I won’t ask her name, even though it’s starting to really bug me. I won’t make sure she has her dinner sorted. I won’t fuck her up against the wall like I’ve been thinking about doing since I first saw her.
Shit. She really is radiant, but she’s a pain in the ass that happens to live right next door. Had I met her out at a club and knew I’d never see her again, sure, I would have dealt with that issue, but not with her living so close.
She’s forbidden fruit. The most irritating forbidden fruit that makes me drool with need. It’s becoming intoxicating. We play this little game every morning. Who can piss off the other more, and I find myself getting oddly excited about what little pranks or ideas she can come up with, though, I always manage to top it.
Sure, the first day I was honestly really pissed off, but after that, it’s changed into something else. I enjoy messing with her. Watching the crease appear between her eyebrows when I push her to her limits is nothing short of thrilling. She clenches her jaw and stomps around, and I find it the funniest, but cutest thing I’ve ever witnessed.
But… she’s infuriating.
My fist bangs against the hard wood of her door and I look at it as though it’s just betrayed me. “Fuck,” I groan to myself. What was I thinking? I should leave.
I go to step back from her door just as she pulls it open and watches me with confusion. Her eyebrows pull down, clearly wondering what the hell I’m doing here. I know I find annoying her exciting, but to her, I’m probably just as infuriating, if not more.
“Can I help you?” she questions.
I cringe as the words come out. “I just wanted to check you were ok, you know, after your fall this morning.”
“Oh,” she practically gasps. “Um, yeah. I have a nasty bruise though.”
“Really?” I sigh. I had kind of hoped she managed to come out of it unscathed.
“Yeah,” she tells me before turning around and reaching for the back of her pants. She pulls them down just a smidge and my eyes instantly zone in on her exposed skin. She watches me over her shoulder with a knowing grin. “Check this out.”
The side of her pants lower just a bit more and I’m absolutely shocked with what I see. The top of her ass is covered with a dark purpling bruise. “Fuck,” I gasp as I take it in. I mean, this is just the top of her ass. I can’t imagine what the rest of it would look like. I push my way into her home and demand she lays down.
I go straight for her fridge and search out an ice pack or some frozen vegetables she can use to put on it to help ease the pain. “Where the fuck are all your frozen things?” I demand as I search the empty freezer.
“What are you doing?” she says as that cranky little crease appears between her eyebrows.
“You need to put something on it to help the bruising. Shit, do you have painkillers?” I question.
“Um, no,” she says as she looks at me like a complete idiot.
I let out a groan and storm back out of her house while leaving the door wide open. I walk straight back through thirty seconds later with a bag of frozen peas and painkillers. “Here,” I say, thrusting her the bag of peas. “Put that on your ass.”
“You’re kidding right?” she questions.
“No,” I demand, nodding towards the peas that sit in her hand. “Put it on your ass or I will.”
I watch as she rolls her eyes, but does as she’s told. I don’t miss how she cringes as the peas connect with her ass and the look on her face kills me. I find a bottle of water in her fridge and I pop some pain pills out of the packet. “Take these,” I say, handing them over.
“You know, I have medication to deal with this shit, right?”
“Just…” I let out a frustrated breath. “Please, just take them. I have issues with seeing people in pain.”
“If I take them, will you go away?”
“Yes,” I promise.
She does as I’ve asked and I find myself not keeping to my part of the bargain. “You can go now,” she reminds me.
“Mmhmm,” I murmur as I head back into her ridiculous excuse of a kitchen and start rifling through her fridge and cupboards again. Finding nothing good, I turn back to her. “Come on, you’re having dinner at my place.”
“Um… excuse me?”
“You heard me. Let’s go.”
She lets out an annoyed huff and gets herself up. “You better be making something good,” she murmurs mostly to herself.
I ignore her and get her over to my place when I remember Gerald in the living room. As we walk through my place, I lead her straight through to the kitchen and grab a seat for her which is big enough for her to practically lay down in so she doesn’t have to sit on her ass or notice the four-meter python in the next room.
