When Sh*t Gets in the Way

by Ines Vieira

  Table of Contents

  WHEN SH*T GETS IN THE WAY

  COPYRIGHT

  DEDICATION

  DEDICATION FOR THE READER

  Prologue

  CHAPTER 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Epilogue

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  WHEN HATE GETS IN THE WAY

  WHEN LIFE GETS IN THE WAY

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  WHEN SH*T GETS IN THE WAY

  By Ines Vieira

  COPYRIGHT

  When Life Sh*t in the Way Copyright © 2017 Ines Vieira

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of all word marks, products, brands, TV shows, movies, music, bands and celebrities mentioned in this work of fiction.

  Cover Image: Courtesy of Taylor Sullivan

  Cover edit: Courtesy of Taylor Sullivan

  For more information, visit:

  www.facebook.com/InesVieiraAuthor

  http://inesgvieira.wixsite.com/author

  DEDICATION

  FOR THE MEN IN MY LIFE

  Thank you for loving me unconditionally even when you have to deal with my brand of crazy every day.

  Noka and Sean, you both are my reason.

  My everything.

  DEDICATION FOR THE READER

  “Beware;

  for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”

  - Mary Shelley

  Prologue

  She thinks perfection is a lie.

  She hates liars.

  Therefore, she hates perfection.

  The problem is she thinks I’m perfect.

  Which makes me just another dirty liar.

  How can I change the way she sees me when I know she’s right.

  Jessica Silva tends always to think she is right about everything and everyone.

  Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to prove her wrong and knock her on her judgmental ass.

  But I am perfect in her eyes.

  Which means I’m the biggest liar of them all.

  CHAPTER 1

  Jess

  Crap!

  Crap!

  Mutha Effing Crap!

  If I knew he was my ride, I would have found other means of transport. How the hell could I have guessed that Quaid was the one that I would have to spend the next four hours with, in a car, alone, all the way back to Plymouth?

  I should have known. I mean it was right in my face all along that this was a possibility. I mean, what were the odds that it wasn’t freaking Quaid Stevens who would show up on my doorstep this morning? Pretty freaking low! It was just too good to be true that I was able to get a ride straight home from Columbia without it being Quaid. I had gotten his phone number off one of the college carpooling bulletin boards, and in no shape, way or form did I want to believe that it was him. The post only mentioned his number, and in his texts, we sent back and forth, he had always signed it with a Q, which could have been short for Quentin, or Quincy. Well, I guess that’s what I told myself, even though I knew deep down the only boy from home that attended Columbia like me was Plymouth’s home-grown pride and joy Quaid Stevens.

  Crap!

  Mutha effing Crap!

  My face must have shown my displeasure because the second Quaid laid eyes on me, he wasn’t pleased either. I heard him mumble something under his breath and then walk over with the same sunken expression as I must have been wearing.

  “Jessica, I presume?” he said not concealing his annoyance.

  “Q,” I said matching his disdain.

  “It’s Quaid, actually.”

  “Oh, I remember,” I said still irritated by the idea of having to go through with this. Money was tight and if I wanted to save a couple of bucks to get home for Christmas break, hitching a ride with Quaid was my only option.

  “Do you, now? I didn’t think I made much of an impression,” he said sarcastically with one of his eyebrows lifted, almost reaching his scalp.

  “You didn’t, but it’s kind of hard not knowing who everyone is in Plymouth growing up. Too small of a town.”

  “I see you’re still a pleasure as always, Jessica. Although the opinionated girl I remember from back home was called Jess,” he said while opening the trunk of his car and then proceeded to rearrange his bags, making room for mine.

  “Humph! I prefer Jessica now.”

  Opinionated... Like he knows anything about me. Opinionated my ass.

  “Jessica it is then. Any other changes I should know about?”

  “I doubt anything related to me should ever be a concern of yours, Q. So no, no changes that you should be aware of.”

  “Never did like me much, did you Jess? he smirks back at me.

  “Nope,” I affirm smacking my lips on the ‘p’.

  Never liked the illusion of perfection and that’s precisely what Quaid Stevens was. Perfect. Or at least an extremely good copy of it. With his perfect dark short hair and his drool-worthy sea blue eyes, perfectly flawless skin and chiseled shoulders and nothing but hard abs hidden by his designer clothes. The man looked like Tyler Hoechlin’s doppelganger. Yeah, that’s right! Freaking Superman jaw-dropping gorgeous and acted like the male version of Mother Theresa. That combination alone has me on pins and needles dreading the next couple of hours that I’ll need to be in such close proximity to such a sham. No one is that good. Nope! Perfect people were a lie in my book, which meant Quaid Stevens is nothing but a perfect deception. I never trusted perfect even if it did come in a package as gorgeous and inviting as Quaid freaking Stevens.

