Embracing Trouble (Trouble Series)

by Bridle, Dee

  “Go away,” she said not looking up at me.

  She looked pale and emotionally distraught as I crouched in front of her and touched her arm. She pushed me away.

  “I know what happened,” I said next. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me earlier?”

  “Because I’m not talking to you, am I?”

  “Soph, for the last fucking time, I wasn’t with that revolting asshole by choice, he tried to rape me.”

  “Just go away,” she mumbled, tears in her eyes.

  “Did you agree to do it?” I whispered.

  “I didn’t know there was a camera…at first,” she said crying now.

  I held her in my arms and tried to soothe her.

  “Did you take anything?”

  She gulped.

  “He told me it would make me feel happy. But I couldn’t move properly, and then I completely passed out,” she said with a shudder.

  I cringed, knowing the sensation.

  She cried more, big sobbing tears.

  “I think everyone has seen it. I just can’t believe he would do this.”

  “Have you told your parents?” I asked.

  “No!” she cried. “I don’t want them to know. I can’t report him to the police either, because my parents would find out.”

  Her parents were very strict and proper and something like this would tear the family apart.

  “I don’t know what to do. Everyone knows. I can’t show my face at school. I can’t even look at the two of them after what they did to me,” she said crying.

  I held her tighter and closed my eyes. I wanted to take the pain from her.

  “Did they hurt you?” I whispered.

  She sobbed, “No, they weren’t rough. They just made me do things I wouldn’t have normally done.”

  I felt sick for her. I wanted to go and find him and seriously hurt him.

  She continued to cry, wiping her tears with her hands.

  “I thought I was so cool, trying to experience things and change my boring life, but it’s all backfired!”

  “I know,” I soothed. “But, we’ll fix this.”

  “How?” she gulped. “It’s a video that can’t be undone. It will forever be on someone’s phone or computer.”

  I didn’t say anything, because she was right. No matter what we did now, the damage had already been done.

  “I’m so stupid,” she cried covering her face.

  “You’re not,” I said. “They are just assholes who took advantage of you.”

  She shook her head.

  “I just want to take back the last two months and start all over again.”

  I curled some hair behind her ear in silence. I didn’t. They had been the wildest and most amazing weeks of my life.

  After I calmed her down, we sat and talked, just like we used to do before everything had happened.

  “So, why only for a month? Is that his stipulation or yours?” asked Sophie.

  “His,” I said unhappily.

  “You’ve fallen for him,” she said next.

  I moistened my lips and admitted, “Yes. Completely.”

  Sophie slowly nodded.

  “So, what’s he really like?”

  “Intense, a little crazy, possessive, loving, caring, sexy, wild,” I said shaking my head. “I can’t stop thinking about him. I’m on fire whenever he’s around me. And I know I only have the month and he made it so clear at the beginning. But I can’t stay away from him, not then, and definitely not now.”

  “So are you hoping he’ll change his mind at the end of the month?”

  “Secretly I am, but I know deep down that he won’t. He’s got this whole other life going on and probably wouldn’t want me hanging around anymore. They go out a lot and there are always a lot of girls.”

  My phone beeped with a text message and I pulled it out.

  Zac: Going to Asylum tonight – you interested?

  Ava: I’m interested. Can I bring Sophie?

  Zac: Sure…

  I looked over at Sophie.

  “Let’s go out tonight. Zac is going to a club. We can have a few drinks and maybe try and forget the problem for one night.”

  * * *

  After I parked Zac’s car in Noah’s driveway that night, Sophie got out and reluctantly looked over at Antony’s house through the large trees.

  “Don’t even think about him,” I said closing my door and locking the car.

  I walked around to her side and took her hand.

  “He’ll get what’s coming to him eventually.”

  I led her up the steps and then knocked on the door.

  Noah opened it and smiled.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey,” I said and walked in, still holding Sophie’s hand. “This is Sophie. I don’t know if you remember her.”

  Noah held out his hand.

  “Noah, welcome to my humble abode.”

  Sophie giggled and shook his hand.

  “Hi, Noah.”

  I looked over and saw Zac sitting on the couch smoking a cigarette. Will was in the kitchen mixing some shots. His eyes locked with mine and my heart rate sped up instantly. He didn’t smile or acknowledge, just looked at me intently, like I was going to be his dinner.

  I headed over, still holding onto Sophie’s hand.

  “I’m Will,” he said with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

  “Hi, Will,” said Sophie.

  She sat down on the spare couch across from Zac and looked over at him.

  “Hi.”

  “Sophie,” he said in his deep voice, his hand going to my thigh and then he pulled me down next to him.

  I looked at him and knew something was wrong as he leaned in and kissed me. I could feel the tension coming from him and I didn’t know why.

  Noah sat down beside Sophie as Will came over with a stack of shots in his hands.

  “So, girls, we have a plan,” he said, handing out the shots to everyone.

  “I told you, I don’t want her anywhere near it,” growled Zac.

  “It’s the best way,” returned Will.

