“What’s wrong, Joey, the girlfriend make you all soft?” He said in a teasing voice. What were we in? A playground?
I stormed towards him and faked a punch to his face so his hands would come up and that’s when I punched him a couple times in the stomach. I heard his intake of breath and I eased off as I didn’t want this to be over quickly, I wanted him to hurt.
“Great fuck, isn’t she?” He smirked, throwing punches that I managed to block.
“Don’t talk about her like that.” I punched and he blocked, we were weaving and dodging each other. I needed to get some hits in soon before Ethan got bored and pulled us out.
“She will always be mine. I would have always had her first.” He kept goading me. I swiped my leg out and took him down.
“She told me what you did.” I sneered at him, walking around him in circles.
“Oh yeah.” He jumped up and threw a punch at me that just clipped the side of my jaw. I bounced towards him and threw a punch before he had time to block it.
“Yeah, she told me how you cheated.” Punch. “How you broke her heart.” Uppercut. “How you told her to have an abortion.” Jab. Jab. Jab. He stumbled back and I let him regain his footing. I could hear shout and calls from the small audience we had telling me to finish him off. He flew at me, knocking me to the floor, he punched me repeatedly in the side and stomach while I kept my guard on my face.
“She got pregnant on purpose. She tried to trap me.” Punch, I landed one on the side of his face which unbalanced him and gave me time to get to my feet. We both stood at the same time, he threw his arm to punch me and I dodged it and slammed him repeatedly.
“You hurt her.” Punch. “You broke her.” Punch. “You caused her to miscarry her baby.” Punch.
“Our baby.” He came back with and that’s all it took for me to punch him a couple more times and knock him out.
***
Bonnie
I opened my eyes and looked around, where was I?
“Bonnie.” I looked over my shoulder and saw Rose was sitting on the bed next to me.
“Hi.” I croaked. My throat was sore and I felt like I hadn’t used it in a while.
“How you feeling?” I looked around again and that’s when I realised I was in Joseph’s bedroom.
“Better, I think.” I was doing a mental check of my body. I wasn’t as cold and my stomach didn’t feel like it was churning. “Here, you need to take these.” She had hold of my prescription and a glass of water. I sat up, resting against the headboard as I took the pills and water from her. After I had taken them, the questions started.
“So, how was the trip? Did you have fun? Do you know who you’re going to pick?”
“That’s a lot of questions… We had a great time, well apart from me getting sick.” I looked around and noticed it was very quiet. “Where are the guys?”
“Fight.” She answered quietly.
“They will be fine.” I rubbed her arm. I was surprised at how much better I felt. I was glad that Joseph made me take the anti-sickness tablets straight away in the car.
“So? How was Flix? Do you know who you wanna pick?”
“Oh my God, Flix were amazing. We got to meet them backstage and party with them too. Rick’s sister, Saskia, was so much fun, we danced, drank and got lots of attention. Joseph was great the whole time, always putting me first and looking after me.”
“You sound smitten with him.”
“I’m not. Rose, I really like him. He’s different when it’s just us together. I see a softer side of him, one I could be happy with.”
“What about Matt?”
“I don’t know, when we were together he just seemed possessive all of the time and we both know I’ve already dealt with that in my life. Besides, I have a few more days with Joseph yet.”
“Sounds like you have already made your decision to me.”
“Have not.” We both giggled.
“That’s a good sound to hear.” Joseph said as he and Jacob walked into the bedroom. “How’re you feeling?” He asked, cupping my face in his hand.
“Better, no sickness.” He was being gentle and caring and I shot Rose a look as if to say ‘I told you so’. She smiled back at me.
“Come on, babe, Bonnie needs to rest.” Jacob held out his hand for Rose and he helped her off the bed.
“Are you going college tomorrow?” Rose asked as she leant back onto Jacob’s chest. He tightened his arms around her middle.
“She needs to rest.” Joseph said.
“Probably not, though I do have a study group on Thursday evening, that I cannot miss.”
“Ok, I’ll bring some food over tomorrow night for you.”
“Hey, what about me?” Joseph asked, poking Rose in the ribs.
“Yeah and for you.” She giggled, trying to slap away his hand. “Speak to you later.” Rose and Jacob left and Joseph stood there in silence.
“You ok?” I asked, placing my hand on his arm. He seemed to snap out of his thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m gonna grab a shower. You need anything?”
“Just you.”
“You need to rest.” He crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at me.
“I didn’t mean for that, but now you mention it…” I looked at him hopefully.
“Not happening. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He walked towards the bathroom stripping off his clothes on the way. That wasn’t fair, he was just teasing me. I snuggled back under the duvet and listened to the sound of the water from his shower, it was relaxing and I was eagerly waiting to see him come out dressed in just a towel. He seemed quiet and distant since he came back from the fight and I wondered if he had been hurt or if something else had happened. I pulled back the covers and walked towards the bathroom. I leant against the sink and watched him in the shower. I couldn’t see any visible bruises or cuts, though he did have his back to me. His head was dipped, the water flowing over his neck and he had one hand flat against the shower wall. His other grabbed his cock and he pumped it up and down a couple of times. He hadn’t noticed me yet, so I quickly undressed and stepped into the shower behind him.
