Against All Odds

Chapter 10

Lucas

"Please don't do this man." Harvey jogs to keep up with my fast, determined pace. "You seriously don't want to get involved with Stan."

I don't reply so Harvey grabs my arm and forces me to look at him.

"I know what these people are like Luc, they're bad men. There's clearly shit going on at home but this isn't the way to solve it. This won't make you feel better." His eyes search mine in desperation . "If you win, and I'm worried you will, Stan won't stop until you're lying half dead in the gutter."

His words don't scare me like they would have any rational person, they simply fill me with adrenaline at the upcoming danger.

"Bring it on." I smirk to Harvey's dismay.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." He steps away, position hunched in defeat and worry.

Tyler comes up to us, grinning like a mad man and hands me his skateboard which I'd be using for the competition.

"Ready mate?"

"You bet."

~~~

Honestly, I felt no fear during the competition. None at all. That's probably why I kicked Stan's arse. Hell, I'd never skated that well in my life. Every trick I did was on point. I felt totally at home.

Right now I'm holding my arm out, waiting for Stan to shake it. I'd won fair and square but he seems unwilling to shake my hand.

"Come on, I beat you and you know it." I smirk at him, stretching my arm out towards him. Stan's dark eyes narrow in anger which simply amuses me. "Bad loser huh?"

"You have no clue what you're getting yourself into boy." Stan grits his teeth, refusing to shake my hand.

"Boy?" I scoff, letting my hand fall to my side. "You're only what, three years older? I competed against you, I won. Accept it."
With that I turn on my heel, not looking back. I half expect him to hit me while I'm not facing him but, to my surprise, he let's me go.

"Watch your back Lucas." I hear him growl from behind me but all I can do is smirk.

Harvey is standing near his group of friends and I can still see the fear in his eyes. I wonder what's got him so worked up. It's not like he's the one putting himself in trouble. Tyler greets me with a high five, grinning like a madman and taking his skateboard from me.

"You did awesome man!" He slaps me on the back and I can't help but agree, feeling pretty smug. "Just ignore Harvey he's in a grump."

I laugh at his comment and I notice Harvey frown. He turns away to talk to a girl and...

"Charlotte?" My eyes widen when I see the stunning girl I'd met at the party.

"Oh my God hey!" She runs towards me and gives me a small hug. "I should have known it was you picking a fight with that dick head."
"What can I say? I'm a magnet for trouble." I smirk, watching as Harvey walks away with a girl who I hadn't quite seen properly. Maybe she's his girlfriend? I doubt that's true, Harvey's not the relationship kind of guy as far as I can tell.

"Lucas, this is Leo, my idiot twin brother, Alfie and Charlie." Charlotte points out the guys standing behind her and I recognise Leo. Oh yeah, that's the guy my half sister has a major crush on. "Guys, this is Lucas."

"How come you guys know each other?" Leo eyes me up after I've shaken their hands in greeting.

"We fucked at a party." Charlotte answers for me and I frown, considering that's not true. Leo looks like he's about to chop my balls off and I open my mouth to set things straight when Charlotte bursts out laughing. "Oh god, I just wanted to see your face!"

She laughs at her twin who is trying to control his annoyance.

"We just danced." I put in quickly, Leo's eyes flicking to mine.

"Let's keep it that way yeah?" He threatens, ignoring his sister who was still laughing loudly.

"Sure man." I smirk, Alfie and Charlie snorting.

"Bet they'll have slept together by this time next month." Charlie says to Alfie who shakes his head.

"I give it a week."
Leo opens his mouth to say something when Harvey comes running back over, looking even more stressed. He pulls the guys aside, leaving me with Charlotte who sighs and starts to lead me towards the car.

"Wait, what's that about?" I question curiously, noticing the girl with Harvey had disappeared.

"Just...my friend freaking out." She shakes her head, telling me to leave it.

We make random small talk and I learn a few things about her; favourite colour is deep purple, in the future she wants to go into land management, she hates pizza. We have a jokey argument over that one, me unable to understand how she cannot love the heavenly food that is pizza.
The guys get into the car sooner than I'd have liked, ending our flirty conversation, or so I think.

As Leo's attention is on the road, Charlotte leans over and whispers in my ear.

"I give it days."