Apprehension Read online

  Eric threw his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I didn’t know. I thought she was single.”

  “Because I am,” Sabrina said from behind him.

  Jayce dragged her into Luke’s house. He didn’t want everyone watching them and if he got into a fight with that asshole he was sure someone would call the cops. Something he didn’t need right now. He weaved his way through the crowd of people in the kitchen, dragging Sabrina along with him.

  “Jayce! Where are we going?” she asked but he didn’t answer. He navigated down a few hallways and into an empty bedroom before shutting the door behind him.

  “You did that on purpose,” he said, pacing the room and running a hand through his hair. “This is what you want, right? You want me to be jealous. You want to hurt me? Well fine, that’s what you got.”

  She sat on the edge of the bed, eyes filled with unshed tears. “And you wanted to hurt me when you were basically humping Alison on the hood of your car! I waited for you to pick me up!”

  “So you go out with that asshole!”

  “You said you didn’t want me!” she yelled. Her face was red and tears had started to fall down her cheeks.

  Jayce felt guilt churning in his stomach. He didn’t want her to cry—he never meant to hurt her. He sat down on the bed next to her and folded her into his arms. Her body was soft and her hair smelled like strawberries.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” he whispered. He wanted her home and safe, away from their drunk classmates and away from him.

  “I want to be with you.” She lifted her head up and wiped at her eyes.

  He nodded. “Ok.”

  And that was that. He couldn’t decide what was right and what was wrong for her anymore. She had to make that decision on her own. A weight lifted from his shoulders and he reached his hand out, grabbing the bottom of her chin and lifting her face up so he could bend down and plant a kiss on her lips. They were soft and swollen from her tears. It felt nothing like the sloppy kiss he’d had with Alison. It felt right and he could feel it all the way through his body.

  He moved to pull away but she moved forward, keeping their lips connected. His hands moved on their own accord down the length of her body, feeling the soft curve of her body before resting on her hips. He laid back on the bed, taking her with him as he lifted her body on top of his. Her hair fell like a curtain around them. He moved his mouth from her lips to her neck and she let out a soft moan that had his dick hard. He moved his hands to her butt and squeezed. She let out another moan and started to move her hips against him.

  He groaned before pulling back. “We need to stop if you don’t want…”

  She landed another kiss to his lips, shutting him up before continuing to grind against him. He flipped them over so that her small frame was pressed against the mattress as he hovered over her. He made quick work pulling her pants down before unbuttoning his.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked. This wasn’t how he’d pictured it but he was so horny right now he would give this girl anything she wanted from him. She nodded.

  “I need you to say it, babe.”

  “I’m sure.”

  That was all the encouragement he needed. He reached in his back pocket for a condom and slid it on his length. He kissed her again and reached his hand between them to rub her wet slit. He slowly slid a finger inside and paused as he realized how tight she was.

  “Are you…”

  She nodded as he trailed off. He should have made this special for her. She shouldn’t be losing her virginity at Luke’s house in some bedroom while a full-blown party was going on outside the door but he wanted nothing more to be the first and only one to ever be inside her. He moved his fingers in and out before adding a second one. She bit her lip.

  “You ok?” he asked.

  Her eyes were closed but she nodded. “Keep going.”

  He did until he couldn’t stand it any longer and buried himself inside her. Her breath hitched, and he paused at the tightness. His body ached to move but he waited for her to adjust.

  “I’m going to move now ok, baby?”

  “Ok,” she whispered

  He started to slowly move inside her. The slow strokes were agonizing. She surprised him when she reached over his shoulder and dug her nails in his back. The pain of her nails scratching his back and the pleasure built together until he couldn’t hold on any longer and spilled himself into the condom.

  Sabrina

  If someone would have told her that her first time having sex would be with Jayce she wouldn’t have believed them. He was gentle and when he pulled out of her to dispose of the condom she felt empty; it ached between her legs. She still had her shirt on and she pulled it down to cover herself. Jayce put his pants back on and then came back to the bed and lay beside her so they faced each other.

