Fiction/Young Adult/Betrayal
Worth the Risk — Chapter Fourteen
Are you willing to lose it all?
Every muscle in his body reacted and became rock solid as if they were preparing for battle. My first thought was that the police had come and were taking everyone to jail. That was until I remembered where I was.
At our parties and rounds of going to nightclubs underage, police involvement was about the only thing we had to worry about, which rarely ever happened.
This was a different part of town and known gang activity was always around and about these areas.
Marcus turned back around to me and kissed me on the cheek. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
He and Ricky walked out together and into the crowd on the sidewalk.
“Let’s go.” Amber took my hand and followed the boys.
I saw Marcus’s head bobbing up and down amongst the other people. His and Ricky’s pace picked up when they heard a girl scream.
Amber started to push people aside as we tried to keep up with our guys.
I heard yelling and recognized Marcus’s voice.
Amber and I reached the center of the attraction. Marcus and Ricky stood with Gabby and two other girls. Three other guys stood on the other side of the circle, staring down at the group. There was a lot of screaming and arguing going on.
From what I captured, something had gone down with Gabby and one of those guys. It looked like Marcus and Ricky were there to protect her from whatever those other guys were here for.
One man, who looked about twice the size of Marcus and Ricky, said something in some sort of slang or gang term I didn’t understand in Spanish. After that, both guys went after him and tackled him to the ground. People started jumping up and down trying to see what was going on.
Amber and I weren’t the tallest of people, so it was hard to find out who was getting punched with all the hitting sounds that echoed.
We got to the front of the group when everyone calmed down. Marcus stood by Gabby with his arm around her shoulders, while Ricky talked to another guy standing beside them.
On the ground were three bloodied-faced men who were stirring about after being knocked out or disoriented a bit.
“You okay?” Amber pulled me along as she rushed over to Ricky, who didn’t have a scratch on him. She ran her hand all over his face and arms to make sure everything was still intact.
“I’m good.” Ricky took her hand and pulled her against his side. “They didn’t stand a chance with us.” He fist-bumped the guy beside him. He introduced her to Gabby’s brother and told her the large boy, who was still on the ground and bitching like a pussy, had pushed Gabby around, so they had to take care of it.
I looked over at Marcus, who was still with Gabby. He kissed her tenderly on the side of the head. His eyes lifted and met mine, and I quickly looked away as if I didn’t notice that small, warm moment between them.
“Dude, you were awesome. One hit, and he was out.” Ricky beamed at Marcus like he was named a heavyweight fighting champion.
“Gotta take care of our own.” Marcus nodded to Gabby’s brother, who returned the gesture.
I glanced back over my shoulder. Gabby was with two other girls. She was still crying and sneaking quick peeks at either the guy dragging himself up from the ground or maybe she was looking for Marcus.
“I’ll catch you guys later.” Marcus smacked Ricky on the back, then took my hand.
He led us back to the house we’d just come from and grabbed a six-pack of wine coolers. I wanted to pull away from him, but I kept my hand with his as he led us down the hall.
I didn’t like what I saw with him and Gabby. I understood they were good friends, but somehow, they seemed much closer than that at times.
Marcus opened the door to the room we stopped at and motioned for me to go in. There was a bed, a small dresser, and a desk, everything was tightly packed together.
“Who’s room is this?” I didn’t want to spend time in someone else’s bedroom, that was sort of creepy.
“Oliver’s.”
I gave Marcus a look like I had no clue who he was talking about. I don’t think I ever met Oliver, or did I?
“You met him earlier. He was one of my cousins I introduced you to.” Marcus took out a wine cooler, opened it, and handed it to me.
I accepted the drink. I wasn’t sure if I was in the mood to party or pick up where we’d left off earlier. I didn’t know if I wanted to go back to our moment before Ricky interrupted us.
“Oh, I think I remember.”
Not that I did, but I didn’t want to look like a complete idiot.
“He’s staying at his friend’s house tonight, so I figured we could crash here.” Marcus took a long swallow of his cooler and motioned for me to take a drink of mine.
