OK... here we go! Thank you so much to everyone who voted, followed or left comments on the previous chapters. I found it hard to get the ball rolling on these next ones, but hearing from you all and just knowing how many loyal readers are out there helped me push through.
I will warn you that we'll be hitting some very serious topics in the next few chapters, and I ummed and erred about whether I should even go there. But I found more reasons to do it than not because it fits into the story on multiple levels. So I'm gonna take a punt, see how things play out, and most importantly, hope I get to hear what you think about them. Hopefully the next three will be ready in the next few days. xx
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"You really did that? That's badass..."
"I couldn't see her suffer anymore."
"So, she's staying at yours. With Eyeball."
"He's looking after her for a few days, yeah."
"He'll wanna move in."
"Too bad. It's a small house. It'll be cramped with three people living there."
Ace propped me up onto the hood of one of the cars and pried my knees apart to stand in between them. "I don't know why you bother keeping that place," he said.
"No?" I leaned back on my elbows with an impish grin, gazing up at his solid body and tough demeanor which was causing some serious dampness down below.
He leaned right down over top of me and lightly held my chin to tilt my head to one side. "You practically live at mine anyway," he said, his breath tickling my ear. "Why don't you get the rest of your stuff and move in with me?"
"You really want me to?"
"Yeah," he shrugged. "And I don't think I've had you for two goddamned days. What the fuck went wrong there?"
"We've been too busy," I chuckled. "Damn Vince. And Eyeball. Although I don't think he'll be so cocky now after what I did for him tonight. I think getting Natalie out of there will be a big worry off his mind."
Ace's hand slowly ventured south, circling my bellybutton before tugging at the button on my shorts. In one swift motion, they were off and slung somewhere across the garage. He kissed into my neck while I stared at the rafters wondering how the hell I was gonna break the news to him.
"What is it?" he asked when he noticed I'd gone limp.
"I'll tell you later." I freed his T-shirt from his pants and pulled it over his head.
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Sometime after, I found Ace getting us a drink in the kitchen.
"This is what I had to tell you," I said. I handed him the scrap piece of paper with Vince's number on it.
"How long have you had this?"
"Since this afternoon. What, do you think I've been hiding it from you?"
Ace went straight to the phone and dialed. He looked riled.
"Vince. How's life buddy? Actually, don't answer that 'cause I don't fucking care."
I could hear Vince's voice, but it was too mumbled for me to understand what he was saying.
"You left me hangin' for two fucking weeks! And now, I gotta bring someone else in – you know I didn't wanna do that. Nah – fuck you Vince. Shut the fuck up! Stop making piss-poor excuses. Yeah, whatever asshole." Ace slammed the phone down. "Goddammit..."
I said nothing and stared at the floor. Sometimes saying nothing is best.
I gave Ace some time to cool down before later finding him in the garage, staring under the hood of one of the cars. Not working on it, just staring. Thinking.
"I'm going to check on Natalie tonight," I said, sliding a supportive arm around his waist. "Why don't you come with me to see Eyeball? When was the last time you went out with just the boys?"
"Fucking forever ago."
"Then do it. Take the night off and go out."
"There's too much to do here."
"We'll take care of it. Maybe if you and Eyeball start getting along better again, he'll help you more."
I had to pry the tools out of Ace's hands but finally got him to agree. Eyeball didn't need nearly as much convincing. By the time Ace finished telling him they'd round up the boys and head into Chamberlain, Eyeball was already in the car. He'd been through a lot over the past couple of weeks, and I think he needed a night out more than Ace did.