  “You ok?” he asked.

  “Yea.” She was more than ok. She felt safe and happy like she was on cloud nine. She had gotten what she wanted. She reached her hand out and trailed the muscles on his arms. She wasn’t sure how long they had lay there just looking at each other with the bumping of the music in the background.

  “If we’re going to do this, I have to be honest with you,” he said.

  She’d been waiting for this. She knew he was wrapped up in some bad stuff but she had decided it didn’t matter either way. At the end of the day, he was Jayce to her.

  Jayce took a deep breath. “I’m a solider in Cosa Nostra,” he said.

  “I have no idea what that means,” she admitted.

  He smiled. “That’s good, babe.”

  “Tell me,” she said, wanting to know everything.

  He ran a hand threw his hair and rolled over onto his back. She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his chest, hearing his heart beat.

  “Cosa Nostra is the American mob,” he said quietly.

  A beat of silence passed before she let out a laugh. “You mean like The Godfather?” She stopped laughing when she looked up at his face and realized he was serious.

  “Wait, you’re serious? I though the mob died in like the 70s.”

  He shook his head. “No, they’re still around and still very powerful.”

  She wasn’t sure what to say or how to comprehend this information. Jayce didn’t look like he was a mobster. Didn’t they usually wear suits and threaten people’s lives.

  “How? You’re only in high school.”

  “There isn’t really an age limit on this sort of thing.”

  She was trying to wrap her head around it. Trying to recall every mob movie and documentary she’d ever seen.

  “So what, you lend people money and then beat them up when they don’t pay you back. Is that how it works?”

  He shook his head. “No, I mostly sell…stuff for my boss. And basically do whatever he says. Then if I do my job well enough I’ll get made.”

  “Get made?”

  “Become a made man. I can make a lot more money and I become almost untouchable.”

  “And that’s what you want to do?” she asked quietly.

  He nodded.

  “Why?” It didn’t make sense to her. Why would he aspire to be a glorified gangster? Jayce could do anything he wanted with his life, he was smart.

  “Because it’s what I like to do, babe. I don’t want to spend a life struggling like my dad. I don’t want to have to rely on a second income to keep a roof over my head. These guys have it all.”

  “How did you even get involved in all this?” she asked. She couldn’t imagine a big mob guy approaching a teenage boy and asking him to join the club.

  He ran a hand over her hair, smoothing it out once again. “I started hanging out downtown with Luke on the weekends. We would try to get into the bars down there. I don’t know why, it was stupid. But one night we were trying to bargain with the bouncer and a guy named Mason came up, whipped out a bank roll of money, handed a few hundreds to the bouncer and waved us inside. Mason is a solider too. The rest is kind of
history. Mason became my good friend and he vouched for me.”

  “So Luke knows?”

  He nodded. “Yea, Luke’s the only one that knows about everything.”

  “Is that what this is for?” she asked, circling the tattoo on his naked chest. It looked like a crescent of some kind.

  “No, I just picked that out from the wall at a tattoo shop. I like how it looks.”

  She’d known he was involved in some bad stuff, but not this bad. She’d thought maybe he was hanging out with a bad crowd, but not the mafia. She didn’t like the idea of him being involved in that kind of stuff. What else could he be involved in? Was he even able to tell her? When they were little he would talk about being a basketball player or a scientist, not a mobster.

  “You ok?” he asked when she didn’t reply.

  “Yea, I’m just taking it all in.”

  “I get it if you don’t want this. It’s not safe and it never will be. You don’t have to sign up for this,” he said, clearly warning her away.

  But she shook her head—it was too late, she had already fallen for the brown-eyed boy beside her. Even if she wanted to walk away she couldn’t at this point.

  “I’m in.”

  She looked up at him and his lips twisted up into a grin. He bent down and planted a kiss to her forehead.

