Taste of Innocence ✔

19 - Hurt

Hurt and angry, Juice retreated to a corner of the clubhouse. He didn't want to show anyone how shitty he felt, so it was better to stay away from everyone. The tears were on the edge of his tear ducts. Not because she was with someone else, but because she had purposely wanted to hurt him by showing it him this way. She could have sent him a text, telling him she had met someone else, instead of ruining his Christmas. 

She didn't even take a second to look at him. It felt like their friendship had never existed – and it hurt. Especially after all the effort he had put in her Christmas present. He wished he could intercept it before she would find it tomorrow or the day after, but it was too late do to anything about it. 

Now, he had embarrassed himself even more. 

"Hey! Haven't introduced myself to you yet..."

To make things worse, Abigail's new boyfriend sat down next to him. "I'm Davey. I'm with Abigail." With his baseball cap he waved at her, as if Juice wouldn't know who she was, then he put it back on his head diagonally. 

Juice gritted his teeth. Abigail must have told him what had happened. Fuck – had she always been such a bitch? He pressed his fingers together because he was afraid to punch the guy in the face otherwise. 

"I'm Juice," he forced himself to say. He didn't want to act like a drama queen – half of the club already knew about his feelings for Abigail and he felt awkward enough about all this. "I'm just a prospect, so I guess I'm not worth to be introduced by Her Majesty."

Davey chuckled. "Is she that bad?" Leaning back in the couch, he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, offering Juice one as well. 

Juice took the offer. "You're her man. You should know, right?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "We started dating only two weeks ago."

"You're on her family's Christmas Dinner. How isn't that serious?"

"She didn't want to go at first. Said that she would celebrate it with Ashley, but she's doing it with my boy and decided to spend the holidays with his family. Only last night, I convinced her to go to Charming. Actually I don't really know why she didn't want to go."

Well I do...

He decided to tell the guy the truth. Why the hell would he care? "Abby and I are in a fight. Until six weeks ago we were really close, we did a bit more than friends are supposed to do. But one evening I was drunk and I sent her a few hot texts she didn't appreciate – and ever since she's treating me like shit. So I wouldn't fuck it up if I were you; she doesn't know the concept of forgiveness."

Davey lifted the corner of his mouth and looked over his shoulder to Abigail, who was talking to her father. Juice hoped he was lecturing her about taking some random guy to the clubhouse. 

From the corner of his eye he looked at Abigail's boyfriend. With his half long brown hair, muscular tattooed arms and stretched ears he looked tough. He didn't fall out of place around here, and Juice had to admit that he was good looking. 

"You met her through Ashley?" he asked after a while. 

Despite his jealousy, he couldn't say that he disliked Davey. He was a smooth talker – and it was a bit of a rarity that someone was sitting down next to him to have a normal conversation. Plus, he thought Abigail wouldn't want them to get along very well, and even after this bitchy move he would deal with it in an adult way. 

"I'm in a band," he told Juice. "Ashley was a fan and she dragged Abigail with her to one of our concerts. After the gig we got to talk, did some drinks and one thing led to the other."

There was a bitter taste in his mouth. A band. Right. She was afraid that a biker wouldn't be there for her, but she had no problem dating an artist? Or was he just in a local band? "Is it your job?" he asked. "Or just for fun?"

"We released two albums and last year we had our first tour outside the US. Actually we're doing pretty great."

Juice forced himself to smirk. "Sounds good man. You're the singer?"

"I'm the lead guitarist. We play metalcore."

Juice's knowledge of music wasn't very elaborated. He rather liked the 80's rock and had no idea what metalcore sounded like. Probably heavy. 

"And you're a mechanic?"

He nodded slowly. 

"Awesome. One day I want to get my motorcycle license too."

Juice's eyes wandered to Abigail. She was wearing a black dress with glistening gems around the neck; the fabric gleaming with every move she made. Still his breathing fell heavier as he looked at her perfect curves. 

"I'm going to get a beer." Dave got up. "You want one too?"

Juice nodded, although he was sure that Abigail would claim his attention before he could return.

. . .

No matter how hard Gemma and the other women had worked to make the perfect dinner, he could barely eat a thing. Luckily she was sitting at the other side of the table, but every time he heard her laughter, the anger flowed  through his veins, making him hold his cutlery so tightly his knuckles were starting to pale. 

After dinner, after taking a few beers so that he wasn't sober anymore, he followed her as she walked to the toilets and waited out of sight until she was done. The moment she left the bathroom, she froze. 

"Don't you think it's a little childish to pretend to have boyfriend to make me feel like shit on Christmas Eve? What the hell is this, punishment?"

"I"m not pretending. Get over it, Juice."

"Tell yourself! You act like we don't know each other, like we never –"

"I don't wanna talk to you."

"Too bad." He pushed her against the wall, so their faces were very close. Yeah, he could feel the heated anger vibrate between them, but he still felt that damned longing to crash his lips down on hers. "It's still there." His voice sounded hoarse. "You don't have with him what you had with me. And you know it."

Laying her hands against his chest, she pushed him away. "Yes, at some point I had feelings for you. But they disappeared the moment I realized what a jerk you are."

Juice didn't believe her – he just didn't believe her. Grabbing her wrists, he pushed her back against the wall, his waist pressing against hers. His breathing sped up when he finally felt her body against his – fuck, she had to feel this too, right?

"If you don't step away now I'm going to yell and you're gonna lose everything."

"No," he answered. "You're not that mean."

She looked up to him. He saw the longing in her eyes, he was sure of it. He dipped his head and kissed her lips – and got a knee between his legs in return. 

Bending forward because of the pain, he staggered backwards. Fiercely she looked at him, tears in her eyes. "I didn't know it was possible to hurt me even more, but you did. Now you've assaulted me too, asshole!"

"You provoked it," he grunted. "The moment you took your lover to the clubhouse without telling me anything, you knew that you would hurt me and that I would drink too much. I think you actually wanted this."

His skin burnt when she slapped his cheek, but he felt too sick because of her kick in the nuts to be fully aware of it.

"You're an asshole."

"And you're an arrogant bitch. I hope that Davey of yours is gonna dump you soon, cause he can do better much than a crazy bitch like you. Since the day we met you're heating me up and the moment I'm the one taking initiative it's suddenly disgusting."

"Fuck you!" she spat, and after these words she stormed off. 

Juice remained where he was, leaning against the wall. Sighing deeply, he closed his eyes. 

After a minute he decided to not let her ruin this evening. He would get himself another girl to spend the night with. And for the first time since he had met her, he really wanted another girl.