Badboy Romance

by Lisa Simmons

  “See? Your girl’s reasonable,” Liam said lightly, shifting his gaze to Reece.

  “Don’t,” Reece warned, his voice tense through gritted teeth.

  “May I come in or must we do this in the hall?” Liam asked, ignoring Reece’s warning. He was so oddly calm and formal that I seemed off balance with what I knew he did in his free time. It appeared as though he and Jack handled their drugs in about as opposite a manner as possible. Jack had become erratic, irrational, and violent, while Liam appeared calm, casual, and oddly polite. Unnervingly polite.

  Reece gritted his teeth and glared at him as if he hated the idea of him in my apartment, but I didn’t like how exposed the hallway was.

  “You have five minutes,” Reece growled, stepping back to let him in while keeping himself between Liam and I the entire time. Liam nodded before stepping inside, his eyes landing on Luke and Emily, who remained silent on the couch. “Oh, hello,” Liam said. Neither of them responded. “Didn’t mean to interrupt your company.”

  “What do you want?” Reece spit, not about to put up with any nonsense.

  “Straight to it, then,” Liam muttered seemingly to himself. “Well, Reece, we have a problem.”

  “Do we?” Reece asked harshly. My stomach twisted, worried Reece was being overly aggressive and would set off Liam to do something irrational. I rubbed my hand along his back in an attempt to calm him down but he didn’t appear to notice at all. “We do,” Liam said coolly. “You see, you shot a friend of mine.”

  Reece didn’t say anything but I felt his muscles twitch beneath my touch at Liam’s statement. I hated Liam for reminding Reece of this horrible fact, although it was the only reason I could think as to why he’d be here in the first place. “And another friend of mine is in jail,” Liam continued when it was clear Reece wasn’t going to acknowledge his first statement. “This is my problem.”“Quite the predicament,” Reece agreed flatly.

  “Reece...” I whispered, warning him to be careful. My nerves were quickly frazzling from anxiety.

  “What do we do about this problem?” Reece said, attempting to force his voice to be calm.

  “The way I see it, we have two options,” Liam said casually, picking at the back of his hand absentmindedly.

  “Which are?”

  “Well... one, I could return the favor and shoot you myself,” Liam started, flicking his ice blue stare between Reece and I. I sucked in a deep breath and felt my heart hammer in my chest as fear started to creep through me at an alarming rate.

  “Or two, I could forget this whole thing in return for your promise that you’ll never breathe another word of what you saw to the police, or anyone else for that matter,” Liam finished. He watched us placidly as he waited for our response.

  “What exactly does that mean?” I asked, sure there was a catch somewhere. Liam’s gaze turned to settle on me over Reece’s shoulder while Reece tried in vain to push me behind him completely. “It means that you keep your mouth shut about the drugs and anything else you saw, and I won’t ever have to see you again,” Liam explained. “You see, backing Jack wasn’t really my decision. I hardly knew him, so I don’t really feel like getting my hands dirty to avenge someone who meant nothing to me. As for my boy Samuel, he took the fall for the drugs and I don’t really have any desire to join him behind bars.”“That’s it?” Reece asked skeptically. “We don’t turn you in and you leave us alone forever?”

  “That’s it,” Liam repeated simply, shrugging again. “I’m a selfish person, and selfish people don’t do things for others if it may mean spending time in jail. I quite like my freedom and I’d like to guarantee that.”“What about the rest of your people, huh? They’ll stay away from us, too?” Reece asked sharply, his eyes narrowed suspiciously at Liam.

  “You have my word. They’re even more selfish than I am,” Liam said, shaking his head slowly as if he found the whole situation amusing. Reece was silent for a few moments, considering the offer and trying to spot some type of loophole or deception. “You or anyone else don’t go near her,” Reece demanded slowly, watching him closely. “If I even see one of you within a hundred feet of her, I’ll go straight to the police and tell them everything.”“Or him,” I added quickly. “Stay away from Reece, too.”

  Reece reached behind his back to grip my wrist lightly, as if trying to silence me and let him handle it.

