by Jacky Gray
Liv could not respond as the sour taste brought back memories of the horrendous red drink. She had to focus hard not to retch.
He picked up on her reluctance. “What’s up, babe? You feel so good, I’d really like to see more.” He pushed the material off her shoulder and kissed the bare skin.
Her senses were in fight or flight mode as she thought she heard something outside, but his finger looping under her bra strap brought her back to the room. This was way too much and she pulled away completely. “No. That’s enough now, Jimmy. I don’t want to.”
“Oh, come on. You never know until you try, like the cherry drink.”
“I didn’t like that, either. Now, stop or I’ll leave.”
He pulled up like she’d slapped him. “S–sorry, sweetheart. Please forgive me. You are so lush, I keep forgetting you’re not sixteen yet. My bad.” Grabbing the cue, he turned back to the table.
Really? It was that easy? Tugging her dress, Liv glanced at the door.
The way he strutted around, checking angles, suggested his mind was elsewhere. Then the devastating grin made an appearance. “Looks like you’ve left me with nothing on.” Mischief heated up his gaze. “One day soon, I’ll be saying that for real.”
Despite his claim, he potted three more balls, and it was as though the dangerous few moments never occurred. She relaxed into the easy camaraderie, wondering if maybe she’d been too hasty in her judgement.
Then he got too cocky, misjudging the spin so the white followed the fourth red into the pocket. “Bugger. Two shots to you. Look, I need a wazz … pee. I’ll trust you to take your two shots while I’m gone.”
“Unless I pot a yellow, in which case I get another.”
He looked at the table. “Umm, you could be right. In which case, I’ll probably have time to get the next round in.”
“Nothing for me, thanks. I’m on strict instructions from Vicky. Nothing but water shall pass through these lips.” A beat. “Bugger.”
As she grinned at her unintentional challenge, he pretended his legs had given way and clutched the side of the pool table, chiding himself.
“Nope, Jimmy. Walk away from the sexy siren before you come completely undone and end up back in the can.” He popped a cheeky little kiss on her lips and an even cheekier little smack on her bum before darting out of the door.
Chuckling to herself, Liv retrieved the white ball and took both shots to nudge the yellow into the corner pocket. The cue ball ricocheted off the black, leaving itself snookered in such a position she had a real stretch on her hands.
She was concentrating so hard on setting up the difficult bridge, she didn’t realise he was back in the room until she felt his hands roaming all over her body. For a moment, she gave herself up to the pure pleasure of the sensation with a small moan. The heat of his body scorched through the red dress as he bent over, covering her body with his, as he pulled the material off her shoulder, like before.
Oops. There we go with the invitation again. She tried to get up, but his body weight prevented it. As she opened her mouth to protest, a piece of material (a scarf?) was jammed into it and tied tightly behind her head. Pressing against the table, her efforts to lift herself off were thwarted as he thrust her arms out in front, clamping them in a large hand.
Her brain froze for a second as the other hand groped at her breasts, tearing her bra aside to expose them. She snapped out of it, trying to remember Luke’s advice, but she couldn’t do anything with her legs as her feet couldn’t reach the floor. He’d forced his body in between her thighs. She tried wrenching her arms and wriggling her body, but all she gained were bruises.
“Jimmy, stop.” Through the scarf, the words came out as a grunt.
The resulting laugh had a demonic quality, filling his voice with gravel. “C’mon, be nice and I won’t have to hurt you.”
That made her pause. How could she have thought he’d changed? He was just the same nasty bully Luke had worried about. She needed a plan. Her wriggling had loosened the scarf so she worked her jaw to persuade the scarf further down. He took her lack of struggling as some sort of encouragement as his hand travelled down until it reached the hem of her dress which he wrenched up, then pressed his bulge against her body.
“That’s more like it, baby. Relax and enjoy it.” It didn’t sound like him at all. She heard someone trying to open the door; the bastard must have locked it. Her potential rescuer shouted her name, and she twisted her head trying to scrape the material away from her jaw.
