Caught between my bully and my step brother

Chapter 8

The night had turned chilly, so I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep warm as I walked alongside of Liam. I was looking pretty much at the ground as we walked silently for the first few minutes.

" Would you like my jacket ? "he asked.

I looked up a little in shock that he would offer something so nice , to see he was already taking it off and once it was off he stopped walking and held it up for me to help me put it on.

" Ermm are you sure ? Won't you be cold ? " I asked him and he laughed.

" I'll be fine here" he shook the jacket a little to indicate I should put it on. My heart beat wildly. This wasn't what I was used to, and it made me skeptical. Boys weren't nice to me. But his smile seemed genuine, at least I hoped it was, so I turned and slipped my arms into the sleeves. When he placed it on my shoulders, his fingers tickled past my neck, causing me to shiver.

" You must be cold, you're shivering, " he said lowly by my ear, his voice went deeper.

I let out a shaky breath and looked down at his coat. It buried me. You could clearly tell it was a guy's jacket. It had a sports logo on it, and it went halfway down my thighs. I moved away, slightly too nervous to embrace his closeness. The only boys to ever come this close to me were the two demon dogs, and it usually ended in me being humiliated or emotionally hurt somehow. My fight or flight was in constant kick star mode whenever someone got this close. Which saddened me, if Liam was being real, they would still be here, still present in my mind. Dictating my every move and reactions to what could be an actual sweet gesture for once.

" Thank you " I said in a whisper, and set off walking again, and he took into step at the side of me.

"No problem " he stated, but I could tell he had picked up on something being off with me now. I felt his gaze keep flicking to the side of my face as we walked.

As we neared my building. I had a f*ck it moment I don't know what came over me, or why it so suddenly appeared. I had been berating myself the rest of the walk for being like this. Maybe that was it.

But when I abruptly stopped and turned to look at him head on, he looked confused, bless him.

" I'm sorry, I just have to ask. Are you f*cking with me ? Because this doesn't usually happen, no boys are ever nice to me and if you're in on some sort of prank with Toby and Trent, just get it over with so I can get back to my room " I snapped, woahhh the alcohol had definitely given me some sort of Dutch courage.

His hands went up in a defense stance, and he frowned at me. " Addie, why the hell would I be in some sort of prank with Trent and Toby? I barely know them. I only know who you're talking about because everyone knows those two as a duo, and what I do know is they're pr*cks. They walk round here like their loyalty " he breathed out, sounding annoyed.

" Your not friends with them ? " I asked.

He scoffed, shaking his head. " I have had like two interactions with them and both of them were jerks. If you haven't noticed, I don't hang out in that crowd. I stick to my classes, keep my head down and go to quiet events. People like them and their followers are the kind of people that made my junior school days awful. I know it's hard to believe, but I was a weird dorky kid. Puberty hit and did me a favor "He laughed awkwardly, almost embarrassed, and it was cute how he looked down, and his cheeks looked to heat up.

I feel awful now, I believed him.

" I'm sorry, Liam "I apologized.

" Why would you assume that anyway ? What happened between you and them ? " He asked.

I bit my lip , I wasn't ready to tell him anything about that yet. But I had to give him something. Some sort of truth without telling him my whole life story.

" They, well, they are my junior bullies, and then they came here and not much has changed. They still try and mess with me , and getting a guy to pretend to like me as part of an embarrassing prank isn't below them "I stated. I wasn't about to tell him. One was my stepbrother and the other my long-time neighbor.

He looked at me with understanding now and he sighed and shook his head.

" Addie, I am not part of any prank or plan that has anything to do with them, I promise. I just think you're cool and well, pretty " he smiled and making me blush.

He stepped forward and placed his hand on my cheek. It was warm despite the fact that he had no coat on. " I just want to hang out with you, Addie "he said quieter now as he stepped closer to me again. His eyes glued to mine, trapping me in place as he moved closer. My heart hammered in my chest. Was this it ? Was this going to be my first kiss ? I went on autopilot as I started to move closer too, tilting my head up at an angle so he would be able to reach my lips. He was just mere centimeters away now , and all I could think was, finally, this is it.

I closed my eyes and just as I felt his breath against my skin, a loud crashing sound startled me and I jumped back, gasping, his hand falling from my cheek. I looked around, panicked. " What was that ? " I gaped.

