Chapter 108: Chapter 108
There was a tense moment of silence in the room as the two men engaged in a staring contest.
Josh was standing and looking down at Rocky, who held his ground firmly, holding the other man’s gaze defiantly. Ava looked back and forth between the two of them, not exactly understanding what was up with them. In fact, Ava thought that she could see the lightening sparkles meeting in the middle for both of them.
"Yes! Her boyfriend!" Josh repeated with a smug look. He could tell from the eyes of the newcomer that he was smitten with his girl. It was not so surprising for him as she was beautiful enough to attract many, but it was how Ava treated the young man that had alarm bells ringing in his head. Besides, who called himself ’Rocky’ anyway? Was that supposed to be the name of a man or a dog?
A disappointed outlook flashed on Rocky’s face at Josh’s proclamation as Ava’s boyfriend. He quickly hid the hurt inside. His heart was shattering into pieces, and he was doing all he could to keep the smile in place, but it was proving to be difficult.
However, Rocky would not give his competitor the satisfaction that he had an effect on him. That would never happen!
He held the gaze and said,
"You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend, Ava."
His voice was low but strong and questioning. Ava felt a pang hit her. She kindof also felt a little guilty for having kept the relationship a secret from Rocky. Even though in her defence, it was a very young relationship.
’Hey, why am I feeling guilty of this? It’s my relationship. Why should I be self-blaming because of this little boy?’
Only she knew the reason she was starting to act like that, but Ava did not even let her mind dissect this and find it out.
"Are you doing him a favour of some sort?"
The thoughts and dilemma flew out of the window when Rocky said this.
Ava hardened her gaze and placed both hands on her hips.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Come on, Ava, just take a good look at him."
Josh, on the side, fisted his hands once again. The most annoying thing of all was that Rocky was staring right into his eyes as he said those degrading words. It was as if he was telling him with his eyes that he did not give a woot about who he was.
Ava reluctantly tore her eyes from Rocky to Josh at those words.
"Doesn’t he look like that prick that plays the fake Prince Charming in all those fairy tales? I mean, the one that is almost always full of himself and thinks the world revolves around him?"
Ava opened her mouth to refute Rocky’s words, but she could not because, in a way, she wholly agreed with what he said of him. Of course, she wouldn’t be caught affirming this statement anywhere.
Sometimes, she also asked herself why she agreed to date Josh, but she still had not found the answer. Also, another thing that was bothering Ava was that she had not had the courage to tell her two friends that she was dating Josh. Ava knew that if no one, Shelby would skin her alive, but hey, she’d cross that bridge when she got to it.
With each word that came out, Josh’s anger went up a notch. A small smile danced on Rocky’s lips as he saw Josh’s reactions to his words.
"Really, Ava? This is all you could do? I am truly disappointed!"
"Ouch, Ava! That hurts, but it figures, right? They say that the truth always hurts. Are you telling me to shut up because I am speaking the truth? Or is it because I hit too much of a raw nerve with my statement?"
"You heard the lady, shut up!"
"Oh! You do have a fierce part to you, Prince Charming." Rocky mocked, his eyes dancing as he still held Josh’s gaze.
" .... However, that sounds like a kitten’s meow to me. Were you trying to be a lion or a tiger? Never mind, I think you sounded almost as close to a cub and nothing else."
Ava’s warning tone sounded, and Rocky knew she was really getting ticked, but he could not stop himself. After all this time of chasing around Ava, he could not let things slip through his hands just like that. He was in a ’do or die’ moment, and he could not give a fuck about the emotions of the strange fake prince charming who was still standing there pitifully and yet to take any action.
"Yes, Ava?" Rocky finally tore his eyes away from the man to Ava, giving her his full attention and looking so innocent as if he had not said all that. However, he was very satisfied at having ticked off that ’Price Charming!’ He knew very well that the man would present his best self in front of Ava and try not to make any sudden moves at him despite all the insults.
"You know, Ava, on a more serious note, you could have done a lot better than this. I am more handsome than he is, I have more connections, and I think that I have better finances than he does!" He ticked the list off his fingers.
"I could be the best partner and boyfriend you could ever get in this lifetime; don’t lose out of this!"
Ava rubbed her temples, feeling a headache creep up.
As Rocky continued berating Josh, Josh kept wondering why Ava was not beating the hell out of him yet or even stop him. Josh wanted to ask, but he had no way of knowing the relationship between them.
Also, when he had introduced himself as her boyfriend, Ava did not react nor say anything at all. This made Josh a little more curious about the relationship between the two of them. Besides, he looked slightly younger, but his build and the way he held himself suggested someone who had a well-trained body, one of those people whose mere presence screamed, ’Don’t come near me or Don’t mess with me.’
Josh knew he could not back out, but he was losing the battle of stares even though he was standing and towering over him. He saw the boy smirk at him, fully enjoying what he was doing and pressing all the right buttons to make sure that he, Josh, got ticked off, and boy, he was really doing a good job at it!
However, when Rocky’s last words sunk in, Josh felt a hope bloom in him. It was like a boulder had been lifted off his shoulders, and he found himself relaxing and smiling widely.
Josh took one step forward and clapped his hands in a slow manner.
"I was wondering where all of this was going, and you did not disappoint. So, in short, you want my girlfriend as yours? You have no claim to her yet and you just want to budge in? I will advise you to re-think about this if you do not want to have any issues."
A long exhale left Ava, and she spoke low, but with just enough strength for them both to listen.
Then she turned to Rocky and sent him a silent warning. Turning next to Josh, she smiled brightly,
"Don’t let his words worry you, Josh. Rocky just likes to look out for me. He is the younger brother of my best friend so-"
"So, you’re just a baby!?" Josh interrupted, making Ava frown. She did not like the tone that Josh used one bit. However, she did not want to berate him in front of Rocky.
Rock’s phone buzzed then, and he looked at Ava especially. He looked at the ID and placed it facedown. However, it kept ringing and ringing until he picked it up.
"I’ve got to take this." Rocky held up his hand to cut off Josh’s jesting coming his way.
Ava could hear the hysterics of Rocky’s mother screaming something from where she stood through the phone.
"Mum, let me call you back in a bit." Rocky sighed and turned to Ava,
"Ava, I’ve got to go. Something came up at home."
"Will you be okay?" Ava asked worriedly.
"Of course!" Rocky stood and gave Ava a quick hug before leaving, never once taking a look at Josh.
He would have wished to stay, but alas.
He stepped outside and climbed down the stairs hurriedly. On the ground floor, he rounded one corner and dialled his phone once again, listening intently to what was being said. His heart sunk, and his face turned grave.
He was in that corner for a good half hour before he stepped out feeling all but drained.
’How could this happen now? What should I do?’ He thought hard and found himself lingering around the front of the building, pacing up and down, wondering what his next actions would be. However, Rocky heard what he considered was even worse news when a man stepped out of the same building. Initially, he did not pay much attention to the person as he had his own issues, but then the subject of his phone conversation was enough to make Rocky redirect his energy to him.
He watched the retreating back of the man named Josh, and Rocky itched to jump on him and beat him up. He tried to restrain himself, digging his feet into the ground, but it became a losing battle. His innermost self could not let go of what he had heard, and it had been so ingrained in him to ’unhear’ them. Finally giving up the effort, he stormed after Josh, hands fisted, ready to rain hell on him.
Thank you so much to all for your votes and comments! I hope we can keep it up ^_^
Support the author by reading only on NovelHub :) ~Uploaded only on NovelHub by Loctovia