Rebels Advocate - COMPLETE BOX SET 1-4

by Sheridan Anne

  A moment before I step back through the door, I pull my phone out of my pocket and decide I should probably do the responsible thing. After all, those other drivers are entitled to some protection from this dickhead and if he had hurt one of them and I didn’t do anything, I’d feel like the worst kind of ass.

  I text a friend that I used to serve with who now works as a cop and let him know there’s a drunk driver on the road. He replies with a thanks and I slide my phone back into my pocket.

  I push back through the door to find her leaning up against the wall, rubbing her wrist as she watches her ex through the window. “You ok?” I ask as I look back through the window to watch the bastard attempt a burn out on the mud and spit it all over the front of Lexi’s house before slipping off the lawn and fishtailing down the road.

  Her eyes swivel from the window to me for only a second before looking away. “Yeah, thanks,” she murmurs with a tight smile.

  “No problem,” I tell her. “I had a feeling he wasn’t going to leave until someone made him.”

  “Yeah,” she agrees before trying to make herself busy. She walks into the kitchen and starts running the water in the sink to do the dishes.

  This would be my cue to leave, but once again, I find myself hovering. “So, what’s the deal?” I ask. “Has he ever been rough with you like that before?”

  “I thought I told you it wasn’t your business,” she says with a little smirk as she looks down at the sink.

  “Well, seeing as though I just threatened the guy, I just made it my business.”

  She lets out a breath before looking up at me. She searches my eyes and presses her lips together. She must like what she sees as she dries her hands on the towel and gives in.

  Lex walks around the front of the counter and pushes herself up on top of it. She crosses her legs and makes herself comfortable. “It’s not that exciting,” she warns me.

  “Stop stalling, Lex,” I tell her.

  She rolls her eyes. “Fine,” she grunts. “We were right out of high school when we decided to get married. Well, he decided and I was just along for the ride. I was stupid and stubborn. My father had always told me that we weren’t good together and well… when someone tells me I can’t do something, I tend to run in the opposite direction.”

  “Yeah,” I grunt. “I’ve worked that out.”

  She rolls her eyes and continues. “So, we were eighteen, had just got married, and I basically started resenting him straight away. Our life instantly became about bills, working, and him. Thinking about it now, I was probably way too young to have married. Hell, I’m not even sure I was really in love with him. I missed out on being a wild teenager and I hated that I suddenly had all these responsibilities.”

  “Anyway,” she says. “As the years went on, Jeremy discovered his love for drinking and it wasn’t long before he became a drunk. I’d sit at home every night by myself while he partied each night. There was nothing I could do to convince him to just spend one night at home with me, so I resented him more. He’d drain my bank account the second I was paid and we got further and further behind with the bills.”

  “We eventually lost our home and I was ready to leave and start a new life when I found out I was pregnant.”

  “Shit,” I murmur.

  “Yeah,” she agrees. “I had a miscarriage at ten weeks. It was awful, but those ten weeks were enough to show me just how badly I had wanted it. So, when I lost the baby, I was ruined.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “That couldn’t be easy.”

  “It wasn’t,” she admits with a sad smile. “I stayed with him after that,” she tells me. “I wanted to try for another one, but my hemophilia makes it hard. I had another two miscarriages after that.”

  “Jesus,” I grunt, seeing the heartache in her eyes. “You don’t need to tell me the rest,” I say. “I can see it’s hard to talk about.”

  “No, it’s alright,” she says. “I, um… my next pregnancy made it to fifteen weeks, which is just past the scary stage, so I could allow myself to get excited about it. Jeremy had come home, drunk as usual and I’d waited up for him because I’d felt the baby moving. I wanted to tell him. Anyway, we were walking up the stairs when he tripped. He fell right into me and I went down with him on top of me.”

  “I lost the baby, and due to the internal bleeding, I nearly went right along with her.”

  “Her?” I question.

  She gives me a sad smile. “I don’t know,” she admits. “I always pictured her as a her.”

  “I could see you with a little girl,” I tell her.

  She nods her head. “I guess I’ll never know.”

  “It’ll happen for you one day,” I tell her.

  “You think?” she questions.

  At that, I nod my head. Unsure where this is all coming from, but seeing the look on her face as she talked about her lost baby girl, I couldn’t picture her without it. In that moment, there was nothing but complete joy on her face, followed by the most intense heartache.

  This woman needs to have a baby. She craves it and I fear she’ll never be whole without it.

  I step closer to her and reach out. I take her chin in my fingers and lift her eyes to meet mine. “Chin up, Lex,” I tell her. “It’ll happen.”

  Hope starts to shine in her eyes. “I hope so,” she murmurs.

  I give her a nod and take a step towards the door as I release my hold on her chin. “Let me know if he comes back,” I tell her.

  “I will,” she says as I walk across to the door. “And thanks,” she adds. “You know, for letting me crash at your place last night. It was kind of nice being able to use a clean bathroom.”

  “No problem,” I laugh. “You can use it anytime.”

  With that, I duck out the door and get myself out of there before I find another reason to stay.

