Rebels Advocate - COMPLETE BOX SET 1-4

by Sheridan Anne

  “Shut up, man,” I laugh. “It’s just… what is she even doing here?”

  “You heard the girls,” he says. “Charli met her and invited her. Apparently, they’ve adopted her into the family.”

  “For fuck's sake,” I groan to myself.

  The conversation is finally cut short when Imogen goes down like a sack of shit before the girls start howling with laughter. “Shit,” Caden grunts as he gets up from the table. Cole follows and before I know it, our whole group is surrounding Imogen as Caden hoists her to her feet.

  She throws her arms around him and attempts to whisper, only it’s loud enough that we can all hear. “I think we should go home,” she says with a seductive wink. “I want you to do that thing with your-”

  “Whoa,” Cole cuts in. “I don’t want to hear what the fuck he’s been doing to you.”

  I can’t help but laugh. We all know what they’re going home to do. They foster a little boy, Brandon, who’s having his first sleepover tonight. With the rare night to themselves, I can only imagine what they’ll be getting up to.

  And even though Cole says he’s fine with Caden dating his little sister, he’s still getting used to it and the more comfortable they become as a couple, the more they flaunt it.

  Xander reaches out and pulls Charli into him. “I think it’s about time we go too,” he tells her. “We have that meeting with the wedding planner in a few hours.”

  “Oh yeah,” she groans.

  “What? You’re not excited about it?” he questions.

  “I am,” she sighs with a groan. “Let me find my shoes.”

  With that, Charli heads off to search the club for her shoes and all the girls follow. We all say our goodnight’s and I watch in amusement as Lexi waves goodbye and heads for the door.

  I jog to catch up to her and come to a stop right next to her. “Where do you think you’re going?” I question.

  “Um, home,” she slurs as she swings her shoes around. The movement has her tripping over her own feet and I reach out to catch her. My hand clamps down around her forearm and I quickly release it, worrying that the simple touch could leave a bruise, but she doesn’t seem to notice.

  “And how do you expect to do that?” I ask.

  She grabs her purse and searches through it before ripping her keys out and nearly smacking herself in the face. “I can drive, you know?” she tells me.

  I snatch the keys right out of her hand. “First of all, I’ve seen your driving. You suck. I don’t know how the hell you haven’t written that truck off yet. Secondly, I’m not letting you drive while you can’t even remember what day it is.”

  “And you think I’m going to let you drive me home? You’d probably get lost.”

  I stop her as we reach my truck and I nod towards it. “Get in the truck,” I tell her.

  “Uh, no thanks,” she says before pulling her purse up again and searching through it for the second time. “Have you seen my keys? They’re not in here.”

  Fuck me. She’s completely wasted.

  I don’t wait for her to make the decision. Grabbing her around the waist, I open the door of my truck and throw her in. “I’m driving you home whether you like it or not,” I tell her.

  “Not,” she replies with that angry crease between her brows.

  “Tough shit,” I say as I close the door and head around to the driver’s side.

  After getting in my truck and starting it up, it only takes a second for her to start pointing out why her truck is better. Yes, her truck is cool, but it’s not better than mine.

  I roll my eyes and bite my tongue the whole way home, as I know if I say just the littlest thing, she’s going to explode. As fun as it would be to watch that happen, it’s nearly four in the morning and I’m fucking tired.

  But I swear, if I get up in the morning to hear music blasting through my window, I’m going to scream.

  For the first time all week, I’m able to pull into my driveway as the dumpster guy finally came back to get it. I come to a stop and have to nudge her as she gazes out the window, completely lost in her own world. “We’re home,” I tell her.

  She flicks her head to me before thinking about what I’ve just said. A moment later, she finally comprehends. “Oh,” she says. “Right, ok. Thanks.”

  She reaches for the door handle and I hold out her keys. “Hey, where’d you find them?” she questions.