  “Sure you still want a ride, then?” he asks with his hands in his front pockets looking like he would rather eat gravel than to spend the next four hours with me. For some reason, pissing Quaid off had officially made my day. Even if by some miracle I could afford to flake out on this arrangement, I would have gone anyway just to get on his last nerve.

  “Yep,” I sneer and make my way to the back of the car to place my duffle bag inside. I hear him breathe out heavily and mumble something else under his breath.

  Mumble away, Quaid. You’re stuck with me.

  But then it hits me that unfortunately, this means that I’m stuck with him too. I push the thought back to where it came from and opened the passenger side door. I don’t even acknowledge when he gets into the car at the same time as I str
ap myself in. And now I’m stuck in this death trap alongside the last person I thought I would ever have to see again. I hate anything related to driving, but I also hate the fact that my life is now in Quaid’s hands. Cars have always been my Achilles heel. I was already anxious knowing that I would be at the mercy of some stranger driving me home but having that stranger be Quaid, just raised my anxiety levels through the roof. He better not try anything funny and drive like a normal human being. If he’s a dumb jock that gets his kicks at driving 120 miles an hour, we’ve definitely got a problem.

  I wipe my sweaty palms on my skinny black jeans to ease my nerves, but it doesn’t help. Before leaving my dorm, my roommate Izzy even suggested I do a shot before I left, to take the edge off. I laughed saying that I was not going to drink Tequila at seven in the morning just so I could stomach a four to five-hour drive. Right now though, I’m kind of slapping myself for not having a shot. Or two. Or three.

  Where is the bloody “Cuervo” when you need it?!

  I look into my bag and try to find that miracle drug that will get me through the next few hours. I hate having to result in taking a Xanax, even if it was prescribed by my family doctor for specific events like these to control my anxiety levels. It’s a necessary evil even if I don’t like it.

  “Hey, you okay?” Quaid asks looking at me with concern in his drop-dead gorgeous eyes as he sees me taking the pill followed by a big gulp of water. He hasn’t even put his key in the ignition, and I’m already sweating bullets. I take a deep breath and just come clean. Might as well. I hate to admit weakness to anyone, especially to someone like Quaid, but if he decides to go full Fast and Furious on me, a panic attack is sure to happen.

  I turn my head to face him and give him my most annoyed look. If I have to show weakness, at least I’ll do it on my terms. I don't want Quaid to think that he has any power over me

  “I don't like being driven by someone I don't trust.”

  “God, you’re a piece of work. If you can't handle a stranger driving you then why the hell did you agree to a carpool anyway? You could have taken a train to Boston and then a bus back to Plymouth and saved both of us the torment.”

  “Because necessity sometimes doesn’t go hand in hand with what we are comfortable with. Just keep to the speed limit, and you won't hear a peep out of me, okay?”

  “I sincerely doubt that,” he says already starting the car. I roll my eyes at his attempt at having the last word and make myself comfortable for the journey. Well, at least I try. We’re silent the whole ride out of Manhattan, and I’m glad for it. One of the appeals New York has is that you can get from A to B without a car being a major factor. Back home, not so much. On my sixteenth birthday, my parents made me get my driver’s license and I reluctantly did. Well, at least after my third attempt, I did. But even after I got it, I was happy enough with hitching rides to school or wherever, with my cousins and only as a last resort did I put myself behind the wheel.

  In that regards, being accepted to Columbia was a dream come true. It’s everything else that isn’t going the way I planned. College is harder than I expected. Sure it's still my first semester, but I haven't been able to adapt to college life like I thought I would. High school had been easy for me. Everything about it felt natural. My classes, my extracurriculars, my social calendar; all of it. I was able to maintain a high GPA and still keep up with everything else. College though, not so much. All my classes are demanding as hell, and I’m constantly surrounded by people twice as smart as I am and even more motivated.

  At Riverside, I knew I stood out from the mould. Not that this was a goal of mine, it just was what it was. But here at Columbia, I don't even think there is one teacher now, that remembers my name. Or even cares to. But I don't want to think about that right now. All I want to focus on is getting back home and relax. I haven't had a full night’s sleep in what seems to be forever and intend to do just that in my own bed, in my own private room. Don't get me wrong; I love my roommate Izzy. If I could name one good thing that came out of moving to New York City, it was meeting her sassy British ass, but still having some sort of privacy back, even for just a little while, is a godsend.

  Before I know it, we have officially left New York. I look over at Quaid and see that his scowl has diminished and that he’s actually not that bad a driver. The Xanax is definitely kicking in since I’m not as tense, so a little shut-eye might just be what I need. The added bonus is that this trip will also end faster if I sleep a couple of hours during it. So I do just that. I close my eyes and anxiously await to smell my mother's home cooked meal instead of Quaid’s Jean Paul Gaultier cologne.

