Impossible (26 page)

This was not good. No matter how much Kance smiled, I could see the hostility stirring in her eyes whenever she looked at Ashton and me. That girl had something planned and I wasn’t going to let Ash stick around her long enough to find out what that was.

Ashton

Ugh. I hated that Luca was upset with me. We’d finally reached a good place in our relationship and then Kance happened. A part of me wanted to scream at Kance to pull over, so I could get out and run back into Luca’s arms. Nothing was worth getting in the middle of us. I couldn’t lose him again. I didn’t want to.

Yet, I stayed in the car because, despite everything that’d happened, I cared about Kance too. She may seem like the spoiled, rich girl, but she was still recovering from her parents’ divorce. This was her way of coping with it. She took all her frustration out on other people. Last night, some of the things she’d said had resonated with me. I saw myself in her.

I took my issues out on other people too. It made me feel better picking on the faults of others, so I wouldn’t focus on my own. It gave me an outlet to vent, but it wasn’t the right thing to do. I was just as bad as her, and I’d never have changed if Luca hadn’t come back into my life. He was my anchor, the one who held everything together. He hadn’t given up on me and if Kance was ready to change, I couldn’t desert her either.

“How are you taking this whole thing with Oliver? What was the deal with you two anyway?” I asked. In a way, I didn’t want to know, but I really did want to know.

Kance tapped her acrylic nails on the steering wheel as she rounded the corner. “We were sleeping together, that’s all. When I wanted to have a serious relationship, he said I was a whore and that I was only good for one thing.”

My mouth dropped open. “That’s such a horrible thing to say! I can’t believe I ever liked him! He makes me sick.”

“So, what happened with the two of you? One minute you’re with Luca and the next, you bring Oliver to the bonfire. Now you’re back with Luca. Make up your mind.”

Before this whole rift between Kance and me had happened, I would’ve told her everything, but now I couldn’t. Apart from the fact that it was something I didn’t want to talk about, I just didn’t feel like sharing something that important with her. Maybe later on in life, if I truly got over it, I could start to trust her as my confidante again but, for now, I didn’t have it in me to let her in.

“I just realized what a loser he was. I can’t be with someone like that. Luca is a much better person.”

“I can tell he makes you happy,” Kance said as she pulled into an empty spot. “Besides, he looks so much better after that makeover. Anyone could like him.” Trust Kance to quickly move onto the physical.

“He’s gorgeous.” I got out of the car and waited for Kance who was doing something on her phone.

“You know what I heard?” Kance asked, stuffing her phone into her bag, and locking the car. It hadn’t taken her long to launch into her usual gossip session. Some things never changed. “Oliver is majorly hung up on you.”

We were almost at the courtyard when I stopped and stared at her in complete shock, barely believing my ears. Oliver had tried to sexually assault me, yet he was going around telling people he wanted me? In what alternate universe had we even had a semblance of a relationship? What a sick, psychotic asshole. I hope he rotted in Hell. “Who told you that?”

“All of Oliver’s friends are talking about it,” Kance said in a matter-of-fact tone. “He really wants you. Matt thinks it’s because you ditched him for Luca.”

“We were never together!” I cried, feeling frustrated that I couldn’t escape the topic of Oliver. “He’s deluded if he thinks something happened or is ever going to happen between us!”

“Ashton, can I talk to you?”

My skin crawled at the sound of the voice and I glanced around, suddenly feeling very unsafe. My natural instinct was to bolt, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.

Oliver stood a few paces away, giving me the look of a kicked, puppy dog. Not too long ago, that look would’ve made me go gaga over him, but now it just made me shudder. The good looks and the personality didn’t match up. No one knew what a monster he really was, what he was capable of doing.

On second inspection, I noticed how rough he looked. My bruises had nothing on Oliver. His face was practically bulging with injuries. His left eye was almost shut because of how swollen it was. Luca had really left his mark.

“Get the hell away from me!” I yelled, backing away and running into Kance. I caught a whiff of her expensive perfume and it made me want to gag.

Oliver glanced at Kance, his eyes pleading. “Kance, can I please have a moment alone with Ashton? We really need to talk.”

“Um, sure, I guess,” Kance said looking between the two of us curiously. Her mind was working in overdrive as she tried to figure out what exactly was going on with us. Giving up, she started to walk around me.

“Kance, don’t go.” I didn’t want to be left with this creep. I didn’t want anything to do with him. I wanted to get as far away from him as I could.

Kance stopped and tilted her head to the side as she played with the bracelet around her slim wrist. “I think you need to hear him out, Ashton. Aren’t we all about giving people second chances?”

Before I could say anything else, she’d already started walking towards the courtyard, leaving me in an awkward situation with the one guy I wanted to kick in the balls. Maybe if I injured his man bits, he’d think twice about doing something like that to another girl.

Oliver waited exactly two seconds before launching into a series of apologies that only angered me more. “Ashton, I’m really sorry. I didn’t want things to go the way they did on Friday. I was a high, drunk idiot.”

“You’re going to use being a high, drunk idiot as an excuse?” I asked, my anger reaching volumes. “Really? I didn’t think you could get anymore pathetic, but I guess I was wrong.”

“It was an honest mistake,” he said, looking put out that I hadn’t forgiven him in two seconds. “I was pretty sure you were into me. You gave me all the signs. You shouldn’t have led me on like that.” His apology was quickly turning into a blame game.

“Are you really going to put this on me, you asshole? You hit me when I refused to have sex with you! You forced yourself on me when I clearly said no. I didn’t ask for this! Are you that much of a coward that you have to assault a girl to make yourself feel like a man?”

Oliver’s face turned red and he took a step towards me. “Don’t you dare say that.”

