Authors: Melanie J. Cole
Anna takes a deep breath. “His name is Trent Evers. He’s one of Aaron’s frat brothers.”
Oh My God! I know that name. That’s the guy Aaron introduced me to the other day
, at McDonalds. So, why did he take up for me? He’d looked so familiar. Maybe I do know him. Shit! I really need to talk to him.
CHAPTER 11
TRENT
I’m lying on my bed, tuning my Les Paul. It’s been years since I played, but ever since Karma came back into my life, I can’t get that fucking song out of my head. I e
ven downloaded it onto my phone. I play it on repeat while I go to sleep.
There’s someone banging on my door. I know exactly w
ho it is. I also know what he wants. I choke the neck of my guitar. “Yeah,” I call out to him.
Dave pokes his head inside the door. “You got a minute? I need to talk to you about something.”
Yeah, the something he’s referring to is that dumbass, Aaron. He came home from the hospital last night. I’ve got a pretty good idea where this is going. I carefully lean my guitar up against the wall. “What’s up?” I cross my arms over my chest and lean back against my head board.
He steps inside and closes the door behind him. “I’ve been talking to Aaron, about what happened.”
“And?,” I’m just waiting for him to tell me that the cops are on their way.
“He said that there’s only one way he won’t press charges.” I arch my brow at him. Of course, only Aaron would come up with a punishment worse than jail. I bet he’s really en
joying this, the son of a bitch! He’s never had to strike one lick at anything. He was fucking born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Everything seems to fall right into his lap. Hey, I’ve just had an epiphany!. These are all the things that make me dislike him. However, seeing the way he was ready to hit Karma, is the main reason, I fucking hate him. The way he didn’t hesitate to shove her onto the ground, in front of the entire frat, makes me think he’s hit her before. I grind my molars together, just thinking about it. I wonder what he’d do if she ever threatened to press charges?
“He wants you out.” Dave says, dragging me out of my thoughts.
“Of course he does.” I say dryly. Who am I kidding? There’s no point in trying to fight it. I’ll lose. I push off of my bed, and pull a bag from underneath the bed. “I’ll be gone by the end of the day.” I begin cramming all of my shit into the bag. “Dave,” I say, stopping him before he walks out.
He turns back towards me with a solemn expression. “Yeah?”
“Keep him the fuck away from me, until I’m out of here. Do you understand?” I know there’s no way in hell I’ll be able to control my temper around him.
He nods his head a couple of times. “I don’t think you have to worry about that, Trent. His nose is broke
n, he has three cracked ribs, and a slight concussion.”
Hearing all of his injuries makes me smile. “Good.” I watch him shake his head at me, and my grin widens. Fuck them all! I know exactly wh
ere to go. When I was accepted into this university, my brother offered to let me crash with him. He rents a townhome about ten miles off of campus. The only reason I’d refused his offer, was because I got into this fraternity. Well, look where that got me. I grab my phone and dial Jude’s number. He’s my adopted parent’s biological son, and is eight years older than me.
He answers on the third ring. “What’s up
, man?”
“Does your offer still stand?” This is how we are - we don’t waste time on hellos.
He sighs loudly. “What
did you do now?” He knows how fucked up I used to be. I put my parents through hell. I rebelled – bad! I was constantly picking fights, taking pills. A couple of girls I was with had pregnancy scares. It was a bad time in my life. Why in the hell they adopted me, is beyond me. They’re the best parents anyone could ask for, especially me.
“Can I stay with you or not?” I know it’s a two bedroom. I’ve visited him a couple of times, when I needed a place to crash. It’s a pretty nice place.
“Fine, you can stay. But you better keep yourself in check. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
CHAPTER 12
KARMA
I sigh loudly and flop onto my bed. I’ve just listened to two different lectures, and taken a test, that counted for fifteen percent of my total grade. I’m pretty sure I failed it. I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I’ve heard that Aaron was released from the hospital, and I’m just waiting for him to start banging on the door, any minute. I run my hand through my hair and bite down on my bottom lip.
I nearly leap out of my skin, when the door flies open. Anna comes barreling in with a paper in her hands. “Oh good, you’re back. How did the test go?”
I roll my eyes at her. “It sucked! I’m pretty sure I failed it.” I eye the paper in her hand. “What was your hurry? You scared the Hell out of me, the way you barged in here!.” My heart is still pounding erratically.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, but I’ve been thinking.” Oh no! Here we go
- again. I really wish she’d stop thinking so much. She doesn’t give me a chance to ask any questions. “I guess you’ve heard that Aaron’s out of the hospital.” I nod my head and cross my legs beneath me. Where is she going with us? “He scares me, Karma. I mean, I’m the one who talked you into dumping him. Hell, I dumped him for you. He knows where we live! I thought about changing the lock, but I don’t think that would do much good. He’s fucking crazy! He’d probably break the door down. I think we should find a place off of campus. What do you think?” She still doesn’t give me a chance to answer. “I know some places can be expensive, but I’ve talked to my parents, and they said they’d help. I’m pretty sure your parents would help us too, if we asked. What do you think?”
I gape at her. Holy hell! “Anna, did you tell your parent
s about Aaron?” It’s bad enough that she knows. I don’t want anyone else knowing my business!.
