"Whoa, dude. I thought she was a friend of mine. I wasn't..."
"Try again, mother fucker. My girl ain't getting taken by a pretty boy bitch like you."
"Pretty boy bitch? That's new." I moved to the side as he swung again and was quite grateful when two bodyguards moved in front of me and took the guy to the ground. His girl was watching me with stars in her eyes.
"Oh my God. You're totally Steve Sumner." She swooned and let out a long girly sigh.
"Does that shit hurt?" I moved my finger around my nose as I stifled a shiver of disgust. The guards had the guy on the ground, but they were losing the fight.
"Ethan. What the fuck, man?" Liam moved up beside me and jerked me back, moving us toward the bar. "You start shit everywhere. You know that?"
"Yep. That's the reason we usually stay at your place, remember?"
The girls from earlier were standing by the bar snuggled up to each other. "What's with these two? I think they're more into each other than you think."
"It's hot, right?" He popped my chest and laughed like a ten-year-old girl. He was the creepiest mother fucker I knew and yet I loved him for it.
"How about you take them home and knock yourself out? I just need to get drunk and try to pretend like Riley isn't ruining my fucking life."
Tara reached out and brushed her fingers down my chest. "Who's Riley? That new girl they brought in from the streets?"
"The streets?" Sarah glanced toward her friend. "What do you mean?"
"So get this," my brother kept his arm around my shoulders, but leaned toward the girls a little, "Eon wanted to show how supportive they were of actors and actresses everywhere, so they had an open casting call."
"What's a casting call?" Sarah asked as she eye-fucked me.
"It's a try-out of sorts," my brother responded as I moved around the girls and ordered another shot. Why had I thought that coming out would be a good idea? Me and 'public' only did well when there was a big ass movie screen between us.
"Yeah, and Ethan here supposedly let them bring in a nobody. Isn't that right?" Tara wrapped her arms around me and pressed herself to my back as I lifted my shot to my lips.
"She's not a nobody." I tossed the shot back and forced myself to stay calm. Getting up in arms over Riley wasn't going to help anyone, least of all me.
"He's so sweet. Isn't he?" Tara must have been talking to her friend.
I pulled her arms off of me and turned back to my brother with a wicked smile on my face. "I am sweet, right?"
"Like sugar." He winked at me and wrapped his arm around Sarah's shoulders. "Let's go dance. I think my brother wants to test out the theory of his sugary goodness."
Sarah laughed and wagged her eyebrows. "I like the sound of that."
I reached out and pressed my fingers beneath Tara's chin, lifting her dark blue eyes to rest on me. Her thick mane of crimson-colored hair would be fun to hold on to for a long night of drowning my sorrows, but I knew good and well that I wouldn't be fucking her. Not only was I not ready to deal with the issue of my size, but I was tired of closing my eyes in hopes of living a moment that didn't really belong to me.
"How about you, pretty girl? You wanna test out the theory."
She licked her lips and glanced down the length of my body. "I'd love to. Where?"
I took a sip of my beer and nodded toward the back as she pressed herself against the front of me.
"I'm sure there's somewhere in the back where we can find a little bit of privacy." I gripped her hand and moved past her. Something nagged at me to release her and go home. There was no good outcome for the two of us, and I was moving toward being drunk. My inhibitions were down, my body aching for sex and my heart hurting from chasing after someone that looked like my Riley only to come up empty.
She's not yours, idiot. She never will be.
"Oh shit. I left my wallet up there. I'll meet you in the back." Tara pulled from my grip on her hand and disappeared into the crowd.
Now was my chance to make a run for it. I didn't need to have some other poor chick suck me off in the back of a club to feel worse about myself. I already felt like hammered shit if I were being honest. I must have stood there, looking like an idiot because ten different people asked me if I were okay before taking a selfie with me.
"There you are." Tara laughed and moved up to grab my wrist. "I got us a drink to share, but I'm not feeling it. Finish it for me?"
