Malik (Carter Brother Series Book 1)

by Lisa Helen Gray

  “You’ve got it bad girl,’’ Denny says coming up beside me.

  Turning I give her a grin, but the grin slips when I see the guy next to her, clearly not the one she was talking to earlier. I give Mason a quick look to see him watching Denny with a frown on his face. I let out a quiet chuckle before sorting myself out. These two are comical. The sexual tension in this field is enough to wake up a nymph from the dead.

  “This is Carl; he goes to the local college here. Carl this is Harlow, she just moved here,’’ she introduces. Carl gives me the once over making my skin crawl and I have to fold my arms around my stomach to cover myself from his sleazy eyes. I seriously do not like this guy. His hair looks like it needs washing days ago, his lanky frame makes him look like he hasn’t eaten for weeks and his clothes look like they should have been binned a few decades ago. I’m not a superficial person, but he could go to a charity shop and find something better than what he is wearing right now. There’s no need for him to be like this, which means he chooses to.

  “Yo, it’s nice to meet ya. About time we got more fannies around here,’’ he grins showing his crooked teeth. Nice. It looks like he’s been brushing them with butter.

  “You too,’’ I lie giving him the head nod everyone seems to do around here.

  “Do you girls want a drink or anything?’’ he asks and warning bells go off in my head. My dad’s voice booms in my head so clearly I have to take a small step back from them.

  ‘Never take a drink from someone you don’t know or people you don’t trust and never leave a drink unattended. There are bad people in this world my sweet girl.’

  My dad had said this to me the week before he died before I went to a friend’s birthday party at a club. She had just turned eighteen.

  Thankfully her dad owned a club in town and had wristbands for the kids that weren’t old enough to drink yet. I’d only gone because it was the big One Eight. I’d have preferred to have stayed in. I hated bringing attention to myself and knowing me I would have gone in last season’s clothes or something. Not that I cared what I wore, I wore for myself, not for others. I just never wanted to give the school bullies more ammunition to pick on me.

  “No,’’ I say rather loudly making everyone’s head turn to me. Mason laughs behind Denny making her turn around and glare at him. While her back is turned Carl’s eyes appraise me again, instead of folding into myself I straighten my back and give him a glare, warning him that I’m not going to take his shit. If he’s here with Denny then he should be paying attention to her. What Denny is doing with someone like him is beyond me when she could do so much better. She’s freaking beautiful and if it weren’t for her shortness she’d be a runway model. I’m sure of it.

  “No we’re fine Carl, we’re going to go stand over there because Harlow’s boyfriend is about to start his race.’’

  “Oh, are you dating Davis? We hang out, we should all go out together some time,’’ he says not waiting for an answer when he turns to eye Denny’s tits up again.

  My facial expression could only have looked like someone who is about to be sick, turn into The Hulk sucking on something sour. I’m utterly disgusted by his presumption of me dating Davis. Not that I know how many people are in the race, but Davis? Seriously? He’s a creep. Why would anyone want to date him?

  “Um, no I’m certainly fucking not,’’ I snap before walking off, leaving Denny to talk to him, but as I get to where Mason is now standing, Denny is right beside me.

  “Uh, what a creep,’’ she says fake shuddering.

  “I’d say. Why the hell were you with him?’’

  “Honestly?’’ she asks, looking over towards Mason. “To make him jealous. Guess it got thrown back in my face huh?’’ she chuckles.

  “Nah, I’m pretty sure his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets when you walked over with him,’’ I laugh.

  “God, why does he have to be so freaking good looking? I just want to…’’

  “Stop right there misses,’’ I chuckle.

  She laughs, linking her arm through mine as we finally stand next to Mason who is talking to a bunch of friends.

  “Hey. Malik is up now, look,’’ he says pointing over the field where I see Malik and four other racers lining up their bikes. My eyes follow the track, and they go wide.

  “What the hell? Is that safe?’’ I ask, pointing to all the humps and hills that I never really noticed before.

