My THUG LOVER

MY THUG LOVER Chapter 1 — The Boy Everyone Warned Her About The first thing Ava Carter heard when she stepped out of her car was a gunshot. BANG! She froze. Her coffee slipped from her hand and splashed across the pavement. For three whole seconds, she didn't breathe. Then someone behind her screamed. Ava spun around so quickly that her handbag flew off her shoulder. "What the—" Another loud sound came from across the street. BANG! Ava ducked. "OH MY GOD!" She dropped behind the hood of her car, squeezing her eyes shut. This was not how she had imagined her first week in Atlanta. She had moved from Charlotte two weeks ago after getting accepted into a small design company downtown. She wanted a fresh start. A new apartment. A new job. New friends. Not a new funeral. "Ma'am?" Ava slowly opened one eye. A man was standing several feet away, staring at her. "Are you okay?" "I'm hiding from bullets!" The man blinked. Then he pointed toward the street. "That's a car backfiring." Ava stared at him. "...What?" He smiled awkwardly. "Old car." Ava slowly lifted her head above the hood. Across the street, an ancient pickup truck was coughing smoke from its exhaust. The driver hit the engine again. BANG! Ava screamed and ducked. The man burst out laughing. "Oh, you're serious." "Don't laugh at me!" "I'm sorry." He clearly wasn't sorry. Ava stood up, brushed dust from her jeans, and grabbed her handbag. "I'm leaving." "Probably a good idea." She gave him an irritated look. "Thank you for your extremely useful advice." She turned toward the entrance of the convenience store. And that's when she saw him. A black SUV was parked near the corner. Leaning against it was a man dressed entirely in black. Black hoodie. Black jeans. Black sneakers. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his expression was so cold that Ava instinctively looked away. He wasn't doing anything. He didn't have to. Something about him made the entire atmosphere around him feel different. Two men stood nearby, talking quietly. One of them noticed Ava looking. He whispered something to the man in black. The man's eyes moved toward her. Their eyes met. Ava immediately looked away. Nope. Absolutely not. She had enough problems. She didn't need to add mysterious men with serial-killer eyes to the list. She walked into the store. --- Five minutes later, Ava walked back outside carrying a bottle of water and a packet of chips. She stopped. The man in black was still there. Only now, he wasn't leaning against the SUV. He was walking toward her. Ava tightened her grip on her bag. "Excuse me." He stopped in front of her. Up close, he was even more intimidating. He was tall. Maybe six-foot-two. His jaw was sharp, and there was a small scar above his left eyebrow. But his eyes... His eyes weren't cold. They were tired. "You dropped this." He held out something. Ava looked down. Her apartment keys. She hadn't even realized they were missing. "Oh." She took them. "Thank you." He nodded. Then he turned to leave. Ava stared after him. That was it? No creepy line? No flirting? No "you're welcome, beautiful"? Nothing? For some strange reason, she felt slightly disappointed. Why would I be disappointed? She shook the thought away. "Wait." He stopped. Ava walked toward him. "Where did you find them?" "Under your car." "Oh." Silence. She looked at him. He looked at her. Neither spoke. Finally, Ava said, "You know, you could smile." One of his eyebrows lifted. "Why?" "Because you're making me nervous." "Good." Ava's mouth dropped open. "Good?" "Means you're paying attention." She stared at him in disbelief. "You are incredibly rude." "And you're incredibly talkative." "I'm not." "You've been talking for two minutes." Ava folded her arms. "You counted?" "Unfortunately." For the first time, the corner of his mouth moved. It was almost a smile. Almost. Ava caught it. And for some reason, her heart did something ridiculous. No. Absolutely not. She wasn't going to find an intimidating stranger attractive. Especially one who clearly enjoyed annoying her. She stepped back. "Well...thank you for my keys." "Jace." She frowned. "What?" "My name." "Oh." She hesitated. "Ava." "I know." Her eyes widened. "You know my name?" Jace pointed toward her car. A small parking permit was stuck to the windshield. AVA CARTER — NEW RESIDENT "Oh." She suddenly felt stupid. Jace turned away. "See you around, Ava." "Wait." He looked back. "How do you know you'll see me again?" A slow smile appeared on his face. "Because you just moved into my neighborhood." And then he walked away. Ava stood there watching him disappear into the black SUV. --- "Girl." Ava jumped. Mia was standing beside her. "Where did you come from?" "I've been standing here for thirty seconds." "You scared me!" Mia looked toward the SUV. Then back at Ava. "Was that Jace Williams?" Ava frowned. "You know him?" Mia's expression changed. "You