I go about the kitchen and throw together fish with steamed vegetables before placing a plate down in front of her. She instantly digs in. “This is good,” she tells me. “It must be the healthiest thing I’ve ever eaten.”
“What?” I grunt as I look up at her with a questioning look. “What do you mean it’s the healthiest thing you’ve ever eaten?”
“I don’t cook,” she tells me before completely horrifying me. “The things I eat generally come in a box and can be shoved in the oven.”
My eyes widen in shock and disgust. “Jesus Christ,” I gasp. “From now on, you eat here.”
“Ha. Thanks,” she scoffs, “But I’m fine. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.”
“Clearly you can’t,” I grunt.
I see her jaw clenching and she narrows her eyes on me. “Why do you insist on being such an ass all the time?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Just call it like I see it.”
She lets out a huff and focuses on her dinner.
“How’s your ass?” I ask as the silence begins to kill me.
“Better actually,” she tells me. “The painkillers are working.”
“Good,” I grunt, trying to keep it short and sweet.
“I’m surprised you care so much about it.”
Her comment throws me off and I find myself looking up at her. “Just because I hate being woken up by irritating neighbors, doesn’t mean I’m a nasty guy.”
“I… I didn’t mean it like that,” she says. “I was just a little thrown off. I didn’t expect you to come by to check on me.”
“Well,” I grunt. “Don’t expect me to do it again.”
“Wasn’t going to,” she throws back.
I narrow my eyes on her. What is it about her that makes me react like this? She boils my blood, but I enjoy it. “How long have you had this blood thing?”
“I was born with it,” she tells me.
Shit. “Must suck,” I grunt.
“What sucks is having four miscarriages,” she says with a scoff as she studies her half-eaten dinner.
“Four?” I question, wondering how many guys she must have been fucking to get herself knocked up so often. She nods her head and I find myself grinning at her. “Do you not know anything about safe sex?”
Her head snaps up. “Excuse me?” she says. “You're just going to assume I was whoring myself out? Did it not occur to you that maybe I was trying?”
Shit. Maybe this time I’ve crossed a line. “Well, no,” I tell her. “Who the hell are you trying with? I don’t see a man helping you over there. Unless you’re talking about the old dude that’s been putting the walls up?”
“Eww,” she says as she scrunches her face up. “I’m not screwing Mick, he’s my carpenter. And for your information, I have a little more class than that.”
“So, who are you screwing?”
“I was referring to my ex-husband.”
“Husband?” I question in shock. “You’re just full of surprises.”
“Tell me about it,” she groans.
The curiosity is simply too much for me to bear and I find myself probing for information. “What happened to him?” I ask.
“I’d rather not get into it,” she says.
“Still fresh?”
She smirks at me and the look is so fucking hot that it has me wanting to throw her up against the wall again. “No,” she says with an attitude. “It’s just none of your business.”
I can’t help but smirk back at her. I’m going to enjoy living next door to this little spitfire.
“Fair call,” I say. A smug expression crosses her face and it’s almost as though she’s proud that she’s won this round. I roll my eyes and focus back on my plate. “Eat your dinner.”
She does just that and twenty minutes later, she hops up from the seat and gives me a strange look. “I… um. I’m going to go. Thanks for dinner.”
I nod, and without another word, she heads to the door. She stops right before opening it and looks back at me. “Hey, what’s your name?”
I smirk at her as I consider not giving it to her. “Luke,” I finally tell her.
She nods and disappears out the door, though it doesn’t go unnoticed that she still hasn’t offered me hers. I find myself more curious than ever, but I’m not going to ask. I’m too proud and stubborn for that. It’ll come out eventually, or I can peek at something from her mailbox.