I took a sip and set the bottle down on the dresser. “I might end up going home. I’ll lay off the alcohol for a while.”
“No way.” Marcus shook his head and then looked at me with an intense stare. “Is it because of before?”
“I wouldn’t be comfortable staying overnight.” I didn’t want to get into some disgruntled argument over what had happened earlier.
“I wouldn’t be comfortable with you driving around in the middle of the night all alone, especially after you’d been drinking.” Marcus sat his bottle next to mine and sat down on the bed. “So, tell me what’s really wrong, Chelsey.”
“I told you.” I looked away from his penetrating stare. My face flushed and I hoped it hadn’t turned any shade of red. From his actions and the way he kept questioning me, he knew I wasn’t telling him the exact truth.
“Okay, whatever. Keep it all a secret.” He lay down on the bed, clasped his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes. “I had to help tonight. I’m sorry if you don’t approve of fighting, but that guy needed the shit beat out of him.”
So he thought I was angry about the fight. It didn't ever occur to him that seeing him cuddle and kiss another girl, even if it was the victim, was a little unsettling in a new relationship.
“Not the fighting that disturbed me.”
Marcus opened one eye and looked at me. “Not the fighting, then what?” Now both eyes were focused on me.
I shrugged. It looked like Marcus was going through the replays in his mind. His eyes kept darting around like he was trying to remember what could’ve possibly ticked me off.
“Gabby.” I gave him a clue, maybe he could figure out the rest.
“Gabby?” Marcus grilled me about the answer I’d given him. “I had to help her.” He explained once again why he fought but didn’t mention any of the after incidences when the other guys were knocked out.
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter.” I crossed my arms and looked out the window.
Marcus sat up and scooted closer to the end of the bed. He reached for me, but I stepped out of his grasp.
“It does matter if it affects us.”
“What about us? Are we like together, together, or just hanging out for a good time?" I would rather have the first option rather than the latter.
Marcus raised his eyebrows as if questioning me about the issue I’d asked him. “What do you want us to be, Chelsey?” He stood and wrapped his arms around my waist.
I couldn’t resist the pull that made me want him. I lay my forehead on his chest. “Together-together.”
Marcus raised my chin, so I was looking at him. “Me, too.” His lips pressed against mine and then he was gone before anything could be made of the kiss. “Now, what got you so upset tonight?” He led me to the bed and pushed down on my shoulders so I would sit. He sat down beside me once I claimed a spot on the edge of the bed.
“You and Gabby.” I didn’t know what else to say.
Marcus waved his hand for me to continue. “What about Gabby and me?”
“You were hugging her, then you kissed her. You two looked so comfortable together.” Instead of feeling jealous like I did before, now I felt stupid for making such a big deal over this.
Marcus's fingers traced a line down my cheek. I glanced up at him, and he smiled. “I said before there was and never will be anything between her and me. She’s a close friend who can be a bitch sometimes, but I would still do anything for her.” He picked up my hand and kissed the top of it. “I hugged her because of the bad experience she went through. That guy, who was a long-time ex-boyfriend, came around and started fucking with her. He was pushing her around, and Ricky and I don’t stand for that shit with girls.”
I nodded. I understood his position. I was glad to see that if anything ever went wrong, there was one person I could count on to kick the shit out of someone if needed.
“You kissed her.” I just had to go and throw that out. That was one thing that disturbed me. I wouldn’t go around kissing other guys, even if it was only on the cheek, knowing Marcus was standing right there.
Marcus’s eyes went darker as they squinted closed. It looked like he was trying to remember the when and where of what I was talking about, and then a light of recognition shone through.
“Do you mean this?” His lips gingerly touched me on the cheek.
I nodded my head, yes.
He chuckled for a moment until he saw I was dead serious. “Chelsey, I’m sorry. That’s just the way it is around us. I don’t know... I’ve grown up with everyone kissing everyone. It wasn’t like it meant anything, it was me trying to calm her down.”
I shrugged once again. Their family and friendship styles were so different from what I’d grown up with. “I guess I’m used to my family, friends, and how they act.”
