A Little Bit of Trouble

by A. E. Murphy

  After looking around the nightstand I realize it’s not there so I pick up her bag and start rummaging through it. Christ she’s got a lot of shit in here. A stick of some sort touches the back of my hand. Probably mascara or some shit like that. Still no phone. So I do what Loryn does on a daily basis and tip her bag out onto the bed.

  And finally, I find her phone!

  I answer it, “Hello?”

  “Hello, is Loryn there?” male, male, male. Alarms go off.

  “Who’s calling?”

  The male chuckles, “You could just look at the screen.” Shit. “It’s Greg.”

  “I’ll get her for you,” I open the door to the bedroom. “LORYN! Phone!”

  I wait a minute clicking my tongue like the sound of a clock until she finally pads into the bedroom, frowns at the mess on the bed, frowns at me and then frowns at her phone in my hand. She puts it against her ear. I close the door and lean against it.

  “Hello?” she says with a small smile on her lips. “Just one second Greg.” I hear him say something as she looks at me. “A little privacy would be awesome Lucas.”

  “Sure,” I turn around and face the door before winking at her over my shoulder. She huffs with an eye roll but says nothing.

  “What’s up Greg? Yeah, no he’s settled fine. No… yes… really? Oh… wow, no that is awesome. I’d love to. When?” When what? I turn back around, I’m not liking the smile Greg has put on her face. “Definitely, I’ll be there!”

  Be where? She hangs up and starts throwing her stuff back in her bag, “Who said you could go through my bag?”

  “The same person who told me I could wear these shoes.” She looks confused so I shove my thumb into my chest. “Me.”

  “You’re incorrigible, stay out of my bag.”

  “No.”

  Her eyes narrow, “Stay off my phone.”

  “Nope.”

  “Ask me first.”

  “Not gonna happen. Hungry?” She inhales deeply, attempting to calm herself. I smile smugly, “What did he want?”

  She looks around the room, “Who?”

  Sigh, “Greg you dufus.”

  “Don’t call me a dufus!”

  “Then don’t act like one. Now go make me some lunch woman.” I slap her on the ass and push her towards the kitchen. “We’ll talk about Greg when you come back through. With food.”

  “You’re such a douchebag.”

  Jacob pops his head around the kitchen door, “I’m starving.”

  Loryn smiles sweetly, “Of course. What would you like?”

  To say my mouth drops open would be an understatement, my chin hits the fucking floor, “What the hell! You’ll make him food?”

  “I’d love a meat sub,” Jacob pretends to be completely oblivious to our disagreement. “I’m sure Lucas would like one too.”

  She giggles and starts pulling things out of the refrigerator. My phone beeps as I head back into the room. It’s from Summer.

  Summer: Can you come tomorrow and give Chris a hand with the stuff that needs doing? We’re finally moved in!

  Lucas: I’ll be there at ten tomorrow. Will you be okay watching Amelia?

  Summer: Do you even have to ask? We’ll play outside on the tire swing! I might even let her have a turn ;)

  Lucas: Sigh… I’m guessing you want me to bring her Barbie dolls?

  Summer: Nope, I bought some.

  Lucas: Not even gonna ask…

  My friends are weird.

  Loryn walks back in the room with a tray in her hands, she passes Lucas a meat sub, passes Marie a bowl of fruit and yoghurt, she places a meat sub in her spot and disappears with the tray. Where’s mine?

  “Catch,” she calls. Instinctively I grab at the air and miss whatever it is she’s thrown. It bounces off my head. Fuck that hurts. “Enjoy.” She sits and bites into her sub.

  Whilst I stare at a god damn apple, “What the fuck is this?”

  “Your lunch.”

  I narrow my eyes on her and her huge sandwich, “That better be for sharing.”

  “Nope.”

  Fucking bitch. “Give me the damn sandwich.”

  “Let me think,” she taps her chin, takes another bite and smiles at me. “No.”