  “Yeah,’’ Mason chuckles, his eyes flickering to Denny before coming back to me. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. He’s really good. They have loads of safety measures in place to avoid any accidents. He’s just finished walking the track and he’s already checked the bike for faults and whatever other procedure he and his sponsors do to prepare, so it’s all okay.’’

  “If you say so,’’ I mumble not feeling so sure, especially when I start to get a sick feeling in my stomach.

  “I’m not going to lie Harlow, this sport is fucking dangerous and he’s only ever been in one accident that wasn’t his fault, another rider…’’

  “What?’’ I shriek.

  “Chill, it was the parents fault really. They pressured their son into taking the sport, I guess his head was elsewhere when he was out there that day,’’ he shrugs.

  None of this even occurred to me when we arrived. Most lads are into playing football and shit. My dad even played golf a time or two, but nothing like this ever occurred to me.

  When I get home later the first thing I’ll be doing is watching other races on YouTube and Googling this shit until my eyes bleed.

  “Ladies and gentleman, the race is about to begin, are you ready?’’ A man roars through the mic. The whole crowd goes wild, and my heart is beating so hard I’m afraid my chest is going to burst. Anyone would think it was me out there ready to start a race.

  The noise around me is deafening from the roar of the bikes and the screams of the crowd. Behind me there’s another race going on for younger kids. I block them all out as I keep my eyes on Malik and the people surrounding him.

  When a man walks out onto the track my heart starts beating a million miles an hour. Holding up a card, the lads all start reviving their engines, the noise of the crowd going wild like they know something I don’t. My eyes stay focused on Malik, then on the gate at the front of his bikes tire. When it flips down everything happens so fast, one minute they’re reviving their engines, the next they’re speeding off, the noise of their engines deafening.

  I don’t realise my whole body has moved closer to the track until I feel Mason come to stand next to me, with Denny on the other side shouting things to Malik. Why? I don’t know. I’m surprised he can hear his own thoughts over all this noise let alone whatever she’s shouting at him.

  My whole body tenses and a silent squeak escape’s my mouth when I see Malik fly over the first dirt bump.

  “Oh my God,’’ I gasp, feeling my eyes water. This can’t be safe. He’s going to get himself killed. “I can’t watch this.’’

  “He’s fine. He’s doing really fucking good,’’ Mason says, pride filling his voice.

  What’s scary is I only have their word to go by because I’ve never seen one of these races before, in fact I’ve never even seen a horse race let alone a bike race. All this is new to me, I don’t even know what to expect.

  My eyes close once he gets to a row of dirt bumps on the track; flying over the first two skilfully. He makes it look so easy, but I can only imagine the muscles he has to use to pull some of these jumps off. No wonder he’s so freaking big.

  When I open my eyes he’s just going round a corner with another rider on his tail. The bike tilts to the side, and the dirt kicks up around him. Once he clears the corner I let out a puff of air I never realised I had been holding. Watching him like this is scary as hell; I’m terrified he’s going to come down from one of his jumps and lose his balance or something.

  When the crowd starts booing, I realise I spaced out. Looking to M
ason for answers he has an angry expression up on his face, which instantly has me worried.

  “What? What happened? Is Malik okay?’’

  “Yeah, but Davis the little dickhead just tried to run him off the track. Davis should have been removed, but it looks like they’re going to ignore the fact that he not only just put his own life at risk, but Malik’s and the other riders too. They’re idiots letting him get away with this.’’

  “Oh, no! This is my entire fault. Davis wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t for me. He’s going to get him hurt,’’ feeling sadness hit me and my eyes water.

  “This isn’t your fault. Davis is lucky my brother knows what he’s doing out there. Little prick has always had it out for one of my brothers.’’

  Not being able to take anymore when they start their second lap, I grab a hold of Denny to get her attention.

  “I’m just going to find the toilets, I can’t watch this anymore,’’ I shout over the crowd.

  “You okay? You’re looking really pale,’’ she asks looking worried.

  “Yeah, I’m good, I’ll be back in a minute.’’

