Embracing Trouble (Trouble Series)

by Bridle, Dee

  I still hadn’t taken a breath and suddenly gasped for air.

  I watched Zac lean over and grab Antony around the collar. He yanked him up, like he weighed nothing.

  “Don’t ever fucking touch her,” he snarled. “Don’t even breathe on her. You understand me, you fucking piece of shit.”

  “Fuck you,” spat Antony as blood ran from his nose.

  “No, fuck you,” said Zac, punching him with such force that he fell back and was knocked out.

  Janey grabbed my arm, and instructed, “Come on, let’s go inside.”

  One of the other guys got back up again and lunged for Zac, but he was too quick and punched him in the jaw. The guy groaned and fell to his knees as Zac grabbed him by his T-shirt.

  “You will never speak or look at her again. Tell your fucking friends. I will kill the next one who does,” he said, shoving him down onto the grass.

  I felt Janey pulling me away and I looked back at Zac, not wanting to leave him. I was near Noah’s steps before I stopped and looked over my shoulder. He was behind me, and I suddenly whimpered and fell into him.

  His arms went around me and I hid my face in his chest, realizing that I was crying. His chest was warm, and I could hear his fast heartbeat. He held me tight, and I closed my eyes as he stroked my back. His hand moved up to my hair and then rested on the back of my neck.

  “I just wanted to hurt him,” I mumbled into his chest.

  “Just warn me when you’re going to start throwing punches next time,” he murmured, kissing the top of my head.

  I smiled a little and realized that the safest place in my world right now was in his arms. I nestled into him, and my hands touched his stomach as his fingers softly caressed my neck.

  I wanted to close my eyes and be soothed like that forever. It was the only thing I wanted, and the only thing I needed. It was so powerful that my heart ached.

  I moved my head and looked up at him slowly, silently thanking Janey for her waterproof mascara and fake eyelashes. He leaned down and kissed me with lips that were soft and teasing at first, tasting me. He cupped my cheek, pulling me to him and my body instinctively moved closer against him.

  My lips parted eagerly as he slid his tongue against mine and then he took the kiss deeper. With our mouths fused, he leaned me against the car behind me, as my hand travelled up his defined abs and over his chest.

  I felt on fire as one of his hands caressed down to my waist and then hip, pulling me to him. His mouth devoured mine and I became lost in the delight of its warmth. Nothing would ever be the same after his kisses. He only made me want him more. I felt short of breath and alive. My senses were on overload as he continued to kiss me.

  Then he paused. He stopped kissing me but kept me against him as if he didn’t really want to pull away.

  “This is why you needed to stay away from me. None of this would have happened if you hadn’t been with me,” he whispered.

  Emotion and anger whirled up inside me. I knew he was pulling away from me again. I wanted to shout at him and tell him that I didn’t care about any of it. I just wanted to be in his arms. I wanted him to protect me. I wanted to feel cherished.

  But I said nothing. I just shook my head and then shoved him off me, furious at the extremes he was taking me.

  “Ava,” he said.

  “Don’t,” I snapped, walking away.

  * * *

  I was in the same foul mood when I arrived at school the next morning. I ignored the snickering and whispering around me and tried to ignore the word BITCH that had been scrawled across my locker in red permanent marker. I was sure it was Sophie’s handwriting, but what else could I do, other than to pretend it didn’t affect me. I saw Sophie in the hallway before lunch, and she quickly changed her direction and walked away.

  I headed into the cafeteria and it seemed that they were all watching me. I focused on Janey’s words from last night and raised my chin. I couldn’t show any weakness. I ordered my sushi lunch, and as I waited to pay at the register, I glanced over at Antony’s table. He quickly looked down at his tray of food.

  He had a bandage over his nose and two black eyes. I felt empowered enough to stare a bit longer. Zac had done some damage to his pretty face last night. The other two from last night were deliberately not looking over either, and I realized that Zac’s threats had worked.

  I paid for my lunch and then took it outside, not wanting to sit with anyone in there. I forced myself to take a bite even though I didn’t really feel hungry. My phone vibrated. Janey.

  Janey: All good?

  I replied back: Just as I expected

  Janey: Be ready at 5pm. I’m coming to pick you up. Wear something comfortable.

  Ava: Where are we going?

  Janey: Self-Defense class xxx

  * * *

  Later that night, after our class together, we grabbed some dinner and ate it in the car.

  “Thanks for organizing that,” I said happily. “I feel better even though it’s my first session.”

  She put a chip to her mouth and laughed.

  “You’ll soon be kicking ass wherever you go.”

  I laughed and sipped my coke.

  “But I didn’t organize it. My darling brother did,” she stated.

  “Oh,” I said putting my coke back down in the cup holder.

  She laughed.

  “You’ve got it bad for him.”

  “No, I haven’t,” I lied.

  “You sooo have,” she said shaking her head and laughing.

  I shook my head.

  “He keeps pushing me away.”

  “By organizing self-defense classes,” she returned with a twinkle in her eyes.

  “He’s protecting me, but he wants me to stay away from him,” I said in annoyance.

