by Marie York
Us
Part Three in
The Perfect Chaos Series
By Marie York
COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission of the author except where permitted by law.
Published by
Marie York
Copyright May 2015
Cover Photo by PawelSierak
Cover Design by Cover Up Designs
Formatted by CookieLynn Publishing Services
Edited by TCB Editing Services
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious.
Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Chapter 1
Kennedy
My brain couldn’t comprehend what Nix had said. I had been trying for hours to make sense of it, but no matter how many times I told myself that Beckham, the man I loved, knocked up another girl, and probably had a kid out there somewhere, I just couldn’t process it.
The look on Beckham’s face though, the way his body slumped in defeat as Nix blurted out his secret, there was no way he could deny it. And there was no way I could deny it any longer either. I always knew Beckham was a player. Fucked girls with a no strings attached understanding, but this… even if it was a mistake, why wouldn’t he want to make it right? Be the man he’s capable of being? The Beckham I thought I knew? He would’ve stepped up, and did the right thing. But I guess it just proved… I didn’t know him at all.
My eyes were puffy from crying and my throat was hoarse. I crawled under my comforter, and blocked out the world. Erica was out, and I was grateful for it. The last thing I wanted to do was explain the shit hole that was my life to my roommate. I’d rather just hide, and try to forget the last twenty-four hours.
There was a knock on the door, and I should’ve known that my comforter couldn’t keep me hidden for long.
“Go away,” I yelled, refusing to even look at who it was, and praying to God it wasn’t Beckham. I couldn’t face him. Not now, and maybe not ever. He was an awful person. Who runs out on their own flesh and blood?
“Open the damn door, Kennedy,” Nixon said on the other side, and gave it a hard knock for good measure.
He was the last person I wanted to see. Maybe not the last. Beckham held that title, but Nixon was a close second. I swear he found sick pleasure in watching my world crumble around me. He was so overprotective, and I bet it killed him that I was dating someone without his approval.
I ignored him, but then he started pounding on the door. Afraid he was going to knock it down, which wouldn’t surprise me, I dragged myself from the comfort of my hiding place, and opened the door.
“What do you want, Nix?”
He laughed and rubbed at the dark stubble on his chin. “You ran out of Beckham’s so fast. We didn’t have time to catch up.”
“That is not why you’re here, and we both know it, so cut to the damn chase. I’m not in the mood for games.”
He shrugged. “Fine. Have it your way then. What I want to know is how you could be so fucking stupid?”
His blue eyes that should’ve been mine—I was the blonde in the family dammit. Instead, I wound up with shitty brown—narrowed in at me. “I’m waiting.”
I threw my hands up in the air. “What do you want me to tell you? You want the truth. I love him.”
“You’re a child. You don’t know what love is,” he spat.
“I am not a child. I’m only two years younger than you.”
“But you’ve been coddled your whole life. So, those two years could be twenty as far as I’m concerned.”
“And who’s the one who coddled me? You don’t let me do shit. For fucks sake, you had Beckham be my goddamn babysitter. I’m eighteen years old. It’s time you start treating me like an adult.”
“An adult? You?” he laughed, and I wanted to slap him. “Look at the mess you’re in now. Fucking a guy who knocked someone up and left her behind to come here and prey on a child.”
“I am NOT a child!” I screamed. “Stop calling me one.”
“How are your classes going? I hope Beckham didn’t distract you from that 4.0 Mom and Dad expect of you.”
I went to yell at him to mind his own fucking business, but the words got stuck in my throat. Nix was right. I had cut class for Beckham. I had skipped out on a few assignments. Somehow, I had let Beckham consume my life, and schoolwork was no longer a priority. My parents were going to kill me.
“That’s what I thought,” he sneered. “Good job, sis.”
“Shut up.”
“Why? You’re an adult. You should be able to handle the truth.”
“Get the fuck out,” I demanded, and pointed to the door. “Out!”
“The conversation was just getting good, and we haven’t even got to the good stuff. Like. I hope you weren’t stupid like that girl Becks left behind. Hope you were using protection. Could you imagine going home and telling Mom and Dad that their princess was knocked up? Now, that would be epic.”
“I said, get out.” Nix was notorious for kicking me when I was down. I didn’t know if it was his way of trying to teach me a lesson, or if he seriously found joy in making me feel like shit. Either way, I wasn’t going to take it. Not anymore.
I shoved his chest, and urged him toward the door. He held his hands up and laughed. “Hit a nerve?” he asked, and I pushed him again. When he was on the other side of the threshold, I gave him one last look before slamming the door in his face.
I listened to him laugh as he walked down the hallway. I got in my bed, and crawled back under my comforter, hiding from the world, and every word that came out of my brother’s mouth.
Chapter 2
Beckham
What a fucking mess… Nix might not have cut my dick off, but it was worse. I lost my best friend, and the only girl I ever loved in the matter of minutes. Talk about a shit show. I needed a plan. Something. I had to fix this, or go down trying.