As the door closes behind her, I find myself watching through the window, making sure she gets there safely, even though it’s only ten steps from my front door to hers. What’s happening to me? Why am I acting like such a fucking pussy with this girl? A girl who can’t help but get under my skin. I should be ignoring her. I should be putting her in her place and making sure she knows not to mess with me. Instead, I’m begging for more.
Hell, I invited the woman over for dinner every fucking night, though, I doubt she’ll actually show up. She’s just as stubborn as I am.
I clean up after dinner, wondering about this ex-husband of hers. It’s obvious the sorry bastard left her because he couldn’t handle her temper any longer, no man in his right mind could, but how long ago was that? And why do I care?
I head into the bathroom and strip out of my clothes for a shower, and as usual, every time I catch sight of my reflection, I can’t help but stare at the new angry scars that take residence all over my body. Seeing them there angers me. They shouldn’t be there. They’re a constant reminder of what happened and I fear I’ll never be able to forget.
The smell of Jonesy body still haunts me. I can still picture the way that bastard would smirk at me before using his body as his personal ashtray.
For fuck's sake. I don’t want to visit this again, but I know the moment I close my eyes, it will all be there, like a recording that plays on an endless loop.
I try to shake it from my mind and get myself showered. I step out of the shower, wrap my towel around my waist and head into my bedroom. As I search through my drawer for something to wear, I see her through the bedroom window.
She walks up and down the hallway with a sander, smoothing out the wall, completely oblivious to the fact that I see her. My dick twitches as she reaches and bends, but the second she stretches her neck to the side. I’m a goner.
I grow hard and I drop my towel to the ground. I palm my dick as I watch her and I find myself imagining what it’d be like to be inside her. Sliding in and out of her warm, slick pussy.
Shit. I want her, just for the night.
My fist pumps up and down. I can picture it as though it was really happening. She’d be wild and sexy, like an animal that needs to be tamed.
I bring myself right to the edge and with the image of her big eyes staring up at me, I explode with a low guttural groan, knowing next time, I won’t be able to resist the real thing.
Chapter 7
Lexi
The line at The Dark Room is ridiculous. People are lined up and waiting to get in here when they could easily go down the road to another club and get in straight away. That tells me this is the place to be and that Rylee is going to be throwing a killer black and white party.
I’m so excited. Ever since I met Charli during the week, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this. I haven’t gone out and let loose in years and all I want to do is feel like a teenager again when I could have a good time without a care in the world.
Then I went and got married and life became all about responsibilities. It was nothing but bills, work, and him. We got married straight out of high school to my father’s disappointment, and every single day I remind myself that I should have listened to him. He was never right for me and my father knew it. I was just too stubborn to admit it.
My hands sweep down the black dress that I bought at Cami’s store and I feel stunning and sexy. My hair is done up in a high bun with a pair of dangly earrings and I somehow managed to get my makeup done in the cracked mirror of my bathroom.
I hear the familiar ‘beep beep’ of my phone and I pull it out to find an incoming text from Charli.
Charli – Hey hun, just seeing if you were still coming tonight? We’re inside, near the bar!
An excited smile takes over my face and I reply almost instantly.
Lexi – Hey Charli. Yes, I can’t wait. I’m just outside waiting in line.
Charli – pft, lines! We don’t believe in them. I’ll come get you.
A moment later, Charli emerges from the front doors and immediately starts scanning the line. She spots me a second later and a beaming smile takes over her face.
“Hey,” she says as she walks towards me. I step out from the line and meet her in the middle. “Oh gosh, I love your dress,” she tells me as she leans in and gives me a quick hug. “Is this from Cami’s store? I was going to buy it last weekend.”
“Yeah,” I tell her. “Cami’s has everything.”
“Oh, I know,” she says, taking my hand and leading me inside the club. “I swear, every single one of my dresses comes from her store. She has great taste.”
I completely agree. I walked out of Style me Crazy knowing that I could have bought her whole store. She was an incredible help as well. I told her all about meeting Charli and the invitation to come here tonight, and she beamed at me as though she would have given me the invitation herself.
