Level Up

by Hadley Quinn

  She watched long enough to get an eyeful of those amazing arms at work…

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It felt good to be on the water that day. The sun was shining bright, the breeze was light, and Ava really felt like she had a good company of friends. She was beginning to like Roger and Carrie, and even Trent didn’t seem so obnoxious anymore. And Chelsea was right, he was pretty funny.

  Ava had been boating for most of her life, so she was familiar with the ins and outs of operating a water vessel. Adam was very capable to handle some of the driving too, and that was nice. Trent seemed to lounge back and soak up the sun like a girl, but she didn’t mind because Chelsea was happy. Before they got on the boat she’d told Ava that Trent had kissed her earlier. She didn’t make a huge deal about it because everyone else was close by, but Ava could tell Chelsea was thrilled.

  Adam, on the other hand, still seemed a little reserved. Ava felt like she either had a horrible plan to get him to notice her, or he was just flat-out not interested. The truth was she actually felt like he just wanted to be friends with her. As much as that kind of hurt, she was okay with it. He was still good-looking, and she would date him in a heartbeat, but it wasn’t something she was set on pursuing any more.

  When she told Chelsea that later on, Ava felt her judging eyes as they sat on the upper deck just before they were going to start dinner that night.

  “Come on, Ava. Why would you give up so soon? And so suddenly, really. You’ve obsessed about Adam for almost a year now.”

  “And maybe I’ve just grown out of the fantasy, Chelse. Or maybe I’ve just accepted reality,” she shrugged. That seemed more likely since she really would date Adam if he ever asked her out. But maybe being at the lake house, facing her past with the resolve to make peace, had changed her outlook a little when it came to pining for Adam. She felt freer, stronger. She felt like she had the power to tackle any decision she made.

  And she’d decided that Adam Houston wasn’t meant to be.

  “Okay,” Chelsea kind of shrugged. “But there is something about Adam that you should probably know.” She said it in a way that was teasing Ava to beg for the information.

  “Fine, dish it,” she told her.

  “Okay,” she smiled, sitting forward in her seat. In a lowered voice she said, “He’s kind of reserved too when it comes to the opposite sex. And according to Trent, Adam’s last girlfriend really did a number on him. I think she broke his heart.”

  Ava took all of that information in, and really, it did seem to fit. Maybe it wasn’t that Adam was uninterested in her; it was just that he’d had a girlfriend for some of the time and then he seemed to distance himself from people in general. She didn’t know him entirely well, but she’d observed him enough. It wasn’t just Ava that he was aloof with; it was other girls as well.

  “Hmm,” was all Ava said.

  “Hmm? What does that mean exactly?”

  “It means that I’ll take it into consideration. Yeah, I can kind of see that about him.”

  “So mend his broken heart,” Chelsea grinned.

  Ava rolled her eyes. “I don’t think I’m much of a heart mender, Chelse. I can hardly reason with myself sometimes.”

  “Not true. You’re a great person to talk to, Ava. You’re very patient and understanding. And you’re objective but really compassionate about it. I honestly think you’d be good for Adam.”

  She studied Chelsea for a moment while worry set in. “Please don’t tell me you’ve talked about this with Adam—”

  “No, I swear. I’ve respected your wishes and haven’t brought it up to anyone. But I’ve just been thinking about it, you know? I was just trying to piece together all the little details.”

  Ava thought for a few seconds as she gazed at the trees surrounding them. “You know, now that I’ve been around Adam for a little bit, I don’t really feel so…uncomfortable. Trent too. I still think he’s a loud-mouthed jerk, but he’s been okay.”

  Chelsea smiled. “He told me you’re not as stuck up as he thought you were.”

  “Stuck up?”

  “Yep. I really think your shyness has been mistaken for snobbiness.”

  Ava didn’t protest at first and only offered a slight frown. But then she shrugged. “Yeah, I guess those are age old characteristics that people mix up sometimes. So he doesn’t think I’m a snob?”

