But in the span of two days, I have felt irritation, attraction, shame, hate, anger, lust, jealousy, and now lust again with Ace McIntire, and I didn’t like it one goddamn bit.
I snatched my arm away. “Don’t do what?” I asked, making my voice sound as bratty as possible.
“Don’t make me fuck a motherfucker up, Ava,” he replied, his voice like icicles.
I could feel my eyes widen, and my core clench at the pure fury in his words. The entire ride here, he had appeared unaffected, but apparently, he hadn’t been. “I don’t answer to you, Ace,” I reminded him.
Whatever he was about to say was cut off by a screech from a girl from school. “Ava!”
We both turned to face Amanda Gains as she sauntered towards us. “Hey, Amanda,” I replied, hoping she’d go away. I wasn’t morally better than anyone here, but I didn’t pretend to be, and that was the issue I had with Amanda Gains. She bent over for randoms just like the majority of us did, but she liked to pretend she didn’t.
She started eyeing Ace like he was going to be her new favorite snack. “And who do we have here, Ava?” Suddenly, it was like Wild Kingdom. “I mean, everyone knows you never attend a party with a date because you like to keep your options open.” My first instinct was to pop her in the mouth, but she wasn’t lying or spreading rumors about me. What she said was the absolute truth. Amanda was just making sure Ace knew it. Those feelings of jealousy resurfaced, and I knew what I had to do.
I had to take control of the situation.
So, instead of waiting for Ace and Amanda to hook up, I made the decision to give him to her. Because the healthy thing was to pretend I was okay with unidentifiable feelings or just ignore them, right? By making the decision to hand Ace over to her, I could pretend I didn’t feel jealous, because I. Did. Not. Want. To. Feel. Jealous.
“This is Ace,” I answered, waving my hand between them both. “Ace, this is Amanda Gains. Amanda, this is Ace McIntire.”
Instead of shaking his hand, she leaned into him, placed her hand on his chest, and cut straight to the chase. “So, do you have a girlfriend, Ace McIntire?”
I didn’t let him answer, when in truth, I had no idea if he had a girlfriend or not. And that curbed some of the jealousy, because I didn’t do guys who were taken. Ever. “He’s free as a bird, Amanda.” I slapped Ace on his back, not knowing if I was lying or not. “Have fun, Ace,” I quipped and walked off.
I headed towards the kitchen without a backward glance and went straight for the liquor bottles. I was going to need the hard shit if I was going to get through this night, because I was on a mission. Well, two, actually.
The first, to show Ace McIntire just what he would be dealing with if he didn’t back off.
The second, to prove Ace McIntire didn’t have as much of an effect on me as I knew he did.
Game on, bitches.
Chapter 8
Ace~
Toto, I’m pretty fucking sure we’re not in Kansas anymore.
I’ve been to parties before where people acted without a care in the world, but this was something entirely different. Contrary to what people believed, poor and middle-class teenage parties weren’t brimming with sex, drugs, and alcohol. There was some sex, some drugs, and some alcohol, but usually just enough that we could hide in case the party got busted up by the cops. We always tried to skate the line between misdemeanors and felonies.
But this?
This was a true picture of people who did not give a fuck, and the entire vibe screamed money. These kids weren’t hiding a goddamn thing, and that was because they knew their parents could buy them out of any trouble they found themselves in. Well, that was if the cops even bothered. Hell, were there even cops in this town?
When Ava and I had gotten out of the car, the front yard had already been crowded with wasted guys and girls. Some dude-bless his heart-was even getting blown by a car in front of everyone.
Walking into the house had been another eye opener. Never mind that the house was huge, fitting damn near the entire town, but it had been like a scene from a goddamn mob movie. There were drugs in plain site on the coffee tables, and almost everyone had a drink in their hands. And if I thought the blowjob outside was risqué, that was nothing compared to the four couples I notice, right off the bat, half-naked with a couple of them fucking on the furniture.
It was like goddamn Sodom and Gomorrah up in this motherfucker.
