Trouble: A BWWM Bad-Boy Billionaire Romance (2 page)

I
t was
the end of the first day of my senior year. Chris and I went to swim practice.

When we got to the locker room, Brayden Roberts was sketching a woman's body in the air.

"What, is that your new girlfriend, Roberts?" I taunted. "Can't get any real girls to date your ugly ass?"

He only smiled at me. "There's a hot chick that I'm calling dibs on. You can have her after I'm done, though, Trouble. She's got curves out to here, and she's so hot. She's a junior, but I don't think I've ever seen her before. About this tall, dark skin, dark eyes."

"Are you talking about Laila?"

Chris' voice was dangerous, but Brayden didn't hear it.

"Your little sister?" Brayden frowned. "Your little sister is short and has acne. I'm sure she's a nice person, but I wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole. Maybe twenty. She's a goody two shoes, and I like my women easy, like the new girl."

Out of nowhere, Chris tackled Brayden to the ground and started punching him in the face.

Cameron and I pulled Chris off of Brayden.

"Chill, man," I said. "If you fuck him up too much, he's not going to end up in the next meet. Coach will make you sit it out, too, if he hears about this."

"Stay away from her," Chris warned.

“Fuck you,” he said, spitting blood on the ivory tile. “You don’t own me, and you can’t protect her forever. When you’re gone in a year, there’s nothing stopping me. I don’t give a fuck if she’s your sister, man. She’s hot.”

Chris’ foot connected with his face, and blood poured out of his nose. “Why don’t I break your face, pretty boy?” he said. “Maybe the girls won’t like you so much if I fuck it up.”

He shut up. Chris looked around.

“Is there anyone else who would like to make a comment about my little sister?” He spun in a full circle, meeting the eyes of everyone in the crowd. All of them shook their heads.

“Good.” Chris went off to a bathroom to clean off. His hands were raw from here he hit that guy.

“Fuck, man,” I said. “There’s barely anything to scrape off the floor.”

Chris looked back and me and shook his head. “If any of those assholes even thinks about my sister, I’ll do the same to him.”

He was so intense that I could practically see the steam coming off of him. That day in swim practice, he set his personal record. He had a lot of energy to work off.

We came home for dinner that night, and I instantly saw why Roberts had been interested in Laila. I saw a pair of stilettos by the door, and Laila was wearing a pretty dress. Her hair was straight down her back, almost down to her ass, and she was setting the table. As she looked up at me, I stopped breathing. Her eyes were indescribable, warm, beautiful. For the first time, her outside matched her inside.

Chris came inappropriately close to his sister's face. "You're wearing makeup." He said it like he was telling her that she had terminal cancer.

"Mom says it's ok, dork. I'm allowed to wear makeup, you know." She rolled her eyes. "I'm just wearing eyeliner and some lip gloss. Get over it."

Chris glowered, but since their mom had already approved of it, he had nothing to say. He was quiet all through dinner, as Laila and I answered their parents' questions about school.

As soon as everything was put away after dinner, Chris put on his swim trunks instead of doing his homework. He went at it in the pool, swimming as if a ravenous shark was behind him. I got a bottle of water for when he got out, and I sat and did my homework. Senior year was determined to kill me, and I was determined to conquer it.

When he got out, he beelined for the water bottle. He almost dripped water on my textbook.

"What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea, man." He shook his head. "I have no idea how I'm going to keep guys away from her."

But the next day at school, it turned out that he didn't need to. Brayden's face told the story. Chris was right. With a broken nose, Brayden wasn't so pretty anymore. Everyone steered clear of Chris.

For another guy, beating up a guy might have made him an outcast. But Chris, the co-captain of our state champ swim team, got a free pass.

At our school, the swim team was more important and more popular than our football players. Our football team sucked, while our swim team had been the state champions for our division for the past twenty years and counting.

I
t was early
in the summer before college when Chris and I were sitting by their outdoor pool. He was uncharacteristically silent, instead of being a chatterbox like usual. He ran a hand through his hair, so I knew it was serious. If there was any guy vain about his hair, it was Chris. He tried everything to make the chlorine not ruin it, and he was careful not to mess it up.

"Hey, man, I have something to ask you."

"Yeah," I said. "Hit me."

"I'm worried about my little sister going to college so young."

