Broken Souls (16 page)

“
Shall we go over to the other side and keep away from them?” Ben asked, placing a fruity looking drink on the bar in front of her. “Thinking about it, I don’t really fancy an ambush from Melissa right now. She doesn’t like you, at all, and I know that she will purposely make a scene.”

Ashley sniggered. “
Why, because she is president of the Benjamin Goode fan club? Do you think she will actually throw a bitch fit if she sees me with you?”

“Fuck, if I know.”

For a few minutes, she teased the idea in her mind. It was almost the perfect solution to the plan. Marco would see her with Ben which would hopefully prompt the jealous reaction she wanted. Although, the only sticking point was that she would have to face him, which she wasn’t sure she could do yet.

“
Uh-oh,” Ben murmured, “it looks as if we have been spotted.”

Ashley’s heart started to beat tenfold the moment Marco’s eyes found hers. Instantly, she felt her body coming alive as he held her captive under his stare, his eyes penetrating straight through to her bones.

“That bloke does
not
look happy,” Ben mused, a smirk lifting at the corners of his lips. “At least Melissa looks happy to see us... sort of. Well, I think she is happy to see
me
actually.”

Panic bubbled away in Ashley’s stomach as she recognised a flash of fierceness in Marco’s eyes
—
it was almost a warning
—
as his gaze drifted over Ben. He pressed his lips together firmly before reaching out to capture Melissa’s hand.

The game was on.

“Hello,
Benjamin
,” Melissa cooed. She stepped forward to give him a half-sided hug which he tried to return with Ashley still leaning into his side.

“What a coincidence, hey? Ashley and I decided to have a few drinks together,” Ben replied,
a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he pulled their linked arms closer together.

It was then that Ashley saw it... the look of pure hatred in Melissa’s eyes as she
noted the closeness between her and Ben. It was a look that she recognised and had already worn tonight—jealously.

The atmosphere in the room
took a nosedive as Melissa fixed Ashley with a loathing stare. “I didn’t mention it the other day when you came to the practice, but I’m sorry to hear about Gabby,” she eventually muttered before turning her attention back to Ben.

Ashley didn’t acknowledge her words. Instead, she cast a wary glance at Marco
and found him watching her carefully, his expression guarded.

“Oh, Ben,” Melissa spoke sweetly. “Let me introduce you to
—
”

“I’m going to the loo
,” Ashley interrupted, placing her drink on the bar and releasing her arm from Ben’s grasp. “I’ll be back in a sec.”

He gave her a brief smile before unexpectedly dipping his head to place a swift kiss against her lips. “
Be quick,” he murmured.

~

Closing the toilet lid and sitting down within the confines of her cubicle, Ashley placed her head into her hands. Tonight was a mess that was slowly turning into a disaster.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

She couldn’t believe Ben had just kissed her in front of Marco. It had just made the situation a million times worse than what it already was. How was she supposed to go back out there now?

“Ashley, which cubicle are you in? We need to talk...”

Over the top of the girly giggles and screeching voices in the loos, Ashley was still able to hear the vehemence in Melissa’s tone. Things were about to get ugly.

“What do you want?” Ashley growled, unlocking the door to find her leaning
back against a row of sinks.

Various women applying their make-up clearly noticed the impending feud and
made the right decision to leave along with a few others who had been loitering to use the toilets.

“What the
fuck
are you doing here with Ben?” Melissa’s voice came out in a long, high-pitched screech as she slammed her hands against the sink.

Amusement gleamed in Ashley’s eyes. “Jealous are we?” she teased. “Why don’t you tell
me
why you are all over that other guy if you are so in love with Ben, hey?”

“
To make him jealous,” she replied, a sly smirk fluttering on her lips. “He told me that he was taking you out, so what better reason did I have to come and gatecrash? Finding that guy on the dance floor was just the icing on the cake.” She pushed off from the sinks and strutted towards Ashley in the heels she wore. Standing mere inches from each other, Melissa leaned forward into Ashley’s face. “I’m here to make Ben jealous. Tonight, he will be taking
me
home and not
you
.” She stepped back slightly with a grin and placed her hands on her hips to wait a response.