The truth was all I could think to do. It had to work. It was all I had. The problem was, I doubted I could get Kennedy to hear me out. Doubted she would even believe the truth at this point. But I had to try. What else did I have? Nothing. And, to be honest, I had nothing left to lose.
Still, I knew Kennedy. She needed time to cool down. To process everything that Nix told her. So, I would put my tail in between my legs, find Nix, and pray to all that was holy that he’d find it in his heart to forgive me for falling in love with his baby sister.
He flew into town for a fight, and I knew that was where I’d find him since I hadn’t seen him since he stormed out of my place right after Kennedy did.
I headed down to the only place I knew where they held UFC matches. There was a flyer outside the door announcing a fight that night at eight. I glanced over the information and nearly shit myself when I saw who Nix was going up against.
I didn’t know about much in the UFC world, but I had heard the name Brian ‘Bricks’ Johnson. The guy was set to be the next big thing in the ring. Bets were made on him constantly because he had yet to lose a single match. They called him Bricks because, according to one fighter, getting hit by Brian Johnson was like hitting a brick wall.
Nix was out of his fucking mind. I went into the gym, hoping maybe Nix was in there practicing, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Hey, Becks,” a girl at the front desk said.
I moved a little closer, and realized it was Chrissy, a girl I had slept with my firs
t week here. I hadn’t seen her since, either. It was like the world was conspiring to tell me how much of an asshole I was.
“Hey, Chrissy,” I said, as I approached the desk.
“Looking to sign up? Have to admit, you’d look pretty damn hot in that ring.”
My lip lifted at the compliment. “Thanks, but no. I’m actually looking for someone. Nixon Bennett? Has he been in here?”
“Not yet. Though we’re all waiting to see him. Most people have to be out of their minds to go up against Bricks. And this Nixon has been swearing he can take him. Some people say he has a death wish.”
“No death wish. Just a huge fucking ego,” I mumbled. For as long as I’d known Nix, he was always trying to prove himself. Trying to be faster and stronger and smarter. Everything was a competition with him. I think that’s why we got along so well. He always wanted to win, and I never wanted to try. He always got the victory, and I never had to put any effort into anything.
“Hopefully he can back up that mouth,” she said, as she gathered her brown hair into a ponytail.
Nix could fight. There was no denying that, but I had no idea if he had what it took to take down a man with the nickname Bricks.
“I hope so,” I said to Chrissy, then grabbed a pen from a cup, and wrote my number down on a Post it she had in front of her. “If you see him, don’t tell him I’m looking for him. Just give me a call.”
She took the yellow piece of paper from me and smiled. “You got it.”
“Thanks,” I said, and headed for the door. Just as I was about to go out, I glanced to my left, and saw who, I assumed, was Bricks. He was beating on some poor guy covered in pads, and all I could think was, I hope Nix knew what he was getting himself into.
Finding Nix was a bust, and it was time to face the one person I’d been avoiding. I needed to find Kennedy. And, if I knew her as well as I thought I did, I knew exactly where I would find her. But first, I had to make a few stops. I couldn’t just show up without any peace offerings.
An hour later, I knocked on her dorm door, holding a cup of coffee, and a plastic bag with a bottle of orange soda, and Baked Lays potato chips. She couldn’t resist her favorites. I hoped.
I knocked again. She didn’t answer. Didn’t as much as call out. It was all quiet on the other end. I could’ve walked away, and accepted defeat, but I knew her, and I knew for a fact she was in there.
“Kenny, please talk to me. Let me in. Five minutes. That’s all I ask.”
Still no response. I knocked one final time as if that was the secret to getting me past the wood blocking me from her. It wasn’t.
I rested my peace offerings against the wall, and pressed my forehead to the door. “Kenny,” I said to the door, imagining her curled up in her bed, her blonde hair covering her face, and her beautiful brown eyes, staring at the door. “I’m sorry.”
There were so many things I could’ve said, but I didn’t want to speak to the door. I didn’t even know if she was in there. And, if she was, if she could even hear me. I’d already given enough of a show to the people on this floor. So, after a minute, I pushed off the door, and walked away.
The only time I looked back, was when I got outside. I glanced up to her window, third one up and fourth over, and for the slightest of seconds almost fast enough to make me think I was imagining it, I saw her looking back at me.
I blinked and she was gone.
Chapter 3
Beckham
Without having Kennedy around, I didn’t know what do with myself. Pathetic really. Before she showed up on campus, I had a pretty active social life. But, then she walked into my life, and suddenly the only thing I cared about was spending time with her.
Nix was still MIA. I tried calling him a bunch of times, but he kept ignoring my calls. I even called Chrissy a few times to see if he had come in, but he hadn’t. I thought for sure that he would’ve showed up early to practice.
So, for the next three hours, I sat in McGuire’s nursing a beer. By the end of the third hour, Max and Tripp showed up.
“I think it’s a mirage,” Tripp said, as he and Max tiptoed toward me like a bunch of fools. When they reached me, Tripp poked me in the arm and then declared, “He’s real!”