I was glad that my shades were covering my eyes. “I’m sure she'll be fine." Maybe I would have a chance now that we were at college together, without any interference from my best friend. I’d had a thing for her for so long, even though I’d done my best to hide it from everyone. Unlike other girls, I couldn’t talk about her with Chris. Laila wasn’t the kind of girl that we normally pursued, the good-time girls who were prissy and perfect, the kind that really cared what you wore and who you were. Laila was a good girl, and the kind that I never got tangled up with. She’s the kind of woman for a lifetime, and I’ve never been good enough for that.

"I want to ask you to promise me something."

"Sure," I replied."Anything. You know that I would do anything for you."

"I want you to look out for her." He sat up in his chair. "I know that she will be getting a lot attention from creeps. So, I want to make sure that she doesn't date for her freshman year. Heck, if she didn't date for the entirety of college, I would be happy.”

"I think that you see her as little sister, So I want to ask you to protect her. I am not going to be there to do it. I trust you."

Shit. There went my chances with her. I swallowed hard."Of course, man." I was so fucked.

I
watched
from my window as she got out of the car. Her father was with her, and her mother was opening the trunk. They carried out all of her stuff. I felt like I should go down and help, but I didn't trust myself not to do something stupid. I watched as they made several trips between her room and the car. She was stunning, even from this far away. I did see some assholes turning around and looking at her, but they didn't say anything, especially with her father there.

It was like seeing sharks circling a wounded fish bleeding in the water. She had not dated at all in high school, and she had zero experience with men. She was more helpless then that little clown fish from Finding Nemo.

Keeping guys away from her wasn't going to be easy. In high school, when Chris and I ruled the school, it was simple. Just a single bloodied nose.

College was another ballgame.

M
y first days
of class were scary. I kept getting lost. I learned to leave my room with at least a half hour to spare. Even if you ended up in the right building, you might not be able to find where your classroom once. Especially in the older buildings, the architecture was very confusing. You could go up one staircase to the second floor, only to find that you only have access to half of the second floor. Sometimes, I had to go back to the first floor in order to go up a different staircase to the second floor.

It was fun. I was about the age of the youngest there, so I felt at ease. I met another girl during orientation, and we switched our rooms so that we lived together. Andrea was so much fun. She was nothing like me, but she was pretty similar to Nora. It was like opposites attracting.

On our first Friday there, some guy invited her to a party. She was excited about it, enough that she convinced me to go without too much protest. I had never been to a college party before.

While I was putting on my makeup, she was looking at dresses in her closet. Even though she was much taller than me, the dresses were just about decent length on me. They were indecent on her. But, she had long, tanned legs that boys liked. If you have assets, you should flaunt them. She had all kinds of assets. She was much prettier than me, with long, blond hair that reached her ass.

I dressed in a dress that she chose for me. It was gold, metallic and shiny.

When I put it on, I looked in the mirror. "Are you sure?”

"Of course! You look hot," she said, nodding and approval. "Maybe you will get some tonight.”

I felt heat rising in my cheeks. "I don't know. I don't have any experience with guys."

She looked me up and down, looked at the way that the dress hugged every curve of my body. "I don't know why." Her phone buzzed.

"He wants to know where we are. Let's go."

The two of us walked in ballet flats over to the party, then we quietly ducked around the corner to put on our heels. With our stilettos on, we were tall and confident. I admired Andrea's swagger and tried to copy it. She was everything that I wasn't: smooth, good with boys, heart-stoppingly gorgeous. I thought that I was prettier after Spain, but apparently none of the guys in my high school though so.

Andrea met up with her new friend. I stood near them and looked around the packed house party. There were sorority girls from wall to wall, all of them your stereotypical LA beach bunny. You could tell who lived here and who didn't by the quality of their tans. The newcomers were still pale.

Andrea and her new friend started making out. Andrea was straddling his lap; his hand was going up her skirt. I saw places of her that I never wanted to see.

Right then, I saw the back of Trouble's head, though someone walked right through my line of sight. I started walking over, glad to know someone else at this party. I stopped, though. He was making out with a sorority girl. She had on a crown that said "Queen."

I walked over to the table with food, and I asked the girl who was keeping everything straight, "Who is that?"

"Who? There are like a million people here."

"Her." I pointed. "The one making out with Trouble McKane."

"Oh, is that his name? Samantha didn't say."