  “He probably doesn’t want to corrupt you.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “I know I’m…inexperienced with some things, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

  Janey’s eyes narrowed.

  “How inexperienced?”

  I took a bite of my burger.

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “Look at it this way. There are girls every single night, waiting for their turn with the Zac man. He uses and moves on. No care, no responsibility.”

  “I don’t want to be his responsibility,” I said annoyed. “I just want him…to want me, like all of his other girls.”

  “You will expect more than he’s prepared to give.”

  “Maybe I won’t expect more. Maybe I want to just have some fun like everyone else seems to be doing.”

  “Then have fun with someone else.”

  I pouted and said, “I don’t want anyone else.”

  Janey sipped her coke.

  “Zac only looks after himself, me, and his two best friends. That’s it. He doesn’t give a shit about anyone else. And now you’ve come along and changed the order of things,” she said. “And we’re all interested to see what happens next.”

  “I’m glad I’m so entertaining,” I mumbled.

  Janey laughed.

  “Enjoy what he’s doing for you, Ava, because I promise that out of all the girls he’s been with, not a single one has had a level of care that he seems to have for you.”

  * * *

  The next day at school passed painfully, with the usual whispers and furtive glances. A rubber was thrown at the back of my head in math class, which resulted in an irritating burst of giggles.

  My books were accidently shoved off my desk in English. I pretended not to care and went about my business. I tried to concentrate on my studies, even though Zac was never far from my mind.

  That night, after hours of studying, I went on Facebook and saw a photo in my newsfeed of Noah and Zac with a girl. She had tagged them both at a club, and she was standing in between them. It was obvious she was intimate with Zac as she posed with her tongue basically in his mouth. I leaned back in my chair and let out a frustrated sigh. I knew I shouldn�
��t be wasting my time thinking about him because clearly, he wasn’t thinking about me.

  I heard a knock on my bedroom door, and I looked over to see my father step in. The night was getting even better.

  “Studying?” he asked sitting on the edge of my bed.

  “Yeah,” I said not even bothering to close Facebook on my screen.

  Zac looked back at me, taunting me.

  “I’m worried that things aren’t okay with us,” he said next with a frown.

  “They haven’t been for five years,” I mumbled, not looking at him.

  “She left us, Ava. I wish you’d remember that.”

  I didn’t answer.

  “I want Sarah to be part of this family, Ava,” he said next.

  “Mission accomplished. She already moved in.”

  “I need you to accept her.”

  “Do we have to talk about this now?”

  “It’s obviously a problem, and yes we do. You’re acting out with your black hair and not coming home to all hours of the morning.”

  “Oh, my god, Are you serious? I’m ‘acting out’ because I’m being my age for once.” I stated angrily. “Friends have been doing this for years. All I’ve ever done is work. I need to do these things and have some fun.”

  He nodded, and replied, “Fair enough. But I need you to be responsible.”

  “Really? We’re having this conversation now?” I asked in exasperation.

  I knew he had more to say, but I was too annoyed to listen to him.

  “Just be safe,” he said standing up.

  “Yep,” I said turning back to my screen.

  As he closed the door behind him, I looked once more at Zac and then closed Facebook. Life was just great.

  Zac

  I sat with my laptop, engrossed in the operating system I was hacking into for a new commission. Corporations paid a lot of money for hackers to infiltrate their systems to construct better security measures and I had come back early from a gig tonight to start the job. Noah had also come back early and I was now trying to unsuccessfully block the sounds of him enjoying himself with a girl in his room next door. I scowled as my phone vibrated in my pocket. Janey.

  “What?”

  “Having fun, douche?” she asked.

  “What do you want, Janey?”

  “What’s with the photo on Facebook? Trying your hardest to make sure she stays away?”

  “Butt out and worry about yourself.”

  “Quit being a dumb-ass, and I will.”

  “We’re not together, and she’s not my girlfriend, so stop acting like she is.”

  “Fine,” she replied. “Then quit her completely, so I can take her out and she can move on.”

  “Maybe you need to stay away, too.”

  “Ah…no, I really like her, and I’m not too shit-scared to admit it. She and I are going to be great friends.”

  “Whatever,” I said ending the call.

  I looked at the screen angrily in front of me and then called her back.

  “If you take her out, you need to look out for her.”

  “Oh, Zac, stop it. You’re sounding like a boyfriend all of a sudden,” she returned, ending the call on me.

  Ava

  On Thursday night, Janey invited me out with her to a club, and I was happy for the distraction. Between studying, my home life, my friendless school situation, and Zac, I felt a little beaten.

  She told me it was an alternative club and she was wearing her Converse, so I wore my own with a short, black, denim skirt and a black tank top that had a small frill around the low neck.

  I liked the club instantly when I walked in and heard the heavier music and observed the alternative crowd. There were three levels to the club with the ground floor being mainstream heavy music, the second being hard core techno, and the top floor being a chill-out zone. We had a few drinks at the ground floor and then headed up the stairs to the second level. The heavy beat thudded through my body, and I went straight to the dance area to jump around and enjoy myself.