  I looked to Will and then to Zac, unaware of what they were talking about but understanding now where the tension was coming from.

  Noah sat forward, putting his now empty shot glass on the coffee table.

  “We will be there with Ava and Sophie. Nothing can happen to them.”

  Zac shook his head.

  “I don’t want him near her.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked looking at Zac.

  He didn’t meet my eyes.

  “Just get them separated from the party, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

  “It won’t work like that,” said Noah looking to me and then at Sophie. “We want to help with the Antony and Nathan situation.”

  Sophie gasped.

  “Oh, my god, you’ve seen it too?”

  There was silence in the room as I turned to Zac with narrowed eyes. He had seen it? I wanted to know whether it was today like me or had he known about it earlier and not told me. I looked at Sophie and watched her close her eyes in humiliation and sadness. My heart went out to her.

  “They filmed you willingly drinking the GHB,” said Zac seriously. “They knew what they were doing. You were seen as going into it willingly.”

  “I didn’t know it was that. They just said it would make me feel good,” she said starting to cry. “I didn’t know the full extent of their plans.”

  Noah squeezed her hand.

  “Hey, it’s okay. We’re going to make them wish they had never done it, I promise you.”

  “I didn’t even know they were filming it at first,” she cried.

  “Saturday night, you’re going to your friend’s party at Kingdom,” interrupted Will.

  “I can’t show my face anywhere,” she gasped.

  I knew the last thing she would want to do would be to go to Amelie’s party.

  “You need to go,” said Will. “You’ll have one task for t
he night, and that will be to slip some GHB into his drink.”

  Sophie looked over at him in disbelief and wiped her cheeks.

  “We’ll take care of the rest,” said Will. “Your problem will be solved by the time you wake up in the morning.”

  “What am I doing?” I asked.

  “You will slip the GHB into the other dickhead’s drink,” winked Will.

  I felt Zac tense beside me, but he remained silent. He didn’t want me to be part of it, but I needed to help. I raised my chin.

  “I’m in.”

  “What will you do once they’ve had the drug?” asked Sophie.

  Will smiled, his eyes fierce.

  “We’ll show them the same courtesy that they showed you.”

  “So all three of you will be there?” Sophie asked looking at Zac.

  “Will and I will be there with you as your partners, and Zac will come later,” said Noah. “We need to work within a certain timeframe so it runs smoothly.”

  “He already thinks you were the one who slashed his tires,” she said eyeing Zac.

  “His tires are the least of his concerns,” he said getting up and heading to the kitchen.

  I shivered a little, watching him lean against the sink and light up a joint. I knew I would never want to be an enemy of Zac’s.

  “But I don’t understand,” said Sophie. “They will know it was you and come after you. You’ll be in all sorts of trouble.”

  Zac dragged on his joint and didn’t look over. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration.

  “They won’t know it’s us,” said Will.

  “But why would you go to all this trouble for me?” whispered Sophie.

  “I’m not,” said Zac darkly, glancing over to me.

  I swallowed at the intensity in his eyes. He was doing it for me.

  Noah eyed Zac meaningfully and then turned to Sophie.

  “Because what they’ve done is wrong.”

  “You didn’t think to maybe stop being with him when he tried to rape your friend?” asked Zac menacingly.

  Sophie looked at him in surprise and then wiped her cheek, looking back to me.

  “Ava knows I’m sorry about that.”

  I took a breath, feeling the tension in the room. Zac was right, but I felt terrible for Sophie as well.

  “I personally like a good ass kicking,” grinned Will, putting

  his hand out for Zac to share the joint he was smoking.

  “I’m looking forward to it.”

  “We should still get another girl instead of Ava,” said Zac crossing his arms and still leaning against the sink. “I know Shara would be up for it.”

  I looked over at him. Of course, Shara would be up for it.

  “I want to do it,” I said defiantly.

  “Me, too,” said Sophie with a shaky voice. “I hate them and what they did to both of us.”

  Zac locked eyes with me.

  “No one is to know about this. Ever. Once they’re in the room, you girls have to leave. And I mean go home, away from any of it.”

  “Let’s go to Asylum,” said Will standing up. “Enough of the plans. We’ll get them, kick their asses, and move on.”

  Noah stood up as well.

  “I think he plans on doing more than kick his ass,” he said to Will knowingly.

  My eyes narrowed at that comment. What did that mean?

  I watched Sophie’s reaction as we walked into the main part of the club where there was a death metal band playing. She looked around in wonder, taking in everybody. I knew that was how I would have looked a few weeks ago. I watched Noah stand with her and say things into her ear. He looked to be reassuring her and she was smiling up at him. They headed over to the bar together, and I knew she would be safe with him.

  Zac took my hand and led me off in another direction, greeting a group of friends amongst the heavy music. They did friendly hand grasps and I stood back a little, wondering if he wasn’t introducing me because I was only temporary or that it was too hard with the band playing? I decided to choose the latter and tried to hear what they were saying in each other’s ears.