  Jayce

  He wasn’t sure at what point he fell asleep but he woke up to his phone ringing. Sabrina was still lying on his chest and he quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket before it could wake her.

  “Yea,” he said into the phone, his voice filled with sleep.

  “Jayce, how’s it going, man?” Lucas said.

  It wasn’t often he got a call directly from the boss. This could either be real good or real bad. He thought about the coke he had been breaking down with Albert and a bit of fear twisted in his stomach.

  He cleared his throat. “I’m good.”

  “Good, I need you at the coffee house in an hour with Mason.” Lucas hung up before Jayce could ask any questions. At least it was in a public place so he knew he wasn’t going to get whacked.

  Sabrina groaned on his chest.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  Her reply was another groan.

  “I should probably take you home.”

  She sat up in a panic. “What time is it?”

  He checked his phone. “Ssshhh, it’s 5am.”

  She seemed to relax at that. “My mom will be home at seven.”

  “And I’m guessing she thinks you’re at home?”

  Sabrina rolled onto her back, stretched her arms over her head and nodded. Her shirt lifted up just a bit to show her creamy skin, and all he wanted to do was bury himself back into her.

  “All right then, we should get going.” He forced himself out of the bed, reached on the floor and put his shirt back on.

  She pulled her pants on and he took her hand as they walked out of the bedroom, down the hallways through an empty, but trashed, mansion. There was a person passed out on the living room couch and red cups and various other shit littered the floor. Luke had a mess to clean up today but Jayce figured he would be sleeping off his hangover at least until noon. They got into his Camaro and drove to Sabrina’s house.

  “What are you doing today?” she asked once they were outside her house.

  “I have some business to take care of this morning but nothing later,” he said.

  She nodded not saying anything. Maybe she was starting to have second thoughts and that scared the shit out of him.

  “How about I pick you up later and we can go to my place?”

  Her face lit up. “Ok, yea.”

  He stretched across the console, grabbed the bottom of her chin and placed a kiss on her lips. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  “See you tonight,” she said before getting out of the car and heading inside.

  He was screwed. Sabrina had taken his heart and he would do anything for that girl. He looked down at his phone. He had less than an hour to stop by his place, take a shower and make it to the coffee shop. He called Mason before driving off.

  “Sup?” Mason answered, sounding just as tired as Jayce.

  “Lucas call you?” he asked.

  “Yea, what do you think he wants?”

  “I don’t know, man. You fuck up lately?” Jayce asked.

  “Fuck you, no I didn’t fuck up.”

  “You think he knows about Albert?” he asked, feeling that familiar feeling of fear in his stomach. If Lucas knew he was messing with his product it could mean lights out for Jayce.

  “Nah, he wouldn’t invite us to the coffee house to have you killed.”

  Jayce scuffed. “Thanks.”

  “Anytime. I’ll see you in a bit.” He hung up and Jayce headed towards his apartment.

  Mason’s Chrysler pulled up to the coffee house at the same time as Jayce put the Camaro in park. Jayce got out and headed over to him.

  “Hey, you ready?”

  Mason got out of the car. “Don’t be so nervous, man. If you look nervous he’s going to think you’re hiding something.”

  “I am hiding something,” Jayce whispered.

  Mason shook his head. “Come on.”

  They walked into the coffee house—it was a big place on the corner of a busy street downtown. The place was pretty much empty and he spotted Lucas right away at a table for four with a cup of coffee in front of him. He was dressed in a nice suit like usual and Jayce remembered why he was doing all this. You could tell just from looking at Lucas that the guy had money, and lots of it.

  “Lucas.” Jayce greeted as they walked up to the table.

  Lucas stood and patted both of them on the back.

  “Sit, sit. Let’s get some breakfast,” he said, waving over the waitress.

