The Enemy Series

by M. E. Clayton

  I’ve slept with a lot of guys in my life, but the sex was always the same, for the most part. It was urgent, teenage coupling. I very seldom engaged in foreplay because I didn’t want to be doted on. I wanted to be fucked. I knew guys used me for sex and I was okay with that. What I wasn’t okay with was when they tried to confuse what we were doing with tender caresses or sweet kisses. And if a guy wanted to get his dick sucked, well, there were plenty of girls walking up and down Windsor’s hallways that were superstars at that shit. My kink was sex. I didn’t mind blowing a guy, but I preferred sex; and the dirtier the better.

  I needed to enjoy the distance just fucking provided, because if I couldn’t embrace the safety of calling the shots in bed, I’d put a bullet through my head to erase the paralyzing fear of knowing that, at any given moment, I’d could be at the mercy of someone else.

  Rape can’t exist if you’re giving it away.

  No guy will ever force me again because no guy would ever feel like he needed to. I will always open wide for any guy who wants it.

  Any guy except Ace McIntire, that is.

  My problem with Ace was just like I said; he’s a choice that wasn’t mine. He was forced upon me by Elise and Greg and I didn’t like it. And with every push back we engaged in, it reminded me that he wasn’t my choice. I had a virtual stranger living with me and there was nothing I could do about it. Ace had absolutely no respect for his father, so there was no reason to suspect he’d have any respect for me. And, aside from Delaney, I had no real friends. I had no one to rescue me if Ace became too much.

  After getting ready earlier, dressed in a black barely-there tank top that hung loosely under my breast and a red skirt that flared out around my hips, I had yelled out that I was leaving, not caring if Ace could hear me or not. He met me at the front door and, for a quick second, I wished I had met him under different circumstances.

  Ace McIntire looked delicious in his dark blue Quicksilver shirt, black jeans, and Timberlands.

  He hadn’t bother to pretend as if he hadn’t been taking inventory of my appearance, but I had just rolled my eyes and walked out the door, leaving him to follow. I knew I what I looked like. I looked like a girl set out to get in trouble. My clothes were scraps, really. I had five-inch black heels, and my face was made up like a call girl’s. My blonde hair was straight down my back, my black eyeliner winged, and my lips blood red.

  The entire ride to the party was made in silence and it had been sheer pride that had kept me from engaging in conversation with the asshole. A curious part of me wanted to see his first reaction to a Sands Cove party, though.

  Our parties were usually the same, old shit, but our standard parties were gold standard in comparison to teenage parties everywhere else. Whoever’s house it was at was big enough to accommodate damn near the entire school. There was unlimited booze and almost every drug you could think of. There wasn’t a shortage of coke, ecstasy, crack, and even heroin. Fights were known to break out, and they didn’t come to a stop until the best man was left standing. And sex was on tap everywhere; bedrooms and privacy was optional.

  I pulled up to Christof’s and his house was just as ostentatious as the rest of the town’s, except for our towers. We were the only fools in town who had towers. I quickly found a parking space and slid my Audi in its spot. Getting out, I watched Ace scan the front yard, as there were already drunken and drugged out teenagers everywhere. There was even a lucky guy leaning up against a white SUV getting his dick sucked from a girl whose top was off. I couldn’t help but smirk.

  Ace fell in step with me as I walked down the walkway, up the porch steps, and into the house. The second we cleared the doorway, I glanced up at Ace because I didn’t want to miss a thing. The inside of the house was outside times ten with music. I also knew heads were going to turn because, not only was Ace hot as sin, I’ve never arrived at a party with a guy before. I always arrived alone so I could vet my options and not be committed if my date turned out to be a tool.

  “So, are you still worried about finding easy pussy?” I smirked. Ace looked down at me, and my cocky grin almost faltered at the sheer force of his gaze.

  He looked hungry.

  He looked hungry and, suddenly, I felt complete disgust at the fact that jealousy sneaked through my veins at the real thought of him picking up some random chic and taking her home.

  Why in the fuck was I jealous?

  I’ve never experienced that emotion when it came to any guy in my life. But I knew what the feeling was, and I wasn’t going to pretend I didn’t. However, I knew just what I needed to make it go away.