I nodded and downed it, ignoring the burn of the liquor and the sour taste of it. "What the fuck was that?"
She pulled me toward the back into a closet of sorts and half climbed up my body as I tried to keep myself standing. "God, you're so hot."
I didn't stand a chance as she pressed her lips against mine and forced her tongue deep into my mouth. A groan left me at the hot sensation of her wrapped around me, and I ignored the fact that the room was spinning. I just wanted sex. Hot, uninhibited fucking with the pretty woman stripping me down.
I gripped her ass tightly and slipping my fingers under her panties as she pressed back and fucked herself against my fingers.
"Riley," I mumbled as the world came crashing in.
Chapter 11
Riley
"Thanks for meeting up with me today." My Aunt Debbie looked nothing like my mother, but they had different fathers, so it wasn't too surprising. Her long black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and she wore very little makeup.
"Of course. I'm sorry about yesterday, it's been-"
"Hard. I know. I wasn't sure I could sit through the whole thing either. Your mother would have sat up in her casket if she knew a preacher was talking about God over her. I'm glad you let me have that part though. I honestly wasn't sure." She shrugged and picked up her menu.
"Of course." I didn't exactly know how to answer her. She was the most outspoken woman of God I'd ever met, and her and my mother didn't exactly get along. It had something do with my aunt trying to convert my mom every time they spoke. Not that my mom didn't need a serious conversation in her life, but faith didn't seem like the answer. A job? A good guy who wasn't toked up on weed? A house and steady income? Yeah. For sure.
"What are your plans with the house?"
"There is no house. It got repossessed by the bank a few weeks before the accident." I pulled my Coke closer to me and leaned down to take a quick sip from the straw. "There's nothing left to figure out, nothing to sell, nothing to close down. Mom didn't have anything."
"She has some money tucked up somewhere from our mother's will. When momma died, she left a sum of money to me and to your mom." She leaned back in her chair. "You don't think she blew it on drugs and men, right?"
"No clue." I glanced around, feeling more uncomfortable under the inquisitive eye of my aunt than I had trying out for the movie part with Eon. "I don't really care."
"I understand that. I'll have my lawyers do some digging."
"And what do you care?" I tried to keep the tenseness out of my voice. I wasn't my mother and didn't have a shitty relationship with anyone in our extended family. I didn't actually have a relationship at all.
"I'm just concerned about you. I know you're probably not in a much better place than your mother was. How are you going to pay for your schooling? Did this new movie part actually come with a paycheck?"
"Yes, it did." I didn't elaborate. Something told me she was digging for information.
"Well, good. My concern was that I didn't want to leave you with nothing."
"You won't. I can take care of myself, but thanks." I picked up my menu and swallowed the accusations I wanted to fling at her. No wonder my mother never mentioned my Aunt Debbie much. She played the part well, but never in a million years would I believe that she actually wanted to help me.
If she had, she would have helped my mom, and no one did that, not even me.
***
I got home to find a note from Char that she was on a date, which seemed a little weird, but I was grateful for the night to myself
. It was good to get back to school and to my drama class. It would all be ending soon, and it was for the best that it was, but I still enjoyed the normalcy of it.
After locking the door behind me, I dropped my books and purse on the kitchen table and walked through the quiet apartment. The place smelled like vanilla, which always reminded me of cookies for some reason. I walked into the kitchen with a hankering for something sweet and found a bag of chocolate chips in the pantry. After moving everything around a hundred times, I found the other ingredients and went to work making some cookies. As much as I hated to admit it, it was therapeutic. I walked into the living room and turned on an old Ethan Lewis movie, one where he was young and at a summer camp.
A smile lifted my lips as warmth spread through me. He had to be the most adorable guy I'd ever seen in all my life. He was around fourteen in the movie and the camp hunk.
I sat down on the couch and pressed my forearms to my knees as he walked up to a group of girls in nothing but a bathing suit. His bright green towel was thrown over his shoulder, and where most guys were pale and skinny, he was tanned and had a bit of muscle definition.
