I giggled and slowly made my way over. “I thought we were going to be sleeping on the ground the first couple days.”

“My girl will never sleep on the ground. Your comfort is my number one priority, Tiny.”

I raised my eyebrows, unable to fight my goofy grin. “So it wasn’t to bang the shit out of me as soon as humanly possible?”

He suddenly grabbed me by the hand and hauled me down on top of him. He was smiling like a kid, placing a hand on each of my ass cheeks. I was wearing tiny shirts, and his fingers moved beneath the thin fabric so that he was also feeling said ass cheeks.

Looking up at me with innocent, big blue eyes, he asked, “Now why on earth would you automatically assume my intentions to be dishonourable?”

“Because you’ve got your hands on my ass,” I responded, rubbing my nose on his.

“And may I say that your ass is scrumptious and irresistible; it’s not my fault I can’t keep my hands off of you, especially when you’re wearing this ridiculously hot underwear.”

“They’re shorts, not underwear!”

“They’re so tiny, they may as well be. You know, you’re lucky I’m not one of those possessive assholes that don’t let their girls strut their stuff in these kinds of booty shorts.”

“And you’re lucky I don’t want a possessive asshole to care about me flaunting my cleavage. Chicks seem to dig that shit lately. You should catch up with the times –” He cut me off with a long, breathless kiss. Fuck, this guy can kiss.

His fingers continued roaming up my shorts, gripping me tightly against him. “I think we should christen our bed in our new apartment,” he murmured against my lips. “What do you think, Tiny?”

I made a sound of approval. Sex with Jaxon was my favourite and most coveted pastime.

Between school and Jaxon’s work, we had every night and weekends to ourselves. I couldn’t help but feel like it was a priority to get a job to help our situation a little better, but Jaxon was adamant we make the most of our time together until his money ran out. He was making fuck all as an apprentice, and the hours were from eight in the morning until five in the afternoon. He came home sweaty, dirty and tired, but always smiling when he saw me.

I made some friends at school, but one in particular just clicked. Alexis Tennant was a dark skinned, thin girl with the biggest booty you’d ever seen. She had dreadlocks, big lips, and intense green eyes that you couldn’t help but feel intimidated by. This chick had attitude, and it screamed off of her with just a look in your direction. It was an unlikely match, her and me, but it all started in law class where I was secretly munching on a bag of Skittles. She had been seated next to me and, upon hearing my chewing, made the most unpleasant and irritated sound.

“Some of us are trying to fucking listen,” she hissed at me, eyeing me with those scary green eyes.

“And some of us are trying to fucking eat,” I hissed back, darting her with my own look of intimidation. Living with Jaxon and dealing with his mannerism toward people in general had given me a bit of an edge. I took no shit from anyone.

She eyed me for a moment, curiosity getting the better of her. “If your skinny white ass is gonna fucking eat and make that kind of fucking noise, then pass me some of that shit too. I’ve eaten nothing but a fucking banana in the morning because my boyfriend’s a douchebag who eats my shit.”

I fought a smile. Smiling would deflate the situation and give me less of that edge. I handed her a handful of Skittles and we munched back on them during the entire two hour class.

“Did you want to grab some lunch?” I asked her on our way out. “Considering we’re starving to death and all.”

“Chick, you had me at hello. Let’s go.”

Despite her hard-assedness, Alexis – or Lexi as she would have preferred anybody call her– was the most hilarious chick I’d ever met. That girl’s humour had me in stitches, and she was so damn honest and down to earth, and real, I was in love with her by the end of lunch.

She was studying law like me, and we became study buddies; she was often over at my place every other day before Jaxon came home. Sometimes she’d stay when he came around, but that guy loved his privacy and wanted to jump me the second he got out of the shower. He looked at Lexi as a hindrance to his pleasure time than actual good company, and was always ushering her out the door.

“I’m in the middle of a fucking conversation, Jaxon,” she’d argue as he grabbed her by the arm to steer her out.

“I know, and I should be in the middle of fucking my girl, but you don’t see me bitching about it,” Jaxon would respond.

“Man, you and my boyfriend would get along like a house on fire.”

They did. When she brought Trevon around, Jaxon and him hit it off sharing their passion for motorbikes and cars. They’d stay up until the wee hours of the morning watching motocross or playing cards. This was good because it meant Lexi and I had time to do our own thing, like study or go out to the shops.

I didn’t know how we were going with our money. Jaxon gave us a strict budget for food and things I’d need. I never went without, and he was more than happy to spoil me with my very own allowance that I could splash out on for dinners with Lexi or clothes. He never told me how much he had stuffed away, and I didn’t want to ask despite desperately wanting to know. That money was dirty, and I wanted to be ignorant of it at all costs in fear of getting shitty at Jaxon for his old ways.

But he’d made our apartment into a home, furnishing it with a couple couches, a big television, kitchen utensils, and wardrobes. He let me do the finishing touches, hanging up photos of us around our place, and other tiny additives that spoke of us.

Time flies when you’re having fun, and that first year did. It was filled with love and fun, and though there was the usual stress that comes with Uni and exams, it was overshadowed by the good things in life: Jaxon, Lexi, and a city I had fallen in love with.

When we returned to Gosnells briefly on our holidays, I never stopped by my old house. I closed the chapter of that life the night I was thrown down the stairs. I never knew if the monster stuck around with Mom, but I also realized it didn’t matter anyway. I was too absorbed in my new life to care about it anymore. I convinced myself that Mom had chosen that life, and would never change.

Lucinda was doing fine, and when we returned during the second Christmas holiday, she had a guy living with her. Mark was…nice, though quite reserved and quiet. Jaxon hated him right off the bat, but that was to be expected, and Mark seemed to be well aware of the animosity; as if he was forewarned, which I’m sure he was.