  I twiddled my fingers at him with a smug smile on my face. “Good luck hunting, Ace. Don’t worry about me.” And because I was still feeling pissed and bitchy about feeling anything towards Ace, I stuffed my car keys in his front pocket and said, “You’ll probably need those before I will. I don’t want to leave you stranded when I find my…uh, distraction for the night.”

  His hand wrapped around my wrist and he squeezed hard enough to leave a mark. His golden eyes looked like molten crystals. “Don’t do it, Ava,” he warned.

  Ace’s words were like a catalyst of unwelcomed and unbridled emotions that I wasn’t equipped to deal with. With the exception of my love for Delaney, my hate for my mother, and my desire for the male penis, I didn’t do emotions. I had harbored so much hurt and hate for so many years, they didn’t make room for any other emotions. Hell, the recent guilt I felt for sleeping with Liam and Ramsey was a result of my love for Delaney and wanting her to be happy with her new friends. If Delaney had never started dating Deke, I wouldn’t have given Liam or Ramsey another thought.

  But, in the span of two days, I have felt irritation, attraction, shame, hate, anger, lust, jealousy, and now lust again with Ace McIntire, and I didn’t like it one goddamn bit.

  I snatched my arm away. “Don’t do what?” I asked, making my voice sound as bratty as possible.

  “Don’t make me fuck a motherfucker up, Ava,” he replied, his voice like icicles.

  I could feel my eyes widen, and my core clench at the pure fury in his words. The entire ride here, he appeared unaffected, but apparently, he hadn’t been. “I don’t answer to you, Ace,” I reminded him.

  Whatever he was about to say was cut off by a screech from a girl from school. “Ava!”

  We both turned to face Amanda Gains as she sauntered towards us. “Hey, Amanda,” I replied, hoping she’d go away. I wasn’t morally better than anyone here, but I didn’t pretend to be, and that was the issue I had with Amanda Gains. She bent over for randoms just like the majority of us did, but she liked to pretend she didn’t.

  She started eyeing Ace like he was going to be her new favorite snack. “And who do we have here, Ava?” Suddenly, it was like Wild Kingdom. “I mean, everyone knows you never attend a party with a date because you like to keep your options open.”

  My first instinct was to pop her in the mouth, but she wasn’t lying or spreading rumors about me. What she said was the absolute truth. Amanda was just making sure Ace knew it. Those feelings of jealousy resurfaced, and I knew what I had to do.

  I had to take control of the situation.

  So, instead of waiting for Ace and Amanda to hook up, I made the decision to give him to her. Because the healthy thing is to pretend I’m okay with unidentifiable feelings or ignore them, right? By making the decision to hand Ace over to her, I can pretend I don’t feel jealous, because I. Do. Not. Want. To. Feel. Jealous.

  “This is Ace,” I answered, waving my hand between them both. “Ace, this is Amanda Gains. Amanda, this is Ace McIntire.”

  Instead of shaking his hand, she leaned into him and placed her hand on his chest, and cut straight to the chase. “So, do you have a girlfriend, Ace McIntire?”

  I didn’t let him answer, when in truth, I had no idea if he had a girlfriend or not, and that curbed some of the jealousy, because I didn’t do guys who were taken. Ever. “He’s free as a bird, Amanda
.” I slapped Ace on his back, not knowing if I was lying or not. “Have fun, Ace,” I quipped and walked off.

  I headed towards the kitchen without a backward glance and went straight for the liquor bottles. I was going to need the hard shit if I was going to get through this night, because I was on a mission. Well, two, actually.

  The first, to show Ace McIntire just what he would be dealing with if he didn’t back off.

  The second, to prove Ace McIntire didn’t have as much of an effect on me as I knew he did.

  Game on, bitches.

  Chapter 8

  Ace~

  Toto, I’m pretty fucking sure we’re not in Kansas anymore.

  I’ve been to parties before where people acted without a care in the world, but this was something entirely different. Contrary to what people believed, poor and middle-class teenage parties weren’t brimming with sex, drugs, and alcohol. There was some sex, some drugs, and some alcohol, but usually just enough that we could hide in case the party got busted up by the cops. We always tried to skate the line between misdemeanors and felonies.

