by Ashley Rose
"I know. Just let me make it up to you. Let me apologize..."
9
"Hey...what happened to your face?" He looks into the living room at me from the kitchen where he's attempting to cook eggs the next morning. Keyword: attempting. I swear to fucking God he could burn water. His tone is sort of light and nonchalant as he questions me, but my stomach ties itself in knots.
"Uh...what? What do you mean?" I touch my face lightly and play dumb, but I know there are remnants of Tony's assault at work the other night. I guess they finally showed up, so kindly aided by Lex when he flipped his fucking lid.
"You have a bruise...on your face. I didn't know you could just randomly get bruises on your face and not know about it." He laughs, but it fades quickly. "That wasn't from our fight, was it? I didn't mean to grab you that hard. Are you okay?"
His voice is quiet and guilty and, fuck. I feel really bad now but I still don't want to tell him what happened.
"Don't worry about it, they were already there," I say it quickly and quietly, hoping to just brush over the subject.
He freezes when I say it, and leans back, peering over the kitchen bar and into the living room at me again. Shit. I was going to tell him that Tony came into work, but I sure as hell wasn't going to mention the fact that he put his hands on me...all over me.
"How did they fucking get there?"
I sigh nervously.
Think up something...
Maybe I should just blame it on him. God, that's so fucked up. I can't.
"Leala," he encourages my response, voice wavering a bit.
This is going to be bad. The second the words come out of my mouth, he's gonna hit the fucking ceiling. Damn, why can't he have better control over his temper? I don't want to start this shit again, he just got over the last fight we had. But when I hesitate longer, pretending I can't hear him, he snaps.
"Leala!"
I jump when he bellows out my name, and I swallow hard.
Here goes nothing...
"Tony came into work last week."
His eyes go wide. "What did that motherfucker want?" He cocks up his eyebrow, a mix of disgust and surprise reading on his face.
I cast my eyes down, picking at the hole in the knee of my jeans, pulling at a stray thread, but I feel his eyes boring holes into me. "Just came by to fuck with me, I guess. Him and a bunch of his boys. You know how they get."
I jump suddenly as I hear a pan crash into the sink and he storms out of the kitchen. "No, I don't know how they get, so why don't you just fucking tell me?" He looks at me condescendingly across the room, crossing his arms over his chest. "Go on, tell me. He fucking touched you? Is that how you got that bruise? Both of those bruises!?" He adds the second part when he looks to the other side of my face.
"He just...grabbed my face. I was being a bitch." My tone is a bit defensive, but I know I shouldn't be making light of the situation. I just hate to see Lex so riled up over it.
"Why don't you stop playing this game and tell me what he fucking did to you?! Cause if he laid a hand on you—"
"Well I think it's pretty obvious that he touched me, Lex!" I sneer sarcastically, narrowing my eyes at him.
Shit. There it fucking is.
"Don't get smart with me! Why do you always try to start a fucking fight? This isn't about me and you throwing down, this is about Tony and his bitch ass putting his hands on you!" He exhales noisily, pent up frustration crawling all over him as he runs a hand over his dark hair and tries to calm himself, but his voice trembles with fury. "But he fucking touched you...he put his motherfucking hands..." he trails off, biting his lips before pushing out a laugh in disbelief. He lowers his voice, rage engulfing him again. "I swear to God—"
"We were arguing Lex, okay?! He was being a fucking creep like he always is!" I cut him off. I really want this conversation to be over.
"So he grabbed your face? Did he do anything else?" He cocks his head to the side, arms still crossed over his chest, lips pursed in anger.
"Jesus Christ." I roll my eyes, breathing out the words in exasperation. Sometimes he gets so fucking protective.
"Where else did he fucking touch you?!" he snaps, bending his arms up and fisting his hands, clenching them so tight that they shake.
"He grabbed my arm." I pull my legs up onto the couch nervously, casting my eyes around and lowering my voice a bit. "And he, like, touched my leg..."
He gazes at me through narrowed eyes, taking in my behavior. "You're lying to me. I know when you lie. I can fucking tell you're lying, Leala!"