I suddenly felt like a small animal that had been cornered. My heart sped up and I tried to stay calm. There were people around, but no one was paying much attention to us. If things got out of hand, I would have to scream.

As I backed away from Oliver, someone grasped me by the shoulders and pushed me behind them.

It was Luca!

Luca walked right up to Oliver and jerked him by the shirt of his collar. “How DARE you speak to her! If you EVER so much as look at her the wrong way, I will KILL you!”

The two of them stared each other down, sizing up the other. Oliver was definitely bigger; he was taller, he had wider shoulders and his muscles were bulging through his shirt. Luca was muscular too, but his body was lean. He was faster, though, and a lot smarter. Plus, he was fuelled by his anger, whereas Oliver only functioned on his idiocy. If they broke out into a fight, I was willing to put all my money on Luca.

“Get outta here. This has nothing to do with you,” Oliver said with narrowed eyes as he wrenched himself from Luca’s hold. “I want to talk to her. Alone.”

Luca laughed like Oliver was delusional. “You think I’m gonna leave you alone with her after what you did to her? Getting hit so many times by the ball really damaged your brain, didn’t it, Mr. big-shot quarterback?”

Oliver gave him a dark look. “You think too much of yourself now that a bunch of stupid girls wanna do you. You’re not on the same level as me. You never will be. The rest of us still think you’re a piece of shit. A
freak
. You better watch your back, Byron.”

“Look who’s talking. I’m not the one who got my ass pounded, asshole,” Luca said coolly.

Oliver growled and bunched up his fists like he wanted to hit Luca, but decided against it. Maybe he wasn’t as stupid as he looked.

Oliver shot me a look of frustration before turning and ambling up the steps in the direction of the courtyard.

Relief flooded through me as I watched him go. I’d been so tense the entire time he’d been close to me, too scared to move. Too scared to do anything. Now, my shoulders sagged and my breathing returned to normal as my eyes fell on the guy who’d saved me more times than I deserved.

Luca didn’t take his eyes off Oliver until he disappeared around the corner. When he was sure that Oliver wasn’t coming back, he turned to face me, his shoulders shaking from all the anger he was trying to contain.

Then he sighed and strode over to me, pulling me into a hug that made my insides squeal. He was the perfect remedy to my run-in with Oliver.

Ashton

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful.

Well, unless you took into account Kance’s odd behavior. There was no other word for it. She was acting so strange, like she’d been taken over by an alien host who wanted to learn more about the human race. Except, in this case, Kance was trying to learn more about Luca, his friends, and his music.

On Monday, she’d spent the entire day with me, so I hadn’t joined Luca and the others for lunch, but on Tuesday something truly crazy happened. Kance suggested that we sit with Luca and his friends at lunch.

My mind had told me that it wasn’t a good idea because, well, Kance could be too much to handle sometimes. Kance had insisted though, and finally I’d given in and taken her over to the wall where she’d introduced herself to Luca’s friends.

What happened next was even crazier.

She’d sat down and started conversing with them. Luca had stared at Kance like he wanted to strangle her and then shared a private look with Stacey that made my blood boil. I knew they were friends, but I’d suddenly felt so disconnected from him. I knew he was annoyed with me for spending so much time with Kance. He didn’t like her and I couldn’t blame him, but I wished he’d acknowledge me more.

What frustrated me the most was that this was all my fault. I was the one pushing Luca away and right back into Stacey’s arms. Even though Luca hadn’t admitted anything, it was pretty clear that there had been a sexual relationship between them.

Things seemed to be platonic with them at the moment, but who knew what could happen if I put a foot wrong. Stacey obviously still had a thing for Luca and was waiting until I was out of the picture. Well, I wasn’t going to let that happen.

On Wednesday, Luca and Stacey were nowhere to be found. Eddie, Riley and Elly had stuck out to brave the Kance invasion, and none of them knew where Luca was. I’d texted him a few times, but he hadn’t responded to any of them. This made me concoct various far-fetched theories on where he could be and what he was doing with Stacey.

After school, it was more or less the same story. Since Skeptic Coil had their gig coming up on Saturday, the boys had been practicing every day after school for hours. Luca had finally sent me a brief text letting me know that they were having closed rehearsals. When I’d texted him back to ask when I could see him, he hadn’t responded.

I hadn’t gone over there at all, wanting to give him space, but I’d seen Stacey leaving every single rehearsal late at night.

By Thursday, I’d had enough of his games and was determined to confront him, no matter how private his rehearsals were.

When Kance dropped me home on Thursday afternoon, I marched straight to Luca’s house, determined to talk this out with him no matter what.

Who did he think he was to treat me this way? After the amazing weekend we’d spent together, he couldn’t just avoid me like I meant nothing. I was going to show him! He knew me well enough to know that when I wanted something, I went after it. And this time he was in my line of sight.

As I stalked up the driveway, someone grabbed me around the waist. I cried and fell back against a firm chest. Taut, muscular arms encircled me and I struggled to fight off my assailant.  It was then that a familiar, crisp scent engulfed me, and I stopped fighting. My body relaxed and I squeezed my eyes shut, relishing the sensation of Luca’s body against mine. I strained myself against him, feeling every inch of the well-defined muscle under his shirt.

All my anger and frustration towards him was fading fast, replaced with a burning lust. I had to have him.

“I want you so damn bad,” he growled into my ear.

My legs buckled, but he held me up and pressed me against him. His fingers lifted up my top and grazed the skin there, sending tingles through me with every touch. He pushed his hard-on against me, and I desperately wanted to take off my bothersome clothes so there were no obstacles between us.

“Come up to my room,” he whispered, spinning me around so that I was staring into his hypnotic green eyes. “Let me show you how much I want you.” He leaned down and pulled me into a kiss that curled my toes.