"How long have girls and women alike been lusting after you, Mr. Lewis?" I let out a long sigh as he tilted his head and smiled at the girls. They giggled like crazy and I had to stop myself from giggling too.
"Hi ladies. We're headed out to the dock to catch some rays. You girls wanna go and rub suntan lotion on our backs for us?"
I snorted and shook my head. Only me. Only I would be at home on a Friday night while the rest of the world was dancing and drinking, partying and forgetting that life had to suck so damn much all the time. But I was good. Warm. Whole for a few minutes watching Ethan grow up on screen.
The beeper on the oven went off, and I got up and walked to the kitchen, noticing a text on my phone from Jace. Call me.
I picked it up and pressed the button as I grabbed an oven mitt and pulled the warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies from the oven. My stomach cried out, sounding like two cats fighting in a back alley.
"Hey. That was quick." Jace spoke between soft panting.
"Yeah, what're you up to? Making some girl’s night?" I smiled and moved to get a plate and spatula. The cookies had a few minutes to cool before me and a gallon of milk were taking them out.
"Funny. I only wanna make one girl's night, but she's made up some silly excuse to keep me away."
"You can't be serious. You? She has to be an idiot. I would never do that to you." I put the cookies on the plate and pressed the phone between my ear and my shoulder. "What time are you getting off?"
"A little before midnight. You changing your mind?"
I smiled. "Not yet, but text me before you head this way. If I'm here, I'll let you in. I'm pretty sure I'm going to sugar myself up and get into bed. I could use a long night of sleep."
"Dream of me?"
"That's a high possibility. Can it be something other than sex?"
"Of course, but we both know you can't seem to think of anything but fucking when I'm around."
"That's because you're such a cock." I smiled and walked to the fridge, getting out the milk and carrying my treats back to the living room. Charlotte would blow a gasket to know I was drinking out of the carton, so quite simply, she wouldn't know.
"Very funny, beautiful. I'll text you later. You've been teasing me for the last few days with your hot little body. Time for me to teach you who's in charge."
"Is that so?" I broke a cookie in half and glanced up as Ethan stretched out across his towel on the dock. All the girls attacked him and the scene changed. I laughed loudly, unable to help myself. I was mad at him, but it was silly. He was fighting against his attraction toward me as much as I was fighting against mine for him.
Him ignoring me sucked, but it was doing both of us a favor. I was weak in my sadness and he would take pure advantage of me. The end result - too many emotions on the set. Deza had to have gotten to him or maybe it was Frank. I'd have to thank them or kick them in the crotch when I saw them next. I wasn't sure which.
"All right. Later, baby." Jace hung up and I tossed the phone onto the couch beside me.
There was nothing I enjoyed more than watching Ethan's earlier films, but after finishing half the plate of cookies and a third of the gallon of milk, I needed something more. I forced myself to take everything back to the kitchen and put in one of his Bond films. It was horrid of me to fast forward to the love scene, but I couldn't help myself.
"Everyone should binge on goodness every now and again." I found the exact spot where he pulled his co-star close to him and pressed play. The look in his eyes was so fucking hot and the way he gripped her shoulders was possessive.
"Don't tell me what you need. I already know." He smiled and licked his lips a little.
"You do, do you?" She slid her hands around his hips and tugged at his shirt.
"Mmmmhmmm... all bad girls need them." He leaned down and ran his nose by her jawline as she visibly shivered.
"A spanking?" she whispered before he took her down to the floor and pressed himself to the top of her.
My heart was about to beat out of my chest as if I had no clue what was coming next. The sex scene wasn't nearly as fun as a porn might be, but it was enough. Ethan stripped the woman down and had her crying out in long groans as the camera panned out.
"Awww... come on!" I moved to the edge of my seat and tried to ignore how badly I wanted to reenact some of those love scenes with him.
The door opened behind me, causing me to yelp.
