by Bridle, Dee
I watched the band throw their heads back and forth as they played, the singer screaming and crouching over the speakers. It was wild, almost primal as everyone in the crowd moved their heads in time and jumped up and down. I took in the girls that I could find, all alternative, lots with red hair, all with piercings and tattoos. Did Zac like that?
I thought I had been a little wild dying my hair black, but it was nothing compared to these girls, and I didn’t feel so confident anymore. I probably looked very boring in comparison. I felt the heat coming from all the bodies but didn’t move to take my hoodie off just yet. I needed it around me at the moment, to make me feel hidden and just part of the crowd.
I finished my whiskey and thought about lining up for another one when I saw him by the bar, a girl hanging from his neck. He was watching the band and moving his head in time, standing on a long bench seat against the wall for a better view. He looked so…hot, and I instinctively licked my lips, tasting the whiskey on them.
I watched the girl put her hands up in the air to sing along and then lean over and start to lick his neck. His eyes didn’t move from the band, like letting a girl lick him was just part of his night. I suddenly hated her. She was getting to do something that I wanted to do, without a care and without him pushing her away. I was so deluded coming here tonight.
I should go. I should leave before he sees me here, and I lose all self-respect for myself. I turned, but it was too late, as his eyes connected with mine, narrowing first in disbelief and then in anger.
The band finished a song and there was a roar from the crowd. His girl stopped her licking and cheered for them with her hands up in the air. Her short top rose with her arms, and I saw the tattoo covering her body and swallowed. Totally deluded.
Another song started and the crowd screamed their approval, but his intense gaze didn’t move from me. I stared back at him, lifting my chin in defiance. I had nothing to lose now, all self-respect had disappeared when I had come here tonight, following him around like a fool. Someone pushed past me and I lost contact for a moment. When I looked over to him again, he was looking down at his phone.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out.
Zac: You shouldn’t be here.
I typed a response: You’re forbidding me to see bands now, too?
Zac: How many warnings do you need from me?
Ava: None. I’m not here for you. I’m just doing what I want to do.
Zac: Are you having a rebellious five minutes?
I took a deep breath.
Ava: Think what you like.
Zac: I think and do what I like. See the girl next to me? We fucked an hour ago. Go home.
I gasped as I read his text, feeling my stomach drop. I didn’t want to think of them together with her perfect tattooed body. I wanted it to be a joke, but I knew it wasn’t. I gathered the only strength I had left in me and didn’t look up at him. I knew he was waiting for me to get upset. He was an asshole and had crushed me with a single sentence. I had been warned. Again.
I turned away on shaky legs, needing to get out of there before I collapsed and cried my heart out. He wasn’t holding back this time, showing me just how much he didn’t want me around him.
I tried to blink the tears away, knowing I was playing high school games, and that he had known it all along. I didn’t belong here. I was a silly good girl who was being rebellious for five minutes. I sipped the rest of my whiskey as I slipped my phone back in my jeans pocket. I didn’t care if he sent me another message. The whiskey didn’t help my trembling lips or the sickness in my stomach.
Two guys started to fight near me, both holding each other’s necks and angrily shouting at each other. The stronger one pushed the other one back forcefully and let go. His body came at me, and before I knew it, he had thumped into me. I lost my balance and fell back onto the floor. My whiskey glass got tossed up in the air, as they continued to struggle above me. My arms went up to protect myself as a security guard came barging over to stop the fight.
It was the same time that the music went crazier and the crowd went wild. I was about to be crushed before two hands roughly pulled me up and out of the way. Trying to find my breath, I turned to see Zac holding me. He looked down at me with intense eyes.
“Okay?” he shouted into my face.
I nodded numbly as the band performed a crowd favorite and everyone roared in appreciation. Bodies jumped and pushed and shoved, as the floor vibrated with the mayhem. One guy was shoved over to me and Zac pulled me out of the way, moving his body to deflect the impact on me.
I watched bodies surf over the crowd before they were dumped back into the crowd. It was a frenzied, wild, mad house, and I realized I suddenly felt a little scared. Even girls were now body surfing across the crowd, and the guys cheered them on as they went for grabs on their bodies.
“You shouldn’t have come here by yourself,” he said into my ear.
“I’ll be fine,” I shouted in false confidence. “Go back to your girl.”
He glared down at me as I pulled his arms away from me, even though I craved his touch and to have his hands on me. I turned away and started to make my way into the craziness, secretly praying I didn’t get seriously hurt.
His arm went around my waist and he pulled me back.
“Stop playing where you don’t belong,” he shouted in frustration.
He may as well have slapped me. I suddenly shoved him back hard and turned, pushing my way further into the wild crowd. Asshole!