  But this?

  This was a true picture of people who did not give a fuck, and the entire vibe screamed money. These kids weren’t hiding a goddamn thing, and that was because they knew their parents could buy them out of any trouble. Well, that’s if the cops even bothered. Hell, were there even cops in this town?

  When Ava and I had gotten out of the car, the front yard was already crowded with wasted guys and girls. Some dude-bless his heart-was even getting blown by a car in front of everyone.

  Walking into the house had been another eye opener, never mind that the house was huge, fitting damn near the entire town, but it was like a scene from a goddamn mob movie. There were drugs in plain site on the coffee tables, and almost everyone had a drink in their hands. And, if I thought the blowjob outside was risqué, that was nothing compared to the four couples I notice, right off the bat, half naked and a couple of them fucking on the furniture.

  It was like Sodom and Gomorrah up in this motherfucker.

  Taking in the wildness of the place, I knew without a doubt that Ava was wilder than I had predicted, and I had to revisit my original opinion of the people of Sands Cove; only kids with no fear of repercussions would party this hard. And that meant Ava’s attitude wasn’t for show. She wasn’t being a rebellious teenage when she had gotten in her mother’s face. Ava’s personality was loud and unflappable because she could literally do whatever the fuck she wanted with no consequences.

  I hadn’t meant to grab her arm and threaten her to act right, but the kind of freedom this place allowed had my back up. I was attracted to Ava and, God knows, I wanted to shut that smart mouth up with my dick, but it was more than that. There was something more to Ava, and I wanted to learn whatever it was that made her as brazen as she was.

  I also wanted to control it.

  I wanted to control her.

  I wanted to control her, and it had nothing to do with the hate I felt for my father, or because I was an asshole. I’ve been with enough girls to know that Ava’s hold on my attention was something worth exploring. At first, I had wanted to just fuck her because I wanted to see that body of hers naked more than I wanted to take my next breath. But with each encounter, it started turning into something more.

  So, when she pawned Amanda off on me, my irritation levels skyrocketed because I knew she had done it so I would stay out of her hair. Ava wanted to enjoy the party without me, and that just wasn’t going to happen.

  “So, no girlfriend, huh?” Amanda commented as Ava walked away.

  I looked down at the girl, and there was no denying she was a hot, little number. Hell, taking a look around, all the girls seemed Grade-A from what I could see. “No,” I verified, but not for her. I wanted it known to Ava that I didn’t have a girlfriend, so I wasn’t going to invent one just to get this girl away from me. Besides, I didn’t lie; I saw no point in it.

  And then I got Mean Girls in technicolor. “Well, hopefully, you didn’t arrive with Ava hoping she’ll be your girlfriend,” Amanda smirked. “There’s no way that girl will ever be anyone’s girlfriend.” She lifted a dainty shoulder. “Besides, what guy in his right mind would want to date her? Even if she wasn’t a super slut, that girl’s attitude leaves a lot to be desired. Well, of course, unless you’re Delaney.”

  And all because I had to make sure Delaney was a girl, “Who’s Delaney?”

  Amanda’s big blue eyes rolled with attitude. “Her best friend,” she answered. “Ava and Delaney used to be stuck together like glue, but then Delaney started dating Deke Marlow, and now Ava’s extra time is being spent sucking more cock than usual.” Amanda laughed, and I wanted to ask her if she was stupid. She didn’t know me. For all she knew I could be Ava’s cousin or something, but here she was, talking all kinds of shit as if I was just going to jump right on in. Or allow it.

  I looked down at the hateful girl and said, “Well, my dick’s the only one she’ll be sucking from now on, so…” I walked away from the jealous girl without a second thought.

  I’m not too proud to admit I went in search of Ava, and it wasn’t because I was intimidated to be here alone. I had no problem making new friends or shooting the shit with strangers. And, if I’m being completely honest, any other time, I would have stopped to enjoy the drinks, party favors, and the half-naked girls lining these rooms, but not tonight. There was only one drink, one party favor, and one naked girl I wanted to get lost in, and all three were Ava.