Her assailant started pulling at her panties. Finally, she freed her mouth enough to scream. He fumbled with the scarf and she took the opportunity to bite hard on the part of his flesh closest to her face.
“Bitch.” His slap made her head slam into the hard slate of the table, the green baize not softening the blow at all.
At that moment, the door crashed in and someone shouted and pulled him off her. She struggled past the woozy sensations in her brain dragging her into unconsciousness. As hands helped her slip to the floor, she thought she heard Jimmy whisper, “Oh, babe. I’m so sorry.”
Pandemonium was her first thought as grunts and smacks filled the room. She made out Dave fighting Luke and Jimmy tussling with Kat’s brother Paddy. Noises of more mayhem came from outside.
As Ray wheeled in, Jimmy kicked Paddy in the groin, sending him to his knees, before running for the door. Somehow, Ray rugby-tackled him to the floor. But he couldn’t hold him and, as he escaped, Jimmy crashed into Luke, freeing Dave. The Dark Angels ran out, followed by Luke and Paddy, taking the mêlée into the corridor.
During the chaos, Liv adjusted her clothes, then crawled the few feet to where Ray massaged his legs and inspected the damage. Jimmy had lashed out like a cornered cat.
“Are you ok?” She sat on the floor next to him.
He looked up in surprise. “Liv. I thought you’d fainted. Never mind me, are you ok? Did that bastard ...?”
“No.” She was quick to reassure him. “He would have done if you guys hadn’t got here.” Closing her eyes, she shuddered. “I don’t want to think about it right now.”
He put his arm round her, hugging her close. “Don’t, then. There’ll be plenty of time for that, later.”
Liv pulled away, still struggling to take it all in. Ray had STOOD for goodness’ sake. She sensed he didn’t want to focus on that either, and sought a less inflammatory topic. “How come you’re here, anyway?”
“Paddy brought us; it’s a long story.” He tried to get up and failed, wincing with the effort. “Then again, maybe not.”
She grinned in empathy, gesturing at her own helplessness. “It looks like we might be here for a while.”
He nodded, his face full of irony. “Paul rang while I was round at Luke’s, and we went straight round to Paddy’s to scrounge a lift.”
“That’s the long version? Why did Paul ring?”
Ray couldn’t meet her gaze. “He overheard them in the loos. Dave was boasting about spiking your drink and they all laughed about a cherry ripe for the picking.”
“Ugh. I’ll never drink cherry flavoured anything, ever again.” She grimaced. “No wonder I got sick. I thought that second muddy puddle tasted wrong.”
“Bastards.” Ray looked as though he wanted to inflict horrible punishment on all of them. He shook himself back to the present. “Anyway, Paul’s been worried about you dating Jimmy for a while, and he figured if there was trouble, he couldn’t take them all on by himself.”
“Wow.” Liv struggled to get her head round the idea of all these guys being concerned about her welfare. Let alone the fact Ray had stood up and walked, even if it was only one step. It was all a bit much for her fuzzy brain to cope with, but one thing couldn’t wait a second longer.
Leaning closer, she touched his lips gently – a friendly kiss. “Thank you.”
“What for? Not that I’m complaining.” He grinned.
“For saving me from that brute.” She kissed him a little
longer. “That’s for the rose.”
“You know about ...”
She silenced him with a third kiss: long, deep and passionate. “That’s for the sonnet. And the answer’s yes – if you’ll still have me.”
He touched her lips briefly then pulled away and looked at her suspiciously. “And how do I know you won’t pass out again?”
She smiled a Tallulah smile. “I guess it’s a chance you’ll just have to take.”
And he did.
The next adventure in this series is Edge of the Blade.