  “Right,” I smirk and roll up my sleeves. “If that’s how you want to play it.” I grab her wrists whilst she’s mid bite, and with the skill of a wolf I sink my teeth into the opposite end of the sub. “Oh my god. Why don’t I have one of these?” I groan, that’s fucking beautiful. “Oh wait… I do have one.” I straddle her stomach and grip her arms in place with ease.

  “Get off me,” she giggles, attempting to bite her side of the sub. “Lucas!”

  I take another bite and smile at Marie and Jacob who are laughing and… filming this little display. Whatever. “Oh my god. This sandwich is better than sex.”

  “Please, nothing is better than sex.”

  I shake my head, “No baby, nothing is better than sex with me.”

  “You’re such a pig!”

  “An attractive pig with awesome bedroom skills.”

  “Too much information!” Marie sniggers climbs to her feet. “That will be Maya with Evelyn no doubt.” She heads to the door.

  Maya comes through moments later and sits in the armchair with Evelyn bouncing on her knee, “Do I want to know what’s going on here?”

  Marie shakes her head, “Probably not.”

  “Daddy, get off Loryn,” Amelia snaps with her hands on her hips.

  “But she stole my sandwich.”

  Amelia looks at Loryn, “Stealing is bad.”

  “That it is princess,” I chuckle and swoop down for another bite of Loryn’s sandwich. She doesn’t pull away… she fucking pushes and the sandwich, the meat, the sauce hits me in the face and then she rubs. Crazy bitch. I hop off her, ignoring the laughter in the room and wipe my face on my top. “You just wasted a perfectly good sandwich.” I scowl at her as she laughs and scoop my apple off the floor before taking a bite. I then glare at Maya, “You are a bad influence.”

  “What did I do?” she chokes out, still laughing as Marie high fives Loryn.

  I stomp into the bathroom and wash my face before stripping off my tee. This is going to be a long day.

  ******

  “I’ll do it,” Loryn kisses me on the top of the head and chases Amelia into her room. Bed time.

  I listen to Amelia’s high pitched squeal as Loryn probably tackles her to the bed and wrestles her into her pajamas. It’s the normal routine for the two of them, it’s one of those small things in life that you often forget to appreciate.

  “Right,” I say once she settles beside me. “We’re going to Summer’s new place tomorrow. Gotta do man shit.”

  She shifts awkwardly and twists her fingers in her lap, “I can’t. I’m going out with Greg.”

  “Umm… no you’re not.” Not a fucking chance.

  “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

  “You’re mine Loryn. I don’t want anything that’s mine, anywhere near him.” I lean forward to kiss her, definitely sexy time is needed. She places her hand over my mouth and pushes me away. Dammit.

  Her gorgeous eyes narrow to slits, “I am going out with Greg tomorrow. He’s my friend, we’ve made plans. You don’t get to boss me around like that.”

  “You’re coming with me to Summer’s,” I whisper in her ear and suck the lobe into my mouth. “So stop arguing.”

  With two hands to my chest she pushes me away. Fuck.

  “Greg is my friend, he’s asked for my help! I will help him! Understand? I’m not moaning about you hanging around with Summer am I?”

  I roll my eyes, “Totally different situation.”

  “How so?”

  “Summer doesn’t want to get in my pants like Greg does yours.”

  Hurt comes over her features, “You don’t trust me?” Groan. “Of course I trust you. It’s him I don’t trust.”

  Standing from the couch I watch as s
he stomps into the bedroom and returns moments later fully dressed. I blink incredulously, “You’re running again? Typical.”

  “I’m not running, I’m not ending this. I am merely going home because I need a damn break,” she whisper shouts and snatches her bag off the side. “Good night Lucas.”

  Not a chance in hell. I grab her around the waist and throw her over my shoulder.

  “Lucas! Stop! Put me down!” her teeth sink into my ass, ouch. “Stop this.”

  After throwing her onto my bed I straddle her hips and tug her shoes off her feet.

  “You’re acting like a psycho.”

  “And you are acting like a bitch. You’re not leaving.” I work on the button of her jeans and tug them down. This proves to be more difficult than expected as she keeps kicking and clawing at my back. “Stop moving.” I finally tug them off and spin around to face her.