  “No. He said you’re pretty nice.”

  She considered that for a minute as they took in the serenity around them. Ava figured she would appreciate anyone that allowed her a few days in a setting like this.

  But it made her think about her father and she had mixed feelings. This was a place that her dad bought sixteen years ago, proud of the idea that his family could have a vacation home. Her half brothers, Chad and Garrett, had spent some of those weeks with them when they hadn’t been with their mom. They were six and eight years older than Ava, but busy with their own lives in different states. She did keep in touch with them a little bit, but it wasn’t really the relationship she’d longed to have with siblings. When her parents divorced and her dad returned to New York full time, Ava’s once blended family became separate again.

  Instead, she had Chelsea. She’d appointed her as a sister when they were sixteen years old and spent a night stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. When you’re scared shitless, you confess a lot of things to a person you feel you might die with. They’d shared a lot of secrets that night, and swore that they’d always protect those secrets.

  The growl of a heavy-duty truck seemed to spoil the peaceful surroundings and it almost sounded like it was right in the driveway. Ava got up when she and Chelsea heard voices.

  “Oh my God,” Chelsea groaned. Looking down from the deck they saw Brock Garrison and another one of his annoying friends, Kevin Morris. Along with them was Silvia Bennett, Brock’s girlfriend and someone Ava could not stand.

  “Why are they here?” she asked no one in particular. They watched as Trent appeared from the house and high fives and bro hugs ensued.

  “No he didn’t,” Chelsea growled.

  “He invited friends?” Ava squeaked.

  “I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about it.”

  She entered the house but all Ava could do was shake her head in disbelief. She turned to follow Chelsea inside, but something else caught her eye.

  Gabe.

  He was standing on the side of the cabin, one arm leaning against the edge of the house as he studied who had pulled in. He was shirtless and sweaty with his t-shirt hanging out of the back of his pants. Ava was glad he didn’t see her staring because he’d also notice her drooling over the edge of the deck.

  But he turned, an axe in hand, and glanced up at her. He paused for a second and then returned to the back of the cabin where he’d very obviously been chopping more firewood.

  “Kill me now,” she groaned to herself.

  It just so happened that Brock was only there for the evening, and Chelsea swore to Ava that they’d be leaving after a while. Something about that didn’t settle, especially when she saw them haul in two cases of beer from his truck.

  They better not fuck up my vacation.

  Dinner was good, though. Adam and Trent barbecued burgers and at least Silvia was considerate enough to bring some deli salads. Ava told herself she’d do her best to be nice to her just for that little bit of effort. However, potluck considerate or not, she still seemed to be the same spoiled brat as always. Ava would forever remember her as the girl that pointed out to everyone in the sixth grade that she did not wear a bra yet.

  “You have a decent place here, Ava,” Silvia later told her. “It still surprises me that you come from money.”

  Ava’s first instinct was to break her nose. That had always been Silvia’s way of trying to insult her over the years. Their parents ran in the same circle, and even though they’d been paraded in the same spotlight on more than one occasion, Silvia relished the fact that she’d been
the belle of the ball more than Ava had. Silvia was definitely more gifted than her when it came to beauty assets, kind of like Chelsea. But girls like her never took into account that Ava chose to stay away from those kinds of functions.

  But Chelsea had no intent to ignore her. “You’re still such a bitch,” she told Silvia quietly. Her big smile almost made Ava laugh—the classic call-you-on-your-shit-while-we-make-everyone-think-we-get-along kind of moment.

  “Likewise,” Silvia glared at her, still with her own fake smile.

  “I can’t believe you have the nerve to show up here,” Chelsea added. “To Ava’s vacation home? And to sit here and try your luck at insulting her in her own place? You’re a piece of work.”

  “And you’re a piece of white trash. If—”

  “Who wants dessert?” Trent’s loud mouth interrupted. He’d been humoring himself with a can of Redi-Whip, making everyone else laugh. Now he had two white blobs of cream on his bare chest, covering his nipples.