If you would like a taster, read on:
Jude clapped along with the fifty-ish bodies scattered around the dingy downstairs room of the student’s union, pleased Kat’s cousin had persuaded them to come. Not that Liam was technically her best friend’s cousin; but their families were both from the Emerald Isle. According to Kat, everybody was a cousin over there. Jude melted in delight as a screaming guitar riff filled the air. Trust Kat to have a bass-playing cousin; she not only looked like she belonged in front of a rock band, she had the voice of an angel. Imagine a blonde Amy Lee from Evanescence.
Anyway, Jude was stopping round at Kat’s that night so they could keep each other from worrying about the third girl in their trio, Liv. Who was on her first, and supposedly her last, real date with the notorious Jimmy Proud - ex-hoodlum. The ex- bit was according to him, and a host of people prepared to swear affidavits to his personality transformation. Jude’s boyfriend, Luke, wasn’t so sure, but even Kat’s brother, once a sworn enemy, seemed ready to give Jimmy the benefit of the doubt.
So there they were, all set for a girly night in. They’d just finished trying out a new makeup effect when Liam rocked up.
“Wow, ladies you look incredible. Going somewhere nice?”
When Kat explained their plans involving a chick flick and a vat of chocolate ice-cream, he suggested they shouldn’t waste their gorgeous glam and should give him a bit of support at his band’s first live gig. Purple Tarantula were playing at the local polytechnic where several band members were doing their degrees.
Liam laid the incentives on thick and fast as he promised them a lift there and back. “I’ll even pay for all your drinks if you come.”
“How can we refuse an offer like that?” Kat was obviously keen to go as she batted her eyelids at Jude. “We can always watch the movie on Sunday morning in bed; didn’t you say it’s the height of decadence?”
Jude’s talents improved daily at the School-of-Liv as she snarked at him, “You must be desperate for an audience to offer all that as a bribe.”
“Hey we’re paying the other punters.” Liam absorbed the insult cheerfully and didn’t seem to be offended.
The girls nodded at each other and sprang up to get changed.
During the short journey, Jude couldn’t reconcile Liam’s light-hearted, teasing disposition with the black moods and bitchy sniping Kat had complained about during the last couple of months.
She watched him now, thumping on the strings of his bass guitar, tapping his foot in time with the strong rhythm and generally adding a bit of colour and movement to the otherwise fairly static tableau. From the corner of her eye she could see Kat only had eyes for him. Not once did her eyes stray to the Ronan Keating double belting out the lyrics to one of their own compositions, nor the lead guitarist who was quite appealing in a long-haired, hippy-ish sort of way.
Although the drummer’s face was obscured by the peak of his baseball cap, the skimpy leather vest showed a nicely toned upper body – definitely worth a second glance. Not that she’d ever do anything more than look. Luke’s athletic body was a tough act to follow and the guy had brains as well. Ok, he’d had a temporary personality transplant after his mum died, but now he was the most gentle, considerate boyfriend a girl could wish for, with a wicked sense of humour and a shared love of old movies. The song finished and Jude joined in the applause.
Kat grinned, her face alight. “Enjoying it? They’re good aren’t they?”
As Jude agreed, the sound of Liam’s voice at the microphone made Kat’s head snap back in surprise.
“Uh, thanks a lot folks, now we’re going to need a bit of help for the next song. Billy Joel’s wife Christy Brinkly was the inspiration and twenty years later, Westlife released a version in aid of Comic Relief.” Shading his eyes, Liam peered into the gloom. “Out in the audience are two girls with fine voices, and I’m hoping that they’ll come up and provide some backing vocals for us.”
Kat looked at Jude, her eyes wide as saucers. “Oh my God, Jude. I didn’t think he meant it.”
He scanned the audience. “They might need a bit of encouragement, so I’d like you all to show your appreciation for Kat and Jude, a couple of ‘Uptown Girls.’ Let’s hear it, folks.”
During the burst of applause, Jude noticed Kat’s panic stricken face. A couple of weeks ago this girl had played Blowsy Brown, the leading lady in the recent production of Bugsy Malone. She’d had no problem acting, singing and dancing in front of hundreds of kids from school, their parents and grandparents. So why was she freezing now?