There were many replies that Ashley could give to Melissa’s harsh and bitchy words. But instead, she decided to go for the jugular, the words that she knew would hurt her most.

“
Complete coincidence, but I’m assuming that you don’t know anything about the guy you were dancing with, right?” Melissa shrugged nonchalantly. “Good, because that same guy just happens to be Marco, Gabby’s older brother from Italy.” Ashley saw the surprise register on Melissa’s face and relished in the satisfaction that her blow had been delivered successfully. “Congratulations! I totally underestimated what a bitch you actually are,” she scoffed, opening the door and stepping back into the bar.

Adrenaline was pumping through her veins. It felt so good for her to finally get one up on Melissa after all this time. She had unknowingly come to the bar to try and make Ben jealous, and in doing that,
had ended up bumping into the brother of the girl she hated. It was unbelievable and something she couldn’t have even planned if she had tried.

“There you are,” Ben smiled
, spotting her approach. “I was just telling Marco about you.” He placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “He’s here on holiday at the moment from Italy.”

Ashley was grateful that the connection between Marco and Gabby had not yet been
established by Ben. Marco had clearly done a brilliant job in playing the game and extending the lies further.

“You, you
bastard!” Melissa was furious when she reappeared, her fiery red hair flying wildly around her shoulders. She reached out and slapped Marco forcefully across the cheek before storming towards the exit on the far side of the room.

Diverting
her eyes to the floor, Ashley tried to suppress her smirk. It had definitely played out better than she had imagined. At least Melissa was now out of the picture and wouldn’t be enjoying her evening with either Marco
or
Ben.

It was p
erfect.

“What just happened
?” Ben’s tone was harsh and demanding with her as he looked for answers. “Is she leaving? Did something happen between the two of you?”

“I may have said something,” she
hinted, her eyes drifting across the floor towards Marco’s laced up shoes.

“S
he can’t just leave like this. Somebody needs to make sure that she gets home alright.” He looked over at the staircase and saw Melissa disappearing from view. “Look, stay here with Marco. Let me go and make sure she gets a taxi alright and then I’ll be back.” He shot her an apologetic look before he sprinted through the hordes of people blocking the stairs.

“You have
definitely landed yourself a shining knight there,
cara
,” Marco mused, stepping close to her after Ben’s departure. “But tell me... Why has he run off to save another princess, and left you here with another man?”

Squeezing her hands into fists, Ashley
tried to channel the swelling anger she could feel bubbling in the pit of her stomach.

“Ben isn’t stupid,” she
warned, her eyes lifting to meet his. “He can spot a player from a mile away. He knows that a manwhore wouldn’t be any competition for him. And he’s right... Why would I want you anywhere near me after you’ve been grinding with that whore?” Her voice was rising steadily, but she didn’t care. “I must admit, I was surprised to see you tonight. Where’s Sophia? I’m assuming you’ve been laying low at a hotel the last few days—sleeping, fucking, eating, fucking?” She pinned him with a look of complete disgust that showcased the true pain she could feel inside her heart. “I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to hear that you’re out looking for other women.”

Marco chuckled as she picked up her drink and took a sip. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you,
tesoro
. Would you have preferred me to grind against you instead?” he asked, advancing another step towards her, amusement glinting in his eyes. He studied her body language and the way she openly trembled as he approached. “Your body is yearning to feel me again. Just look at you...”

“
N-No! Please don’t come near me,” she spluttered, backing further into the sturdiness of the bar.

She
could see that he was playing a game. He was trying to get a rise out of her and it was working.

“
Am I the only choice for tonight? Is that why you are trying to get closer to me? You made it perfectly clear the other morning what the other night meant to you. Why are you still trying to get under my skin when you have Sophia? Where is she?”