She helped me chose a dress and gave me a few ideas of how I could do my hair and makeup. I was a little nervous about it all coming together as I’m really out of practice, but in the end, I’m proud of how I look.
Charli and I step through the door and I look around the club in awe. “Wow,” I say with wide eyes.
“Tell me about it,” she scoffs. “I nearly died when I came in here for the first time. The place is incredible.”
Well, that’s an understatement. It’s no wonder The Dark Room is the most popular club in the area. It’s spacious and luxurious. It doesn’t come with that smelly, sticky feeling you get with other places, and it’s clear Rylee and her staff take pride in their work.
There are flashing lights and a live DJ, and it instantly makes me feel like dancing. “A tornado came through here a little while ago,” Charli tells me as she yells over the sound of the music. “There was a tree right where we’re standing, so Rylee used it as a chance to make some changes.”
“Whatever it was that she did, it’s paying off,” I tell Charli, kind of feeling a little freaked out about the whole tornado thing. I mean, that must have been terrifying. I’ve never been caught in a tornado or had any damages from them, but I’m sure it will happen one day. It’s just a part of life in these parts of the world.
“Sure is,” Charli says. We cut through the dance floor and she brings me over to the table where a bunch of girls sit, laughing and sipping on their drinks, looking absolutely stunning in their dresses, each of them sticking with the black and white theme.
“Hey guys,” Charli announces to the table before indicating to me next to her. “This is Lexi, she’s new here, so we’re adopting her.” She goes around the table and starts introducing all the girls.
She points out Zara first who gives me a beaming smile. “This is Zara, though I’m sure you remember her from the salon.” She moves acr
oss to the next girl. “This beauty is Imogen, then we have her best friend Izzy.” They both give little waves and I commit their names to memory. Charli moves across to the other side of the table. “Over here we have Rylee, who owns this killer place, and of course, Cami, who you already know.”
“Hi everyone,” I smile, feeling a little overwhelmed with all of their eyes on me.
“Hey,” Cami says as she gets to her feet with a smile. She walks around the table and instantly pulls me into her for a quick hug. “How are you? You looking incredible in this dress by the way.”
“Thanks,” I smile. “I’m good. I’m so excited to be here. I haven’t had a night out in years.”
“Years?” she gasps with wide eyes. “Then what the hell are you doing wasting your time talking to us. We need to get you a few drinks and get your night started.”
I can’t help but laugh and follow her as she leads me over to the bar. She walks right behind it and I stare at her wide-eyed, wondering what the hell she’s doing. “Don’t stress,” she laughs. “I work here as well.”
Relief pours through me. “Oh, thank god” I breath.
She hands me the drink and I take a quick sip. It’s like a fruity heaven exploding on my taste buds. “Cami,” I gasp. “This is incredible. What is it?”
“I don’t know,” she admits. “I’ve been fiddling with a few different things. This is my latest creation. It’s got a bit of vodka and a shot of tequila. I haven’t named it yet though.”
She heads back around the bar and I take another sip as she meets me. We head back to the table when it hits me. “You should call it ‘Cami’s wet dream cocktail’ because it’s just that good.”
“Yes,” she laughs. “That’s perfect.”
We take out seats at the table and I slide in between Rylee and Cami who busily explain the ins and outs of the groups and after having to explain it a few times I work out that Rylee is dating a guy called Cole, who is Imogen’s big brother, but Imogen was sleeping with Cole’s best friend Caden until a whole heap of shit went down and they started actually dating. “So, it’s like one big happy family?” I laugh.
“Yeah,” Imogen says from across the table. “We really are, but even before everyone started hooking up, we were already that way. The boys own a gym, Rebels Advocate, with two of their other friends. Cami is close with Jace and the other is single. He’s a bit of a mystery, but man, he’s nice to look at.”
Luke: Rebels Advocate (Book 3) Page 5