  “Okay, I’ll wait here.’’

  Taking one last look at the race track, I wince, hoping Malik doesn’t get upset that I missed his race. Maybe once I’ve explained to him how sick it made me feel watching him he’ll understand. He can’t expect me to enjoy that. The way he flies in the air with only his hands on the bike is scary as fuck. Not even horror movies scare me this much and I’m a huge baby when it comes down to it. Sighing, I turn, making my way through the cheering crowd to find the portable toilets.

  Chapter Ten

  Finally leaving the toilets after queuing for the past fifteen minutes, I’m glad to be back out in the fresh air. Girls seriously need to learn how to clean up after themselves. There were toilet rolls littered all over the floor, puddles of dirty water covered the floor, and the smell in there had been stuffy and dreadful. I actually heaved a few times wishing I could have just taken a piss in a bush outside. It might have been more hygienic for me too.

  Heading back over to where I left Denny with Mason, I hear Malik’s name mentioned a few times making me smile. I wonder how he feels knowing how the people here are proud of him, and that they support him? It must feel good on his part. It sure makes me feel good knowing he’s admired and accomplished so much.

  I’m not far from where I left Denny when a foot kicks out in front of me, tripping me up. My hands fly forward trying to stop the fall, but somehow I still manage to face plant into the mud. A laugh to my left makes me tense. I’d know that laugh anywhere. Even after being here only a few months, that laugh grates on my nerves.

  Getting up on my knees I try to wipe as much dirt off of me as I can, but it’s no use, all I’m doing is making it worse by rubbing it in. My cheeks are flaming red by the time I stand up, and tears are stinging my eyes from the people around me laughing.

  “Oh look, it’s the tramp. I hear you’re used to being on your knees,’’ Hannah giggles.

  “Never,’’ I bite out sarcastically, brushing her hurtful remark away and turning to leave. When a hand shoots out gripping my bicep hard, I wince. The nails dig into my skin, and I’m pretty sure it’s hard enough that it’s drawing blood. Trying to shake her hand off, I turn around, my face thunderous when I see her smirking at me.

  “Don’t leave. The girls and I wanted you to know that Malik is taking Clarissa home again tonight. We just spoke to her and she said Malik is meeting her after he dropped his neighbour’s granddaughter back. I guess that’s you. I should have known he wouldn’t be with a mousy geek like you,’’ she laughs. “Hell, you could never have kept a lad like Malik happy. I bet he feels like shit having to babysit you all the time because of your parent’s death…’’

  I don’t hear what else comes from her mouth. All the blood runs from my face and my legs become shaky.

  How did she know about my parents? I didn’t believe what she was saying about Malik was true, but then, how would she know about my parents, that they’re dead if he didn’t tell that girl Casey or Carissa? Or that I lived next door to him. How could he do this to me? I thought I meant something to him.

  Feeling angry that I’ve let tears fall in front of Hannah and her group of friends, I turn and storm off. I can hear them laughing behind me, but I keep on walking wanting to get as far from here as possible. I walk past the exit and into the direction of home. Once I hit a familiar street, my walking turns into a run knowing I’m not far from home. I’m seconds away from breaking and I’d rather do that without having to worry about someone recording my outburst or laughing at me.

  My phone has been vibrating in my pocket since I made it out of the field, but I’ve let it go to voicemail. I don’t want to speak to anyone, but I know I’ll need to talk to Denny as she’s meant to be sleeping over at mine. I’m just not sure if I can face being around anyone at the moment.

  I’m breathing hard by the time I make it home. The lights downstairs are still on so I know my Gram’s is still awake watching her crime TV shows that she watches every night.

  As soon as the door opens her voice drifts through from the front room, “You’re back early, everything okay?’’

  “Yeah,’’ I lie, hoping she can’t pick up on my clogged throat. “I’m just going to bed, I have a headache from all the noise.’’

  “Do you need some paracetamol?’’

  “No, thanks though. Night Gram’s.’’