"Sorry! Just me." Charlotte walked in and closed the door before moving toward the couch. "Are you having an Ethan Lewis marathon without me?"
"Yep. There's milk and cookies in the kitchen. Grab you some and come join me. This is the most fun I've had in months." I moved back on the couch and pulled the blanket off the back of it, snuggling up to one side and pausing the movie for her. The scene had Ethan standing outside on a balcony in a towel, looking like sin incarnate.
I almost had sex with him.
Heat rolled through my stomach and pulsed in all the right places.
"Warning. I'm turned on by this asshole. Like crazy turned on." I let out a shaky sigh and reached for a cookie as she took her place beside me.
"Finally, you admit it. He's so hot. Please tell me that you guys had a sex scene in Rio."
"We almost had sex, but you called about my mom. It was probably for the best." I picked up the changer and shoved half the cookie in my mouth.
"What? You mean like you had a sex scene or the two of you as Riley and Ethan almost slept together?" Her eyes were as big as saucers.
I laughed. "As Riley and Ethan?"
"Yes. Like not in a movie scene or on a set. Oh my God... was it on a set? After hours? Like you guys had so much fucking passion from the scene earlier that day that you-"
"Whoa. Hold up. You're going off the deep end, and there is nothing I have that will save you from that." I smiled and pressed play. "We're attracted to each other. We almost had sex in his room, but we didn't. He wants a friends with benefits arrangement, but I don't. At least I don't think I do."
"Holy hell! I want one. Tell him that I'll be your understudy for the friends with benefits thing. I'm not you, but I can pretend to be!"
I rolled my eyes and settled back into the couch as the clock struck midnight. My phone dinged and Charlotte tossed it to me with a smile on her face.
"Tell me it's him."
"It's not. He never calls or texts. It's probably Jace." I glanced down to see that it was Ethan. My heart leapt into my throat, but I played it off. "Yep. Jace. I'm going to the bathroom. Be right back."
"All right, but don't leave me hanging. I gotta live through someone."
"Let's pray it isn't me." I walked down the hall and stopped beside the bathroom as I unlocked my phone to see what the man of my wet dreams wanted.
Ethan: Hey baby. I can't stop thinking about you. I keep thinking if I close my
eyes with these other bitches that magic will happen. Like freaky Friday shit. I open my eyes and bam! Bamb! Bumb! How the fuck do you spell Bam? Anyway... I want you. Come over tonight and let’s pick up where we left off. You naked and wet, me hard as fuck. We could spend the night fighting for control and tearing up my sheets. Come over here. You know you wanna, Ri.
"Ri?" I read the message two or three more times and realized what it was. Drunk texts. It was almost too funny not to reply to, but I forced myself to slip the phone in my pocket and head back out to Charlotte. Poor Ethan Lewis. Letting his true feelings out while he's totally wasted.
It felt good to hear him say it, even though there was little we could do about it.
He wanted me. He wanted me. He so totally wanted me.
Chapter 12
Ethan
I woke up feeling like someone had used my head for a punching bag the night before. My face hurt and my skull throbbed as colors flashed in front of my eyes.
"Fuck," I groaned and rolled over, not sure where I was. It wasn't home. "Where am I?"
"Get up, pretty boy. I just made us some bacon and toast. I'm gonna eat your half if you don't come the fuck on. You know how much I love bacon." Liam's voice was an automatic comfort.
"What happened?" I forced myself to sit up slowly as the room spun.
"I'm gonna say you either drank a whole fucking lot while I wasn't watching, or you were drugged. I found your ass naked in a broom closet and the girls split." He pressed his hands to the doorframe and tilted his head. "You fucked that girl bareback?"
"What? No. Hell no." I got up and turned to press my hands back to the top of the bed. "Fuck, I feel like death."
"Right, well, I'm gonna warn you now, I'm pretty sure that girl fucked you while you were drugged up. There was... um... evidence of it everywhere."
I glanced back at him. "What? No one saw that shit but you, right?"
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