Natalie and I were happy to have the house to ourselves. Earlier that day, I had bought her some new clothing essentials and finally got to see her eyes light up at the gifts. Light up and then tear up. She can be a real sap. I had already given her a few things of mine to wear before that because Eyeball took the only threads of clothing she'd brought with her and set fire to them using a match and an entire tin of kerosene. It sure was different seeing her dress in normal teenage casuals for once, and I could already see a change in her. She seemed so much more relaxed now. Happy. She smiled more and joked around with me about silly things. Life was much less serious. She still seemed tired though. She had gotten a lot of rest but had only been out for a day, so I wasn't going to push her into anything. I asked her if she wanted me to take her up to the view because she'd never been, but as soon as she said she didn't feel up to it, I let her be. A quiet night in sounded great to me anyway. I baked some mini peanut butter cookies to munch on as we took a sofa each and chatted for a couple of hours.
"Do you want to talk more about me moving out?" I asked her. "You seemed like you didn't like that idea."
"It was unexpected, that's all. It felt a little scary thinking I might be here on my own, but what do I have to be afraid of? I can cook, I can clean, hell – I can do anything."
"Did you just say 'hell'? Natalie, I'm shocked at you!" I laughed.
"I won't tell you how good it felt..." she chuckled, blushing a little. "Freedom is a hard feeling to get used to. I keep listening out for a knock on the door, expecting my father to come for me."
"Do you think he would?"
"No. I have been disowned. I doubt I shall ever see my parents again. And I don't miss them, Cassie. For the first time in my life, I'm looking forward to the future."
"And... do you think that future might be with Eyeball?"
Her eyes were wide and shining as she thought about that for a moment. I had to snap her out of it. "Perhaps," she grinned, and I noticed a tinge of a pink in her cheeks.
Headlights suddenly lit up the windows and one rowdy V8 after the other roared up the driveway and parked outside. They had left taking only Ace's '49, but I swore that four or five cars had just rolled up.
"Sounds like the boys are back," I said.
And they were. All six of them plus a bunch I didn't know including a couple of girls. Ace walked in first and winked at me with a subtle grin, and I returned it, pleased to see that he was in a good mood. The rest of the raving, amped-up cluster busted through the front door after him and swarmed through my little house like someone had taken the lid off a container of wasps. The radio was cranked up, and we soon had people at the breakfast bar, out on the back porch and loitering anywhere else there was space. Natalie and I glanced at each other and sighed, equally disappointed that our peace had been disturbed.
"Do you know any of these people?" Natalie whispered to me.
"Apart from Ace's boys? No. But Ace knows the rules - he's completely liable," I said wryly.
Ace and Eyeball went to the fridge to grab a fresh beer each and were arguing about whether to replace a clutch or not when reconditioning a gearbox. It was nice to see them squabbling about mundane things again. But I noticed that one of the girls - the blonde one - was hanging around them and grinning at their conversation like it was super interesting. And it was anything but – trust me. She looked the popular type - pretty and she had her fringe pinned back with long curls just resting on her shoulders which had a knit cardigan draped over them. Her eyes were baby blue and her lips were stained deep red. As I continued to observe, I noticed that wherever Ace moved around the room, she'd stick right by his side like a loyal dog on a leash.
My spying was interrupted by Jack bumping my arm as he sat next to me and pulled the brunette girl onto his knee. I'd never seen him with a girlfriend, and apparently it was a big deal because the rest of the guys threw Jack hoots and jeers to... well, let's just say they were egging him on to make it count.
"Ooh, cookies," Eyeball said. He took a handful from our bowl and stuffed them into his mouth before falling on the sofa next to Natalie and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You comin' with us, babe?" he asked her.
"Where?"
"Told you I'd teach you to play pool, remember?"
"Oh... do you mean, you're going to that bar? I don't know. I've never been into one of those places before. I'm not old enough."
"Age ain't an issue. Ace has got it covered."
"Are you sure?"
"'Course. And anyway, I'll look after you." Eyeball cracked a persuasive smirk – one I'd seen him use on her before to get his way.
"I'll get my jacket," she giggled.
I hadn't been able to get her off the sofa all night, and seeing her practically leap out of her chair and run for the room to grab her stuff did surprise me.