  “Fair enough,” Liam said, nodding. “Do we have a deal?”

  Reece regarded him silently, his face twisted into a frown like he was being forced to make a deal with the devil. Liam extended a hand in front of him, waiting patiently for Reece to either accept his handshake or deny it.

  Reece stepped forward and extended his arm, locking hands with Liam momentarily to shake on it.

  “You have a deal.”

  They stared at each other for a second before the handshake broke. A smile stretched across Liam’s face, looking out of place next to his hollow cheekbones and hauntingly bright eyes.

  “Excellent. Now that that’s settled, I’ll let you get back to your evening,” he said casually as he rubbed his hands together in front of him. He moved toward the door and Reece shifted to keep himself between he and I constantly. Liam pulled the door open and started to exit before pausing, glancing back at Reece and I.

  “I’d say see you later, but that won’t be the case. Have a good evening,” he said calmly before flashing us another strange grin and exiting, closing the door gently behind him.

  A whoosh of air rushed from my lungs as I exhaled for what felt like the first time since he’d arrived. My body sagged forward as I collided with Reece’s back, wrapping my arms around his waist to hug him from behind. My forehead rested against the wide expanse of his back while his hands settled over mine that covered his stomach. “Oh my god,” I muttered, my words stifled slightly. Reece squeezed my hands before spinning in my grip, taking my face between his hands and tilting my face so I was looking at him.

  “Are you okay?” he asked intently, peering down at me. I nodded slowly and blew a deep breath out.

  “I’m fine,” I answered honestly. I was just relieved that Liam was gone and oddly surprised by his offer. As far as I knew, Reece and I had no plans as it was to turn him in in the first place, so the deal was an added bonus to our already existing plan. If we dared to trust him, we had just been promised safety from any potential retaliation. “Are you?”“I’m just fine,” he reassured me, tugging me forward into his chest. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders to hug me tightly.

  “What the hell was that?” Emily said, reminding me that she and Luke were still in the room.

  “Liam,” Luke muttered. It didn’t surprise me that Luke knew who he was since I knew that Samuel had history with him, and Samuel and Luke used to be friends. “He’s gone downhill even more since I last saw him, holy shit.”I felt Reece nod as he held me to his chest. “He’s seen better days.”

  “Do you believe him? That he’ll really leave us alone for good as long as we don’t turn him in?” I asked Reece, tilting my head back to look up at him.

  “I think so, oddly enough. Do you?”

  “Yeah,” I agreed, surprising myself. “He didn’t really know Jack so I can’t see him risking jail to do anything about it. And I think Samuel getting put away for the drugs probably scared him away from going after us in case he got caught.”Reece nodded, agreeing with me. “I think you’re right.”

  “Me too,” Luke added. “That guy wouldn’t risk going to jail for anyone other than himself.”

  “So... is that settled then? You guys are all in the clear?” Emily asked, struggling to put the pieces together.

  “I think so,” I said, a sudden happiness bubbling up inside me. It hadn’t really hit me until that moment, but the lingering fear of retaliation had just been lifted thanks to Liam’s abrupt arrival and strange proposal. My grin widened as I looked up at Reece, relieved to see him looking happy once again after th
e stress of Liam’s visit had pulled him down briefly.

  “I think so, too,” he agreed lightly, kissing my forehead and hugging me tighter momentarily.

  “Excellent,” Emily cheered. Now can we get back to drinking, please?”

  I laughed, impressed by her ability to bounce back from literally anything in order to have a good time.

  “Yes Emily. We can,” I said, disentangling myself from Reece’s arms to head back toward where she and Luke were sitting. “But first, I think we need another round of drinks.”"But something keeps me real quiet, I'm alive, I'm a-lush: your love, your love, your love."

  Chapter 84

  Two hours and numerous questionable drinks later, the four of us were significantly drunk. It was by far the drunkest I'd ever seen Reece, and I could hardly contain myself as fits of laughter wracked through my body periodically. His words were slurring adorably, just as I was sure mine were as well. It seemed everything he said fought to stay in his mouth, his lips and tongue not cooperating the way he hoped to.