  A song ended and they all stopped and cheered. Zac put his fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle. His arm went around my shoulders and he pulled me in close to him.

  “Your friend looks a little scared,” he said into my ear.

  I glanced over at Sophie and then back at him.

  “You don’t like her, do you?”

  “She’s a moron,” he returned instantly. “You could do so much better.”

  He turned to laugh at something with the guy next to him, our conversation gone. Sophie not believing me with Antony had hurt, and it was something I was unlikely to forget. When it came down to it, though, she would be the only one left after Zac walks out of my life at the end of the month.

  I watched the band, enjoying being close to Zac. It was the only place I wanted to be, regardless of what he thought of my friend or our situation. I thought of Saturday night and all the things that could go wrong. What if I couldn’t slip it into their drink? What if they weren’t even interested in speaking to us, let alone have a drink with us? What was Zac planning on doing to them afterwards?

  Zac

  I stepped out of the toilets and came face to face with Sophie. She smiled up at me, making it clear that she had been waiting for me, knowing we were hidden from the main room of the club. I looked down at her smiling face, curious as to what she was up to, having been with enough girls to know when one wanted something.

  “I just wanted to say thanks for helping with the Antony and Nathan situation,” she said leaning into me.

  “I told you earlier, I’m not doing it for you,” I returned.

  She fluttered her eyelashes.

  “But I wanted to thank you anyway,” she said touching my chest lightly.

  I eyed her with cool disdain.

  “Thought you didn’t like burners,” I taunted.

  She looked away from me with guilty eyes and then touched my chest again, her fingers tickling me.

  “I never said that.”

  “What do you want, Sophie?” I asked stepping closer to her.

  She stepped back into the wall behind her and looked up and giggled softly.

  “I think you know what I want.”

  “I actually don’t,” I mocked coldly stepping even closer to her. “You’ll have to tell me.”

  Her eyes danced excitedly.

  “You. I know what you have with her is temporary, and I want you.”

  “Really,” I stated coolly.

  “Why wait until the end of the month. You could have me tonight. I’m more experienced than her. I could probably satisfy you more.”

  My eyes flicked to her mouth, and I watched her tongue deliberately wet her top lip as I leaned in closer. I watched her slightly pant as I leaned into her ear.

  “I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last skank on earth.”

  She gasped and shoved me back, her eyes wild with hurt. I laughed and looked her up and down in disdain.

  “She satisfies me in ways that you could only dream about.”

  She glared at me, her chest heaving.

  “Don’t fuck with Ava, because then you fuck with me,” I said with a taunting glare. “And you don’t want that, Princess.”

  “Go to hell,” she said angrily.

  I smirked.

  “I was just there and it wasn’t pretty.”

  She stormed off, back into the club and I waited a moment before I went back out, too. She had just given me yet another reason as to why I didn’t like her. She didn’t have Ava’s back, and I hated anyone who didn’t. I had already been feeling uneasy about including Ava in the plan on Saturday night and now I wanted both of them out of it. Sophie couldn’t be trusted and I needed to sort my Plan B out.

  I saw Ava by the bar, watching the band and sipping her whiskey amongst the crowd. The dull thud in my chest reminded me that I wouldn’t ha
ve her back soon either. If all went according to plan, I would be in her past sooner rather than later, and she could go and enjoy her life the way she was meant to, without me.

  The thought fucking killed me, but I had to ignore it. I had to push my wants aside and look after her best interests. I wasn’t any good for her, and she was too fucking good for me.

  As if sensing me, she turned and locked eyes on me, her lips curling into a smile as she sipped her drink. She was exquisite and the finest I had ever had. It was going to hurt like fuck to let her go. I went to her, wanting to enjoy the moments I had left before I disappeared forever.

  She moistened her lips as I reached her, leaning my body into hers, as I fastened my lips on hers. I tasted her with my tongue, the whiskey and her sweetness flowing through me as her fingers tickled behind my neck. My hands went around her waist, and I anchored her to me, oblivious to the death core crowd going crazy around me.

  “Let’s go home,” I said into her ear, biting her lobe while I was at it.

  She looked at me in surprise.

  “Already?”

  I nuzzled her neck.

  “I want to do despicable things to you.”

  She giggled, throwing her head back as her cheeks flushed and I squeezed her tight in anticipation.

  “What about Sophie?” she asked looking around for her.

  “What about her?” I asked. “Noah will get her a taxi when she’s ready to go home.”

  She started to type a text to her as I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of there.

  Ava

  I knew we were alone at Noah’s place as we walked inside. I went straight into Zac’s arms as the door closed. He held me tight as he gave me a wicked look before his lips kissed mine.

  I ran my hand through his hair and pulled back an inch.

  “So, why do you dislike Sophie so much?”

  He cocked his eyebrow.

  “You want to talk right now?”

  I laughed.

  “I just want to know why. She was happy to get a taxi tonight separately, because she thinks you don’t like her.”

  He shrugged.

  “She only cares for herself. She took Antony’s side when he tried to rape you. Do I need to go any further?”