Rebel With A Cause Read online

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  REBEL WITH A CAUSE

  Ashleigh Neame

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  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

  PG-13 - Includes mature content. There will be mature themes that could be inappropriate for younger readers. Characters use more mature language and swear.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Copyright © Ashleigh Neame 2012

  Ashleigh Neame asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  This book uses New Zealand spelling, and differs from American spelling.

  Copyright © 2012 Ashleigh Neame

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 978-1480104648

  ISBN-10: 1480104647

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Thanks to Createspace, for publishing this story on my behalf. Publishing with you guys is the best, and your help means a lot. Thanks to B2 a.k.a Nick for reviewing this for me and giving up his free time to help me. And thank you to all the people who read, voted and commented on this story when it was on Wattpad. It meant a lot. Last but not least, thanks to a certain Wattpad User by the name of philophobic_. The cover the designed was AMAZING.

  DEDICATION

  For Cam, you are the best boyfriend ever. I love you.

  For Min Xuan (aka cutemanga), my biggest fan on Wattpad. Your support means a lot. Thanks for spreading the word and getting you fans to support me as well.

  For Lisa, who has followed my writing ever since I started writing my first book.

  For philophobic_, the Wattpad user that designed my book cover. It looks amazing.

  For Leticia, my cool as neighbour who totally surprised me when she said that she loved my story. I had no idea she was even reading it.

  For Tracey-Maria, Ethan, Nav, Geri and all my other friends, you guys are the coolest friends. We’ve had some amazing times, and you guys are just too cool.

  304

  Prologue

  Regan came home with a pounding headache. After fourteen years of working at Dylan's Garage in South Auckland, he'd finally been promoted to manager.

  About time, he thought wearily. He’d been working long hours as a mechanic, and he’d spent many nights alone in the dining room, learning the ins and outs of the business.

  Normally, the promotion would have been good news. He'd been struggling to cope with the fact that his wife, Layla, was now a successful events co-ordinator, and the fact that she earned three times the amount of money he earned a year. It made him feel inadequate.

  But now, thanks to his promotion, he was earning half of what she earned. It was a huge step up, especially for him. He had no college education because Layla had fallen pregnant with their daughter Kaitlyn at a young age, and he’d worked his ass off at various jobs so they could have enough money to raise their baby. Today, he was starting to feel more like a man, and he was enjoying what he was doing.

  Unfortunately, after going through the books the entire afternoon with the broker, Regan could see he was not cut out for the business side of the garage. He had no idea about accounting or balancing books, but even he could tell that something wasn't right. Only, he had no idea what to do about it.

  Tiredly, he pulled into the internal access garage and switched his new silver sedan off. He hated the colour silver, but he was planning to do it up and paint it a unique colour that no one else had. It was easier to repaint a car if its original colour was silver.

  Sluggishly, he got out of his car and looked around at his garage. Just like the rest of the house, the garage was huge, and paid for by Layla.

  Angrily, he huffed out a breath and slammed his car door shut. He walked into the second lounge - their house had three - and dumped his car keys into the bowl on small end table. He groaned and rubbed his face and planned on walking into the kitchen to get a headache pill.

  That was, until he saw the two teenagers entangled in an embrace on the long sofa.

  “What the hell is going on here?” he yelled angrily. The guy on top climbed off and backed away, hurriedly putting his t-shirt on. The girl on the bottom screamed and tried to cover herself up with the throw from the back of the sofa.

  His daughter was topless, and only moments ago, so was the guy on top of her. Regan saw red. He strode over to the guy and grabbed him by the collar.

  “What the fuck were you doing to my daughter?” he screamed. “What the hell was going on?”

  “Dad!” Kaitlyn screamed. “For god's sake! Leave him alone!”

  Regan shoved the guy up against the wall and slammed his head into it. It left a sizeable dent, and Regan was oddly satisfied.

  “Leave him alone?” he screeched. “I come home from work to see my seventeen year old daughter with this man on top of her?!”

  “Dad, chill out! He's my boyfriend!”

  Regan let go of the guy and turned around. He didn't believe it. His teenage daughter thought she was dating this pervert.

  “Kaitlyn, he's too old for you!” he said angrily. “He's got to be at least twenty!”

  Regan turned around to give the guy a death glare and saw him smirking. He looked down in contempt and scowled at the guy's ripped jeans and baggy t-shirt.

  “He's a loser. What the hell made you choose him?”

  “I'm great in the sack,” the guy smirked. “That's why.”

  Regan growled and punched the guy.

  “Dad!” Kaitlyn screamed. “Leave him alone! God, can't you just be cool for once in your life?”

  “Cool?” he screamed, punching the guy again. “Cool? Kaitlyn, what's cool now isn't cool in the future, trust me on that one. And trust me to know what kind of idiot he is. He's just using you!”

  Layla arrived home seconds later, and saw Regan punching the lights out of a strange guy, and her daughter in tears.

  “Regan!” she yelled. “What are you doing?”