I could belong, I just needed to prove it. I shoved myself between two guys and tried to move forward, but my feet were stuck in one place, while my body moved in another direction. Before I could do anything else, two arms went around me like a protective barrier and pushed me forward.
“Put your elbows up,” shouted Zac into my ear as we started to make our way through the heaving mass of bodies.
I did what I was told as he stopped a few boots from hitting me from flying crowd surfers above me. He continued to shove his way through, heading across the room to where he had been standing before. His hands went around my waist and then he lifted me up onto the bench. I stood above him next to other people and could clearly see the band. I realized I was safe up here as he looked at me one more time before going even deeper into the crowd. I instantly lost sight of him and tried to remember to breathe again.
The song finished with a roar and then as another song started, it turned to mayhem and bodies were flying everywhere. The girl next to me screamed and threw herself into the crowd. She was carried across the crowd, hands groping her all over as she rocked out to the music.
I watched the drummer hit the drums as hard as he possibly could. His feet were moving like a fast machine on the kick drums, while the singer growled into the microphone. His voice sounded like gravel, and his words dredged up from his feet as he screamed. Sweat poured off him as he leaned over the crowd, spurring them on. He was hard core and very hot, and I couldn’t hide my appreciation.
I started to enjoy myself, enjoying the madness while I was safe up on the bench seat. I was soon knocked sideways as a sweaty shirtless guy climbed up and put his arms up in the air. I grabbed onto the wall and Noah appeared out of nowhere, pulling the guy down into the crowd and away from me. The guy gave me the devil sign as he laughed, and the crowd carried him towards the stage.
Noah stayed next to me and moved his head in time, mouthing the words. I felt the power of the band, the music thumping through me, and I smiled to myself. Strobe lights flickered in time with the fast drums and everyone put their fists in the air. Maybe I was a good girl, but this was fun, and I wanted more.
Chapter Five: Driving Me to the Point Of Madness
Zac
The band finished the set and were soon heading off stage as the overhead lights lit up the venue. I stood near the stage with friends, listening to their conversation as I watched Ava across the room with Noah. They were talking about something and she was
smiling up at him like he was the fucking sweetest thing on earth. I ran my hands through my sweaty hair and watched Will head over to them. I had no doubt in my mind that Will had given her a ticket for tonight and I was going to have words.
The more I tried to stay away, the more I saw her, testing my self-control. I wanted her and standing up there in my hoodie did crazy things to me that I didn’t care to comprehend.
“We going to another club?” whispered Anna into my ear. “Or somewhere a little more private?”
I looked down at her hands on my chest, feeling them over my abdomen and then travelling under my T-shirt to my sweaty skin.
“Change of plans,” I muttered, no longer interested now that my perfection was here.
I glanced over to see her watching us, biting her lip. I wanted to stride over there and take that bottom lip into my mouth.
“Whatever,” said Anna taking her hands out of my top. “Call me.”
I nodded, having no intention of doing that and went back to listening to my mates talk about the band.
Will motioned for Ava to get onto his back, and she laughed as he carried her through the crowd over to the bar. Security was clearing everyone out except for us, because we knew the owner. Will ordered drinks and Ava slid down his back to stand next to him. She still had a smile on her face. Why did Noah and Will like her so fucking much? Were they trying to make me lose my shit?
Four shots were set in front of them, and she pulled my hoodie off, revealing a tight top that was ripped down to her cleavage. I hadn’t missed the sight of her skin under the top as it had risen up, and I had to swallow down a longing to go over and touch her.
I watched Will rub his hands together with glee, and then counted before they both sunk the shots down, one after another. She grimaced and then laughed, high-fiving him as he turned to order more.
It didn’t take long for me to join them, coming up behind her and putting my arms on either side of her on the bar. She leaned back slightly into me, her warm body sending out alarm signals to me. I heard her giggle softly and knew the shots were working to make her fluid and more relaxed.
I looked down at her neck, wanting to lick it, bite it, and taste her. I knew I was kidding myself. How the fuck could I stay away from perfection? She turned slightly in my arms, and I could see her lick the shot flavor off her lips and my needs went into overdrive.
Fuck.
I needed her to hate me, before I lost myself completely to her.
“Aren’t your five minutes up?” I asked into her ear.
“No,” she said defiantly, probably hurt from the reminder of my comments earlier.
Good. It was the only way I could distance myself from her. Her body moved away slightly, and I missed it instantly. I liked her ass against me.
She did another two shots with Will and then turned around, facing me as Will started to talk to a friend on his other side. My gaze made its way from her mouth down to her neck, and then her chest, where her top gaped open, giving me a glimpse of a black bra. I wanted in. I wanted a taste like never before.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket, reading something on the screen and then frowned.
Ava
It was a message from Antony.
Antony: Hey…just thought I would see how you’re doing. Hope you’re not in bed already.