  "Abigailll my drink is gone," he said, tapping me lightly on the nose with his now empty glass. I remained sitting on his lap, my arm looped lazily around his neck to keep my drunken body from falling off. He had one arm roped around my back and the other that held his glass resting on my lap, where he'd accidentally spilled more than once to wet my jeans with his drink.

  "Well get another one silly," I replied, draining the rest of my glass and setting it on the end table next to the chair we were sitting in.

  "But I'm s'tired," he mumbled, dropping his forehead to land on my shoulder. He let out a ridiculously overdramatic snore, followed quickly by a snort of laughter and a very uncharacteristic giggle. I joined in the giggling as I poked his stomach, earning a quiet 'ow' from him as he rested against my shoulder.

  "Keep drinking with meee," I requested drunkenly, barring my teeth widely at him as he rose his head to glance at me. His eyes were bleary as he watched me, his gaze taking a little longer than usual to focus on me.

  "Alright, alright, woman..." he trailed off, mumbling something I couldn't hear while I continued to giggle.

  He stood from the chair to get another drink, dumping me unceremoniously on the floor after accidently heaving me off his lap in his haste to stand up. I landed with a loud thud, the alcohol in my body cushioning the fall easily. I cackled uncontrollably on the floor as he stooped down in front of me, apologizing profusely in his adorably slurred speech.

  "Baby, ohmygod I'm so sorrrry," he said, ducking down in front of me while tears leaked from my eyes, finding everything far more funny than it probably actually was.

  "You dropped me!" I accused playfully, pointing my finger at him. I struggled to sit up off the floor but finally managed to lift my back from the ground. My head swam at the movement but I tried to ignore it. I'd lost count of how many drinks I'd made, a task which Reece had taken over at some point when I was no longer able to determine an appropriate amount of alcohol for each drink. His plan had clearly backfired, however, because he was just about as bad at it as I was after consuming so much alcohol. His drinks had been just as strong, if not stronger, than the ones I'd been making, resulting in our current states.

  "Are you hurt?" he asked, stumbling slightly as he lost his balance, falling back to land on his bum with a slight huff. He looked surprised as he found himself in that position, setting me off on another round of laughter. I pushed my hair out of my face and crawled forward, settling between his long legs as they stretched out in front of him. He leaned back on his hands, watching me with a lazy grin on his face while I folded my legs, my thighs resting atop of his.

  "Terribly hurt," I said, pouting playfully as I tugged lightly on the hem of his shirt in an attempt to draw him closer. He resisted lazily, letting his head tilt back momentarily before refocusing on me.

  "Ya look it," he mumbled with a lopsided grin.

  "Look!" I said dramatically, holding my hand up in front of his face. He squinted at it, frowning deeply in concentration.

  "S'nothing wrong, babe," he slurred, shaking his head slowly before stopping as if it made him dizzy.

  "Yes huh, it's broken," I lied. I was not very convincing thanks to the wide grin plastered across my face.

  "Here, wait," he said, blinking a few times as he refocused his gaze on my hand before leaning his head forward to press his lips into the back of it sloppily. "S'all better!"

  "This one hurts, too," I said, raising my other hand for him to kiss. I bit my lip giddily into my mouth as I eagerly awaited his movement. He repeated his action, pressing a wet kiss to the back of my other one. I grinned in satisfaction.

  "Thanks, babe," I said happily.

  "Mmhmmm. Baby I've something that hurts as well," he said suddenly, a cheeky grin spreading across his face. His words were slower and deeper than usual, and his features appeared slightly sluggish thanks to the abundant alcohol in his system, but he was still undeniably hot.

  "Hmmmm?" I hummed, waiting for him to continue as I swayed drunkenly in front of him despite sitting on the ground. He didn't respond but dropped his eyelid in a lazy wink before raising a hand and pointing a finger toward his crotch.

