TROUBLE, A New Adult Romance Novel (The Rebel Series)
Read TROUBLE, A New Adult Romance Novel (The Rebel Series) Online
Authors: Elle Casey
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© 2014 Elle Casey, all rights reserved, worldwide.
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OTHER BOOKS BY ELLE CASEY
NEW ADULT ROMANCE
Shine Not Burn
By Degrees
Don’t Make Me Beautiful
Rebel
Hellion
Trouble
YA PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Duality, Volume I (Melancholia)
Duality, Volume II (Euphoria)
YA URBAN FANTASY
War of the Fae: Book 1, The Changelings - FREE!
War of the Fae: Book 2, Call to Arms
War of the Fae: Book 3, Darkness & Light
War of the Fae: Book 4, New World Order
Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 1, After the Fall
Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 2, Between the Realms
Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 3, Portal Guardians
My Vampire Summer
Aces High (co-written with Jason Brant)
YA DYSTOPIAN
Apocalypsis: Book 1, Kahayatle
Apocalypsis: Book 2, Warpaint
Apocalypsis: Book 3, Exodus
Apocalypsis: Book 4, Haven
YA ACTION ADVENTURE
Wrecked
Reckless
DEDICATION
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.
Dear Reader,
You have just been rickrolled.
CHAPTER ONE
EVERY BAD THOUGHT I HAVE about myself is confirmed in my mind when I catch Colin looking at me.
The expression on his face is just …
ugh
.
I don’t know whether to call it disdain, disapproval or just plain old nausea.
I think I literally make him sick to his stomach.
Of course there are those times I can tell he’s purposely
not
looking at me, staring off in another direction when anyone else would acknowledge my presence.
I mean, I am kind of hard to miss being almost eight months pregnant, but he manages to treat me like I’m invisible.
“How are you feeling today?” Teagan asks me, coming in from the kitchen, interrupting my daydreams of the guy who lives next door but who thankfully isn’t here right now.
Teagan and I are temporary roommates.
To say I’m living with her and her boyfriend Rebel under duress would be an understatement.
I cannot stand being a burden to people and that’s definitely what I am to them.
They might not say that or admit it when I bring it up, but I know it’s true.
I have no money for rent, no money for food, no money for anything.
My car’s been repoed, and my family has completely shut me out of their lives for being pregnant and unwed.
I have no idea what I’m going to do when the baby comes.
I try not to think about it too much.
I’m finding solace in denial.
So far I have refused to visit the welfare office.
Using food stamps is something I never dreamed I’d have to do to survive, but every day I get closer to my due date, it looks more inevitable. The thought literally makes me ill.
“I’m fine,” I say, lying my eyeballs out.
My feet are swollen, my belly feels like there are three babies kick-boxing inside it, and I just noticed a stretch mark on one of my thighs.
I guess I should be grateful it’s not above my bikini line, but all I can think about is how my youth is now gone and how much the real world sucks.
This life is nothing like I had planned for myself.
“Rebel and I are going to sign the lease on the house today.
Do you want to come?”
I pretend to be very busy reading so I won’t have to look her in the eye.
“No, thanks.
I’ll just hang out here.”
Teagan drops down on the couch next to me.
“You’re going to grow roots out of your ass if you stay on this couch much longer, you know.”
I can’t keep ignoring her.
To do that would be rude, and I can’t afford to be rude to the people who are keeping a roof over my head.
And besides, Teagan is a nice person.
Sure, her language leans way more into the foul range than mine does and she has her awkward moments where she puts her foot in her mouth in very public ways, but that doesn’t change the basic facts that she’s kind and generous and not one bit stuck-up even though she comes from a lot of money.
It says a lot about her character that even after losing her father and all his money in one big event, she still has pretty much the same attitude in life.
I wish I could be more like her sometimes.
“I get out,” I say.
It’s another lie.
I hate leaving the apartment and having people stare at me.
It’s just a reminder of how stupid I am and how badly I screwed up my life.
“When?” she challenges. “When do you get out?”
“I got out a couple weeks ago.
When I went on that road trip with Quin.”
There.
That’ll shut her up.
We did her a big favor going on that reconnaissance mission and finding that little bit of information her lawyers are busy tracking down now.
“Okay, fine.
But that’s one trip outside the apartment in two weeks.
It’s not healthy to stay all closed up in here like a mole rat.”
I put my e-reader down.
“I’m not a mole rat.
I’m just … tired.”
“You’re tired because you’re vegging too much.
You need to move those muscles.”
She nudges my leg.
I shove her hand away.
“No, I’m tired because I’m
pregnant
.”
She’s annoying me now.
Pushing me.
She does that every once in a while.
She’s not as bad as Quin is, but she’s bad enough that I try to keep my nose buried in books so I appear unavailable for conversation.
“No, you’re tired because you’re a cranky butthead who keeps pretending things aren’t going on that are.”
I sigh heavily and stare at the ceiling, trying to keep a handle on my emotions and temper.
“I don’t want to talk about this with you right now.”
Not now.
Not ever.
Not with Teagan or anyone else.
My business is my business and no one else’s.
I’ve never been one for sharing secrets.
“You’re going to have to talk about it some day.
If not to me, then someone else.”
“Whatever,” I mumble, picking up my e-reader again.
The idea of telling anyone what’s going through my mind terrifies me.
I’m hoping if I try to ignore it hard enough, eventually it’ll fade out to a dull roar.
Teagan gets up and leaves the room, and I have to battle not to let out a huge sigh of relief.
I know she means well, but I can’t handle the stress of having her in my business and trying to connect with me.
She’s one semester away from graduating and getting her degree.
She has a hot boyfriend who thinks she walks on water, a best friend who would step in front of a bus for her, and a future so bright she has to wear shades.
I have nothing and no one.
My grand sparkling future that included a college degree, a prestigious, high-paying job, and a sophisticated husband and children with our shared, unspoiled DNA … is gone.
Poof
.
Just like that, one night combined with one bad decision, and my life did a one-eighty.
And now I just have to live with that. Life’s a B-word.
My melancholy thoughts are interrupted when the door to the apartment opens up.
My heart leaps up into my throat when I realize who it is.
Colin
.
He just stands there, staring at me.
“Can I help you?” I say, my disconcerting emotions and elevated heart rate showing itself in an annoyed tone.
“Is Teagan around?”
“I’m in here!” she says from the kitchen.
“Just trying this banana bread recipe I found online.”
“Oh boy,” he says, too quietly for Teagan to hear.
I hate that my heart goes even faster at the idea that his comment might have been meant for me.
“She didn’t burn the last one so much,” I say, before I can stop myself.
My face goes red at the realization that I just tried to engage him in conversation when I know darn well he’s not interested.
He glances at the kitchen and then at the door behind him, like he’s trapped and looking for exits.