"What's her story?" I asked Eyeball, pointing to the blonde girl.
She was talking to Ace now, but the music had suddenly been turned up so loud that I couldn't hear what they were saying. Even Eyeball didn't hear me ask, and he was sitting right there. It was a pity because things were starting to get interesting in my kitchen. The girl wasn't all giggles and laughs anymore. Her red stained lips had parted in, what looked like, surprise, or like she had been startled or stunned. Ace pointed at me, and her gaze followed his finger. He started walking away from her, and she tried to pull him back demandingly. Desperately. But he didn't seem to care. The girl, obviously not knowing what to do, stood there for a moment, looking like a little lost lamb. She shot me another look and then bolted down the hallway, I supposed to use the bathroom.
I got up to turn the volume dial on the radio down to half and then went back to Ace who had kicked Jack and his girl off the sofa and then sat in my seat. He reached for me, and I crawled onto his lap, my legs astride him.
"Well, you certainly brought a party home with you. I guess you had fun out there."
He just shrugged.
I leaned forwards on him and started to lay on a more authoritive tone. "What did you get up to in Chamberlain? Picking up girls I see. Did you stay out of trouble?"
He gave a short laugh and took a swig from his bottle. I rolled my eyes and sighed. "What happened?"
"We're going to Irby's for a nightcap," he said, avoiding the question. "And you're coming."
"Too right I'm coming."
He gave me a grin so oozing with charm that I felt like a soft-touch for grinning back. "It's funny watching you get jealous," he said.
"Oh, is that what this is? Are you trying to make me jealous?" I leaned right down on him to whisper into his ear. "Well, I'll tell you somethin'. When I've got a guy who's worth getting jealous over, you can bet your '38 Dodge I'll be keeping an eye on him."
Ace smirked. "You don't gotta worry, baby. You're my number one girl – you know that. She'd rank number two at best."
I shoved him in the shoulder and chuckled. I knew he was only trying to wind me up. I bet, if he kept at it, he could get me going like a clockwork mouse. "Ooh, don't start playing like this with me, Merrill. I told you I can be competitive, and this is one game you won't win."
I got off his lap and went over to Charlie who was leaning on the doorframe of the entrance to the hallway. "Hey, Charlie, how are you?" I asked, gently rubbing his shoulder and giving him a little grin.
I glanced back at Ace with a sly sideways eye. That teasing smirk had been wiped clean off his face.
--
The bathroom was occupied – I guessed the girl was still in there. I grabbed my jacket from my room and, when I came out, I heard voices floating through the crack in Natalie's bedroom door.
"He never told me he had a girl back home. Why didn't he say anything?"
I probably looked stunned on hearing that but, despite our little games, I trusted Ace completely.
"I don't know," came Natalie's soft voice.
"I should never have left Kyle. I should have stayed with him. I shouldn't have let Ace pull me away."
"But he was hurting you. Just look at that bruising on your wrist. I think Ace did a very noble thing by taking you out of that situation. He rescued you."
"No, he didn't," the girl said sternly. "Because now things will be worse. I thought Ace wanted me. I thought he was going to be there to protect me."
"He and Cass are rather close... I'm not sure it was ever his intention to make you think that."
"Oh so... I imagined it all? Now I'm just making things up in my head? Kyle is gonna..." Her voice trailed off and turned into the sounds of sobbing. The sobbing became muffled, and I guessed Natalie had pulled her in for a comforting hug.
"You need to be strong now, June," Natalie said. "You need to tell someone about the awful things he has been doing to you."
"But who would I tell? My parents? They don't even know I have a boyfriend. Tonight, I told them I was staying at my friend's house for the weekend."
"Listen, I think it would be best if we took you home tonight. You'll be safe there and then you can work something out."
"OK..." June sniffled.
I nipped through my bedroom door and waited for them to come out of Natalie's room. June went into the bathroom to blow her nose, and we caught a glimpse of each other as I passed by.
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