Marco stepped forward, again, effectively trapping her between the bar and
his body. He raised his hands and cupped her face, his fingers running lightly over her cheeks. “I believe it was you who classified our night together,
cara
.” He dipped his head and blew a breath across her lips. “What if I told you that I had been thinking about you every moment since we were together?”

Ash
ley scoffed and wriggled from his touch. “You say what every woman wants to hear to get them to drop their knickers. I bet you said the exact same thing to Sophia a few days ago to get her to do the same. Well, it isn’t going to work with me,” she told him firmly, her nostrils flaring wide from the cheekiness of his advances.

“
Tesoro,
are you really going to act like this after what I’ve just said? You shouldn’t make assumptions about people,” he warned. “How do you know what I’ve been doing the last few days?”

Her face flushed. “I-I...”

“Exactly.”

Gulping the contents of her drink,
Ashley put her empty glass down onto the bar. She didn’t want to play his mind games tonight. He was avoiding the discussion of Sophia completely and had managed to change the subject each time she had raised it. His clever answers were tiring and she didn’t have the mindset to fathom it out just yet. “I’m going to find Ben and go home. Enjoy the rest of your evening,” she nodded, slipping past him and heading for the exit.

After saying goodnight
to Ben and getting into her taxi, Ashley had wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and forget that tonight had happened. Nothing had gone according to plan, and for that, she was a little miffed.

She had left
Marco at the bar to go on her search for Ben so that they could leave. Ordinarily she would have gone by herself, but with Marco still lingering she knew that the situation could have developed into something more. There was no telling what Marco would have said following her rejection towards his advances, so it had been best to take Ben out of the equation.

When she found him, he was hovering around outside of the bar,
his fingertips pinching the bridge of his nose as his eyes followed a taxi that was pulling away from the kerb. He appeared extremely stiff and his expression serious. But once the taxi had disappeared from sight, she noticed that he seemed to relax somewhat. It was then that she had approached him, making sure not to mention the scene she had just witnessed.

Slo
tting her key into the lock on her front door, Ashley paused and thought back to his reaction. There was surprise on his face before he gave her a look that she could only describe as sheer disappointment... She didn’t know why he had looked at her like that, but it had hurt.  

There
had been no words spoken during the taxi ride back to Ashley’s flat. The silence had been uncomfortable until he had finally spoken when the car pulled up outside of her building.

“
What you said to Melissa was uncalled for. There wasn’t any need for you to speak to her like that when she was only trying to clear the air and make peace.”

His words had confused her at first. She
was almost certain that his disappointment had been over finding out about Marco, which now didn’t seem to be the case.

But w
hat else had Melissa told him?

“I don’t want to talk about it right now. I’m still amazed that you could
act like that towards somebody.”

Ashley had exited the taxi without getting a chance to explain
. Ben had shut down on the topic completely and ignored her attempts at trying to defend herself.

Stepping into her flat and closing the front door behind her, she
had tried to ignore the niggling feeling that was gnawing away in her stomach. Butterflies were floating around inside as the guilt started to consume her.

She had done it again.
She had managed to push away Ben and Marco because of her own selfish ways.

Ben didn’t deserve the way she was treating him, but she
just couldn’t cut him loose. Marco on the other hand, his words were still being dissected chunk by chunk in her mind. He had confessed to thinking of her since they spent the night together on Tuesday, but did that include the time she assumed he was with Sophia? Despite his confessions, she couldn’t believe him. He was used to sleeping around, so why would he suddenly change for her? It all seemed too convenient for him. Why wouldn’t he take advantage of a girl willing to be with him?

“He still didn’t confirm or deny his relationship with Sophia,” she told herself, trying to lighten her now sour mood. It wasn’t wise for h
er to conjure her own ideas without hearing it directly from the horse’s mouth.