Taking in the wildness of the place, I knew without a doubt that Ava was wilder than I had predicted, and I had to revisit my original opinion of the people of Sands Cove. Only kids with no fear of repercussions would party this hard. And that meant Ava’s attitude wasn’t for show. She wasn’t being a rebellious teenage when she had gotten in her mother’s face. Ava’s personality was loud and unflappable because she could literally do whatever the fuck she wanted with no consequences.
I hadn’t meant to grab her arm and threaten her to act right, but the kind of freedom this place allowed had my back up. I was attracted to Ava and, God knows, I wanted to shut that smart mouth up with my dick, but it was more than that. There was something more to Ava, and I wanted to learn whatever it was that made her as brazen as she was.
I also wanted to control it.
I wanted to control her.
I wanted to control her, and it had nothing to do with the hate I felt for my father, or because I was an asshole. I’ve been with enough girls to know that Ava’s hold on my attention was something worth exploring. At first, I had wanted to just fuck her because I wanted to see that body of hers naked more than I wanted to take my next breath. But with each encounter, it started turning into something more.
So, when she pawned Amanda off on me, my irritation levels skyrocketed because I knew she had done it, so I would stay out of her hair. Ava wanted to enjoy the party without me, and that just wasn’t going to happen.
“So, no girlfriend, huh?” Amanda commented as Ava walked away.
I looked down at the girl, and there was no denying she was a hot, little number. Hell, taking a look around, all the girls seemed Grade-A from what I could see. “No,” I verified, but not for her. I wanted it known to Ava that I didn’t have a girlfriend, so I wasn’t going to invent one just to get this girl away from me. Besides, I didn’t lie. I saw no point in it.
And then I got Mean Girls in technicolor. “Well, hopefully, you didn’t arrive with Ava hoping she’ll be your girlfriend,” Amanda smirked. “There’s no way that girl will ever be anyone’s girlfriend.” She lifted a dainty shoulder. “Besides, what guy in his right mind would want to date her? Even if she wasn’t a super slut, that girl’s attitude leaves a lot to be desired. Well, of course, unless you’re Delaney.”
And all because I had to make sure Delaney was a girl, “Who’s Delaney?”
Amanda’s big blue eyes rolled with attitude. “Her best friend,” she answered. “Ava and Delaney used to be stuck together like glue, but then Delaney started dating Deke Marlow, and now Ava’s extra time is being spent sucking more cock than usual.” Amanda laughed, and I wanted to ask her if she was stupid. She didn’t know me. For all she knew I could be Ava’s cousin or something. But here she was, talking all kinds of shit as if I was just going to jump right on in. Or allow it.
I looked down at the hateful girl and said, “Well, my dick’s the only one she’ll be sucking from now on, so…” I walked away from the jealous girl without a second thought.
I wasn’t too proud to admit I went in search of Ava, and it wasn’t because I was intimidated to be here alone. I had no problem making new friends or shooting the shit with strangers. And, if I was being completely honest, any other time, I would have stopped to enjoy the drinks, party favors, and the half-naked girls lining these rooms, but not tonight. There was only one drink, one party favor, and one naked girl I wanted to get lost in, and all three were Ava.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew she was on a special kind of mission when I had seen her standing at the front doo
r back at the house. She was dressed in scraps that could barely be called clothing, a black tank top, a red skirt, and black fuck-me heels. Her hair flowed down her back and her makeup looked like it had been done by a professional. It had taken everything I had to let her walk out the door and not drag her upstairs and fuck her until one of us killed the other. But this was a classic battle of the wills, and I needed to study my enemy, so I knew the best way to attack.
What I hadn’t counted on was the deep, burning, sensation of jealousy and fury swirling around together to form a lethal emotion I couldn’t name, when I finally found her.
There were like three different sitting rooms in this goddamn house, and when I walked into the third one, I saw Ava sitting on some guy’s lap, with his hand on her bare thigh, swinging her head back from just snorting a line of something. I watched as she brushed the tip of her nose off, laughing down at the asshole who she was sitting on.