“Now.” Marcus took my face between both of his hands. His lips claimed mine in a kiss of urgency and desire. After our ten seconds of passion, he leaned back and kissed me ever so delicately. “If I kissed her like that, it might be a problem.”
I ran my hand down his chest and rested it on his stomach. “Okay, sorry for overreacting.”
“I’m glad you did. At least now, I know you’re concerned about our relationship.” Marcus took my hand and brought it up to his face. With my hand in his, we gently caressed the small, reddened, swollen area he got hit in.
“I didn’t even see you get punched.” My lips caressed the spot on the side of his face that had a raised red marking.
“Just once, then it was all over for them.” He closed his eyes and enjoyed the attention the one spot was getting.
“Are you hurting anywhere else?” I wanted to make sure he wasn’t in pain in any other spots.
Marcus’s eyes opened. A small smirk spread across his face. “Chelsey, when you’re around, there is one thing that always hurts me.”
I was confused, then his eyes glanced downward to the firm package in his pants.
I let out a silent ‘oh.’
Thankfully, I’m a dancer and able to do all kinds of twisted moves. I quickly went from a side position to straddling him on the edge of the bed in less time than it took for someone to stand.
“So, are you hurting now?” I rocked my hips slowly back and forth.
“More like you’re killing me.” Marcus closed his eyes and leaned backward, pulling me along.
I stretched out my legs and lay on top of him. His hands automatically went to my ass. He started a slow, sensual massage that made me feel so fine.
A knock on the door pulled us away from the moment.
Marcus cursed silently in my ear. His hands went limp and once again, our time was over.
“What!”
I shuddered when Marcus screamed past my ear.
“Dude, you’re missing the party.” A guy’s voice sounded through the door.
I rolled off Marcus and rearranged my clothes.
Marcus sat up and walked over to the door. He opened it up a bit so he could look out. “I was sort of busy.” His anger shone through with every word.
The guy, who looked to be around our age, peeked around Marcus. His smirk grew bigger when he noticed me seated on the bed.
“I was gonna tell you we had some dancers,” he hollered over the noise vibrating from outside. “The shit be going down out there, girls be takin their clothes off and shit.” He looked back over at me on the bed. “Looks like you got that goin on here.”
Marcus shook his head. “We’ll be out in a bit.” The guy nodded once and walked away.
Marcus quietly shut the door and looked back over his shoulder at me. His cheeks puffed and he blew out a giant sigh. “Sorry.”
I shrugged and offered a smile. “No reason to be sorry. They expect you to be out there and not closed up in some room the rest of the night.”
Marcus wrapped me in a tight hug. “Do you wanna go show them how a real dancer can make the moves?”
I thought about his proposal but didn’t want to seem like I was a show-off in front of his family and friends. “Maybe another time.” I snuggled up closer to him. “I would rather spend my time with you than get hot and sweaty from dancing.”
Marcus laughed and kissed my forehead. “I can think of something else that would get us both hot and sweaty, but,” he let out a deep sigh, “somehow we’re always interrupted.”
‘Maybe that was a good thing. I wasn’t sure if I was ready. I liked Marcus, but I wanted love, romance, and my knight in shining armor to ride up on his stallion and sweep me away.’
“I want.”
Marcus’s talking brought me out of my fantasy. I gazed up at him and waited for him to continue.
“I mean.” Marcus appeared frustrated like he couldn’t find the words to say. “If something would ever happen between us.” His eyes met mine in the hopes that I understood what he was talking about.
I nodded that I’d gotten the reference.
“I mean, that’s not all I’m looking for in a relationship with you.”
Once again, Marcus stalled on telling me what he was thinking about.
I touched his cheek so he would look down at me again. “Marcus, I know we’re more than sex.”
“I just want something like that to be perfect between us.” He motioned with his hand to the room we were standing in. “Not some fifteen-year-old kid’s bedroom and someone knocking on the door every five minutes.”
I took his hand and led him to the door. “I think we need to go enjoy the party. Our time together will be special no matter where it is, okay?" My eyes slid up to his as I waited for a response.
Marcus kissed the tip of my nose. “I like that.”