  I wasn’t stupid. I knew she was on a special kind of mission when I saw her standing at the front door back at the house. She was dressed in scraps that could barely be called clothing; a black tank top, a red skirt, and black fuck-me heels. Her hair flowed down her back and her makeup looked like it had been done by a professional. It had taken everything I had to let her walk out the door and not drag her upstairs and fuck her until one of us killed the other. But this was a classic battle of the wills, and I needed to study my enemy, so I knew the best way to attack.

  What I hadn’t counted on was the deep, burning, sensation of jealousy and fury swirling around together to form a lethal emotion I couldn’t name, when I finally found her.

  There were like three different sitting rooms in this goddamn house, and when I walked into the third one, I saw Ava sitting on some guy’s lap, with his hand on her bare thigh, swinging her head back from just snorting a line of something. I watched as she brushed the tip of her nose off, laughing down at the asshole who she was sitting on.

  You hear stories all the time told by men who claim that, when you meet The One, you know it. She’ll evoke emotions in you that you never knew you had. She’ll call to every part of you that makes you a man. There’s no rhyme or reason why it ends up being that particular girl, but it just is.

  I knew I was attracted to Ava. I knew I wanted to get to know her better. I also knew she’d fight me on it, but I was prepared for that. I hadn’t realized just how much more this…pull was until I saw her sitting on another guy. I’d deal with the drugs later, because I wasn’t a hypocrite. I could ignore the drugs and alcohol as long as they were recreational, but there’d be no other guys. At least, not for the next three months.

  I stepped towards them, ready to yank her off the motherfucker, when I very put together redhead threw herself in my arms. “Well, who are you?”

  It was all I could do to be cordial to the girl. “Excuse me, but-”

  “Oh, honey, you don’t need any excuses,” she slightly slurred. “You can do whatever you want to me,” she announced right before she got a handful of my package through my jeans.

  I grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away. Even if Ava hadn’t been a factor, I didn’t fuck drunk girls. There’s a lot that I’ll have to answer to The Lord for one day, but taking advantage of a drunk girl won’t be one of them. Besides, I will never be in a courtroom to dispute allegations of rape. I didn’t know this girl. I had no idea if fucking
her would lead to handcuffs; and not the good kind.

  “Don’t touch me,” I snapped.

  And things got worse when she noticed my eyes flicking back towards Ava. This girl let out a sad, pitiful laugh. “Oh, honey,” she cooed. “If you have hearts in your eyes for Ava Hill, I do feel sorry for you. Oh, she’ll let you fuck her, for sure, but that’s all you’ll get from that tramp.”

  I stepped away from her. “Thanks for the advice,” I growled.

  The second Ava noticed me, her dilated eyes widened, but she masked her surprise so quickly, I wondered if it had even been there. She threw her arm around the guy’s shoulders and smirked, “Hey, Ace. Having fun, yet?”

  I ignored the guy because it was that or kill him and this time I wouldn’t get off by playing the hero card. “Get up,” I barked.

  One perfectly plucked blonde brow lifted. “Excuse me?”

  “Get the fuck up now, Ava,” I repeated.

  I watched as she stood up slowly and it was like watching a sleeping tiger slowly becoming alert to the dangers around it. “I think you have me confused with someone who gives a shit what you want, Ace,” she said smoothly.

  “Sit back down on his lap and there won’t be anything left of him to sit on by the time I’m done, Ava,” I told her, not softening my voice for anyone.

  The guy stood up and, for a second, I thought he was going to get brave, but instead he threw his hands up in surrender. “Oh, hey,” he said, “was just catching up. No worries, bro.”

  Ignoring the guy, I grabbed Ava by her arm and started dragging her out of the room in front of everyone, not caring about her screams and threats.

  It was time to clear some shit up with the hellcat.

  Chapter 9

  Ava~

  That haze of red fury is a real thing.

  Want to know how I know? Because I was in that red haze of fury right now as I struggled to keep up with Ace as he dragged me behind him. The heels weren’t ideal for being dragged and that was the only reason I was going along with him.