  “Get off me!” she practically shouts and wriggles beneath me. I use this moment to rip her sweater over her head leaving her in nothing but panties and a bra. Fuck, I’m hard. “Stop it!”

  I lift her again like a ragdoll and throw her onto the bed in the right position. With speed I didn’t know I had I crawl up her body and lay on top of her, effectively pinning her with my weight before pulling the blanket up to my shoulders and burying my face in her hair. Mm, cherries.

  “Lucas!” she screeches and tries to shove at me. Bless her for trying. “Get off me.”

  “Comfy,” I grumble and quickly kick off my trousers. That takes skill. Then I whip my tee off and press my bare chest to hers. Her lace bra is in the way so I work that off too. “No wait… still not right.”

  “Stop it,” she says but her voice is breathless. I know that voice, that’s her horny voice. With a smug smile I kneel between her legs, keeping one arm clamped over her hips to stop her from scrambling away and pull her panties down. She tries but to no avail. “God. You’re so annoying.”

  “Glad to hear you’re finally using the appropriate name for me!” I slide back up her body and lean on my elbows so my face is above hers.

  “What?” she laughs once. “Annoying?”

  “No baby. God.” I give her a chaste kiss on the lips and collapse on top of her. And then I push myself between her legs and slide into her wet depths with a groan. “You’re always so wet for me babe.”

  “Yeah, you owe me a lot of new underwear,” she starts giggling and wriggles her hips, then stops and moans. After inhaling deeply she murmurs, “I’m still pissed at you.”

  I slide out and back in, “I know. Go to sleep.”

  “We’re not having sex?”

  I shake my head, “No, it’s extra security. If you leave, my dick will get cold and I’ll wake up.”

  Her mouth opens, I kiss it. “You’re an ass.”

  “Yep. Good night.”

  “You’re crushing me.”

  “You’ll be fine.”

  And then I sleep.

  “Remind me why we’re doing this again,” I grumble as we take a left towards the middle of nowhere. “It’s late, the girls should be in bed.”

  “It’s one night Lucas,” she snaps and exhales deeply. “When did you get so boring?”

  “I am not boring.”

  “Whatever,” she scoffs and I can feel an argument brewing so I remain silent.

  I look out over unfamiliar surroundings, “Where are we?”

  “Will you stop fucking moaning?” she practically shouts. “I just want to do this one thing, this one nice thing for my family and all you do is fucking moan!”

  “Crystal,” I sigh but she’s already pulling over and climbing out of the car. I watch her stomp and snarl under her breath as she paces the length of the car. With another sigh I climb out and walk around to her. “Get back in the car. I’m just tired.”

  “You’re always fucking tired! We never do anything anymore!” she shrieks.

  I laugh in disbelief, “You’re so full of shit.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. I said you are full of shit. It’s not me who doesn’t want to have sex anymore. It’s not me who is always fucking late from work! It’s not me who is always starting shit at home!”

  She laughs a little manically, “Oh that’s rich… coming from you. I don’t want to have sex because it’s fucking boring. The same shit every single time.”

  “What are you saying?” My heart stammers. “You don’t like having sex with me?”

  Her face softens, “No Lucas. I love having sex with the old you. Not this you.”

  “There’s no fucking difference you crazy bitch! It’s you that’s changed! Forever moaning at me for every fucking thing from forgetting to put the milk back to asking you to make me a drink.”

  She rolls her eyes, “Well maybe if you would be more considerate.”

  “Considerate? I’m the one that works twelve fucking hours a day and then I come home and look after the girls.” Now I’m really pissed off. “All you care about are your stupid fucking photos and your stupid books.”

  “Fuck you Lucas!”

  “That’s the problem,” I grip her arms. “You won’t fuck me.”

  “So fucking leave me, go find a whore to fuck. It’s not like you haven’t before.”

  I nod and pull the car door open, “Yeah. You’re right. I will.”

  Her mouth drops open in horror, “You wouldn’t. Don’t bullshit Lucas. We both know you wouldn’t leave me.”

  “Like you’ve said,” I tug my seatbelt across and secure it. “I’ve changed.”

