Ruined: An MC Romance Novel (Ruined Series Book 1)

by T. O. Smith

  Noah was wearing only a pair of faded, worn, blue jeans that were hanging low on his hips. He didn’t have a shirt on, leaving all of his muscles and abs on display. I flashed him a wicked smirk, and he grinned back at me, his eyes lighting up.

  “Adelaide, it’s been a while,” Noah commented as he strode down his porch steps towards me as Tristan came around the hood of his car to stand next to me, a disgruntled look on his face.

  I rolled my eyes. “It hasn’t been long enough.” I snarkily retorted.

  “Ignore her,” Tristan told his cousin. Noah turned his amused eyes to his best friend. “Adelaide has been in a very pissy mood since she woke up a little while ago.”

  I glared at Tristan. “Bite me.” I snarled, making Noah bark out a laugh.

  Tristan’s lips tilted up into that devilish smirk that always made my belly twist with need as he leaned in close to me. My breath hitched in my throat at his proximity. “Don’t tempt me.” He breathed. I swallowed thickly, my heart pumping blood so fast through my veins that I could feel the rapid beats in my throat. “Because I know the perfect place to bite you in.” He huskily reminded me as he reached up and ran his calloused index finger along the curve of my neck where it met my shoulder.

  I shuddered at his touch as my eyes locked on his. His eyes darkened at the need shining in my own that I couldn’t hide from him no matter how hard I tried to.

  But I would fight that need with every fiber of my being.

  “Anyway, if you two are done eye-fucking each other, I’ve got something to tell you two that I don’t think Adelaide is going to like too much,” Noah commented as he rocked back and forth on his heels, an amused grin on his features as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

  “What?” I snapped at him, dragging my heated gaze from the man I still somehow wanted more than anything.

  And wanting Tristan was dangerous.

  “I only have one extra bedroom, and my brother, Josh, is crashing on my couch, so you guys are going to have to share a room,” Noah informed us, his grin widening at the rage that flashed in my eyes.

  My gaze narrowed on him, my hands twitching at my sides to fucking hit something. Noah held his hands up in a surrendering gesture as he took a step back from me. I looked up at Tristan, but his smirk only widened as he winked at me.

  I fucking hated them both.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Addy, because you know I’m going to take advantage of this arrangement as much as I can.” Tristan reminded me.

  I stepped up to him and jabbed my finger against his chest, making sure my nail hit him hard. He flinched and reached up to rub his chest. I was seething. “I’d rather fuck Vin again than let you touch me.” I snarled up at him, lying through my teeth. I’d never fucked Vin willingly, but Tristan didn’t know that.

  But I wanted to hit this son of a bitch where it fucking hurt.

  Tristan wrapped his larger hand around mine that was still against his chest and tugged me closer to him. Leaning in close to me, he finally spoke, his voice a deadly whisper that chilled the blood in my veins. “The only man touching you in any fucking way will be me, do I make myself clear?”

  Not being able to come up with a snarky remark when he was looking down at me so intensely, I just wordlessly nodded my head.

  Oh, boy, what have I just been dragged into?

  ■ ■ ■

  I sighed in irritation as I looked at the single, full-size bed in the center of the bedroom.

  Why couldn’t Noah at least have had a queen size bed?

  With Tristan’s bulky frame, there was no way we were going to sleep on this bed tonight without touching each other. I knew that Tristan wasn’t going to mind in the slightest, considering for some reason he was trying to stay as close as possible to me – wanted me back as his – but I couldn’t have that. I had to protect myself and my heart from him at all costs, no matter how hard it was going to be.

  At this moment, I missed Joey more than I ever had before. I knew what to expect with Joey. We fought, we fucked, and we were good for a few days. It was like a routine.

  I fucking craved that.

  “Well, this is nice,” Tristan stated as he came into the bedroom, a devilish smirk tilting his lips. I scowled at him. “Ready to cuddle, Addy? It’ll be just like old times.” He stated, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

  My scowl deepened, only causing his smirk to widen.

  This was about to be a long night.

  "I’m not sleeping on that bed with you.” I snapped, pointing down at it.

  He clenched his jaw, his amusement quickly disappearing. “Oh, yes, you are.” He told me, his voice firm.

  I clenched my jaw. I was just about seething, and he didn’t want to see how lethal I was when I finally lost my shit. “No, I’m not.” I snarled.

  His eyes lit up with fury as he stormed over to me in all of his dominating, masculine glory. “Oh, yes, you are.” He snarled back down at me again as he gripped my upper arms and yanked me against him. My heart began to rapidly beat in my chest at his proximity. I swallowed nervously. I hated not knowing what to expect with Tristan. “Your life is in danger, and I am not letting you out of my arms while we sleep and are at our most vulnerable.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he put his finger over my lips, silencing me as his eyes bored into mine.

  “You are the most important person to me, Addy, and I will not risk anything.”

  As much as I hated it, my heart melted, my destroyed soul crying out for him to heal us and to put us back together again.