You hear stories all the time told by men who claim that, when you meet The One, you know it. She’ll evoke emotions in you that you never knew you had. She’ll call to every part of you that makes you a man. There’s no rhyme or reason why it ends up being that particular girl, but it just is.
I knew I was attracted to Ava. I knew I wanted to get to know her better. I also knew she’d fight me on it, but I was prepared for that. I hadn’t realized just how much more this…pull was until I saw her sitting on another guy, though. I’d deal with the drugs later because I wasn’t a hypocrite. I could ignore the drugs and alcohol as long as they were recreational, but there’d be no other guys. At least, not for the next three months.
I stepped towards them, ready to yank her off the motherfucker, when I very put together redhead threw herself in my arms. “Well, who are you?”
It was all I could do to be cordial to the girl. “Excuse me, but-”
“Oh, honey, you don’t need any excuses,” she slightly slurred. “You can do whatever you want to me,” she announced right before she got a handful of my package through my jeans.
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away. Even if Ava hadn’t been a factor, I didn’t fuck drunk girls. There’s a lot that I’ll have to answer to The Good Lord for one day but taking advantage of a drunk girl won’t be one of them. Besides, I will never be in a courtroom to dispute allegations of rape. I didn’t know this girl. I had no idea if fucking her would lead to handcuffs, and not the good kind.
“Don’t touch me,” I snapped.
And things got worse when she noticed my eyes flicking back towards Ava. This girl let out a sad, pitiful laugh. “Oh, honey,” she cooed. “If you have hearts in your eyes for Ava Hill, I do feel sorry for you. Oh, she’ll let you fuck her, for sure, but that’s all you’ll get from that tramp.”
I stepped away from her. “Thanks for the advice,” I growled.
The second Ava noticed me, her dilated eyes widened, but she masked her surprise so quickly, I wondered if it had even been there. She threw her arm around the guy’s shoulders and smirked, “Hey, Ace. Having fun, yet?”
I ignored the guy because it was that or kill him, and this time, I wouldn’t get off by playing the hero card. “Get up,” I barked.
One perfectly plucked blonde brow lifted. “Excuse me?”
“Get the fuck up now, Ava,” I repeated.
I watched as she stood up slowly and it was like watching a sleeping tiger slowly becoming alert to the dangers around it. “I think you have me confused with someone who gives a shit what you want, Ace,” she said smoothly.
“Sit back down on his lap and there won’t be anything left of him to sit on by the time I’m done, Ava,” I told her, not softening my voice for anyone.
The guy stood up, and for a second, I thought he was going to get brave, but instead he threw his hands up in surrender. “Oh, hey,” he said, “was just catching up. No worries, bro.”
Ignoring the guy, I grabbed Ava by her arm and started dragging her out of the room in front of everyone, not caring about her screams and threats.
It was time to clear some shit up with the hellcat.
Chapter 9
Ava~
That haze of red fury was a real thing.
Want to know how I know? Because I was in that red haze of fury right now as I struggled to keep up with Ace as he dragged me behind him. The heels weren’t ideal for being dragged and that was the only reason I was going along with him.
But once we got to wherever he was taking us, it was going to be so on.
When I had sat down on Craig Duley’s lap, it had been harmless. I’ve never slept with Craig because he was too sweet to go there with. He seemed like the make-love type of guy, and that wasn’t my deal. We shared a line of coke and that was about it.
What I hadn’t been expecting was Ace to become so…feral over it. He looked livid and I couldn’t lie and say it hadn’t caught my attention. Okay, maybe not catch my attention so much as turned me on, and that was not a road I wanted to go down.
Ace McIntire didn’t seem like the kind of guy who could be manipulated and led around, and that’s the only kind of guy I wanted in my life. I didn’t want one who…affected me. I didn’t want one who could control me through sex or love. I didn’t need a person in my life I couldn’t walk away from.