  Chapter 10

  Lexi

  It’s been two days since Jeremy showed up here. Two days since my wrists have made me look like a victim. Two days since Luke came and saved the day, again. And two days since I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the little girl that I lost.

  She was going to be my world. Had she been born, like she was supposed to, she would have been just shy of her fifth birthday. She would have been beautiful. I can just picture it. She’d have my golden hair, but her father’s loose ringlets with these big blue eyes that would have taken my breath away.

  She would have stolen my heart.

  I let out a sigh as I dip my paintbrush back in the bucket. I usually really enjoy painting. I find it soothing and relaxing, but not today. My heart is still hurting from the influx of memories.

  The second Jeremy walked in here, it was like being smacked in the face with the past. It’s not the first time he’s come to find me. He knows that what I’m doing now is making me a bit of money, so no matter how many times I send him the divorce papers, they always get returned to me with no signature.

  It’s like he believes that he’s entitled to something. Like he thinks that he deserves a cut of my hard work. I walked away with nothing and started fresh. I left with a clean slate and I’ve worked my ass off to clear the debt he’s put under my name.

  I’m a free woman and he will never hold me down again. I refuse to allow it.

  But when he comes walking through my door as though he belongs, I’m pulled back in time. I become the girl who’s unsure of herself. The girl who’s not sure what could happen, especially when he’s been drinking. He’s never hurt me before, but after four years, the love he had for me has faded. Now I’m just some bitch standing in the way of his next drink.

  I was in shock when he reached out and grabbed my wrist. He knows more than anybody about my blood disorder and he always used to be so cautious about it. I guess it just shows how much people can change.

  I take the few steps up my ladder so I can reach the roof and continue painting. My music plays in the background, but I’m just not feeling it today.


  A knock sounds at the door and I find myself peeking through the bedroom window over to Luke’s place. All the lights are out so it couldn’t be him. Even if it were, he’d just walk right on through.

  My eyebrows furrow as I step down from the ladder and place the paintbrush across the top of the paint bucket. I make my way out of the bedroom and up the hallway. I have no idea who could possibly be at the door. I haven’t ordered any dinner yet and I doubt Jeremy would return so soon.

  I grab the door handle and hesitantly pull it open.

  A grin rips across my face at what I see. It’s exactly what I need right now. Charli stands at the door with all the girls, each of them piled high with pizza boxes, bottles of wine, bags of chocolates, and ice cream.

  “Surprise,” Charli says as she holds up the bottle of wine like a trophy.

  “What are you guys doing here?” I ask as I pull the door open wider and let them come in.

  “Well,” Rylee says as she dumps the pizza boxes on the kitchen counter. “Cole said he was talking to Luke yesterday, who said that you were having a bit of a rough time. Though, he was a bit stingy on the details.”

  Cami cuts her off and looks at me with an excited grin. “He also said you were painting, and just for the record, I love painting,” she says, clearly looking for an invitation to join in.

  I look around at the group of girls that have quickly become amazing friends. They make themselves comfortable, pouring glasses of wine and breaking into the pizza boxes. I feel like my heart has never been so full. “You guys,” I smile. “You’re all incredible.”

  “Shut up and eat,” Izzy teases as Zara crosses the room to my speaker and turns up the volume. I can’t help but grin as I think about what Luke would think of the loud music. If he was home, he’d probably come tearing in here like a raging bull and demand we turn it down.

  An hour later, every single slice of pizza is well and truly gone, while we’ve already made our way through four bottles of wine.

  We all stand in the master bedroom with a paintbrush in one hand and our glass of wine in the other. The room is a mess of bodies and paint is going everywhere, but we just don’t care. I can fix any problems later, tonight is about having fun. And to tell the truth, from the amount of wine we’ve all thrown back, we’re doing a pretty good job.

  The music blasts through the room and the girls dance around as they go back and forth from the wall to the paint bucket. The room is going to be done in no time, so I’m pleased I made the decision to buy all the paint this morning.

  Imogen paints around the window when she ducks down and looks straight through it. “Hey, you can see straight through to Luke’s bedroom from here,” she announces to everyone.

  “I know,” I grin as they all rush over to the window to see Luke’s room.

  “Jesus,” Izzy sighs. “The things you must see from here.”

  “I caught him getting dressed a few days ago,” I tell them with a chuckle. “He’s started changing in the bathroom now.”

  Imogen, Izzy, and Charli burst out laughing as Cami dives straight back into the painting that’s she taking very seriously. “That would have been exciting,” Zara says. “That man is a beast.”

  “That, he is,” I agree as I take another sip and get back to painting. “What’s his deal?” I ask. “He’s a bit…. I don’t know. Intense?”

  “Yeah, Luke’s a soldier,” Rylee says as Charli ducks out of the room. “He’s gone through some pretty heavy stuff recently. He used to be pretty laid back, but he’s still hurting.”

  “What do you mean?” I question as Charli returns with another bottle of wine and instantly starts refilling everyone’s glasses, right up to the brim. “Are you talking about all his scars?”

  “Scars?” Cami gasps as she spins around to face me. “I didn’t know there were scars.”

  “Yeah,” I say quietly, feeling as though maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. “I’m sorry,” I tell them. “That’s his business, I shouldn’t have blurted that out.”