  THREE

  It was my eighteenth birthday when I first met Joey – the same night that Tristan decided to destroy my heart – decided to leave me in pieces. I was at my birthday party that Helene was throwing me at their place, and I was a fucking mess. I was drinking away my sorrows in a corner, crying into my hands when Joey had knelt in front of me.

  He’d seen a broken girl filled with pain, and he’d wanted to help her.

  “Hey, gorgeous, aren’t you the birthday girl?” He asked me.

  I looked up at him through my tears, sniffling unladylike. Nodding slowly, I answered him. “Yeah,” I whispered, taking another swig from the bottle of whiskey that I had snatched from the kitchen. His lips twitched, his eyes lighting up in surprise as the liquid burned down my throat, but I never flinched.

  “Why are you crying on one of the biggest days of your life?” He asked me, taking a seat beside me on the floor. I flinched, casting my eyes to the floor as I remembered my heart being ripped apart not even an hour ago. “You’re too beautiful to be sitting here crying on your birthday, pretty girl.”

  I blushed at his words even though my heart was filled with so much pain, I wasn’t sure if I was capable of feeling anything else. “My boyfriend of three years just broke up with me.” I admitted, more tears sliding down my cheeks. He frowned. “I don’t know what I did wrong.” I pathetically sobbed, everything suddenly spilling from my lips. “We were so happy earlier, and then all of a sudden, he’s telling me he doesn’t want to be with me anymore, and that he’s been miserable for the last year.”

  “Well, he’s a fucking asshole.” The guy next to me admitted. I snorted. “Is he still here?” At my nod, he sighed. “Is that why you’re hiding in this corner when you should be enjoying your birthday party?”

  I nodded again. He pursed his lips, and then stood up, a smirk twisting his lips. My breath hitched in my throat. God, he was hot as fuck.

  And I was clearly a little drunk.

  “How about this, pretty girl?” He asked me. I arched an eyebrow at him, my tears drying up. “My name is Joey, and I think it’s time to let loose and forget about this asshole of an ex for a little while. What do you say? Want to get out of here?”

  I nodded at him, desperate for some kind of relief from the pain in my chest. He held his hand out to me, and I placed my hand in his, letting him pull me up to my feet. He wrapped an arm around my waist, a mischievous twinkle lig
hting up his eyes that almost had me swooning. “It’s time to have some fun on the wild side, pretty girl. What’s your name?” He asked me.

  “Adelaide,” I informed him.

  “Gorgeous name for a gorgeous girl.” He commented.

  That night led to many more nights filled with “fun” on the wild side.

  But honestly, Joey might have saved my life because back then, I wasn’t sure if I could survive without Tristan to lean on.

  ■ ■ ■

  I sat on the bathroom counter, trying to put off dealing with Tristan for as long as I could. I knew he was waiting on me to come out and come to bed before he went to sleep.

  But he was going to be waiting a hell of a long time. I’d sleep in this damn bathroom before I slept in the same bed with him again.

  I stared down at Jessie’s name on my phone. She was calling me again, and I was sorely tempted to answer it. She and I had always been close, especially after Joey and I had started clashing heads a lot a few months after the first few months we were together. She’d always had my back after one of our huge fights, and I knew at the end of the day, she was one of the people that I knew I could always rely on.

  Then again, I’d thought that about Joey, too, and that quickly, he’d turned his back on me just because I was with Tristan.

  Sighing, I pressed the answer button on my phone, putting it up to my ear. “Hello, gorgeous,” I commented, a smirk twisting my lips, actually kind of happy that I would be hearing her familiar voice.

  “I figured you’d answer her call and not mine.” Joey drawled on the other end of the line. I cursed softly, the smirk dropping from my lips. He sighed softly, sounding extremely tired and worn out. A frown tugged at my lips as worry wound around my heart for the man.

  “You actually think you can run from me, pretty girl?” He asked, using his old nickname for me.

  “Not really running, Joey,” I grumbled, being honest. I mean, I was in a way, but I was running from whoever was after Tristan – or me – still trying to figure that one out.

  He snorted. “Right.” He sarcastically retorted. I swallowed thickly. “I’ll pretend that you didn’t just try to fucking lie to me.” He snapped. I grimaced. If Joey hated anything, he fucking hated a liar. “Tell you what, pretty girl,” he said, calling me by that old, familiar nickname again. I swallowed thickly. God, I missed him. “You come back to me by tomorrow night, and I’ll fix all of this bad shit between us. We’re good as hell together, pretty girl, and you’re in too deep in this shit to try to run away now.” He reminded me.

  I swallowed hard, all of those old feelings rising in me. Joey had drawn me out of the funk that I had fallen into after Tristan and I had broken up. He was my rebound in a way, and after a few months, he became a lot more than that to me. Although we were toxic as fuck together, I couldn’t deny that I still deeply cared about Joey – always would. He was my rock.

  “Joey, you know that I would never rat on you.” I reminded him. “I went through hell and back to protect you and your secrets.” And he knew what kind of hell I’d gone through. How many times had I finally come back home to him, beaten to within an inch of my life to protect him? It was certainly more times than I could count on one hand,

  He sighed. “You leaving right now was a really bad choice, Adelaide. You need to come back home, pretty girl.”