  Regan stopped punching the guy and stood up.

  “This scum was taking advantage of our daughter,” he said coldly. “I came home to find them both topless on the sofa.”

  Layla looked at her daughter.

  “Really?” she said angrily. “God, Katie, I thought you had standards.”

  Kaitlyn was scowling at her parents.

  “Go to your room, Kaitlyn,” Layla said exasperatedly. “Just go. We'll talk about this later. Regan, throw him out.”

  He didn't need to be told twice. Gruffly, Regan picked up Kaitlyn's so-called boyfriend and dumped him in the back yard. He went and got the hose and turned it on, drenching the guy.

  “What the fuck?” the guy screamed. “What the hell is going on?”

  Regan scowled. “What's your name, dipshit?”

  The guy scowled right back. “Dude! You fucking wet me! What the fuck?”

  Regan sprayed him again.

  “I asked you a question,” he said sternly. “And I expect an answer. Don’t make me repeat myself. I don’t like it when I have to repeat myself.”

  “Name's Carter,” the boy sa
id.

  “And how old are you, Carter?”

  “I'm eighteen.”

  Regan sighed and sprayed the guy again, just for the hell of it. Then he went and turned the water off, leaving a sopping wet Carter on his lawn.

  “Ok, Carter,” he said when he got back. “Here's how it's gonna be. You're going to go back to where you came from, and never see my daughter again. If you come near my house again, I will call the police and have you arrested. I think I can fake a crime easily enough. Break and enter, maybe a bit of vandalism. I’m sure you don’t want that.” He eyed the boy pitifully. “So now you have to get out of here, and never come back. You hear me?”

  Carter scrambled away from Regan angrily.

  “Dude, chill out. You can't stop me from seeing my girl.”

  “Yeah baby! You tell him!” Kaitlyn yelled from her bedroom window.

  Regan clenched his fists angrily. He was tired of being the man who couldn't get anything done. He forcibly removed Carter from his property and strode back inside, slamming the door behind him.

  He ran up to Kaitlyn's room and pushed open the door with a bang. He was sick of being undermined, and she was going to pay.

  Chapter 1

  Kaitlyn applied more pressure to the frozen peas on Carter’s face and rolled her eyes when he winced. She’d gone over to his place the next day to see how he was doing. He claimed his was in tons of pain, and yet he’d done nothing about the bruising.

  “God, chill out,” she muttered. “It’s only a punch.”

  Carter growled. “My head hurts like someone’s driven a jackhammer through it, and my jaw is bruised. I look like some kinda little punk kid,” he spat angrily. “If he wasn’t your dad, he’d be dead. And these peas are cold.”

  Kaitlyn sighed and kissed him full on the mouth, anything to shut him up. He was being overdramatic, whining like a baby. What man couldn’t deal with the cold?

  “Ooh, I like that,” Carter said quietly, in reference to the kiss. He gripped her by the waist and pulled her close to him. “Gimme some more.”

  She pushed him away and rolled her eyes, taking the peas back to the freezer.

  “Babe, what’s wrong?” he asked, leaning back on the kitchen counter so she’d have the perfect view of his hot body.

  “Nothing,” Kaitlyn replied. “Are we going to the races tonight?”

  Carter smirked. “Which one?”

  Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. Carter was a big name in the street racer world, and he was often requested to race in a different race every night.

  “The one with the most money up for grabs?” she asked casually. She had seen a new pair of high tops at the mall the other day, and she really needed some cash to buy them.

  Carter laughed. “I'm sure I can raise the stakes at whatever race I'm at.”

  Kaitlyn leaned on the fridge and Carter jumped off the counter, going over to pin her there so he could hungrily press his lips to hers.

  When the kiss was over, he leaned his forehead against hers and looked her dead in the eye.

  “What is it you want this time?” he asked. She smirked. He knew her too well.

  “Some new shoes,” she said. “I have a weakness for pretty shoes.”

  Carter laughed. “Damn girl, how many pairs of shoes have I bought you now?”

  Kaitlyn shrugged. “A few.”

  In actual fact, Carter had paid for most of her shoes, and most of her clothes. He’d pretty much paid for her entire wardrobe. What he didn’t spend on her went on his car.

  “So, where are we going tonight?” she asked again.

  Carter sighed and moved away. “We’re going to the Otara races. I heard that stupid foreign kid, Marcus, is going to be at the Mangere races. There’s no way I'm racing him again.”

  Kaitlyn gave him a small smile full of sympathy, scowling again before he could notice. Carter hated when people felt sorry for him, but they couldn’t help it after that night with Marcus.

  Carter and the other racers had placed a five grand bet, throwing in their girlfriend as an extra twist, because it was a race of the best street racers in the Auckland region. Carter had come second, Marcus had come first.

  But Carter didn’t seem to care that he’d lost Kaitlyn to Marcus. What he did seem to care about was the fact that he’d lost five thousand dollars. When Marcus had left New Zealand to visit his grandparents over in South Korea, only then could Kaitlyn return to Carter. However, Carter had already moved on, and screwed a different girl each night.