I finally give in, sitting forward on the couch, throwing my hands up and raising my voice with my confession. "He grabbed my chair, okay? Between my legs, and he was...fuck...his thumb just..." I sink back into the couch with a sigh, unable to find the words. I'm ashamed. I feel disgusting.
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?" he wails, he fucking screeches at the top of his lungs and it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. There's no doubt in my mind that he knows exactly what I mean, even if I couldn't say the words.
He storms into the bedroom, emerging just seconds later. I see him checking the round of his gun, making sure it's loaded, shoving it into the waistband of his jeans as he crosses the room quickly, headed toward the front door.
"Lex! What the fuck are you doing!?!" I jump up from the couch and bound across the room in a panic. I've never seen him get this hostile so quickly. Part of me is flattered knowing that he's so quick to throw down for me, but then again I don't need him just running around shooting people.
"I'm killing that motherfucker." He reaches for the door handle, but I grab his arm at the elbow, pushing his back against the closed door.
"Would you fucking stop? He just came in to scare me and to talk some shit about you!" I push on his chest when I say it.
"Talk shit about me?" he screams out, twisting his face in disbelief, gesturing towards himself with his hands.
"Of course he was, what the fuck do you think Tony wants with me? He has nothing to say to me, I barely know the dude. Calm the fuck down!" I storm back across the room and throw my weight onto the couch, seething, but he's right behind me, finger pointed into my face. His face is cloaked with rage, fire behind his icy blue eyes, hand shaking in my face, the other clenched at his side.
"No! That's fucked up! Why does he have to fuck with you? If Tony has beef with me, he can come knock on my fucking door!" His hand flies out toward the door in a maniacal gesture as he screams, "And that is completely aside from the fact that he laid his fucking hands on you, which will make me kill a motherfucker faster than you know!"
He clenches his fists, body leaning forward as he curls in, rage consuming his entire body. I've never seen him like this.
"You better not be fucking around with him anymore and I mean it," he continues. "If he gives you shit again, you fucking call me, and I'll handle the shit. I don't want you talking to Tony. Shit like that pisses me off. God-fucking-dammit!!" He pushes his forehead into his palms, squeezing his eyes shut tight in frustration.
I hesitate for a moment, casting my eyes down. "Oh shut the fuck up already. You don't have to treat me like a baby, Jesus Christ," I mumble.
He drops his hands to his sides with a scoff and laughs, shaking his head slowly, running a hand over his hair. "Yeah...okay...you think that shit. And Tony is gonna keep fucking with you and then you'll see. But I'll tell you what, he's gonna be at Fabian's party tonight, and I'll take care of that motherfucker there."
I snap my gaze up to his. "Fabian is having a party tonight?"
"Yep. And you're not going." He says it matter-of-factly, raising his eyebrows at me.
"WHY!? That's bullshit. You can't tell me what to do!" I shriek, narrowing my eyes at him.
"You're not going, Leala. I don't want you around Tony, period," he says, crossing his arms over his lean chest, and I scowl up at him from the couch.
"Well if you won't let me go then I'm staying here and waiting for yo
u to get back!" I retort, raising my eyebrows and pursing my lips. I'm gonna get my fucking way. I hate when he bosses me around.
"No, you're not staying here by yourself." He shakes his head at me.
"Then it sounds like I'm going with you." I grin up at him.
He sighs, rolling his eyes back as his tongue plays along the inside of his cheek. It's a win-win for me this time.
"Fine...what the fuck ever. I'm gonna take care of that motherfucker and come right back home, and you can just stay here and wait for me I guess."
"What are you gonna do to him? You can't just go off and kill him!" I scoff and he just shrugs.
"We're gonna talk...and if I don't like what he has to say...whatever happens, happens. Either way, you won't be there to worry about it. If I come home...I come home," he replies simply, and I'm astounded at the lightness in his voice. It fucking pisses me off when he just throws shit in my face about something bad happening to him. Like he thinks I don't care.
