone spy on us at all times," Ryan sighed in relief, squeezing her hands. Even if Rose didn't, he would definitely feel uncomfortable.

"Well, it wasn't that hard. I already went through various training so they can't say I'm defenseless. I can take care of myself pretty well with all my toys," Rose assured as she patted her bag.

"Toys?" Ryan repeated after her, almost scared to ask as he looked down at her bag.

"Oh, you know. I have a stun gun, portable taser, pepper spray, tactical pen and a loud alarm that sends a signal to the nearest Police Station if set off," Rose recounted as if it was nothing. "Do you want to see?"

"It's okay, I believe you," Ryan shook his head and hugged Rose, already used to having her so close to him.

Bang!

Just as her head fell on his chest, his mind exploded. His pent up desire that he thought he had under control suddenly resurfaced, attacking him when he least expected it.

He instinctively jerked away from Rose and looked away to calm his mind.

"What happened?" Rose asked alarmed but he stood silent.

Only when he felt better did he turn around and informed with a sigh, "We can't... It's back."

Rose finally understood and assured him while catching his hand, "Ah… It's okay… At least now we know how much the buffer period lasts. It should be ten to fifteen minutes."

"Mhmm, I'm already happy with this much," Ryan nodded, regaining the clarity of his mind. They were lucky he stopped himself as they were still in a public place.

"I am almost certain there is a way to either prolong this period or completely remove it. Have you ever tried falling in love? Maybe if you replace your urges with another strong feeling then you wouldn't land in such a state," Rose suggested curiously, rubbing his hand with her thumb while cheering him up with a smile.

"Well… I liked many women but I would be lying if I said I deeply loved any of them. None of my relationships lasted long enough for me to love them," Ryan replied honestly before looking straight into her blue pupils. "I really like you, but is this love already? I think we need more time to be sure."

"That's true." Rose couldn't agree more, nodding to his answer. Her gaze lingered on him as if she was thinking about something and asked, "Should I make you fall in love with me then? Hmm, it would be nice to test this theory, but then I would be stuck with you... I guess I need to rethink it."

Rose acted as if she was serious but Ryan knew she was just teasing him. He entangled both of her hands with his own and put them into his pockets of the hoodie.

"What if you fall in love with me instead?" Ryan questioned with a smile. "We will be stuck with each other either way."

"Hah," Rose chuckled, her competitive spirit awakening in front of his eyes. "You think I will be first?"

"Aren't women more emotional in general? It's statistically proven that women get attached faster," Ryan explained with a shrug. "You can't win with biology."

"Fine, get ready then. I will get serious serious and you won't be able to resist me," Rose smirked, accepting his challenge. "I will become a great girlfriend that you won't help but love and cherish."

"Alright, then I will do the same. Prepare to fall for me," Ryan responded in a similar manner, happy with such development. He already liked her so becoming even closer was exactly what he wanted.

Rose squeezed his hands and provoked, "Okay, come at me."

"Consider it done. Don't run when I do," Ryan bantered.

"I won't, don't worry," Rose assured him and her expression changed, regaining some of her shyness as she continued, "You know, I wanted to tell you this before but—"

Pssst.

Rose didn't get to end her sentence as she felt the bus slow down and the sound of doors opening disturbed her. They were too busy teasing each other that they didn't pay attention to their surroundings.

"Come, we arrived!" Ryan called out as he pulled Rose towards the exit, realizing they reached their destination and jumped out with her in the last moment.

"Oof, we barely made it," Rose muttered and looked around to check where they were. "Oh, it's Central Mall."

The bus stop was situated right in front of the mall entrance so they didn't need to search for it. The only thing that bothered her was the number of people surrounding them. Even though it was school and work hours, they were in the center of the city where the biggest crowd was.

The whole bus stop was filled with people waiting for their transport which quite intimidated her. She immediately got closer to the only support she had and hugged onto Ryan's arm, squeezing his hand for courage.

As if Ryan sensed her anxiousness, he began leading her out of the crowd, passing through the small gaps people made. They stopped by the fountain where there were fewer people and Ryan commented, "There are a lot of people today."

"Mhmm, true," Rose muttered, finally having some air to breathe.

He took the opportunity and gently booped her nose before asking, "Are you okay?"

Car horns and the chatter from the crowd were hitting them from every direction but they could at least converse without human distractions.

"I'm fine… I just feel suffocated whenever I'm surrounded by too many people," Rose explained, finally back to normal.

She smiled to show she is okay and cheered her up by rubbing her cheek. "You wanted to say something on the bus. What was it?" Ryan asked curiously, buying her time to rest a little more.

"Hmmm…" She stared at him and grabbed his hand with both of her own, pulling it down. Rose played with his fingers for a moment and finally spoke quietly, looking down, "Earlier when we met those hooligans, you didn't hesitate to bet your safety just to make sure I was fine… I found it really cool and manly. So—"

Rose paused as she looked up at him and smiled genuinely, "Thank you. For protecting me."

Ba-dum!

Ryan found himself with his heart racing once again, watching her lips curve into a gentle beam, both innocent and cute. Just from that, Ryan knew she really meant it.

"Do you want me to fall for you this badly...?" Ryan joked, clutching onto the hoodie around his chest. "My heart skipped a beat from that smile."

Rose couldn't help but laugh and shook her head, "Hah, no, it wasn't planned. I just thought you were sweet and wanted to praise you for that. Not many guys would do the same."

Ryan had a simple explanation for that.

"Well… I am your boyfriend. If I can't even protect my girlfriend then what right do I have to call myself as your boyfriend. There comes a responsibility with this title."

"Mhmm, I like that," Rose agreed fully and hugged his arm on her own accord. "I will hold only my boyfriend's arm then. We don't want to get separated."

"Sure." Ryan was more than happy to accompany her and grasped her hand, keeping it in his pocket. "Now I won't lose you."

She didn't complain and let Ryan lead her into the building, not caring about other people watching them.

"Let's grab something to eat first. I didn't have anything yet."

_______

Author notes:

The novel is available for free on Webnovel.com. Please read there to support the author.

If you wish to support the story, there are two advance chapters you can read here -> bit.ly/Piokilek

I will be uploading more advance chapters so make sure you check it out.