  Kaitlyn still felt uneasy thinking about that experience.

  “I am not losing another cent to him, ever,” Carter continued. Kaitlyn sighed and folded her arms across her chest. Boys and their stupid male egos.

  “Whatever,” she replied tonelessly. “So when are we leaving for Otara?”

  “Around ten,” Carter told her. “The race starts at midnight, but I want to get there before hand so I can psych out the competition.”

  “So where should I meet you?”

  Carter looked up, a tiny bit surprised. “Can’t you just stay here? I mean, you normally do.”

  Kaitlyn sighed and slid down to the floor. She sat with her back against the fridge, her knees bent and clasped to her chest, and looked at the floor.

  “I got grounded yesterday. Majorly grounded. Dad has decided he’s going to pick me up from school and take me to his work until he finishes, and then I'm going home with him. Mum has to take me to school, too. They’re watching me. In fact, I'm not supposed to be here at all. They said they’d ring the school to check if I was wagging.”

  “Can’t you just leave?” Carter asked. “Pack your bags and come and live with me?”

  Kaitlyn looked up in surprise. “Are you serious? I can come and live with you?”

  Carter suddenly looked uneasy, like he felt he had to offer, but didn’t really want her. “Maybe, it just depends on how tonight goes, and if you can sneak away. If your parents are going to bring the cops down on me, then no. I make money illegally. There’s no way I can have cops swarming around my place.”

  It seemed to Kaitlyn that he’d only offered to prove that he loved her. Well, his actions proved otherwise. What a jerk.

  “Don’t worry, babe,” Kaitlyn said casually, as if his indifference didn’t bother her. “I'll find another place to crash. It’s all good.”

  Carter smiled and intimately grabbed her neck, hungrily pressing his lips to hers. Kaitlyn responded with less enthusiasm. After the whole deal with Marcus, and now with her dad, Kaitlyn wasn’t too sure how much she liked Carter. He used her, and he was turning out to be a real asshole.

  Except he did buy her anything she wanted. Oh, it was just too hard to choose.

  “So, Otara races?” she asked eventually, breaking the kiss. “Are you sure?”

  Carter narrowed his eyes at her. “Of course I'm sure. Marcus is a jerk. He stole my girlfriend, not to mention my five G’s. He’s a real dick.”

  “I know. I was forced to date him, remember?” Kaitlyn reminded him.

  Carter growled. “You never will again, Kaitlyn. I promise you that.”

  Carter’s angry words stirred something inside Kaitlyn, and she found herself falling hard. She was a hopeless romantic, and hearing Carter make promises to her, really turned her on. His promises gave her hope, and hope made her more willing to please.

  “I love you,” she said impulsively, wrapping her arms around Carter’s waist. She pulled his face down towards hers for a passionate kiss.

  “I know, Katie,” he replied arrogantly, once the kiss was over. “I know.”

  At ten ‘o’clock that night, Carter and Kaitlyn left Carter’s Manurewa East home, and Carter drove them to the Otara races. As soon as they arrived, they noticed Marcus was there, and he was leaning against his new car, a crazily souped up Spyder.

  “What the fuck is he doing here?!” Carter growled. “He’s supposed to be in fucking Mangere or Asia or something!”

  Kaitlyn felt na
useous, and when Marcus spotted her and blew her a kiss, she wanted to flee. Her memories of her time as his girlfriend made her sick. Marcus was one weird kid.

  Of course, now that he’d spotted her and Carter, they couldn’t leave.

  Carter was too busy mentally screaming in frustration, and he didn’t even notice the scared expression on Kaitlyn’s face.

  “Fuck, he’s seen us,” Kaitlyn spat, using anger to mask her fear. “Now there’s no way we can go.”

  “I wouldn’t go anyway,” Carter said stubbornly, pulling his car into line with the others. “I’m not losing to this kid, and running away would just be even more humiliating than it was losing to him.”

  Kaitlyn sighed and clutched her stomach, a bad habit that she did when she needed to spew.

  “He’s going to want me back, you know. He’s going to try and take me away from you,” she said nervously.

  “Let him, then,” Carter replied, glaring at Marcus. “As long as he doesn’t take any more money from me, I’m good.”

  Kaitlyn sank lower into her seat. “Yeah,” she said sadly. “Money’s why you’re in this.”

  Carter rolled his eyes. Kaitlyn was being so dramatic. “You should be glad all I want is money,” he told her. “At least I’m not getting it on with other girls.”

  They sat in an awkward silence for a moment.

  “But you wish you were, don’t you?” Kaitlyn asked. Carter looked out the window and didn’t reply.

  Sighing, she hopped out of Carter’s cherry red Evo and made her way over to the sidelines. She crossed her arms and posed against the wall as she surveyed the crowd.

  A snarky voice interrupted her. “Trouble in paradise?”

  She felt Marcus’ strong arms wrap around her waist, and he pressed his lips to her neck.