"Don't say that shit. Don't even fucking do that to me," I mutter, pushing myself up from the couch to brush past him, but he grabs my arm, pulling me flush against him.
"Listen to me. I'm gonna take care of it. And I'm gonna come back to you. Trust me," he speaks softly, searching my face.
And I just have to believe him. I have to know he's telling the truth.
10
He can hear screaming laughter and music from four doors down as he approaches the motel room, taking a pull on his joint and sniffing a little after he exhales. He quickly knocks, tapping his heel nervously against the floor until the door bursts open and he's greeted by Fabian. A young brunette hangs on his arm, giggling.
"What the fuck, Lex! It's about fucking time your bitch ass showed up!" Fabian throws a skinny arm around his shoulders enthusiastically and pulls him inside.
"Is Tony here?" Lex asks quietly, looking around the room over the crowd, squinting to make out faces in the smoky haze, the air clouded from drugs and cigarettes. Various scenes in the room reveal beer bongs, shots of alcohol being thrown back, lap dances and every example of drug intake that someone can fathom.
"Fuck no, that bitch left like an hour ago," Fabian slurs, plucking the joint from Lex's fingers greedily to take a hit. He pulls tighter on Lex's shoulders, his elbow slipping up around his neck as he turns him toward the couch. "Ladies, this is Lex."
Lex turns his head abruptly from his search for Tony to see the couch in the hotel room littered with four scantily clad girls, all eyeing him hungrily. He swallows hard. They part like the fucking Red Sea, leaving an empty space in the middle of the couch, and Fabian shoves him down amidst the girls with a drunken chuckle.
"Dont be shy now! You ladies be nice to him."
Lex sighs and starts to get up as soon as he bounces down into the cushions, but he's immediately seized by his shoulders by one of the girls and pulled back down as she swings a leg over both of his.
His eyes go wide in surprise because she's being so forward, and he turns his face quickly as she starts to kiss his mouth. Her lips lock onto his neck instead. She sucks at his skin fiercely and he pushes back on her shoulders because he needs a bruise on his neck just like he needs a hole in his head. He knows he'll be in big trouble over some shit like that.
She looks into his face with smoldering green eyes and he's a little swept away in all of this but he makes sure to keep his hands to himself, maybe he'll feel a little less guilty. She has a pretty face, but she's not really his type. But with tits like hers, she's any guy's "type."
She grips his shoulders and grinds her hips down hard into his lap to the beat of the loud music in the smoky hotel room, and he hears Fabian and Tyson cheering him on from across the room. He flips them the bird behind her back and doesn't take his half-closed eyes off her body as she rolls into him. But he's suddenly ripped from his trance when he feels another hand slide across his chest and the redhead sitting next to him is unexpectedly in on the action, licking slowly at his neck and biting on his ear.
"Damn, y'all are serious in here." He fidgets a bit under all of the attention he's receiving, but he's silenced as the girl attending to his neck suddenly pushes back on his forehead, releasing his head backward and displaying the full expanse of his throat for her consumption. She goes to work at licking his skin once more as the girl on his lap continues to work her shit out on him.
Lex keeps his hands fisted at his sides, but he feels a hand creeping down on him slowly, and he pulls his head up off the couch.
"Hey! Watch the hands!" he warns and the girl on his lap bites her lip at him, drawing her hand away from his crotch with a pout.
He releases his head back again for a moment, closing his eyes and trying to forget whose hands are on him as the girl slides farther up on his lap and pushes her chest against his, drowning him in her scent.
"Lex!" he hears Bruce shout from across the room, and he opens his eyes, lifting his head and glancing around for him, but he is distracted when he feels a hand slipping into his pocket. He looks down to see one of the girls trying to swipe an eightball from him, and he laughs softly, grabbing her wrist.
"Sorry, workin' my dick won't get you any free shit. Nice try though." He throws her hand away roughly, pushing her off of his lap and standing up quickly to cross the room.
On his way to see what the fuck Bruce wants, Tyson pulls him over to take a vodka shot and have a hit on the water bong.
"You are so getting fucked up tonight! Bad decisions will be made, bro," Tyson shouts over the music and Lex just shakes his head, continuing to stumble around the room in search of Bruce.