I laughed, even though it was the last thing I felt like doing.
“Trish called us. Said you were in here moping,” Max said, as he waved down the bartender and ordered a beer.
“I’m not moping,” I protested.
Max pointed to the glass in front of me. “How long have you been drinking that beer?”
“Long enough.”
“Let me guess, girl troubles?” Max asked.
I shrugged, and Tripp turned with his finger out, and a big doofy smile on his face. “Nix found out!” he declared, and then pulled his hands to his mouth like a giddy school kid waiting to hear they were allowed to go on the field trip.
“Yup,” was all I said, but it was enough to send Tripp into a laughing fit. Max joined him soon after, but gathered himself together much quicker.
“Oh, man, how’d he take it?” Max asked.
I turned to let them see the cut on my eyebrow, and the nice black and blue mark that was forming around my eye.
Max’s eyes widened, and then he took a sip of his beer. “That well, huh? At least he didn’t kill you.”
“I almost wish he had,” I mumbled. I stood up from the stool, and patted Max on the shoulder. “I actually have to get going.”
“Where you off to?” he asked.
“I’m in the mood for another black eye.”
“He’s fighting tonight,” Max offered.
“I know. If I’m lucky, I can catch him before the match.”
Tripp leaned across the bar. “You’d be better off waiting ‘til after. Maybe by then he won’t have the energy to kill you.”
Max lifted his glass to me. “Either way, good luck. You’re going to need it.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
I headed out of the bar, and over to the fight. There was a shit ton of traffic heading into the parking lot, and I was late. I’d have to try to get to Nix after the fight. So, I headed into the venue, paid the entrance fee, and looked for my seat.
The crowd erupted into cheers, and I realized the fight had already started. I made my way down the aisle, so I could get a good glance at the ring.
Nix was bouncing from one foot to the other, his fists held in front of his face, ready to take a jab. He watched his opponent like a hawk stalking his prey. Bricks took the first move, thrusting his fist at Nix. Nix blocked it, and continued to stay strong on defense, blocking every blow that came his way.
Bricks circled around him, and Nix followed. Nix took his eyes away for a second, and he spotted me in the crowd. His jaw clenched, and even though it was a brief moment, his opponent took the in, and knocked him square in the face.
Nix’s head flung back, and he stumbled. Blood spewed from his eyebrow. From being punched by him in the same place, I knew that spot was a bleeder.
Bricks was in front of Nix now. A sinister smirk spread across Nix’s face as his gaze landed over Bricks’ shoulder and right back on me. He swung at Bricks, but he was blocked, so he swung with his other hand.
Eventually he got a shot in, and continued hammering Bricks while his eyes never left mine. Bricks took blow after blow that I knew were intended for me. Blood dripped from Nix’s eye, but, at one point, I couldn’t tell if the blood on his face was his or Bricks.
Bricks obviously was not moving anymore, so the refs tried to stop Nix, but he continued beating Bricks. Finally, two guys managed to rip him off of his unconscious opponent. He swiped the blood from his face, and then Nix met my eyes again, and narrowed them until they were tiny evil slits.
He was warning me to leave. Fuck that. I had shit to say, and it was now or never.
Nix walked out of the ring, and I managed to push my way through the crowd and toward him. He went to the locker room, and I followed, sneaking by t
he security guard stationed at the entrance.
A person was tending to his eye, and I figured I’d be safer to approach now. He wouldn’t kill me if there was a witness. At least, I didn’t think he would.
His head was leaned back, but he still saw me as I walked in. That evil glare from earlier returned, and his fists clenched at his side.
“You must be really fucking stupid,” he said, sitting up and dismissing the person who was cleaning out his wound.
“Not stupid. I just want to end this. Make it right.”
“There is no making it right. I trusted you and you screwed me. Excuse me. You screwed my sister.”
I shook my head at his brashness. Kennedy deserved better than that. “It wasn’t like that.”
“I don’t give a shit what it was like. I trusted you to watch her, and, all along, it turned out I should have been warning her against you. I hope you were smart enough to use protection this time.”
I could’ve told him the truth right then, but the way he was spewing hate at me through his eyes, it didn’t matter what I said. Nothing I said or did would change anything. His mind was made up, and there wasn’t anything I could do.
“So what? We’re not friends anymore? All those years down the fucking drain?”
“You should’ve thought about that before you went after my sister. Did you even once think about what would happen if I found out?”
“Are you kidding me? That’s all I fucking thought about. But you know what? I regret not acting sooner. I spent so much time worrying about what you would think and caring about your thoughts, and yet you haven’t heard me out once since finding out. You don’t give a fuck about me. You could care less. All you care about is yourself. So, fuck you. I’m done. Go live your miserable fucking life.”
He jumped up and got in my face, but I refused to back down. This was one time when I wasn’t going to let him win. Sweat and blood dripped down his face, and our noses were practically touching. His eyes darkened in disgust, and I gave my own death glare back.
“Get the fuck out of here. I’m sick of looking at you,” Nix finally said and stepped down.