  I don’t respond, just watch as she takes them from me, hops down from my truck and starts walking across to her place. I watch as she fumbles around to get the key in the lock and finally manages after four dreadful attempts.

  Hopping out of my truck, I find my eyes still on her. She pushes the door open and hovers as she feels around for the light switch. She flicks it, but nothing happens. Trying a few more times, I watch as her eyebrows furrow in confusion.

  Great. Another thing I’m going to have to fix.

  “Hey,” I call out to her.

  She looks up, surprised to find me still here. “Yes?” she grunts with an attitude.

  “Your electricity is out again.”

  “No shit, genius,” she says.

  I hold in a groan and take a slow deep breath. “Didn’t you get it fixed?”

  “No,” she says. “You fixed it the other day, and then, I guess I forgot to call the electrician.”

  This time, the groan comes out loud and clear. “You’re impossible,” I tell her.

  “Yeah, well dealing with you is no vacation,” she replies with a huff before reaching for the door handle. “Thanks for the ride.”

  With that, she pulls the door closed with a bang that’s far too loud for this time of the night. I shake my head and try to calm myself as I walk to my front door. There’s a chill in the air and I find myself desperate to get inside to where it’s warm.

  Then it really hits me. She has no electricity. She’ll spend the night freezing in the dark.

  Fuck.

  I turn on my heel, storm over to her place and push through the door that I know isn’t going to be locked. She squeals at the intrusion, but I don’t give her a chance to say a word. I follow the sound of her squeal, grab her around the waist and throw her over my shoulder.

  She beats her fists into my back. “Put me down,” she demands.

  “No,” I tell her as I walk straight back out the door and across to my place. “You’re sleeping in my guest room until you can get your shit sorted out.”

  “Like hell I am,” she seethes.

  “You’re telling me you’d prefer to sleep in a freezing house than in a proper bedroom with heating and lights?” I ask her as I shift her so I can dig through my pocket for my house keys.

  “Yep,” she grunts.

  “Bullshit,” I reply. “Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?”

  “Why do you have to be such an ass?” she throws back at me.

  “Because you’re stubborn.”

  She groans and I ignore it as I get inside the house. I walk straight down the hallway with her over my shoulder, grab a towel out of the cupboard before pushing my way into the spare room.

  Walking straight in, I dump her and the towel on the bed before turning back around and walking right back out of the door. I flick the light on my way past and close the door behind me.

  I have a moment where I want to pat myself on the back for a job well done. Only, that would make me an obnoxious ass, where I’m clearly just an ass.

  Heading down to my bedroom, I can’t help but feel bothered by the fact that she thinks I’m an ass. I mean, yeah, I have been, but only because she drives me up the wall. If she wasn’t so stubborn, I’d probably be the perfect neighbor. She just pulls this reaction out of me which half the time, surprises even me.

  I pull my phone, keys, and wallet out of my pockets and dump them on my dresser. It’s been a long day and even longer night. All I want to do is crash, and hopefully be able to sleep in tomorrow morning. That is, if the dreams stay at bay, but I doubt it.


  Grabbing the hem of my shirt, I tear it over my head before reaching for the button of my jeans.

  Hearing a gasp behind me, I curse myself for not closing the door. I know exactly what she’s seeing right now, and I’m terrified of turning around and seeing her face. Nobody has seen me this way. It’s not pretty. It’s basically a road map of the torture I endured.

  I turn around and watch as her eyes widen as she gets a look at the front. The scars are still an angry red and I can only imagine what it would look like to somebody who doesn’t know what happened. Hell, seeing it myself the first time was devastating.

  Her eyes roam all over my body as I walk towards her. They grow watery and I can only imagine the things that are going through her mind. “What happened to you?” she whispers.

  Her hand lifts and I have to stop myself from flinching.

  I can’t handle this. I’m not ready for people to know just how bad it was.

  I stand before her and without a word, I reach for the door and close it between us.

