The Complete Perfect Series

by Lindsey Powell

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” I am flabbergasted at her reaction. This isn’t my best friend sat before me. I don’t know who this person is.

  “You’re the one sat there, having a go at me. Maybe if you loosened up and had some fun once in a while, then you wouldn’t be acting like this. When did you become so fucking boring, Stacey?” My mouth drops open and I stare at her, aghast.

  How dare she treat me this way.

  I am incensed at her words, and I can no longer contain my fury.

  “Fun?” I screech at her. “You call the state that you got yourself into fun?”

  “Yeah. You should try it some time.”

  “Are you still high or something? I have been worried about you, I have cleaned up after you, and this is how you choose to treat me?”

  “Oh, that’s right, Stacey, play the role of the fucking martyr. Let’s make everything about you, shall we? Being assaulted, being stabbed, and losing your memory hasn’t been enough for you, so now you have to make another drama.” Lydia’s tone is evil, and I don’t like it.

  My whole body starts to tremble as I take in her words.

  “That’s enough, Lydia,” Jake’s voice cuts in. His tone is firm, and his eyes are narrowed on her.

  “I wondered how long it would take for you to chip in,” she says, turning her attention to him. “You have only been around for five minutes, so why don’t you just back off, buddy.” Oh God, I want the ground to swallow me up. She is making such a fool of herself.

  “Lydia,” I say in shock. “Why are you being like this?”

  “I’m not being like anything. It’s you two that seem to have some sort of problem, not me.”

  “Us? We are the ones with the problem?” I scoff. “Look at the state of you, Lyd.” My voice is getting louder and louder with each word I speak. “We are not the enemy here. We’re trying to help you.”

  “I’m not a fucking charity case. I don’t need any help,” Lydia screams at me. She stands up off of the sofa and storms out of the room.

  I stare after her, my mouth hanging open in shock.

  “She’s not in her right frame of mind. She doesn’t mean any of what she just said,” Jake says, grabbing my attention.

  “Oh yes I fucking do!” Lydia shouts, coming back into the lounge. “I don’t need you two here, bringing me down. I’m fine on my own. Why don’t you both run along and play house together.”

  “Lydia,” I say as I stand up. “Please, just listen to me.” She turns and leaves the lounge, and I follow her into the kitchen. She goes to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of wine, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and pouring herself a large amount.

  Shit, I should have gotten rid of all the alcohol when we were clearing up.

  “Don’t you think that you have had enough of that over the last few days?” I say, indicating to the wine bottle.

  “No, actually, I don’t. If I want a glass of wine, then I will fucking well have one.” She drains the entire glass and pours herself another.

  “Lydia, please come to Jake’s with me,” I plead with her. I can’t stand to see her do this to herself. She slams the glass down on the worktop, making me jump, and she stares daggers at me.

  “Fuck off, Stacey.” She mouths each word slowly, enunciating each word. “Just leave me alone.” A tear rolls down my cheek as I feel the hurt from her words. “That’s right, turn on the water works.”

  “You really want me to leave?” I whisper, not able to make my voice any louder.

  “Yes.” There is no hesitation in her answer. I look at her and I see the determination in her eyes. I feel defeated.

  “Fine,” I say as I turn and see Jake standing behind me. “Let’s go, Jake. It seems that we’re not welcome here.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Stacey

  Jake and I arrive at his place, and I go straight to his bedroom and curl up under the duvet. Jake climbs in behind me and wraps his arms around me. I let my tears flow freely. I never thought that Lydia could be so hurtful. She is like a sister to me.

  “How could she be like that, Jake?”

  “She’s clearly not in a good place. Try not to take what she said to heart. She doesn’t mean it.”

  “How can I not?” I say, turning so that I am led on my back, allowing me to look at him. “How am I meant to feel? She won’t let me help her.” I feel totally useless.

  “I don’t know, babe. Has she got any family that you could call?”

  “I don’t really relish the thought of phoning her mum. They aren’t close, and Lydia certainly wouldn’t thank me for contacting her.”