“Ah, sure. It’ll be a laugh. I’m game if you are.” Jude stood and the clapping got louder.
“There they are. Come on up, girls.”
She grabbed Kat’s arm and pulled her out of the chair, ignoring any protests as she guided her over the nest of PA wires stuck down with strips of silver duct tape.
Liam clapped them on to the slightly raised stage area, then took them off-mic as he whispered, “Sorry to put you on the spot, girls, but I didn’t think you’d come if I mentioned it before. Just sing along like you do to the radio. I know you can do it, both of you.”
He led them up to the second microphone and they held onto each other for support. Judging by her expression, Kat’s face would have a green tinge, but the pink gel on the spotlights disguised it.
Jude was starting to regret forcing her friend into this, when the drummer hit the cowbell to start. They had three beats to add their “whoas” to the rest of the band, chorusing behind Gary’s lead vocal.
Glossary and Note about UK Schools
UK
US
999
911
blimey!
wow!
depping
deputising for
football
soccer
keep schtum (or shtum)
keep quiet
MCP
male chauvinist pig
taking the Mick (Michael)
making fun of
legal age for alcohol is 18
legal age for alcohol is 21
A Note about the UK School System
To convert between year/grade, subtract 1 e.g. year 11 is grade 10.
Junior schools: students aged 8-11 in years 4-6 (US grades 3-5).
High schools: students aged 11-18 in years 7-13 (US grades 6-12).
Sixth form in UK contains years 12 & 13 (grades 11 & 12 in US), which can be in a separate college, resulting in A-levels in 3-4 subjects.
GCSE is a two year course with a certificated exam at age 16. Around 6 to 9 of these are taken in individual subjects (Maths, English, IT etc.).
Registration: A register is taken (at least) once a day by the tutor, in that teacher’s subject classroom – similar to the US homeroom. The tutor is responsible for pastoral care/education.
Breaks: High schools have two breaks every day, a short one mid-morning (10-20 mins) and a longer one at lunch (40-60 mins).
Inter-school sports meetings: These involve various athletic and/or gymnastic events held throughout the year.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to everyone who has helped me to believe in myself – without you, my stories would never have lived outside of my imagination and my computer’s hard drive.
Special thanks to the following – you know the part you played and words cannot express my gratitude: Hannah, Icy, Alice, Ace, Sho, JD and Paula. Even when you think it�
�s good, there’s always room for improvement – grateful thanks for your excellent wisdom and advice to my lovely Beta readers: Laura, Jax, Margo, Lisa, Sheila, Donna, Kim, Lynn, and Mandy. And a huge thanks to the lovely World Wise Writers and 10K Angels for their constant support and encouragement.
But the biggest thanks have to go to you, dear reader – I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, I would really appreciate if you could leave a comment on your chosen platform to allow other readers to decide if it’s their kind of story.
More in The Bryant Rockwell Series
#1 – New Kid In Town
Liv, Jude and Kat are greater than the sum of their parts. Separately they are Brainy, Sporty and Arty. Together they are invincible. Until Drop-Dead-Gorgeous Ray wheels up.
Compelling characters, stunning story and perfect pacing.
“Snappy, well-pitched and edgy. An enjoyable read which will appeal to anyone who has a sense of humour and an ear for the ironic.” – Book Viral, Review site
“Clever, witty, snarky dialogue. This story (and the ones to come) have an interesting group of friends at its core. These teens have a wide range of talents. Their lives are not dull. Very enjoyable read.” - Bernadette Cinkoske, Amazon reader
#2 – The Show Must Go On
Liv’s a snarky chocoholic, Luke’s an angry thug. Who better to take Dirty Diana down a peg or two? She totally has it coming.
Engaging teen read: Feel all the drama without the angst.
“Whether you're going through the jealous, self-conscious, unsure or arrogant ways of teenhood or an adult remembering how it was, this book is sure to please!” - Hannah Sullivan, Author of the Thunder series