  It wasn’t long before Janey was taking me up to the next level, which had an outdoor section for smokers. She lit up a joint and I watched the smoke slowly leave her mouth. She then offered it to me with a raised eyebrow. I took it from her, quietly anticipating a night of being a bad girl.

  “Janey,” said a guy appearing to our side and leaning over to kiss her on the cheek as his greeting.

  “Hey, Paul,” she smiled. “This is Ava.”

  “Hi,” I said giving him a brief smile as I held onto the joint.

  “Are you going to smoke that or let it burn?” he asked in amusement.

  I put the joint to my lips and took a small drag as he watched me. It burned my throat and tasted terrible. I blew out the smoke with distaste.

  He quietly laughed at me, shaking his head, saying, “That good, huh?”

  So I took another drag, a bigger one this time. I let the smoke slowly come out. It still tasted horrible.

  He leaned in and took the joint from my fingers. He took a deep drag while not taking his eyes off me. I looked at him and felt a little numb as my lips tingled.

  “Very nice,” he said to Janey as he passed the joint back to her. “And the weed’s pretty good, too.”

  Janey laughed and took another drag, winking at me cheekily.

  Zac

  I walked into the club, following the guys in and scanned for Janey and Ava. I then went straight to the bar with Noah and ordered a round.

  Will shook hands with one of the security guards and talked to him. He was soon joining us at the bar.

  “They went upstairs about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Let’s go,” said Noah taking his drink with him.

  We reached the second level, greeted friends, and looked around. Soon, we were heading up to the next level.

  I saw her instantly, giggling with Janey. Her long legs were bare and she was wearing her Converse sneakers. Her tight tank top offered a view of her impressive cleavage and her perfectly-sized breasts. I watched her as she leaned against a guy who seemed to be laughing and touching her. Was she high? Jealousy burned my gut and I strode over, not even thinking how I was meant to be staying away.

  I saw her sway as she laughed at something and tried to keep her balance. I came up behind her and slid my arms around her waist, holding her against me. She giggled in delight and leaned back into me with her head on my shoulder.

  “Hey,” she said happily.

  “Hey,” I murmured into her ear.

  I noticed the guy take a small step back, and as I glared at him, he took another step back.

  “He’s been making me laugh,” she said softly.

  I leaned down and nuzzled the side of her neck.

  “I’m sure he has.”

  I felt her gasp as I bit her neck softly and then licked at it. Her hand shot up and felt its way up behind my neck. Her bottom began to slowly grind against me. She was fucking turned on, and if she kept doing that to me, I would explode. My hand caressed her waist and then it gently stroked her stomach, making its way to just under her breast. I wanted to reach higher.

  “So, this is a good surprise,” said Janey as she kissed Will and passed him the joint.

  Conversation continued around us as I held her in my arms. She leaned back further into me.

  “You have to stop that,” she whispered.

  “Why?” I breathed into her ear.

  My senses were reeling with excitement from her writhing in my arms.

  “You’re making me crazy,” she said and giggled softly.

  “Do you feel what you’re doing to me?” I whispered into her ear.

  She giggled more.

  “Yes,” she said wriggling her bottom against me for effect.

  “Stop,” I said biting her ear with an amused grin. “How much of that joint have you had?”

  “Enough,” she breathed. “But I can’t feel my feet.”

  I chuckled as she turned around
in my arms. Then she looked up at me with her big beautiful eyes. She was going to end me. Her hands went under my T-shirt, feeling my stomach. She suddenly smiled mischievously and moistened her lips.

  I didn’t wait any longer to claim her lips. My hand grabbed the back of her head. I held her firmly in place and kissed her. Her tongue caressed mine as her hand stroked my back, her nails dragging against my skin. I wouldn’t last if she kept that up.

  “Demented looks like he’s having fun.”

  I pulled back slightly. Ava softly moaned in protest as I stopped. My brain registered the voice. Max. Fuck. He was the last person I wanted to see right now, especially with Ava here.

  I turned and saw him with a smug look on his face, a girl on both sides of him.

  “Hey, man,” I greeted him.

  I looked to Janey meaningfully. I needed Ava away from here.

  Janey went straight to Ava with a smile.

  “Let’s go and dance,” she said pulling her out of my arms and leading her away.

  “Who’s the girl?” asked Max.

  He sipped his beer as he sat down on a recently vacated lounge area. He put his arms around the two girls as I sat down across from them.

  I lit up a cigarette and exhaled.

  “Just a girl.”

  I didn’t even want Max’s eyes on her, let alone give him her name. Max always looked out for himself first and foremost. He also always enjoyed some healthy competition with me. I didn’t want him sniffing anywhere around Ava.

  “She’s fucking hot,” Max said, looking for my reaction.

  I tempered the instant anger that surged up within me.

  “Looks like you have your hands full as it is.”

  The two girls giggled and one used that opportunity to move over to me and rest her hand on my thigh. A few weeks ago, I would have had my way with her, but all I could think about was sexy Ava.

  “What’s one more?” sneered Max.

  I smirked and took a deep drag of my cigarette, hoping to fuck that he would leave soon. We were only friends from Juvie and Max was a bottom feeder. I needed him to forget Ava even existed.