  “Well, even though they aren’t close, it might be the push that Lydia needs to see sense,” Jake suggests. I think about it for a moment, and I realise that Jake may have a point. Something, or someone, needs to shock Lydia, seeing as I am having no effect on her.

  “I could phone her brother, Nick.” I bite my lip as I consider this option. Nick and Lydia aren’t close either, but it would be a better option than her mum. I am also hesitant of phoning Nick seeing as we used to hook up, before I was with Charles.

  “There you go. Give him a call,” Jake urges. I battle with my inner thoughts before deciding that I need to ignore whatever happened between Nick and me. This is about Lydia. I shouldn’t let any awkwardness stand in the way of helping her.

  I dry my eyes on the quilt, get out of bed and ask Jake where my handbag is. He informs me that it is on the stairs, so I go down to retrieve it. I return to the bedroom and pull my phone out of my bag. I have no messages or calls from Lydia, but then, I didn’t expect to see any. I scroll through my phone and find Nick’s number. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I take a deep breath, and hit the call button. The phone rings three times before it is answered.

  “Hey there, gorgeous. Long-time no speak. How’s it going?” Nick’s use of the word gorgeous has me cringing slightly.

  “Uh, hi, Nick.” I stumble on my words and Nick picks up on this instantly.

  “Whoa, why do you sound so nervous? Are you calling to hook up again?” Oh Christ, I really hope that Jake can’t hear what he is saying to me.

  “Uh, no. I’m calling about Lydia.” I try to keep my voice even as I speak to him. Lydia and Nick have a lot of history that they need to try and resolve one day, and I am hoping that I am not about to make their relationship worse.

  “Okay. What’s up?” He sounds so calm and relaxed and I hate that I am about to burst his bubble.

  “Is there any chance that we could meet up and talk?” I decide that I don’t want to try and explain the situation over the phone to him.

  “Sure. How about one evening next week?”

  “No, Nick, it can’t wait until then. Are you free tonight?” Nick goes quiet on the line, and I presume that he is processing my urgency to see him tonight.

  “Well, I did have plans.” I roll my eyes as Nick’s plans probably include hooking up with some girl that he has on the go.

  “Can you cancel them? This is important.” I stress my urgency in my tone.

  “Uh, I suppose so,” he answers warily.

  “Good. Can you meet me at Lydia’s in twenty minutes?”

  “Yeah, okay.” He sighs down the phone. “But this better be worth it. I had a hot date planned for tonight.” Bingo. I knew that he would just be trying to get his end away.

  “It is worth it.” I don’t know why Lydia and Nick can’t put aside their differences and just appreciate that they are family. “See you soon.”

  I end the call, put my phone back into my handbag and turn to look at Jake, who has a serious expression on his face.

  “We’re going back to Lydia’s?” he asks, raising one eyebrow at me in question. Relief shoots through me that he didn’t hear what Nick said on the phone.

  “I figured that it’s better to explain in person rather than over the phone. Plus, this way, he will be able to see the state of her for himself.”

  A knot forms
in my stomach and I feel a wave of nausea sweep over me.

  “Okay, babe. Let’s go.”

  Jake

  We drive back to Lydia’s flat and my mind processes what Nick said to Stacey on the phone. I realise that the issue here is to get Lydia well, but it grates on me that he thought she was calling him for a hook up.

  The thought of another man touching her makes me want to punch the steering wheel.

  I get that Stacey has a past, as do I, but it still fucking narks me. Stacey clearly doesn’t think that I heard what he said, and I get why she wouldn’t want to tell me, but I’m still going to speak to her about it later. I now have to spend time in the company of some guy who has fucked my girl. Bloody fantastic.

  I pull into the car park for the flats, and I switch the engine off. I can feel the tension coming off of Stacey in waves. I am unsure if the tension is just being caused by Lydia, or if she is stressed about seeing Nick. Her leg is fidgeting up and down and I place my hand on her knee, hoping that it will calm her down. She looks at me and smiles, making me want to rip her clothes off and fuck her on the back seat.