  “Why, Joey?” I angrily demanded. He knew how much I hated being given the run-around.

  “Pretty girl, I’ve got a lot of explaining to do, alright? Just . . . fuck, I always seem to fuck up with you.” He admitted. “Pretty girl, I know what Jessie said to you. I never put a hitman on you. I tried to set up a meeting to get one off of your back, but it didn’t fucking work.” I swallowed thickly. “There’s a man that’s supposed to be bringing you back to me, but he’s not going to hurt you. He’s supposed to protect you until he can get you back here to me.”

  “But Tristan’s house -” I started.

  “Vin is after you.” Joey interrupted me.

  My hand tightened around the phone, and I swallowed down vomit. Now wasn’t the time to be throwing up. “V-Vin?” I stuttered, my face paling. Even his name left a nasty, bitter taste in my mouth.

  I could picture Joey running his hand down his face in my mind. “Yes, pretty girl. I had no idea what the fuck Vin was doing to you. I had no idea he fucking raped you.” I flinched and squeezed my eyes shut, resisting the urge to whimper as his malicious face popped into my mind. “I know it doesn’t make up for shit, Adelaide, but I’m so fucking sorry that I didn’t protect you better.” He apologized. I resisted the urge to cry. God, I hated it when Joey felt guilty about shit that happened to me – especially shit that wasn’t his fault. “He told me he was using you for some fights – that’s it.”

  I swallowed hard. “I was the only one to escape him, Joey,” I whispered.

  “I know, pretty girl. I need you to come back home, alright? Fucking hell, at this point, I wouldn’t give a fucking shit if you brought Tristan with you. You need protection until this Vin situation can be dealt with. The more protection you have, the fucking better. I won’t lose you, Adelaide – especially not to fucking death.”

  The bathroom door opened, and Tristan stood there, his expression murderous. I glared back at him, defiance gleaming in my gaze. “Why the fuck are you talking to Joey, Addy?” Tristan snarled at me.

  “Let me talk to him, pretty girl,” Joey told me gently. “Don’t fight him, Adelaide. Just let me talk to him.”

  With a sigh, I slowly held my hand out to Tristan, offering him the phone. He glared down at it, not reaching forward to take it. He instead looked back up at me. “Tristan, please,” I whispered.

  I just wanted to go back home where I knew I was okay, back to the man that I knew what to expect with – the man that I knew would never, truly let me down – not where it truly counted.

  Tristan’s expression softened when he actually paid attention to how terrible I looked at the moment. Wordlessly, he took the phone from my hand. Stepping between my legs, he wrapped his free arm around my waist, tugging me up close to his hard, muscular frame as he put my phone to his ear.

  I hated myself for it – knew I shouldn’t want it – but I leaned into him, allowing Tristan to silently comfort me. I closed my eyes, allowing myself this one, small moment of peace between us.

  “What?” Tristan grumbled into the phone.

  I could hear Joey explaining everything to Tristan as best as he could. Tristan’s body tensed against mine, and his eyes flickered down to me more than once, fury lacing their depths as he held me tighter against him when Joey told him about Vin.

  “We’ll be on our way back in the morning,” Tristan informed him. “I’ll have my crew meet us at your place. The more protection on her, the better.”

  “I agree,” Joey told him.

  “Just let me ask this.” Tristan started, his fingers absentmindedly running up and down my spine. I sighed softly, my eyes beginning to slide closed. He remembered one of the ways to calm me down. Tristan used to do this all the time when we were younger, and honestly, I missed his soft, soothing touch. “Why are you all of a sudden being protective over Addy?” He demanded to know.

  “I’ve always been protective of her in my own way, Tristan,” Joey told him. And he had. “Adelaide and I have a silent agreement of sorts. She hates being doted over, and she wants to be free to make her own decisions. I protect her from the background, and I only step forward when something drastic is happening – like now.” Joey told him. “She’s not the same girl whose heart you broke three years ago, Tristan. She’s changed, and she’s grown into a hell of a woman.”

  I couldn’t stop the smile that crossed my lips at Joey’s words.

  “Whatever,” Tristan grumbled, obviously not pleased by that bit of information. “I’ll text you and let you know when we’re on the road,” Tristan informed him, hanging up the phone right after.

  After a few silent mome
nts, Tristan finally looked down at me. “What kind of history do you and Joey have?” Tristan asked me, his voice gruff.

  I tilted my chin up defiantly as I leaned back from him, every one of my guards going back up against Tristan – hard. He was digging too deep into something that wasn’t his fucking business. “I don’t think that fucking concerns you.” I snapped at him.

  Tristan placed a hand on either side of me on the counter and leaned down so his face was only a couple of inches from mine. My breath hitched in my throat at his proximity. His eyes almost undid me as he let them meet mine. “It does concern me when I’m back to claim what’s mine,” Tristan informed me softly. I swallowed thickly, my heart racing in my chest at his words, but whether from hope or fear, I wasn’t sure. “And believe me when I say this, Addy; I will have you back no matter who or what I have to hurt or destroy to get my way.”