"Hey, bitch! Get your ass over here!" Bruce calls out from the set of couches across the room from the ones where he was previously seated. Coke paraphernalia litters the glass-topped coffee table situated in front of Lex as he sinks down onto the cushions next to him.
"Hit that shit." Fabian extends his arm across from the other side of Bruce, passing Lex a rolled up hundred-dollar bill.
Lex leans forward over the table, plugging one side of his nose as he takes two quick lines before falling back against the couch with a sigh, closing his eyes as the rush of alcohol, weed, and blow all hit his system. As he opens his eyes slowly, he notices the curves of a busty blonde standing before him, a leg on either side of his knees. His eyebrows raise as she sinks down onto his lap, pressing her breasts together with the inside of her arms, smirking as she watches his tongue come out to instinctively wet his bottom lip.
Lex leans over to Bruce, shouting over the music. "There's a lot of pussy in here that wants dick in it tonight!"
"Dude, Leala is gonna fucking kill you!" Bruce yells in response.
Lex rolls his eyes as he sits back up straight and drinks in the form of the girl sitting on his lap, giving him fuck-me-eyes with her bottom lip between her teeth. He grins at her when he feels his body begin to tingle and the stiumlant course through his veins.
11
He enters the bedroom slowly and quietly, trying not to wake me, stumbling a little in the dark over a pair of his sweatpants that he left on the floor. He smiles to himself when he sees my naked shoulders and back peeking out from under the covers in the dim light. He loves when I sleep naked.
But his smile fades quickly and he instantly feels like dirt as he stands in the doorway and thinks of where he's been all night, not to mention what he's been doing. Guilt shrouds him as he looks upon me lying in his bed waiting for him. Just waiting for him to come home.
It's never been a spoken agreement, but he knows I would never go to a party like that without him. And I wouldn't even think about touching another guy. I would be right there, just like I am right now. Waiting. Waiting for him.
Creeping slowly across the floor, still trying to remain silent, he crosses the room and leans over the side of the bed, crawling on top of the covers just to lay beside me for a moment. I stir with a soft moan, rubbing my eyes as I turn my head toward him. I lift up slowly to look at the illumina
ted numbers on the clock, and groan as my face sinks back into the pillow and I close my eyes.
"It's four in the morning," I whine softly and he runs a hand down my face as he kisses my mouth in a silent apology for what he did tonight, because it's eating away at him more and more by the second and I know absolutely nothing about it.
I stroke the back of his head slowly, but as I bring my face to his neck my senses are overwhelmed by the lingering evidence of what took place tonight at the hotel party. My fucking stomach flips. I pull back suddenly and look into his face, suddenly wide awake.
"You smell like a ten cent whore."
He says nothing, just casts his eyes down.
"Lex?" I question him softly, cautiously, giving him the opportunity to set my mind right before it ventures too far, into some place I'm too afraid for it to go.
He couldn't have...he would never...
He swallows hard. "Leala, nothing happened." His eyes meet with mine and he reaches to touch my face but I roll away from him, sitting up in bed suddenly, tucking the sheets under my arms to shield my body from him. I feel sick.
"Lex." I can't think of anything else to say.
He sits up slowly, reaching for me, but I turn away from him, wrapping myself tighter in his sheets, shaking my head, rage swelling inside of me. I'm humiliated, fucking offended that he would sleep with another girl and come home to get in bed with me.
"Leala, listen to me...nothing happened. I swear. I didn't even touch her." He sighs, reaching for me again but I tear up out of the bed, pulling the comforter off and draping it around my naked form.
"Who, Lex? Didn't touch who?!" I raise my voice, my words trembling from my chest as rage and hurt floods me. He sighs and releases his head in frustration.
"Just some girl at the party. Fabian and the guys were fucking around with me, pushing girls on me. They were all over the place, crawling on anybody just trying to get a hit on a line. You know how it is." He pulls himself up from the bed slowly, keeping his voice soft. For once he's the one trying to prevent the fight.
