The Soldier's Angel - Preview

Chapter Two

Once inside her apartment, Camille paused to listen. Sure enough, there were unmistakable sounds of sex coming from the bedroom. She briefly wondered through the numbness that washed over her how Lucas had heard it. She walked down the short hall and looked through the doorway to see Denis balls deep in her best friend, Leah. "Seriously? You fucking assholes!" She was oddly calm even though the image was seared into her brain, and the words came out much quieter than she had intended. Denis and Leah? It didn't make sense. They barely spoke or interacted with one another.

"OH MY GOD!" Leah screamed and shoved Denis off her. He hit the floor with a thud and a loud oaf! and looked up in a panic at Camille standing there. "Oh no, Camille! I'm so sorry!" Leah burst into tears, and the numbness that had engulfed her was burned away by white-hot rage, shockingly, not so much at Denis, who was staring at her in shock, not moving, but at Leah, who was supposed to be her best friend and who knew all about the issues Camille had with Denis, but had insisted that she keep trying to work it out with him.

Camille glared at her and seriously considered throwing her off the balcony. "Get out," she said. Leah babbled incoherently as she stood up and struggled to find her clothes. Her calm numbness was gone at the sight of Leah crying, like somehow this was Camille's fault for coming home early. "GET THE FUCK OUT LEAH!" She shouted. Her entire body was trembling slightly as she held herself back from punching her in the nose.

"I'm trying to find my clothes," Leah wailed. She was crying hard now, tears and snot streaming down her face.

"WELL, MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE FUCKING TAKEN THEM OFF, GET THE FUCK OUT!" Camille snapped as she stepped toward her. "NOW! BEFORE I THROW YOU OFF THE DAMN BALCONY!"

"Cam, calm down." Denis stood up and stepped between her and Leah. "Let's talk about this."

"Shut the fuck up, I'll deal with you in a minute." Camille snarled as she stepped around him and moved toward Leah. "Get. Out." She picked up Leah's blouse and bra and Denis' T-shirt and boxers and walked out of the room.

"Camille! Stop!" She looked over her shoulder and saw Denis struggling to get his pants on and chase her at the same time. Leah was sobbing hysterically and chased Camille down the hall. Camille picked up their shoes from the hallway and walked straight to the balcony. She waited for them both to appear in the living room and deliberately threw their clothes and shoes over the railing.

"Oops." She stepped back inside and folded her arms. "Sorry." Leah let out a wail and dropped to her knees. Camile noticed their keys on the end table next to the couch and grabbed them; this time, she just turned and threw them through the balcony door. "Oh dear. That's a shame." She rolled her eyes as Leah ramped up her dramatics and stepped toward her. "Get out before I throw you out by your hair." She stepped toward her menacingly, and Leah finally got the hint and ran from the apartment.

"Jesus, Camille!" Denis shocked Pikachu's face at her reaction gave her a small measure of satisfaction.

"Oh, fuck off." Camille moved so she was behind him and pushed him toward the door. "You want to fuck Leah? Go live with her."

"Cam!" Denis stumbled, and his pants dropped down to his knees when he released them. "If you'd just listen..."

"No! Get out." She pushed him again. "Go find another girl to mooch off. I'm done funding your life so you can get a piece of ass from someone else." She wasn't that angry with Denis. She was mostly angry with herself for being stupid enough to take him back. He started backing away from her, face red from anger or embarrassment. She wasn't sure which.

Lucas

Lucas and Penn paused on their way out to get another load as her voice reached them through the door. They could hear her demanding that her boyfriend and the chick he was screwing leave her apartment. When she shouted Leah shouldn't have taken her clothes off, Penn snorted. "I know I shouldn't want to watch this train wreck," he chuckled softly. "Your new neighbour seems nice, is ridiculously cute, and I feel for her, but damn if I don't want to see what happens."

Lucas frowned at him. "Come on, man; her boyfriend is fucking her friend. Let's get another load. I don't want to eavesdrop on this anymore than I have to." He felt terrible for her and, strangely, both sorry for himself and mildly elated. He would have to wait for her to move on from this relationship before he could chase her, and the fact that her dumbass ex cheated on her meant he was going to have to work twice as hard.

Before they could leave, the door swung open, and a woman with a purple and pink pixie cut, half naked and shoeless, stumbled slightly as she ran from the apartment. She paused, her face turning a brilliant shade of red when she saw them standing there, looking at her in disgust. She let out another wail and made a run for the elevator. Inside the apartment, they heard Lucas' neighbour round on her boyfriend. He must have decided that a good defence was the best offence because he was saying something truly idiotic.

"Well, maybe, just maybe, if you weren't such a cold bitch, I wouldn't have had to look for a piece of ass somewhere else!" He yelled as he stumbled out into the hall, trying to pull up his pants while backing quickly away from her, not noticing Lucas and Penn standing there. She stood in the entranceway, and Lucas could feel the rage radiating off her. She was even cute when she was mad, he decided as he took in her stiff posture, flushed cheeks, and bright eyes. She smiled mirthlessly at what he said.

"Maybe if your idea of sex was more than just trying to dry pound me into the mattress for two minutes, I wouldn't have been such a cold bitch." She shut the door, and there was a moment of stunned silence. Then Lucas and Penn howled with laughter, making her ex jump in surprise. He turned, opening his mouth to say something to them but, taking in their size, clearly thought better of it, just flushed, and walked to the elevator where Leah was still sobbing and half-naked, trying to cover herself.

"Let's take the stairs." Lucas choked out as he struggled to regain control. Part of him wanted to ride the elevator down so he could continue to laugh at them, but he also didn't want to be in a small box with a half-naked, crying girl. Penn was still laughing as he nodded, following him to the stairwell door.

"Well, looks like your cute neighbour just had her dance card cleared, partner." Penn slapped his shoulder as they started down the stairs.

Lucas snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure she's gonna wanna date after that." He was a patient man, and he could wait until she was ready. It did allow him to be in a unique position to comfort her and start a friendship with her, though. He didn't think he would mind letting her cry on his shoulder.

"Dunno, man." Penn shook his head. "If Ava wasn't in the picture, I'd try. Those eyes, man, ever see such deep blue eyes? Almost like blueberries."

Lucas laughed as they reached the bottom step and opened the door to the lobby. "Ava would murder you if she caught you in that situation." Then, he furrowed his brow at him. "Did you seriously just compare her eyes to fruit?"

"I don't even want to think about it." Penn's laugh died in his throat. His girlfriend was the daughter of a ruthless businessman who had taught her to know her worth and not accept disrespect. "Plus, she's my sister's friend, so that's just a whole other disgusting level." Penn shuddered, then gently shoved Lucas' shoulder as he scoffed. "And that was the only thing I could think of to describe the colour."

"Blue Twilight." Lucas thought to himself. They reached Penn's truck, and they grabbed his mattress and boxspring to go in next. "Her eyes were like blue twilight."