  Chapter 9

  Luke

  The sun comes shining through my window and I squint into the light before running my hands down my face. It only takes me two seconds to realize I didn’t see Ben or Jonesy’s face during my dreams.

  I let out a breath and roll over to grab my phone. I hit the home button and the screen lights up. “Holy shit,” I grunt to myself as I take in the time. It’s past noon.

  I haven’t slept this well since before I left for Iraq.

  With half the day wasted, I get up out of bed and head for the bathroom. After locking myself in my room last night, I skipped past the whole showering thing, so I could really use one about now.

  Twenty minutes later, I step out of the bathroom feeling like a million bucks.

  I don’t need to go into Rebels Advocate today, so I’ve got the day to do whatever the fuck I want. After throwing all my time into the gym lately, I decide my truck could use a little attention.

  I’m nearly in the kitchen when I remember Lexi in my guest bedroom. I double back and gently knock on the door. “Lex?” I say as I wait by the door.

  There’s no response, so I push the door open, only she’s not here. The bed is made and her towel is neatly piled on the dresser. I see a slip of paper sitting on top of the towel and curiously walk forward. I pinch the paper off the towel and can’t help but smirk as I read the note.

  ‘Thanks, asshole.’

  I fold the note and find myself sliding it into my pocket. I don’t think any more about it before grabbing the towel, tossing it in the hamper, and heading into the kitchen. I grab a pot, put it on to boil, and say good morning to Gerald while I wait.

  I make myself scrambled eggs on toast and head into the living room. Putting my plate down, I let Gerald out for a stretch while I eat. Before I know it, I’m washing up my plate and grabbing my keys.

  Heading out the front door and getting everything I need to wash my truck, when I hear the music coming from next door. I grin to myself and get on with washing my truck, only to hear yelling cutting through the music, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. I look over to Lexi’s place and notice a beat-up shit box across her lawn, well... across her mud patch, and can’t help but listen.

  I don’t know how I didn’t notice the car when I first walked out. I’m usually a lot more switched on than that. Either way, I don’t like it.

  I can’t make out what’s being said through the walls and the music, but I’d recognize Lexi’s high-pitched yell anywhere. After all, I’ve heard it too many times over the past week. The other voice though, is a low tone, as if it’s a man yelling at her.

  The only man I’ve seen coming in and out of her place is her carpenter and I don’t think he has it in him to yell at her like that. From what I’ve gathered over the past few days, the old guy thinks the sun shines out of her ass.

  The only other options are that it’s either a delivery driver of some sort, or it’s her husband… ex-husband. Though, I don’t know why her ex would be here. That was done years ago. I can’t help but wonder about this mystery ex-husband, but like she said, it’s none of my business.

  I try my best to ignore the yelling, but the more it goes on the more I realize it couldn’t possibly be a delivery driver. It’s definitely her ex in there, which is one hell of an indicator that I won’t be saving her from this one. They clearly have some unresolved issues and the last thing I want to do is get myself involved in that crap.

  The longer the yelling goes on, the worse it gets. The man seems relentless, but she doesn’t have an issue giving it right back to him. It gets louder and I try my best to concentrate on my truck. I actually do a pretty good job, right up until a pained cry comes from within the house.

  I’m running and barging through the door before I even realize that I’ve done it.

  I push through the door with such force, it slams against the adjoining wall and the handle leaves a hole in the drywall. I cringe and promise myself that I’ll fix it for her later.

  Lexi startles as I step into the room, but my eyes aren’t for her right now. They’re focused on the man who smells as though he’s been at a run-down old bar for the past week.

  Lexi’s eyes flick to me before she turns them back towards the man who stands before her. “I’m not going to tell you again,” she says to him. “You need to leave.”

  “And I told you,” he slurs, making me realize he’s so drunk he hasn’t even noticed me barging my way into the room. “I’m not leaving without my money.”

  “Ha,” she scoffs. “I don’t owe you a damn thing and all the courts would agree with me.”