  “Night sweet.’’

  Rushing up to my room, the tears start falling. I don’t waste time in shedding my dirty clothes and moving to the bathroom where I turn the shower on to the hottest temperature I can muster.

  The hot water stings my sensitive skin, and my tears fall away in the flow of the hot steamy water. I try to hold back sobs, but with everything going on in my mind, what happened tonight feels like another kick to my stomach.

  By the time I’m finished my skin is red raw, my eyes sting from crying, and my throat feels dry from my sobs. It doesn’t take me long to get dressed and move into bed. Once there I grab my phone not wanting Denny to worry about me or where she’s going to be sleeping.

  I have a bunch of messages from everyone, but I don’t bother reading any of them. I just pull up Denny’s number and send her a text.

  Me: I’m sorry. I’ve come home. My head is really killing me. I didn’t want to ruin your night, but ring me when you want to come back and I’ll let you in. I’m so sorry Denny. H x

  Sinking back into bed the tears start to fall thinking about Malik. They should be at the party soon. Will he already be with her? I feel stupid turning up tonight when he obviously never wanted me there in the first place. If he already had a girlfriend then why has he been pursuing me? Did my Gram’s have anything to do with this? Stupid thoughts keep running through my mind and it’s making me feel sick.

  My phone beeps with an incoming text shaking me from my thoughts.

  Denny: Hey girl, u didn’t look so good earlier. I would have come home with u. We’ve all been worried sick. Malik went crazy, he’s still looking for u. Mason is ringing him now. Is everything okay? D x

  Me: Yes I’m good. Sorry about leaving you like that. I feel like shit now knowing I’ve left you there. H x

  Denny: No problem. I’ll let u know about coming back. I want 2 see how tonight goes with Mason ;) He hasn’t left my side all night. Glaring at any lads that come anywhere near me or putting his arm around me claiming me. He even went and got me a drink Harlow. He’s so darn cute. D x

  Her text makes me grin, but then it reminds me that I won’t be with Malik again and my heart hurts all over again. How could he do this?

  Me: Okay, be safe and make good choices. Just wake me up if you need me, H x

  Denny: Always. Speak 2 u l8ter

  Putting my phone under my pillow I turn over, crying into my pillow, my eyes stinging to the point of pain that it doesn’t take me long to fall asleep.


  A blood curdling scream wakes me up from my nightmare. It’s then I realise it’s me screaming. I’m thankful my Gram’s never hears me during the night otherwise neither of us would get any sleep.

  Moving to go get a glass of water, I end up letting out another scream when I feel two strong arms wrap around me.

  “Shush babe, it’s me.’’

  “Malik? What are you doing here?’’ I whisper, my eyes watering instantly.

  “You didn’t wait for me after the race and I got really worried. We all went looking for you, but couldn’t find you. When Mason called to say you were at home I came straight here. Are you okay? Denny said you didn’t look so good,’’ he whispers into my hair.

  It hurts hearing his kindness that he left all his friends to come looking for me, because all I can hear is what Hannah said earlier about him babysitting me.

  “Malik?’’

  “Yeah babe,’’ he answers, his body flush against my back spooning me.

  “What is going on with us?’’ I opt for being honest.

  “What do you mean?’’

  “Well, are we a couple or am I reading too much into things?’’ I ask, hurt evident in my voice.

  “Babe, what do you think? How can you even ask that?’’ he asks sounding pissed.

  “So you’re not babysitting me?’’ my palms sweating, nervous about his answer.

  He sits up suddenly, and all I can do is follow, leaning against the headboard, not able to look over at him.

  “What the fuck Harlow? What the hell is going on? No bullshit. Don’t play games with me because I thought you were better than that. Other girls do that, but you’re nothing like them Harlow. What’s going on?’’ his voice strained and body tense.

  “Okay. Whose Clarissa?’’

  “A girl I used to sleep with before I met you, why?’’

  “Were you going to sleep with her tonight?’’

  He laughs, which hurts me more, making tears slide down my cheeks.