I instantly hated Samantha. She was obviously a bitch. I wasn't jealous. Any girl who wore a crown to a party was clearly crazy.

I watched as she said something to Trouble, and she walked over to the table.

"This girl was just asking about you."

"What girl? Who?" The food girl pointed at me.

"Excuse me, who are you?"

I cleared my throat. I wasn't on her level. "I'm Laila," I squeaked.

"Oh, are you interested in pledging?" She looked me up and down. "I'm sorry, we don't take ugly, fat girls."

"Meow," said the other girl. "Sheathe your claws. I think she's a baby."

"You don't belong here," she said, giving me a very insulting once-over. "Go home, baby fat." She walked back to Trouble, set their drinks on a table, and started sucking face with him again.

I stood by the party table. I didn't want to cry and ruin my makeup. I decided to drown my sorrow.

I took shot after shot of the free vodka. The room started spinning, and I felt warm. Who cared about Trouble when I had alcohol? At least it would keep me company.

The world was a little fuzzy when a tall guy came over and started dancing with me and grinding on me. He guided me through the sea of people until he had me with my front against a wall. There was no side to side motion at this point. It was all front and back.

I didn't think that I knew this guy, and I wasn't sure where he came from, but I was pretty far gone.

Until suddenly he was gone.

I
flung
that asshole on the ground, and I hit his face again and again.

"Trouble! Stop!" I saw Laila above me, absolutely terrified. "Oh my god! Get off of him."

There was a crowd around us as the two of us fought. I had him pinned down pretty well.

Eventually, some guys were successful in pulling me off of the asshole.

"You stay away from her," I hissed, two guys holding me back and a third one checking the other guy out.

"Fuck you," he replied.

I tried to go for him again, but the three other guys held me back.

Laila was crying in the corner. I felt terrible watching the tears drip down her face.

Maybe if I wasn't hammered, I wouldn't have done what I did next.

"Let me go." Although they weren't sure if I was going to attack the jackass on the floor again, they let go of me. I walked over to Laila, and I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder.

"Ow ow," the guys said. "Way to go.”

That entire party was filled with jackasses.

"Laila, you're an idiot," I said, as I carried her back to her dorm. "Honestly, what were you thinking?"

"I'm going to throw up," she announced.

I put her down in a hurry, and she threw up into some bushes.

"You are in terrible shape," I said. "You've drunk way too much."

"I know. I feel like shit. Can you save the lecture for later?"

Laila hardly ever cursed, so I knew she really did feel bad. I picked her up again, more gently this time, and I held her in my arms as I took her back to her dorm. She had her arms wrapped around my neck, and her head was resting on my shoulder. I felt myself getting harder and harder with her body wrapped around me. It was uncomfortable to walk like this, but I didn't have a choice.

When we got to her dorm, I asked her, "Where are your keys?"

"Andrea has them."

"Are you serious? Where's all your stuff?"

"Andrea has it. She said that she would keep it safe. I think.”

"Oh my god." I couldn't leave her here on the ground, still drunk and sick, for any creep to take advantage of.

I sighed. "I guess we're going to my place."

I carried her back across the street over to my suite. I had my own bathroom and bedroom, but we were in a three-part suite. We shared a kitchen and living room. My roommates were still at the fucking sorority party.

I put her on my bed. I looked at the shininess of her dress. "That's not going to be comfortable." I went to my dresser and pulled out one of my t-shirts. "Let's get you dressed in something more comfortable."

Mutely, she let me take her dress off of her, displaying her gorgeous body. I saw every bit of her skin. She normally stuck to one-piece suits when she used the pool. I had an idea of what her body looked like, but I had never seen the smooth curve of her stomach. I tried not to drool as I looked at the revealed luscious skin while I took off her dress.

Stop being a pervert
,
I told myself. You promised Chris
.
I put her in my shirt. She was so much smaller than me that she was swimming in it. I liked the look of her in my clothes. I tucked her under my covers.

I took a trashcan and put it by her side of my bed. She would need it in the morning.

She had her eyes closed, and her breathing was smooth and slow. She looked like she was asleep.

Maybe I should go to the bathroom to do this, but it didn't hurt, right, if she was asleep?

I took off my shirt and pants. I was dressed in my boxers. I rummaged around for another clean t-shirt in my dresser.

"Your body is so beautiful. So many angles." Her voice was soft.