Puzzled as to why he was sending this to me, I read it again. Maybe he had sent it by mistake? I would put my name on my reply just to check.
I responded: Hey, I’m good. You? Ava xx
Antony: Been thinking about you…
I looked at the screen in shock. He wasn’t, was he? No way! Surely not after Sophie. Was he going to try it with me?
Antony: Can I call you now?
I noticed Zac watching me intently, maybe curious as to who I was texting. If I told him Antony had been thinking of me, would he care?
I replied: I’m at a club
Antony: Send me a selfie
Was he for real? I laughed to myself, not believing he was doing this.
Ava: Send me one of you first
I received a photo of him with his bare chest standing in his bathroom, looking in the mirror. I laughed. He had to be kidding me, right?
Obviously fed up with standing there wondering, Zac took my phone from my hand and started to read the conversation. A muscle in his jaw began twitching.
“I can’t believe he would even try with me after being with Sophie,” I said, shaking my head.
“Smile,” he said holding the phone up to my face.
He took a photo and typed a text with it.
Ava: What exactly have you been thinking about?
I tried to grab it off him.
“Don’t send it!”
But it was too late as Zac moved it out of my grasp.
Antony replied: You. How you looked last night. Love the photo. You’re so hot. Maybe we could hang out?
Zac shook his head and typed another text back.
Ava: Send me another photo ;) and I will send an extra special one to you…maybe I’ll come over tonight
Antony: I’d like that. I didn’t know you were like this…
Ava: There is a lot you don’t know about me
“Will you stop?” I said, leaning in and reading the texts. “He’s going to think I’m gagging for it. I’ve got to see him at school tomorrow.”
Zac waited for a reply text and sipped his beer, not giving the phone to me. Will had moved off, laughing with someone else, which left the two of us alone. I looked to Zac, trying to gauge his mood. He looked mighty pissed.
“I spoke to him last night outside Noah’s party,” I said gruffly. “For like a minute, not that it matters to you.”
He was silent as he sipped his beer again, not looking at me. He didn’t get to be mad at me, because of Antony texting me. So I tried to grab my phone off him, and he kept it out of my reach. I angrily shoved him, but he didn’t move an inch.
“Give it to me.”
He had the audacity to smirk and reply, “With pleasure,” meaning something else entirely as he pushed me against the bar.
I blushed. My hands were still on his chest and anger drained away, quickly replaced with lust. My whole body soaked up his husky response and his lust-filled eyes. I wanted to tremble. My fingers twitched, wanting to move and feel his chest as I looked down between us.
“Why are you doing this?” I whispered.
“I told you to stay away from that douche,” he growled.
I watched my hands stroke down his chest over his rippled abdomen, enjoying the contours. I suddenly wanted him as much as my next breath. I focused on my fingers and then like coming out of a daze, whipped them away. I looked up at him.
“That’s your answer to everything: stay away.”
“And you’re still not fucking listening,” he uttered.
His lips were an inch away from mine. My heart raced, loving that he was up against me, and looking at me like he wanted to eat me.
My phone beeped and broke the moment as he opened the text message between us. A photo of Antony in a full-length mirror in his boxers appeared.
Zac swore and I couldn’t help but gasp in utter disbelief. Antony was completely serious.
Zac typed another text back to him.
Ava: I’m going to send one of me now. So get ready. I think I will definitely come over tonight.
Antony: Come now, I’m ready.
Zac seethed as he set my phone to take another photo. He leaned in against me suddenly, one arm around my neck and the other holding the phone out to take a photo of us together.
“What are you doing?” I asked, as he leaned in so closely that I could smell the beer on his breath.
“Showing him what he can’t have,” he said huskily. “Now smile.”
I smiled as he took the photo. I was secretly enjoying being close to him and the feel of his cheek against mine.
I looked at the photo and saw that it had Zac’s middl
e finger front and center, while we were entwined.
He typed with the photo: You’re fucked. Speak to her again like this and you will regret it, fucker. I’ll come over and show you just how much she’s not yours.
He pressed Send and then passed my phone back to me as he grabbed his beer bottle from the bar and took another sip.
“I have to see him tomorrow at school,” I muttered as I looked over the photo and his text again.
“Let me know if he says anything more,” he brooded.
I looked down at the phone, trying to figure out what point he was trying to prove. I re-read the text yet again. So I wasn’t Antony’s, but was I his? I was confused and my head hurt. I just knew he would end up making me crazy if we kept this up.
He moved away and began talking to a friend who was leaving. I stood there, not knowing what to do next. He was a walking contradiction. One minute he didn’t want me anywhere near him, and then the next minute he was warning off guys like Antony. I looked around the club to see the majority of people had now left and our group was the only one there.