  Chelsea rolled her eyes, but Ava kind of laughed.

  “Ava?” he asked, hearing her reaction. “Are you volunteering?”

  Normally she would have scoffed in total protest, but something drove her to go with the unexpected and she made her way to him. She knew Chelsea wouldn’t be offended in the least bit, so she just went with it. “Are you begging?” Ava asked him.

  His eyes were huge, but then he smiled. She could feel the other eyes on her as well but she didn’t care. Silvia Bennett pissed her off and she somehow saw this as a way to tell her to fuck off. Ava was feeling courageous.

  “Hell, yeah,” Trent laughed. But he obviously doubted her resolve and Ava could tell. So before anything else was said, she bent slightly and licked the whipped cream off both sides. It was not sexual in the least bit to her, but she knew he was holding his breath.

  She stood upright and said, “Nah, I’d rather have it on a piece of pie.”

  That made everyone laugh but Trent said, “Maybe so, but I might have a raging boner right now.”

  His hand covered his crotch to be dramatic and Ava shook her head and laughed.

  ***

  Ava was more than happy to clean up after dinner that night, thankful she didn’t have to be around Silvia. Carrie helped while everyone else headed downstairs to hang out in the rec room and she picked that up right away.

  “You two seem to have a history,” she stated as they both washed and dried the larger pots and pans.

  “It’s kind of obvious, huh? Yeah, she and I don’t get along well.”

  “She’s a spoiled princess, I can tell.”

  “Well, we both kind of grew up the same way. However, I don’t enjoy the idea of treating every female like the enemy. I don’t have time for that kind of stuff.”

  “I can tell she’s the Amanda Wainright of my school days,” Carrie smiled.

  “Ooh, do tell,” Ava grinned.

  Carrie told stories of her high school days and her diva archenemy sounded much like Ava’s.

  “I don’t understand what’s so appealing about treating people so horribly,” Ava said. “I mean if—”

  A loud crash from downstairs stopped her, and even though voices had been loud now and then, Ava could tell this kind of yelling was something different.

  “Oh no,” she groaned when she could tell there was a full-blown fight going on downstairs.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  She wasn’t sure what she expected to find when she ran downstairs, but certainly not Brock and Adam going at each other. Roger and Trent were trying to pull them apart and Kevin looked like a scared puppy unsure of what to do. She also noticed that Trent’s lip was bleeding, and she wondered if the fight had started with him first.

  “Hey, knock it off!” she yelled. The foosball table was turned on its side and there was glass on the floor where a lamp had broken by the couch.

  The fight continued, with Brock throwing punches at both Adam and Trent. Ava didn’t even know what to do to make it all stop. It seemed like it was totally out of control.

  The entertainment system took two bodies to it and she stood horrified as she watched it wobble and then tip forward. Roger had made an attempt to stop it but it was too late when the shelves came down, movies and games crashing everywhere. The game systems and DVD player were on the lower shelves, but they all hit the floor as well. The cables attached to the big screen TV jerked it forward a bit, but thankfully it stayed upright on its separate stand.

  Ava was stunned after that. She didn’t know what to do because while that was happening, Brock had plowed Trent into the couch and it flipped over. Adam was trying to pull Brock off of Trent but it was to no avail. He ended up being kicked from the ground, causing him to fall back against the pool table. By then Brock was giving some serious punches and it horrified the hell out of her. She knew he’d had a lot to drink, but damn… He was in a drunken rage.

  She wanted to cry at that moment because of how helpless she felt, but a body strode through the open sliding glass door and with one movement, Gabe plucked Brock off of Trent and tossed him out onto the deck on his face. Brock wasn’t a small guy, but he looked like he weighed nothing to Gabe.

  Brock was already scrambling to his feet, ready to keep fighting. Nobody knew if he was coming after Trent again or now Gabe, but he lunged forward to re-enter the house and Gabe shoved him back onto his ass.