“Of course not
!,” She throws her hands up exasperatedly. “You know me better than that! I promised I wouldn’t, and I didn’t. I just told them that I was tired of living on campus. Now, do you think your parents will help us? Because, I found a pretty sweet place, but it isn’t cheap.” She points at circled ad on the paper.
I take the paper and look at it more closely. It does sound
nice. It’s a two bedroom townhome, and it’s only ten miles off of campus. It’s perfect, actually. I smile up at her. “Actually, my parents wanted me to find a place off of campus, but I didn’t want them to spend any more money than they had to.” Ah, to hell with it. If I have to, I’ll get a job, and pay them back. This is my life we’re talking about, after all. I grab my phone and dial my Dad. He’s the one who handles the finances in my family. Poor Mom is terrible with numbers.
“Hey S
weetheart, how’s college life treating you?” My dad’s the best!
“It’s pretty good.” I lie. “How are yo
u and Mom?”
“We’re doing well
, but we miss you girls.” My sister is older than me. She’s married with a little boy. I really need to go and visit them, soon. “How are you doing on money? Do you need me to send you extra?”
I chew on my bottom lip. “Actually, Anna and I are thinking about moving off of campus. She’s
found a really nice townhome, but it’s kind of expensive.”
“How much do you ne
ed?” Wow, that was easy. “Karma, I’ll pay anything to get you out of those dorms. You know, I don’t like you staying on campus. I think your Mother and I would both sleep better, if we knew you were out of there.” Our dorm is co-ed and it drives my parents crazy. “But, I want to make sure wherever you move, is in a safe neighborhood.”
“I know, Dad. We’ll definitely check it out. I’ll even send you all of the information
, once we have it.”
“That sounds really good. Just send me the information, and I’ll send you the money. I have to get back to work now. I’ll talk to
you really soon. I love you, Sweetheart.”
“I love you too, D
ad.” I turn my phone off, and smile over at Anna. Her smile matches mine. She still has her phone to her ear. “Who were you talking to?” I ask her when she finally hangs up.
“The owner of the town
homes. We have an appointment to go look at it, first thing in the morning.” I sigh with relief. I think I’ll be a lot happier off of campus. This is going to be a good thing. It’s time I start living - again!
CHAPTER 13
TRENT
I park my truck next to Jude’s motorcycle. I grab my bag and head up the front steps. I should have just moved in here to begin with. It would have made things a hell of a lot easier.
“Hey
, Man.” Jude meets me at the door. “Is this all you have?” he asks, staring down at my bag and guitar.
“Yeah, this is it.” I step around him, and head to the spare bedroom.
He follows behind me. “So, are you going to tell me what happened?” he asks, leaning against the doorframe.
I sit my g
uitar down, and toss my bag on the bed. “I got kicked out.”
“Yeah, I kind of figured that much out.” He narrows his eyes at me. “What did you do
, to get yourself kicked out?” Wow, he’s really not going to let this go.
I shrug my shoulders. “I beat the shit out of one of the guys.” I turn and look at him. He’s shaking his head at me.
“I thought that’s what happened.” He chuckles and shakes his head at me. “Do you want a beer?”
Okay, so maybe living with Jude won’t be so bad after all. “Sure
.” I follow him into the kitchen. He grabs two beers out of the fridge, and passes one to me.
“So, what did the
guy do to piss you off?” he asks, tipping his bottle back.
“He
shoved a girl onto the ground and was ready to punch her.” I tip my bottle back, and drain half of it.
He nod
s his head. “I see.” Jude knows about my past. “That makes sense. Sounds to me like the guy got exactly what he deserved.” I nod my head. “Speaking of girls,” he cocks a brow at me. “There were a couple of hot college girls, checking out the townhouse next to this one.” He tips his bottle back and finishes it off.
“Oh yeah?” I could really care less about girls. There’s only one girl I’m interested in, and I don’t have a fucking clue how to find her. I rub the back of my neck roughly.
“Oh yeah!” He has this cocky grin on his face. “I really hope they get it. I wouldn’t mind having them over for dinner. They’d make a great sex sandwich.” My brother, ladies and gentlemen, the pervert!
“Wouldn’t they be a little young for you?”
He shrugs and grabs us another beer. “Who cares? It’s not like I want to marry them. I just want to fuck them. Besides, if they’re in college, they’re of age. That makes them fair game.”
“Whatever
- do what you want. Just try to keep the noise down. These walls are thin as paper.” The last time I crashed here, he kept me awake half the night. His headboard kept banging against the wall.
“Hey, I’m putting a roof over your head, and not charging you a single dime. You can get over it. I have needs.”
“Yeah, well I have classes. At least put a pillow behind the headboard.” I turn around and head back to the bedroom. I stop at the door and turn back around. “And if she’s a screamer, like that one girl was, gag her.” I swear, that girl was so loud she could have woken the dead.
CHAPTER 14
KARMA
“Of course I like it, Anna, but how are we supposed to haul it?” I ask, as I stare down at the leather sofa. “It’s not going to fit in the trunk of your car.” We’re at the Salvation Army, shopping for furniture for our new townhome.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it covered.” She holds her hand out to me. “Just give me your half.”
I sigh and shake my head. She’s impossible. “Fine,” I reach into my pocket and hand her a twenty. She claps her hands together, and does a little dance.