Kicking
off her shoes, Ashley stalked towards her bedroom. Reaching under her arm to the concealed zip of her dress, she pulled and ripped the material from her body, letting it pool around her feet. Unclipping her bra and removing her underwear next, she pulled the covers back from her bed and slipped under the cool cotton.

She
disrupted the sheets on the bed, prompting a waft of heavily scented aftershave to invade her sinuses. She stilled instantly as she recognised
his
smell. Marco’s distinct and addictive smell that she was growing fond of.

Unknowingly, she began to think of him. She wondered
what he was doing at that moment. Was he alone and in a hotel room somewhere in London thinking about her too? Or had he gone back to his hotel to meet up with Sophia or some other woman?

She wished
it wasn’t the latter.

“It could have been different,” she whispered
into the darkened room. “If he had chosen you then you would have him right now.” She exhaled sharply with regret. “He would be touching you right now,” she continued to whisper to herself, tormenting her mind with what she could have had and what somebody else probably
did
have. “He could be fucking you right now.”

Her insides clenched at her own perverte
d thoughts as she continued to fantasise about him and the way he touched her body so perfectly. The way his lips had bitten and sucked on the sensitive pebbled flesh of her nipples, and the way his skilful fingers had coaxed such moans and sounds from the back of her throat.

Closing her eyes, she brought her hand
s up to her neck and gently rubbed at the skin, before inching them lower towards the valley of her breasts. She sucked in a breath as her fingertips traced the supple skin, her hands cupping at her soft swells with light pressure.

They were Marco’s hands—he was
the one touching her.

Capturing her nipples,
she rolled and twisted them in her fingertips as her body started to writhe on the mattress. Her mouth formed a small ‘O’ as she exhaled the air stored in her lungs.

“Marco
, Marco,” she whimpered, her legs spreading wide of their own accord under the sheets. Her pussy was growing wetter with each pull on her nipples and thought of Marco that occupied her mind. “Marco, touch me,” she cried, the sudden need for him to release her tension being too great.

Releasing one breast, she dropped her hand to her upper thigh, her fingertips tracing the skin with soft circles before they inched over to the slick moisture coating her opening.

“Yes, right there,” she moaned, dragging the dampness up to her already engorged clit. “Oh God, Marco.” She continued to draw a pleasing path with her fingers before dipping back down to her opening.

Repe
ating the motion over and over again, Ashley felt a deep pressure building in her pelvis. The feeling of Marco’s fingers as they flicked over her swollen clit was reaching its peak. She needed more... She needed to feel his cock inside of her. His full length penetrating with great force, ripping screams from the back of her throat. It needed to be rough; she wanted to feel the strength and power in his body.

“Fuck me, Marco,” she begged, her pussy grinding down against her hand as she inserted two fingers into her
own warmth.

Releasing her other breast,
Ashley braced her arm on the headboard for support as she continued to vigorously drive deeper.

Her legs trembled and her breaths appeared in short, sharp bursts as she fought against the crow
ning release building in the core of her pussy. She didn’t want to let go just yet... The visions of Marco fucking her were too strong.

From the ripples in his shaft as he cursed and groaned with each driving plunge
into her warmth, to the glazed look in his darkened irises as he chased along the path of his own orgasm
.
She couldn’t get enough of him.

The visuals of him pressing his weight into her upper thighs
and his hands caressing her face, spiralled Ashley to the explosion she had been waiting for. Her toes curled and her legs spasmed as she bucked against the bed, freefalling on a Marco induced orgasm she had conjured from within her mind.  

“Fuck,”
she panted, her body slowly coming down from its high. She couldn’t remember having such a powerful orgasm from masturbating in a long time. The thrill made her want more... she craved more Marco. She would have to fight for him; it was a fact. There was no way that she was going to let him slip through her grasp.

~

Waking up on Saturday morning, Ashley found herself with the overwhelming urge to just clean.