  Chapter 2

  Quaid

  Well, that didn’t take long.

  I look at the girl sitting next to me all curled up in her winter coat and fast asleep.

  Jess Silva.

  No, wait, now it’s Jessica Silva.

  Christ.

  How the hell did I get talked into driving Jessica Silva back home for Christmas of all people? When I put that ad out, it was with the intent that I wouldn’t have to be bored the whole drive home and have someone to talk to. I could have taken a flight back home or even the train as I had suggested to Jess, but I love to drive. Living in New York these past months, my car has been locked away in the garage, and I had been itching to get back behind the wheel again. I know it was impulsive of me bringing my car to Columbia since having a car in NYC is almost redundant. Not only was it expensive as hell to keep it in the garage, but I haven’t even had the time or opportunity to use it. I was anticipating finally driving it back home, as much as looking forward to being back home. The only thing that I wasn’t looking forward to was the four hours of silence I would have to endure with only my thoughts to keep me company. And now the one person that was supposed to offer me some distraction is fast asleep. Not to mention that she is one of the most belligerent people I have ever met.

  Belligerent and irritating as hell.

  One date. It took only one date to be forever annoyed by this girl. It all happened Senior year. One of my best friend’s girlfriends was always on my case how I didn’t date enough. Since Freshman year, Decker and I were tight, but Ronnie had him wrapped around her little finger since they’d first met. Whatever Ronnie wanted, Decker would get it done. So when Ronnie got into her head that she should set me up with one of her BFF’s, Decker was relentless at bugging the shit out of me until I caved.

  I said yes at first because I thought she was going to set me up with Cassandra Mackenzie. I had had a crush on her since junior high, but that girl only had books on the brain, not brawn. I think maybe that’s why the crush lasted until senior year, though. She was so focused, so sure of herself that you had to be in awe of her. But the thing about Cass that really did me in was that the girl was all heart. I had never seen her be unkind to anyone and the work she used to do at the Youth Centre back home was nothing short of inspiring.

  Yeah, I had it bad for Cass but then Jessica’s cousin Isaac moved back into town and that’s all she wrote folks. Those two became joined at the hip soon after his arrival, and if most guys at our school didn’t stand a chance before then with Cass, well after Isaac, she didn’t give any of us a second look.

  End of story.

  With Cass on my mind, I never even considered going out with Jess. Crushing on a girl and then going out with her best friend didn’t seem right to me. Reluctantly, I went on the double date from hell, and that’s exactly how it was; hell. I tried my best at being engaging and a gentleman the whole night through, but this small creature of a girl was exasperating. She had an opinion about everything and could not keep it to herself if her life depended on it.

  We went to see some stupid ass action movie and 15 minutes into it; the girl had the biggest bitch fit I have ever seen. It’s like the movie attacked her personally and it was her duty to make everyone aware of her lack of satisfaction.

  I kept quiet the rest of the night. For me, it was just a
temper tantrum of a spoilt little girl. There are too many real issues that people should fight for and be disgruntled about and making such a scene over some stupid movie really got on my nerves.

  After the movie, we had gone to a friend’s party where little Jessica felt the need to end the evening avoiding me with a solo cup in her hands and flirting with one of my teammates. That was the real nail on the head that pissed me off. I mean we were supposedly on a date and her avoidance of me while giving her full attention to another guy on our date was just damn disrespectful. I have no tolerance for that type of shitty behavior, so after making sure that Decker and Ronnie were giving her a ride home, I left and ended the worst date in Plymouth history.

  I look over at her and see that she is still blissfully asleep. I know that I wanted company, but a sleeping Jess is a better alternative to an awake one. It’s the mouth on her that ruins it because the girl is a stunner. If a horny scientist ever tried to mix Sofia Vergara and Mila Kunis’ genes together to create the perfect woman, well I have no doubt that Jess would be the outcome of such an experiment. All curves with long dark brown wavy hair falling to her petite waist. Honey brown eyes under long dark lashes and perfectly full red lips.

  Yeah, Jess is definitely one of those girls that stop traffic. That is of course until she opens her mouth. Jess would be perfect if she were mute. Unable to control it, I let out an unwanted chuckle and immediately bite my inner cheek when I see that she starts to stir on her seat because of it.

  “What’s so funny?” her voice comes out low, but I hear the bite in it regardless.

  “Nothing. Go back to sleep, Jess. We’ve still got a couple of hours to go.”

  “Well if you stopped giggling over there like a fucking hyena, I could have enjoyed my nap in peace.”

  “Do you always have to be so crass?” She slowly opens her eyes and looks at me amused.

  “So now I’m crass, am I?”