  “That’s bullshit,” he cries, taking a big step forward towards her.

  She instantly steps back out of his reach, but it puts her right up against the wall, giving her nowhere to go if he were to step forward again. She holds her hands up in a sign that she’s done with the conversation. “Please, just go. I was done with you four years ago and I refuse to allow you to come in here and take away the life I’ve built for myself.”

  “Baby,” he says, taking that last step to close the distance. “Don’t be like that. I’ve missed you.

  She cringes as she turns her head away from him in disgust. Her eyes meet mine across the room and it’s almost as though she’s begging me to make it stop. She presses her hand against his chest and tries to push him away, only he doesn’t budge. “Go,” she says.

  His hand flies up and he grabs her by the wrist before yanking her hard. Her body falls into his and she cries out by the pain pulsing through her wrist. She tries to pull away and I know from her blood condition that this would probably cause significant amounts of bruising.

  I can’t stand back any longer. It’s not morally right.

  “Get your fucking hands off her,” I demand. The man spins and looks at me as though I’ve just appeared out of thin air. “Let her go.”

  “Who the fuck are you?” he demands as he shoves her arm back into her chest, making her flinch with the pain.

  “That’s none of your goddamn business,” I tell him.

  “You fucking bet it is,” he spits. “She’s my wife. I have the right to know if some loser is trying to get his dick wet.”

  “Jeremy,” Lex demands. “Get out of here.”

  He turns on her. “I asked a fucking question,” he yells. “Who the fuck is this guy?”

  “He’s my neighbor,” she yells back at him. “Now, get out.”

  “So, what’s he doing here?”

  “Probably wondering what the fuck is going on.” He goes to say something else, but Lex has decided she’s finally had enough. “Jeremy, get the fuck out of my house.”

  “And I told you,” he starts, as he tries to go for her again.

  I shake my head. This guy isn’t getting it. “For fuck’s sake, man,” I say stepping forward and reaching for him. Grabbing him by the back of his shirt, I hoist him back away from her before physical
ly placing him on my other side. “She asked you to leave. What aren’t you understanding?”

  “She’s my fucking wife.”

  “The way I heard it, you guys were over four years ago,” I remind him. “Get the fuck over it and get out before I have to make you leave.”

  “Make me leave?” he scoffs as though there isn’t even a slight possibility that I could take him. I mean, the guy is a fucking twig. I could blow him down like the big bad wolf. “Fucking try it.”

  “Look at yourself, man. I’m not going to fight you. You’re a fucking drunk and you’re pathetic. Who the fuck shows up at a woman’s house and harasses her like this?”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  I take a step towards him. “I know that it’s the middle of the day and you’re drunk.”

  Another step.

  He narrows his eyes on me.

  “I know that the way you just grabbed her, she’s going to be seeing your mark for the next week.”

  Another step.

  He steps back.

  “I know that you’re the kind of man who allows his marriage to fall apart.”

  One more step.

  His jaw sets as he takes another step back, placing him right outside the open doorway.

  “And I know that you’re a coward. You’d prefer to come and take everything away from a woman who’s working her ass off, rather than man up and make a decent living for yourself.”

  With that, I step through and close the door behind me so Lex remains safely inside while I deal with this fucker out here. “Now, like I said, you need to leave. Or would you rather take your chances with me?”

  At that, he looks me up and down and must see the promise in my eyes. If it comes down to it, I’m not going to back down and I’m not a man who loses.

  He takes a step back. “This isn’t over.”

  “Yes, it is,” I tell him. “You come back here and I promise you, you’ll have me to deal with.”

  Narrowing his eyes on me one last time before turning and walking back to his piece of shit car. I know the moral thing to do would be to call a taxi as he’s simply in no state to drive, but he’s an adult and he’s not my problem. If he chooses to drive while under the influence of alcohol, then he can deal with the risks that come with that. Right now, my only priority is checking on Lex. Though, I guess there are other drivers on the road.