  “When all of this shit is sorted, we’re going away somewhere,” I blurt out. I can think of nothing better than whisking her away from here and shutting us off from the world.

  “Sounds good.” Huh. I wasn’t expecting her to agree so easily.

  “Oh, it will be. Sun, sand, sea, and just us.” I lean towards her and she hums in appreciation. My mouth covers hers and I take my time in caressing her tongue with mine. She groans into my mouth, sending a direct signal to my cock. As I end the kiss and look into her eyes, I can see that they are burning with desire for me.

  I swear that when her body is healed, I am going to fulfil that desire.

  I’m going to make her scream my name over and over.

  “I can’t wait, but right now, I have to go and speak to Nick.” She looks to the side of me and I turn my head to see this Nick guy getting out of his car. I reluctantly move away from her and exit the car.

  Keep yourself in check, Waters. She’s yours now.

  Stacey is already out of the car before I can walk around to help her. I see the guy staring at her, looking her up and down, and I want to punch him. His eyes look hungry as he assesses her. I have to remind myself that Stacey is only here to help Lydia.

  The guy’s eyes move to me as I feel Stacey take my hand in hers. He is sizing me up, and I can’t help but smirk.

  She’s mine, asshole.

  I feel Stacey tug at my hand and we start to walk over to him.

  Here we go.

  Stacey

  Nick stands by his car with his arms crossed. He looks the same as he did when I last saw him, and that was a while ago. With his shaved head, strong jaw, sparkling green eyes, and stocky frame, he is every bit as good-looking as he was when I first met him. Of course, he doesn’t compare to Jake, but I can appreciate a handsome man when I see one. No one compares to Jake, so if our relationship ever does crumble, I’m going to be screwed for meeting anyone else.

  “Hey, girl,” Nick says as he uncrosses his arms and envelopes me in a hug. I reluctantly return his hug as Jake still has hold of my hand. I quickly move back from Nick and give Jake’s hand a little squeeze. I can feel the tension radiating off of Jake’s body.

  “Hi, Nick. Let me introduce you to Jake, my boyfriend.” I gesture to Jake, who puts his hand out for Nick to shake. I can practically feel the macho hormones radiating around us. Nick shakes Jake’s hand, but neither of them smile in greeting.

  “You’re a lucky man, Jake. This girl is special,” Nick says smiling at me.

  Oh Christ, why did he have to say that?

  I fidget awkwardly at his compliment. Nick always wanted to take things to the next level with us, but I always resisted. At that time in my life, all I wanted was a bit of fun.

  Jake’s jaw starts to tick, and I decide that now would be a good time to tell Nick about Lydia to divert attention away from me.

  “Nick, Lydia is in a bad way. I know that things have been strained between you both, but you know that I wouldn’t call you without good reason.” Nick nods and his eyebrows furrow questioningly. I hear the sound of loud music start to play and I know that it is coming from Lydia’s flat. “Maybe I should just show you. Come on.”

  I let go of Jake’s hand and enter the flat block, Jake and Nick following behind me. The music gets louder as we approach the front door. I unlock the door and walk in. The music is so loud that I can barely think.

  I walk to the lounge and stop in the doorway. I am astounded to see that the guy from this morning is sat on the chair.

  There are a further three strange looking guys sat on the sofa.

  The coffee table is littered with little packets of white powder.

  Lydia is kneeling at the end of the coffee table with a rolled-up note to her nose, snorting some of the powder.

  I step to the side and usher Nick to go in front of me. The guy in the chair looks at us and alerts the other three to our presence before turning the music down slightly. Lydia remains oblivious. She is clearly too busy taking drugs to notice anything else going on. The look of shock on Nick’s face says it all.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” Nick roars.

  Even though the music is painstakingly loud, Lydia’s head snaps up at the sound of her brother’s voice. The colour drains from her face and she drops the rolled-up note onto the floor. Nick has gone a deep shade of red and I know it is because he is angry. I wouldn’t be surprised to see steam coming out of his ears at any moment now.

  The guy in the chair switches the music off and my ear drums breathe a sigh of relief. My heart is pounding so hard that I am sure they can all hear it.