She
had decided to start with the rest of the flat before starting to tackle the mounting piles of crap that littered her own bedroom. It was something she needed to work up to. The state it had gathered over the past week alone was disgusting and turned her stomach.

But
it wasn’t that she was a lazy person. It was just that cleaning hadn’t ranked very highly on her list of priorities over the last seven days. It had been something she had been trying to put off for as long as possible, because she knew that the moment she started it, she wouldn’t be able to stop.

She had tried to ignore the growing mess around her, blocking it out until she couldn’t resis
t the urge any longer.

Looking around her home, she
could see every reason why Marco had jumped ship to a hotel. She couldn’t actually blame him because she would have gone too. The place was an absolute dump. And, it smelled...
really
bad.

“Right, okay,”
Ashley breathed, wiping her hands on the front of her jeans. She had just finished bleaching her kitchen and living room to within an inch of its life, and now felt ready to tackle the next disaster.

Stepping
into her room, she wrinkled her nose. Despite the alluring aroma of Marco’s aftershave on her sheets, the rest of her room smelt musty and slightly damp.

Crossing to the far side of her room, she dodged the scattered clothes and pieces of make-up that littered the carpet.
“Let’s start with some fresh air,” she said, leaning over to push open her bedroom window wide.

A refreshing breeze crossed her face as t
he sound of flowing traffic rushed into her ears. Closing her eyes, she revelled in the way it attacked her senses, the freshness providing her some welcome comfort.

“I am going to fight this,” she
said positively as she squeezed her hands into tight fists by her side. “I will
not
allow this to control me again.” She shook her head, refusing to allow access to the thoughts that were trying to invade her mind.

It wouldn’t consume her again
, because she knew that she was stronger this time.

Opening her eyes, Ashle
y levelled her gaze. She cast her mind back to how she had previously occupied her mind. It had proved a fundamental tool in getting her through before, and it would do it again this time round.

Walking over and sitting down on her bed, Ashley started collecting the various receipts
that she had scattered over her bedside table. In between the piles, she found receipts for restaurants, coffee shops and cash machine slips that were way out of date.

Picking out this week’s receipts, she noticed that the
money was starting to mount up, and that she had no idea how much she had actually spent. Her trips out in the evenings would have cost her a bob or two along with the takeaways she had ordered as well. It was even quite possible that her account was sitting in its overdraft at the moment where it would remain until payday in a few weeks time.

Ashley’s hand stilled, hovering above the final
receipt on the bedside table. “Shit...” The colour drained from her face as the full force of her problems barrelled their way to the number one spot in her brain. “How am I supposed to pay the rent?” she asked, her eyes wide with abrupt panic.

The realisation smacked her forcefull
y in the face. With Gabby gone, it now meant that she had a property to pay for on her own. But she wouldn’t be able to afford it. The bills alone were crippling without even mentioning the service charge on the building. It would be too much for her dental nursing salary to cover alone.

But w
hat was she supposed to do? It wasn’t as if she could just go and get a new roommate. It was absolutely out of the question. Gabby’s bedroom was, and still would, always be Gabby’s room.

Ashley
knew she needed a plan and fast. Her rent was due in three weeks’ time along with her half of the bills that needed to be paid.

“Shit, shit, shit...” She cursed loudly, furious
that something else was being added to her already over brimming plate. “How am I going to get the money?” she asked herself over and over again.

Pursing
her lips and tapping a finger against the side of her head, she started conjuring up ridiculous ideas and suggestions. Sell things? Get a loan? Make a deal with the landlord?

The last one made her laugh because she had no idea who the landlord actually was. She
had left all of that stuff to Gabby. Instead, she had simply transferred her monthly half of the rent into her best friend’s account. It was easy and stress free... or at least for her anyway.

But now she
found herself in a position that she was going to struggle to get out of. All of her ideas kept leading her back to the same inescapable conclusion.

She would need to move.

~