  Jayce sat in the chair across from Lucas while Mason sat on the side of him. An older waitress dressed in a black and white uniform came over to the table, and they ordered. Although Jayce was pretty sure he was too nervous to eat. Once the waitress had walked away, Lucas took a sip of his coffee.

  “So I heard things are going good with you too. Selling a lot of product?”

  “Yes, sir,” Mason said.

  Lucas tilted his head to the side looking at Jayce. “What about you, Jayce?”

  “It’s moving,” Jayce said. And it was, now that he was breaking it down. He was more confident that he could get everything sold before tribute.

  “Good, good because I got a job for you two.”

  In the mafia, a job could only mean a few things and Jayce tensed up at the word.

  “We got someone that needs to be taken care of, you know what I mean?”

  They both nodded. Lucas was asking them to take a kill contract. Taking a kill contract was a big thing in the world of Cosa Nostra—it meant you were committed. That you would literally kill for them. The fact that Lucas was asking them to take it was an honor in itself but the reality of what he was going to have to do didn’t fly by Jayce.

  “We can handle it, boss,” Mason said, speaking for both of them.

  And just like that it was decided. Jayce was going to kill someone, no questions asked.

  Chapter Eight

  Sabrina

  Sabrina easily fell asleep as soon as she got home. When she woke up it felt like last night had been a dream. She was dating her childhood friend who just so happened to be a solider in the mob. It was a lot to take in and she had to admit she felt a bit crazy for even getting involved with him. She didn’t know much about this secret life that Jayce was living but she knew it wasn’t safe. She realized that being with Jayce was a big risk she was taking. Was it selfish for her to put everyone she loved in danger to be with him? Her phone started to ring on the bedside table. Wendy’s name popped across the screen and Sabrina knew that she’d want to be filled in on everything that had happened last night. She answered the call and before she could even say anything Wendy’s voice came across the speaker.

 
“You hooked up with Jayce!” she screeched.

  Sabrina pulled the phone away from ear. “How do you know that?”

  “Everyone said Eric and Jayce got into a pissing contest and then Jayce hauled you off into a bedroom. Is it true?” she asked. “Did you hook up with Jayce?”

  “Maybe you should come over,” she suggested. It would be easier to explain everything in person.

  “I can’t I’m about to go in to take the ACT, and you need to be at work remember?”

  “Oh shit! I gotta go.” She hung up and quickly got ready. In the midst of everything that had happened last night, she had completely forgotten about volunteering to take Wendy’s shift. She threw on a pair of jeans and a plain T-shirt before running down the stairs. She waved her mom a quick goodbye—she had to have recently gotten home—before walking out of the door. She was grateful the walk to the diner was short, and she let out a breath when she realized there wasn’t any customers yet.

  “Hey, kid, I didn’t know you worked this morning,” George said to her as he counted money at the cash register.

  She walked around the counter and washed her hands. “Wendy has the ACT this morning so I took her shift.”

  “Oh alright, how was your date last night?” he asked.

  She had also completely forgotten about the way she had abandoned Eric last night. He was a nice guy and she’d blown him off. She liked Eric but at the end of the day he wasn’t Jayce.

  “Didn’t turn out how I expected,” she settled on saying.

  George smirked. “They never do. Just make sure you let them know if they break your heart you have a boss that has a mean right hook.”

  Sabrina smiled at that. “I’ll do that.”

  The door chimed as the first customer walked in, an older man who sat on one of the bar stools. Sabrina tied her apron on and got to work.

  The diner got busy around noon and time flew by. She didn’t realize until it started to get dark outside that she hadn’t told Jayce she had to work. She sent him a quick text

  I’m at work. I’ll be off in an hour.

  She put her phone back in her pocket and grabbed the full plates to take to one of the tables. She wondered what Jayce was doing right now. Now that she knew he was running errands for a criminal organization, her imagination was running wild. From her understanding, he was selling drugs. He hadn’t gone into detail but the puzzle pieces were fitting together. She dropped the food off and headed back behind the counter when her phone vibrated.