“Do you need some help?” I purred as I wrapped my arms around his waist and replaced his hand with mine. I pumped him a couple of times and he groaned.
“What are you doing, sweetness?”
“Relaxing you.” I answered, running kisses all over his back. I poured some shower gel in my hand and lathered it up on his chest and then I enclosed my hand around his hard cock and pumped, until I heard him groan and felt his release on my hand. I rinsed my hand off under the shower and stepped around him so I was facing him. I wound my arms around his neck and buried my face in his chest.
“Take me to bed.” I whispered. I felt myself weakening and needed to sleep some more. This virus was kicking my ass and I hated it. He turned the shower off and opened the door, as we met the cold air I shivered.
“You’re cold.” He said as he wrapped a towel around my body. Luckily, I didn’t get my head directly under the shower so only the ends of my hair was wet.
“I’ll be ok, once I steal your body heat.” I winked at him. He chuckled and wrapped a towel around himself as he led me back to the bed.
“Get in.” He told me.
“Aren’t you coming to keep me warm?” I pouted.
“Yeah, after I grab something to eat. You hungry?” I shook my head. “Ok, I won’t be long.” I watched him put on some jogging bottoms, not bothering with a top and he left to feed himself. He had been quiet since coming back from the gym and I wondered what had happened. Had he been with one of the girls there? Did Matt say something to him? Or did he see Damien? Just thinking about him caused a shiver to crawl over my body and all I wanted was for Joseph to be wrapped around me.
Joseph
“How’s Bonnie?” Matt asked as I walked towards the fridge to see if we had any food. He was sitting at the kitchen table eating what looked like a pot noodle.
“Do you really
care?” I pulled out some salad and chicken to make a sandwich.
“Of course I care.” He snapped.
“Really? So what was all that shit you were saying earlier about?” I looked at him. He didn’t answer. “I don’t think you’re good enough for her, if you talk about her like that.”
“Oh and you are?” He stood up to face me.
“No, I don’t think I’m good enough for her either. She has been through some tough shit, man. I don’t know what will happen to her if she gets hurt again.” I took a bite out of my food and was surprised at how hungry I was. It didn’t take me long to finish it.
“What you talking about?” He asked, looking concerned.
“It’s not my story to tell.”
“Are you backing down? Gonna let me have her?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head, I was undecided what to do. If she felt for me how I felt for her then she wouldn’t just let me walk away, even though that would be the best thing for us. What if I was really like my Dad? I couldn’t form a proper relationship with her to walk out on her in a few years? That would be worse. Should I cut all ties now?
“Oh, some chick called here asking for you and Jacob. Here’s her number.” He passed me a piece of paper. I looked at it, Jamie-Lee? I didn’t know anyone by that name.
“Me and J? Did he call her?”
“He said he didn’t want the number. He had Rose and didn’t want anyone else.”
“Did she say what she wanted?”
“I’m guessing a booty call.” He winked at me. I sighed and put the number in my pocket.
“Night, shit head.” I called out as I walked back to Bonnie. She was fast asleep. I stripped out of my clothes and climbed in beside her. If she wanted my body heat then she was going to get it. As soon as she felt me in the bed, she rolled over and cuddled into me.
“You ok?” She asked sleepily.
“Yeah.” I kissed the top of her head and held her close.
“Did you get hurt? At the fight?” She whispered. She sounded like she was falling back to sleep.
“Just a few bruises. I’m fine. Go back to sleep.” She nodded and nuzzled her face into my neck like a cat, she smelt good and I had to try and tame my growing hard on. Think about fighting, dogs, cats, Matt, Jacob. That seemed to help. I watched her sleep for a few minutes before I felt my eyes getting heavy.
Chapter 21
Bonnie
Joseph and I had been camped out in his flat since we got back, not straying far from each other. I had my study class to attend to in an hour, I couldn’t miss it. I had not been at college all week, I had to see if there was anyone there that I could borrow some notes from.
“What are you doing?” Joseph asked as he walked back into his bedroom.
“I’ve got my study class soon, I can’t miss it.” I told him as I finished getting dressed. “I’m feeling loads better.”
“Do you want me to drive you?”
“Sure, what are you doing tonight?” He was now standing in front of me, so I had to look up to look into his eyes.
“Keeping tabs on me woman?” He smiled.
“Always.” I giggled. He sat down on the edge of the bed and I climbed into his lap, we hadn’t been intimate since before I got ill and I was feeling it now. It was difficult to be around him and not jump his bones.
“I may pop in and see J and Rose.” He shrugged his shoulder. “Or I may crash here.”
“You sure you don’t want me to drive?”
“Positive.”
“Ok, let’s go then.” I kissed him and then climbed out of his lap.
The car journey was quiet, we both hummed to the music that was playing.
“You sure you feel up to this?” He asked me again.
“I’m positive, in fact I will show you later just how good I feel.” I whispered, my lips close to his. He smirked as I kissed him.