  I burst out laughing, falling back to the ground away from Reece between his legs as I cackled uncontrollably. I felt his hands land on my knees, squeezing lightly before tugging on them, as if trying to bring me back up to face him. He only succeeded in stretching my hips, failing to pull me back up.

  "Hey, shut it, will you?" Luke called drunkenly from the couch, where he and Emily had been boldly making out for nearly a half an hour now, leaving Reece and I to entertain ourselves. I had almost forgotten they were there. After much teasing from an increasingly drunk Reece, they'd finally given in and dropped their casual charade. It was after our fifth or sixth round of drinks that Emily had practically jumped Luke, which he'd been more than pleased to accept.

  Reece and I had quickly grown bored with harassing them thanks to the way they blatantly ignored us, which had led to whatever we were doing now.

  "Yeah, yeah," Reece muttered, waving a hand lazily in their direction. "I don't wanna hear shit from you ever again, ya hear me?"

  Luke completely ignored him, attempting to dive back in to kiss Emily once more. I finally managed to stop my wild laughter and pull myself to sit back up and face Reece. Reece's eyes widened slightly before he raised a hand and leaned forward as if to whisper to me.

  "He's crabby 'cause we're cock blocking him."

  I giggled and leaned forward towards Reece, raising my hand just as he did to mirror him. Reece bit his lower lip into his mouth to control his wide grin.

  "Should we leave so they can bang again?" I whispered loudly so they would hear. Reece and I both glanced in their direction, our faces set in anticipatory excitement. Luke was glaring at us jokingly while Emily attempted to finish the rest of her drink, apparently forgetting about making out with Luke momentarily. Reece and I both burst into a fit of giggles, both of us far too drunk for our own good.

  "Yes you should," Luke all but shouted. Emily smacked him lightly in the chest but didn't protest.

  "Ooooooh, Abby, we got told," Reece said, nudging me conspiratorially. His lips formed into an 'o' shape and his brows rose on his forehead as if insulted. I giggled again before heaving myself off the floor, suddenly interested in heading to the kitchen for a glass of water. Reece followed me immediately, stumbling slightly as he rose to his full height and falling into the chair before he managed to right himself. His eyes widened slightly as he gripped the back of it, steadying himself before continuing toward me in the kitchen.

  I stood at the sink, blinking furiously to try and focus on filling two glasses- one for Reece and one for me. It wasn't long before I felt a pair of arms wind around my waist from behind. Reece's face nuzzled into my neck and he rested far more weight on me than he probably realized in his drunken state, but I didn't mind.

  "S'go to bed
, baby," he whispered. My body shivered at the feel of his lips fumbling drunkenly at my neck while he spoke.

  "'kay, but drink this first," I slurred, holding a glass of water up to my shoulder, which he ignored. I shifted my shoulder, jostling him gently. "Reeceyyyy."

  "Abigailllll," he said, repeating my tone and drawing out the sound of my name. He felt like he was about to fall asleep on my shoulder. He nestled his face further into my neck and squeezed me. "Don't need that."

  I giggled again before securing both glasses to bring to my room since it was clear he wasn't going to cooperate with me.

  "Come on, babyyy," I sang, sticking my butt out to nudge him backward to let me out from where I was trapped between him and the counter.

  "Owww," he whined softly, his words muffled by my neck. "Careful with that, baby."

  I giggled and wiggled against him again, earning a quiet groan. He didn't let go of me as I stumbled toward the hallway, my balance hindered by the alcohol flooding through my veins and the weight of my very uncoordinated boyfriend.

  "Goodnight, guys," I muttered, shaking the glasses I held drunkenly at Emily and Luke, who had resumed their making out on the couch. Their figures blurred slightly as they swam before my eyes thanks to the alcohol.

  "Fucks sake," Reece muttered as he glanced at them, still wrapped tightly around me. "Use a condom, eh? And don't contaminate the resta the place!"

  He erupted into a fit of laughter as if he found himself hilarious. Luke gave him the finger, never bothering to tear his lips from Emily's. I laughed along with Reece as I dragged him down the hall toward my room.