" Sounded like someone knocked a bin over or something in the alley, probably two love birds messing around instead of taking back to the dorm. Real classy by the bins " he said, looking in the direction it came from a frown on his face. Then he looked back at me. The moment was ruined now, I was on too high alert. Something felt like it wasn't just two people fooling around by the bins. I mean, I know you can't have boys in the room, but sneaking them in was easy. Everyone did it.

" I had better go, this is my building just here " I told him. I started to take his jacket off, but he stopped me placing his hand on my arm.

" No, keep it, you can give it back to me on our date. That way I know you'll call " he smiled.

He swooped in quickly, at lightening speed, then placed a quick kiss on my cheek and then started back up, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. " Call me Addie "he called before turning around and walking away. I watched him go, feeling a small smile on my lips before I turned and pulled the jacket tighter round me and headed into the building, my eyes quickly glancing in the direction of the alley where the noise had come from. I couldn't see into it, but I don't know something just didn't sit right, almost like when you feel like you're being watched. I shook it off and went into the warmth of the building feeling slightly happy, a boy who actually liked me. And I nearly had my first kiss. Most of all, I believed he had nothing to do with the douche bags.

Trent POV

Pick up the f*cking phone, I muttered under my breath as I paced the alleyway.

Toby picked up on the third try of me ringing him.

" Trent this better be f*cking good man. I was busy, " He breathed on the phone. I heard a giggle in the background.

" Move away, so Tammy can't hear" I hissed. My anger was audible in my voice, I was livid, fuming and burning up with rage.

I heard him say something to her and then a door opened and closed. How he touched that chick is beyond me. Her voice grated on me like a fork on a plate.

" What is it ? " He stated, my anger must have got his attention because now he was all serious, I had his attention.

" Came to check on her and guess what I found " I snapped.

I didn't need to elaborate on who I meant, he knew.

" What ? "he asked, his voice hardening.

" Some guy was about to lay his f*cking lips on her, she had on his jacket "I spat the words out like venom.

There was silence on the line for a beat, then " Who ? " He asked.

" No idea. Seen him once or twice but I don't know who he is. I'll find out. I had to boot a bin to stop it ". My eyes went to the bin that was now on its side and its contents scattered all over the floor.

Toby stayed quiet, so I broke the silence " We have got to stop this sh*t now, man, we agreed. Where not back home anymore, things are different. We can do this differently, " I told him, not for the first time. Toby was more reluctant to see my vision though. A way for this all to work out. Addie had always been the itch in our crotches, the thorn in our f*cking sides. But she was also our biggest f*cking obsession. Both of ours and for a long time we stuck to the code. None of us went near her. But the need to still interact in some sort of way was always there and, as young boys, that frustration came out in f*cked up horrible ways to gain her attention. Because some of her attention was better than none at all. It didn't help. Toby then had to live with her and hated her as well as obsess over her at the same time because of what their parents had done. It was another obstacle to why he couldn't have her. She was now his step sister. But old habits were hard to break and even though we knew it was wrong, it was like we couldn't help poking at her. I know for me, it was just a way to keep near her. The obsession grew daily, and it was hard to sort those feelings out. Anger or torment was always the easiest outlet.

But things were different outside our backwards town, where things were spoken out and distasteful desires outside the norm were looked on with disdain. Toby's dad and her mum were having an affair and were a social outcast for a while. Our town was still a highly religious town. And what I now wanted would never be OK there. But now where out, we could find a way to have her both of us. Given not one of us could step aside and let the other have her, I had seen sh*t and read sh*t I wouldn't have dared to read into back home, we could both have her. She could be ours. They call them throuples or triads.

" What you're suggesting is f*kcing bat sh*t Trent. You saying you would be OK watching me with her ? " He snapped.

I wasn't sure if I would be, but this, this how it was now, it was killing us. We terrorize her to stay close to her and turn people against her to make sure no one touches her. We were cutting her off and in a f*cking cruel way that was breaking her slowly. I heard the other night she wanted to get away from us, she hates us. We could move on, hell I tried. Toby still was but we both knew the truth no one compared.

" I'd rather it be you I share her with then lose her all together to someone else. It's not like we haven't shared a chick since coming here. Come on man. I wouldn't do this without you. I won't break our code " I insisted.

" Sharing a chick for one night is different than for life Trent " he resisted. " We will beat the sh*t out of this guy and scare him off and find out who he is " he snapped and put the phone down.

I sighed, looking at the phone, then up at the building.

" And then what, we just keep breaking her " I spoke out to no one but myself. " F*ck " I grunted.