don't?" "No." Mia grabbed Ava's arm. "Get in the car." "Why?" "Just get in." Ava followed her. As soon as they were inside, Mia locked the doors. Ava stared at her. "What's going on?" Mia leaned closer. "That man is trouble." Ava looked through the window. Jace's SUV was already gone. "What kind of trouble?" Mia lowered her voice. "The dangerous kind." Ava laughed nervously. "You're being dramatic." "I'm serious." "What did he do?" Mia sighed. "Nobody really knows everything. But Jace Williams has a reputation." "For what?" Mia looked at her. "Fighting. Drugs. Guns. Street business. The usual." Ava's smile disappeared. "The usual?" "Okay, maybe not the usual." Mia started the car. "I've heard things." "What things?" Mia glanced at her. "Things that make me think you should stay far away from him." Ava looked out the window again. For some reason, she remembered his eyes. They hadn't looked dangerous. They had looked lonely. She shook her head. "Don't worry. I won't see him again." Mia laughed. "Good." Ava smiled. "Besides, he's rude." --- Three hours later, Ava was standing in front of her apartment door. She reached into her bag. No keys. She checked the other pocket. Nothing. "Please don't do this to me." She searched again. Still nothing. Then she remembered. She had placed them on the kitchen counter that morning. Her spare key was inside the apartment. "Great." Ava leaned her forehead against the door. Then she heard footsteps behind her. Slow. Heavy. She turned. Jace was standing at the end of the hallway. His hands were in his pockets. His eyes landed on her. Then he looked at the locked door. He raised an eyebrow. "You lost your keys again?" Ava stared at him. "No." He waited. She sighed. "Maybe." Jace shook his head. "You're going to be a problem." Ava folded her arms. "And you're going to stop appearing everywhere I go." He walked closer. "Probably not." She swallowed. He stopped in front of her. Then he reached into his pocket. Ava's eyes widened. "Wait—" He pulled out a key. Her key. Ava stared at it. "How did you—" "You dropped it earlier." She took it from him. Their fingers touched. For a moment, neither moved. Jace looked at her. Ava looked at him. Then he said quietly, "Try not to lose it this time." He walked away. Ava watched him go. And despite everything Mia had said... She couldn't stop herself from smiling. She whispered to herself, "Trouble." She had no idea how right she was. MY THUG LOVER Chapter 2 — The New Girl Ava Carter had learned three things about Atlanta within her first two weeks. One: the traffic was absolutely ridiculous. Two: people could turn a five-minute conversation into a thirty-minute conversation without even realizing it. And three... Her new neighborhood had more drama than every television show she'd ever watched combined. She discovered the third one on Monday morning. "Ava!" Ava stopped halfway down the stairs of her apartment building. Mia was standing outside with two iced coffees in her hands. "You're late." Ava checked her phone. "It's eight-oh-three." "Exactly." "For what?" Mia handed her a coffee. "For life." Ava stared at her. "You need help." "I need breakfast." "You had breakfast." "Coffee isn't breakfast." "You had a muffin." "That was yesterday." Ava laughed. "You're impossible." "I've been told." They started walking toward Ava's car. Ava had barely taken three steps when she noticed two women standing across the street, whispering. One of them looked at Ava. Then at the apartment building. Then back at Ava. She whispered something to the other woman. They both looked away. Ava frowned. "Okay..." Mia followed her gaze. "Don't worry about them." "What were they saying?" "Probably about you." "Why?" "You're the new girl." Ava raised an eyebrow. "People gossip about someone just because they're new?" "Welcome to Atlanta." Ava laughed. "You're making this sound like high school." "Trust me. Some neighborhoods never graduate." They reached the car. Before Ava could open the door, a loud motorcycle roared down the street. She jumped. Mia laughed. "You've got to stop doing that." "I'm still traumatized by that truck from last week." "It wasn't a gunshot." "I know that now." "Good." Ava opened the driver's door. Then stopped. Something was tucked beneath her windshield wiper. She pulled it out. A small white envelope. Her name was written across the front. AVA. She frowned. "What's that?" "I don't know." Ava opened it. Inside was a simple note. Your back tire is losing air. Ava stared at it. "That's it?" Mia looked underneath the car. "Wait." They walked around to the back. Sure enough, Ava's tire was almost flat. "How did whoever wrote this know?" Ava asked. Mia shrugged. "Maybe someone saw it." Ava looked around. "That's creepy." "Everything is creepy to you." "No. Someone leaving anonymous notes on my car is creepy." Mia smiled. "Maybe you have a secret admirer." Ava gave her a look.