  “It’s ok,” Rylee says. “Luke hasn’t been very forthcoming lately. He’s keeping everything locked inside. Maybe what he needs is for someone to force him to talk about it.”

  “I agree,” Imogen says. “I don’t think he’s talked to anyone about it, not even Jace, but I have a feeling you’d be able to help him.”

  “Me?” I shriek. I can hardly even get my own life together, let alone help someone else.

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Imogen says. “There’s something about you that’s intriguing to Luke. The way he acts around you isn’t the Luke we all know. He couldn’t keep his eyes off you last weekend and the fact that he keeps messing with you speaks volumes.”

  “Really?” I question.

  “Oh yeah,” she says. “He’s into you.”

  “Nah,” I say with a shake of my head. “I’d know if he were into me. He can barely stand me.”

  “Uh huh,” Imogen says, not believing a single word of my denial. Though, I find myself oddly liking the idea of the beast next door being into me. He’s hot and mysterious, and I have no doubt, that a man like that would certainly know how to please a woman.

  He’d drive me insane though and it’d be intense, but I can’t work out if it’d be a good intense or a bad one.

  I think it over for a moment. He’s always right there. He kidnapped me when I had no electricity, he got rid of Jeremy, he forces me to eat proper meals, and he practically shoved a packet of peas down my pants when I hurt my ass. Yeah, it’d be a good intense.

  “You know,” I tell them. “This massive snake came through the window and he came and got it out for me.”

  The second the words come out, every single one of them burst into laughter. “Oh shit,” Cami laughs. “That’s hilarious.”

  “What?” I grunt. “It was so not hilarious. That thing was massive. It could have eaten me in one bite.”

  “No,” she laughs. “That’s Luke’s snake.”

  “What?” I grunt again.

  “He has a snake,” she tells me with a chuckle. “I think his name is Gerald or something like that.”

  “No,” I say with a shake of my head. “That’s not possible. I’ve been in his place a few times. I think I’d notice if there was a four-meter python slithering around.”

  “He does,” Rylee laughs. “Gerald is awesome, and for him to be in your place, Luke would have been messing with you.”

  I think back to that day. “No,” I say. “Luke was terrified. He was tiptoeing and watching it like a hawk. He was scared of it. He even made me help him get it in the bag.”

  “Oh geez,” Imogen laughs. “He got you good.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I shriek in outrage. “He was messing with me?”

  “Yeah,” they all say.

  Fury takes over me. “That man is so infuriating,” I tell them.

  They all grin as though they know some kind of secret, and from the looks of it, they’re all suggesting it’s because he has some kind of thing for me, which is ridiculous. If he had a thing for me, he wouldn’t be going out of his way to make my life a living hell.

  Rylee grins as she glances across to Luke’s room before looking back at me. “We should get him back,” she says.

  With that, a grin rips across my face. I’ve never heard such a good idea.

  Ten minutes later, we have a plan in place and we stick our heads out the front door. We look left and then we look right. “The coast is clear,” I whisper-yell to the girls behind me.

  We dash out the door and run across to Luke’s place. Izzy instantly sticks a hairpin into the door and fiddles around with it before we hear the distinct sound of the door unlocking. “Where the hell did you learn how to do that?” Rylee questions.

  Izzy gives Imogen a secretive look before grinning at Rylee. “Never you mind,” she tells her.

  “Come on,” I say as I push the door open. “I need to see this snake for myself.”

&nbs
p; I step into his home and Cami leads me into the living room. “Holy shit,” I gasp as I see the big bastard who was chilling out in my bedroom last week. “That dickhead,” I grunt. He really was messing with me.

  That fact alone has me even more determined. “Alright ladies,” I say as they all hover around the living room. “You know what to do.” We put our hands in the middle and do one of those cheer things that sports teams like to do. We all call ‘break’ before scattering around his home.

  I head straight for his bedroom and find his dresser. The plan is to inconvenience him as much as possible. My task; steal one sock from every pair.

  Giggling to myself, I pull open each drawer, searching for his sock drawer. As I thought, it’s the drawer right at the top, and I see all his socks neatly placed in a line. I go about unrolling them and taking one of each.

  Shoving them down my bra, I dash into the bathroom where Cami is busy peeling the labels off his shampoo bottles and switching them. She giggles to herself and manages to do the whole thing without putting her glass of wine down.

  I find a little pair of scissors and make a cut in the bottom of the toothpaste tube, so when he squeezes it, it will all come out the bottom.

  I feel like a fucking genius as I snicker and go about his house. Rylee switches the salt for the sugar. Zara sticks clear tape across every open doorway, so he’ll walk straight into it. Charli switches all the plugs behind his TV, and we all work together in rearranging every item in his kitchen cupboards.

  Looking around the house, I’m confident that we’ve managed to get every single room. I even consider putting rice along the tops of the ceiling fans, but decide that’s taking it a little too far.

  Twenty minutes later, we dash out of his house, terrified that we’ll get caught.

  We spend the rest of the night, demolishing off the rest of the wine and eating the ice cream from the tub. I can’t believe what a great night I’ve had. “You guys are the best,” I tell them.