  “Stay the fuck outside,” Gabe growled at him.

  Brock was pissed and he stood again, but he didn’t make an attempt to continue on. “Who the hell are you?” he sneered, wiping the blood from his nose with a half effort swipe of his hand.

  “The guy you don’t want to piss off,” Gabe told him. He turned his back to Brock and stepped into the rec room, looking around. No one seemed to move for several seconds as everyone stared at him. Finally he asked, “Anyone else need handled?”

  He asked Ava directly and all she could do was shake her head. But she had no idea what had even happened, and she looked to Trent and Adam for an explanation. Chelsea was still stunned, and Silvia was petrified as she cowered behind the air hockey table.

  “What the hell happened?” Gabe asked, now looking at Trent.

  Trent was either really dazed from the fight, or he was drunk as well because he didn’t—or couldn’t—answer right away.

  “Too much alcohol and testosterone in one room,” Adam finally said.

  Ava figured Gabe would demand a better explanation than that, but he seemed to accept it and turned to leave. “I suggest you send trouble back to where it came from,” he warned them. “If you need a hand with it, let me know.”

  And with that, he exited out the sliding door, saying something briefly to Brock who still stood there working his jaw. Ava saw the angry scowl on his face from whatever Gabe said to him and it worried her. She really didn’t want any more trouble.

  Ava didn’t speak at all and went straight for the broken lamp. She grabbed a broom and dustpan from the storage closet and began sweeping up the pieces.

  “We’ll clean everything up,” Adam told her as he put his hand on her arm to prevent her from continuing. She could tell he felt awful, just from the look on his face.

  “It’s fine,” she mumbled, and she resumed what she was doing.

  He sighed, but she wouldn’t make eye contact. Adam and Trent picked up the foosball table while Roger and Chelsea set the couch upright. Silvia was still hiding in the corner and Kevin slipped out the door to talk to Brock. Eventually Silvia joined them, and when they left for the night ten minutes later, Ava prayed that the girl at least had the sense to drive them home.

  Ava didn’t bother worrying about the entertainment system. If something was broken it was broken. She didn’t care.

  Chelsea came upstairs with her, knowing how upset she was. “I don’t know what happened,” she said as Ava continued to wipe down the kitchen counters. “They were just kind of playing pool, betting friendly wagers. Brock was already a little tipsy, but then h
e started saying some crass things here and there and finally Trent told him to knock it off. It just…escalated. I’m so sorry, Ava. If anything needs replaced—”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure my dad will be pissed, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”

  Chelsea watched Ava rinse out the dishrag and hang it on the faucet. “Adam defended you,” she said with a tiny smile.

  “Defended me,” she scoffed. “What do you mean?” Then she recalled her mention of Brock being crass and she froze. “Brock had the audacity to say something about me?” she narrowed my eyes.

  “Yeah, pretty much. I think your little whipped cream incident got into his pants, if you know what I mean.”

  Ava almost dry heaved.

  “He said something to Trent about you and me and a threesome.”

  “Let me throw up really quick.”

  “I know,” she chuckled. “Sorry, Ava. I know it’s not funny, but Trent and Adam were pretty chivalrous. I was impressed.”

  Ava scoffed but didn’t say anything. She appreciated the thought but was still upset with the outcome of it.

  Chelsea joined Ava up on her deck for a little bit before she went back downstairs. It was only ten o’clock by then, and by definition, way too early to shut down the party house for the night. They were all pretty quiet though and just watched a movie. Thankfully the entertainment system survived the crash and no electronics were broken.

  Ava was still rattled by it all. Having Brock and Silvia show up like that, and then to destroy someone’s home in the way they did, really bothered her. She wanted to jump in the lake. Literally.

  She put on a bathing suit and grabbed a towel. Her deck didn’t have stairs so she went to the main level and stepped out the front door. She did this so she didn’t have to pass by everyone in the basement by going down the stairs on the deck.