Delaney was the only person who I loved in the world. She was the only person who I would die to protect. My reputation was already bad by the time I had met Delaney when we were thirteen, but she hadn’t looked down her nose at me when I had approached her to be friends. She had accepted me based solely on how I had treated her, and as the years passed and my reputation got worse, she never faltered in her loyalty towards me. Delaney was never embarrassed to be seen with me, and even though she kept to herself, the few times she had overhear people talking crap about me, she always defended me.
The only reason I’ve never told Delaney about Peter was because, right now, she saw my personality as strong and alive. If she knew the truth, she’d see I was broken and dead inside, instead. And, as the only person in the world whom I loved, Delaney’s opinion mattered. I wanted to continue to see respect in her eyes, rather than pity.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when I was thrown into a…uh, storage pantry, and Ace slammed the door behind him. There was only one light hanging from the ceiling, but it cast enough light for me to see that Ace McIntire was fuming.
Too bad for him I had stopped answering to anyone a long time ago. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I snapped. The room was big as far as storage pantries went, but Ace’s large frame took up a lot of space, so it wasn’t long before I found myself pressed back against a row of shelves.
He bored down on me, and in a voice that sounded like the fires of Hell, he said, “We’ll talk about the drugs later, but let me make one thing very clear, Ava.” His hand shot up and circled around my neck. “I better not ever catch you sitting on another guy again.”
My eyes were already wide from the coke, and I’d like to blame the buzzing in my blood from the drug also, but I knew it wasn’t just the coke. It was Ace, too. But my attraction didn’t take away from my anger. “You don’t get to tell me what to do, Ace McIntire,” I spat. “You are no one to me.”
He smirked. “Think so?” But before I could answer, his other hand reached around my back, plucked my phone from the waistband of my skirt, and he let go of my neck as he held my phone.
“What the fuck?!” I screeched. “Give that back!”
“As soon as I take care of something,” he replied, and I could feel the steam coming out of my ears.
“Take care of what?!” I yelled. “Give me back my fucking phone, Ace!” I didn’t have a passcode on it because I didn’t care what was on it. Delaney’s contact was the only thing of importance on it, and she wasn’t under Delaney in my phone. She was under ‘MP’ for My Person because Delaney was my person.
Here’s the jacked-up thing; Ace was so much taller than me, there was no way I could reach my phone wi
th him holding it over his head, and I was not going to jump for it like a fool. So, instead, I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for the asshole to finish typing his number in.
Or, at least, that’s what I thought he had been doing.
I was wrong.
So, very, very wrong.
When Ace handed me back my phone, the main screen looked the same, so I opened my contact list to delete his number, only he hadn’t programmed his number in my phone.
Nope.
This sonofabitch had deleted all my contacts.
He deleted all my text messages too.
I balled up my right hand and swung.
He must have seen it coming because he caught my wrist with ease. He had both my wrists encased in his large, rough hands and had me back up against the shelves before I could blink. He held me immobile, and I was sick with how it turned me on.
Ace’s hold on me should have had me paralyzed with fear and terrified with memories. He’s the first guy who has ever put hands on me in such a forceful manner since Peter and I should have been hysterical and rabid.
Instead, I was turned on and close to begging for more, and it was sick; I was sick.
My stomach churned with the knowledge that his tight grip on my wrists was making me practically drip down my thighs. And the worse part about it was, it was his jealousy and possessiveness that was getting me worked up. If he was just being charming and charismatic to get me into bed, well, that’d be one thing, but this? This act that I mattered beyond this game we were playing?
Yeah, I hadn’t been lying when I had told Delaney that the most dangerous thing for girls like us was a guy who made you feel like you mattered; a guy who gave you worth.
“You motherfucker!” I yelled. “You deleted all my contacts?!”
“Because you no longer need them!” he roared back in my face.
I felt like I was becoming unhinged. I’ve only known this guy for two days. I’ve only known him for two days, and here he was…changing things. “You had no right,” I seethed.
Provoking the Enemy Page 5