  “So you want a divorce?”

  I shrug, “Right now, I’m not responding. I’m angry, you’re angry, we’re always fucking angry. I love you but sometimes I really fucking hate you.”

  “And right now?”

  “Right now I wish you’d just fuck off,” I bite out angrily. Tears instantly fill her eyes and spill down her cheeks. Ah shit. “Babe, don’t cry.” I pull her to me over the console, she sobs into my neck. “Please babe. I’m sorry.”

  “Can we just stop arguing? It’s not healthy for the girls,” she sniffs. I nod in agreement. “I’m sorry too.”

  “I know,” I whisper. We set off after five minutes more of cuddling. “I love you Crystal.” I kiss her temple and relax back into my seat. “And you’re really sexy when you’re mad.”

  She giggles and it happens.

  There’s a flash of lights, I reach for the wheel, it’s too late. Crunch. I watch as Crystal’s head hits the side window on impact, something hits us from behind we’re jolted forward again. Amelia starts wailing, something smashes and hits me on the back of the head. It burns, my entire body fucking hurts. Warm liquid trickles down my neck, everything flashes past the windows in a blur of movement. We are jolted again, there’s a loud bang and the car feels like it has jumped. More movement, fuck, I feel sick. I want to react, respond, grab Crystal and hold her back but nothing works. My body is numb. It’s like I’m not even here, like I’m watching whatever the fuck this is from the side.

  “Annie, Amelia,” I call as soon as the car comes to a stop, Amelia is still wailing. Why’s the blood rushing to my head? Shit. We’re upside down. “Is everyone okay?” I turn to Crystal, with what little strength I have I touch her hand. “Baby. Please.” There’s blood soaking her neck.

  “Oh my god, oh my god,” I hear someone shrieking. “Sir, do not put your head back.”

  “Help us,” I croak, Amelia falls silent.

  “Sir, we’re gna get the baby out of the car,” someone else says.

  “No, don’t move her,” my voice is barely above a whisper. I can smell smoke. Fuck, I can’t breathe! “Don’t… don’t move any of us.”

  “I can’t hear him. What’s he saying? Is the ambulance on its way?”

  “Dude, we’re going to fucking jail.”

  I shut out their conversation and look at my wife. Her arms are dangling down, her hair and hands resting on the roof of the car. She gasps, she’s still breathi
ng.

  “Baby?” I say softly and touch her cheek. I wish I hadn’t as she starts spluttering and a flow of blood spills from her lips, over her nose and eyes. No… NO! My heart stops. “Please baby. No. Don’t… don’t leave me.”

  “NO!” I sit bolt upright, my body is clammy with sweat. “Shit.”

  “Lucas?” Loryn calls sleepily. I feel her hand touch my sweaty shoulder. “Jesus Lucas. Are you okay?”

  Without answering I stumble from the bed and practically fall into the bathroom before darting into the shower and turning on the cold spray. Nausea overwhelms me, I feel so sick.

  “Lucas?” Loryn calls again. I see her outline through the frosted glass. “Lucas? You’re scaring me.”

  “Get out,” I grumble and bury my face in my hands. “I need to be alone.”

  “Lucas. Please.”

  “Fuck off!” I snarl angrily. I’m not angry at her, I’m angry at myself. I’m angry at the fact I’m alive when I shouldn’t be. I’m angry that I’m finally starting to get the memories back that I wished I never would. “I can’t… deal right now.”

  The shower door opens, she clearly won’t take the hint. Nude Loryn stands before me, normally I’d stare at her beautiful nakedness but right now all I can see in my mind is the blood. So much fucking blood painting my upturned wife’s face red. She can’t breathe, the blood is going into her nose.

  “Shit that’s cold,” Loryn sinks onto her knees in front of me. “Whatever it is… I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

  I don’t say anything, I just sit until our lips turn blue. It’s then that she turns the heat up and climbs onto my lap. Her lips touch my neck as the now hot spray hits our bare skin.

  “I love you Lucas, don’t ask me to leave,” she mumbles and kisses my neck once more. “Because I won’t.”