“What time do you want picking up?”
“I can get a lift from someone.” I told him.
“Send me a text.”
“Ok. Bye, babe.” I kissed him once more before climbing out of the car.
***
Joseph
Knock. Knock. I always knock on Rose and Jacob’s door as you never knew what you might walk into. The door opened and Rose was smiling at me.
“Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Nice welcome that, thanks.” I chuckled as she stood back to let me in and I placed a kiss on her cheek as I passed by.
“Hey, bro, smell the cooking did you?” He chuckled as he sat on the sofa.
“You want some food? It’s just lasagne.” She asked as she walked by into the kitchen.
“Yeah, thanks.” I followed her in and leant against the kitchen worktop. “Want some help?”
“You can grate that cheese.” She pointed to the cheese and grater. I nodded and got to work.
“You ok? You seem quiet.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Talk to me.” She put my hand on my hand to make me stop what I was doing and look at her.
“I’m just a little messed up, in my head.”
“Why?”
“I don’t think I’m the right choice for Bonnie.” I carried on grating the cheese.
“Why? You love her. Don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do. But…” I hesitated telling her my worries, she was, after all, Bonnie’s best friend.
“You can talk to me, in confidence. I promise.”
“When we were little, everyone use to say how much like our Dad I was. Jacob was like Mum and I was like him. What if I am too much like him?”
“What do you mean sweetie?”
“What if I’m not cut out to be a husband or a father? What if I hurt her? Or cheat on her?”
“You are not like him. You are caring, loving and yeah, you were a bit of a ladies man, but you haven’t been with anyone else since Bonnie. I don’t understand where this is coming from?”
“Hey, what’s going on in here? You trying to make me look bad by helping?” Jacob chuckled as he slapped me on my back and kissed Rose. I knew Jacob wouldn’t hurt her, he loved her. He would never walk out.
“We were just chatting.” Rose said. As she took the grated cheese from me to sprinkle on top of the lasagne. I gave her a pleading look as if to say; ‘please don’t say anything’. She gave me a subtle nod and I relaxed.
“Beer?” Jacob asked as he held out a bottle to me. I took it from him and we clicked them together before I took a sip.
“Excuse me, where’s mine?” Rose asked, placing her hands on her hips.
“I was getting you wine, baby.” She smiled at him and he grabbed her a glass and poured her some wine from the fridge. She put the lasagne in the oven and we sat in front of the TV as Rose laid the table with cutlery.
***
Bonnie
I will be finished in 10 x
I sent a message to Joseph half an hour ago and had no response. I was outside the college waiting and still no sign of him. I should have bought my car. It was only a fifteen minute walk to my parent’s house so I decided to start walking.
Where are you? x
I hope you’re ok x
I had got to Mum and Dad’s and no-one was in. I left my keys at Joseph’s, luckily they always kept a spare key outside. I didn’t know what to think about Joseph not responding. I hoped he was ok. Once I was settled in bed my phone beeped.
Can you get a lift back? Out with the guys x
The message was sent at seven thirty and had only just come through, it was now ten twenty. At least I knew he was ok.
Joseph
Rose’s cooking was always great, I helped her clear the table and Jacob was ordered to do the dishes.
“What about him? He can help.” Jacob complained.
“He’s our guest and I want to talk to him.”
“He ain’t no guest.” Jacob stalked off to the kitchen and all we heard was the slamming of dishes which made Rose a
nd me both laugh.
“Finish telling me what you was saying earlier.” Rose demanded.
“I don’t know Rose, my head is just all over the place.”
“What are you worried about?”
“What if I hurt her like her ex did?”
“She told you about that? About…”
“Yeah, she told me about the baby too. I couldn’t bear to hurt her, I think she may be better off with Matt or someone completely different.”
“No, don’t say that. You are not like your Dad, you wouldn’t do that. Because you know what he did, I would bet that you would make sure you didn’t settle unless it was the right person.”
“What if Bonnie isn’t the right person?” I asked. How would I know if she was the right one?
“You love her. I know you do, else you wouldn’t have called me all panicked just a few days ago.”
“Yeah, I do love her… But I’m not sure if that’s enough. What if I get bored? What if I cheat?”
“Simple, you keep things interesting and you keep that.” She pointed towards my dick. “Out of other chicks.”
“I love her and I think I should have my time with her now and let her be with someone worthy of her. I’m not good enough for her… I need to get out of here. Thanks for the food.” I stood up and gave Rose a kiss on the top of her head. “See ya, bro. Bye Rose.”
“See ya.” Jacob called out and I hurriedly walked to my car. I sat there for a few minutes, looking at the piece of paper in my hand. Jamie-Lee.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I looked up and saw Rose standing outside my car, I wound down the window and slipped the piece of paper back into my pocket.
“Please don’t leave like this. You’re upset, I can tell. Please come back in.”
Chapter 22
Bonnie
“Hey.” I heard behind me. I turned around and saw Rose standing there. I was sat outside on the picnic bench. I hadn’t heard from Joseph at all and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of him.
Giving A Chance (Chance Series Book 2) Page 11