  No one says a word until Lydia averts her gaze from her brother and rests her eyes on me.

  “You fucking bitch,” she screeches at me. “You of all people. You called my fucking brother?”

  “Damn right she did, and with good fucking reason, Lydia. What the hell do you think that you are doing?” Nick shouts, defending me and releasing a bit of his anger at the same time. Nick then turns his attention to the four strange guys. “You four, get the fuck out. NOW!”

  The three guys on the sofa quickly stand up, grab as many bags of the white shit that they can, and then they all stumble past us to the front door. They can’t seem to get out of here quick enough.

  The guy from this morning however, remains seated.

  “Did you not hear me?” Nick says, moving closer to him. “I said, get out.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, pal,” the guy answers. I feel Jake grab my hand and pull me into the kitchen doorway.

  “Stay here, Stacey,” Jake commands. I don’t argue. I stand there, my whole body shaking as I realise that this situation could turn very nasty, very quickly.

  Oh God, I don’t want anyone to get hurt.

  I just want Lydia to be safe.

  “It’s okay, Callum,” I hear Lydia say. “You go, and I’ll phone you when they have gone.”

  Yes, Callum, get out of here.

  I hear some shuffling and then Callum exits the lounge, coming to a stop in the hallway. He turns his head and looks at me stood in the kitchen doorway. His pupils are dilated, and he smirks cockily.

  “Well, well, if it isn’t the little stunner from this morning. Thought anymore about my offer of fun yet?” I inwardly cringe at his words.

  “Back the fuck off,” Jake snarls. He is beside Callum in a nanosecond, and his gaze is menacing. This is the second time today that this Callum guy has tried to hit on me. I swear that he has a death wish. Callum winks at me and that’s all it takes for Jake to grab him by the throat and physically march him to the front door.

  “Don’t come back here again,” Jake says before pushing him into the corridor and slamming the door in his face. I breathe a sigh of relief that Jake didn’t punch the guy. I saw what he did to Donnie, and it wasn’t pretty.

  Jake sta
lks back over to me and the cold look in his eyes instantly warms as he locks his gaze with mine. He pulls me into his arms and I wrap my arms tight around his waist.

  “You okay, babe?” he asks me.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just glad that you didn’t do anything stupid.”

  “Oh, believe me, I could have quite easily.”

  “I know.” I lean back and see emotion flicker through his eyes, but I can’t quite place what emotion it is. I am abruptly pulled out of my embrace with Jake by the sound of Lydia sobbing. I side-step Jake and poke my head around the lounge doorway.

  The scene before me breaks my heart.

  Nick is sat on the floor, cradling a sobbing Lydia in his arms, and he looks up at me, giving me a sad smile. I suddenly feel like I am intruding on a very private moment. I gesture for Nick to call me later and he simply nods his head at me.

  “Come on, Jake,” I say as I take his hand. “Let’s leave them on their own. They have a lot of talking to do.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Stacey

  I am exhausted by the time we return to Jake’s. It’s been a hell of a day, and I drag my weary body upstairs to his bedroom. I enter the ensuite and as I look in the mirror, I see that I look drained. I rub my hands over my face. All I could do with right now is a long, hot bath, but I can’t even do that with the bloody dressing still covering my wound. The hospital issued me with a few special dressings so that I could take a quick shower though, so I start to undress, put one of the special dressings over the existing dressing, and am just stood in my bra and knickers when Jake comes into the room. His eyes hungrily survey me, and I feel sparks shoot straight to my sex.

  “Now that is a very welcome sight at the end of a very hectic day,” he says as he stalks towards me. I feel a delicious shiver go through me as he pulls his T-shirt over his head and throws it on the floor.

  “Want to join me in the shower?” I ask him, drinking in the sight of his abs. He smirks and stops in front of me, unbuttoning his jeans and pulling his boxers down with them. He steps out of his clothes and then gestures for me to finish undressing. I undo my bra and drop it to the floor. I then, slowly, take off my knickers and kick them to one side.