let my dick be in charge, it would head straight for Reece. And Reece is not an option.
Just because my cock wants Reece doesn’t mean I can’t satisfy it with someone else. I know exactly who can substitute for her.
Before I hunt Summer down, I need a drink. Fuck, I need multiple drinks. After all, it is my twenty-first birthday.
Happy, fucking birthday to me.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
* * *
The clear liquid burns the back of my throat. It’s not as bad as the first four times I’ve poured the substance down the back of my neck. I must be getting numb. Numb is nice. Numb is where I want to be.
“You better slow down. You’re going to fucking yack. You have at least sixteen more shots to do, birthday boy.” Shorty stands on the other side of the bar pouring shots for everyone.
Every year, the night before Thanksgiving, Matt Lopez has a huge party. Prior to this year, I would drop in for an hour or two and leave. I’ve been here at least three hours and I’m on shot five of twenty-one. Before that, I’ve accepted a beer from what seems like everyone who is here. To say I’m fucking loaded is an understatement.
Faces are starting to blur and time doesn’t seem to exist. There is a warm excitement burning in my belly. I feel like I can fly. Everything is hazy but I still know what is going on around me. It’s a nice feeling.
“C’mon baby, you can do it.” Summer is working my shoulders with her hands, cheering me on. My arm extends above my head bringing her mouth to mine. I stick my tongue in her mouth without care. The kiss is sloppy and obnoxious. It’s supposed to be. I want people to know that I’m no longer Hannah’s bitch. I pull away wiping the spit from my mouth.
There’s another shot in front of me. Instead of taking the shot by myself, I ask everyone to take a shot with me. Pretty soon, there’s a shot in everyone’s hands and they are toasting it to me. The toasting turns into a serenade. My ears are filled with the “Happy Birthday” song.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the one person who doesn’t have a drink in her hand. Reece stays close to Maria and Shorty. In fact, it looks like she is hiding behind them. She eyes the people in the room. There is a faint look of disgust adorning her face.
The alcohol fueled comment creeps up from the back of my throat before I have a chance to push it down. “For fuck’s sake, Reece. Have a drink. You’re boring me to death.”
Her eyes narrow in a v-formation. Reece’s attempt to blend in fails miserably. Then again, a girl like Reece could never blend in anywhere. I’ll be damned if I feed her ego. Stuck up little bitch .
The snarky smile I saw when we first met is back. “I didn’t know I was here for your entertainment.”
I grab Summer’s ass as rough as I can. Summer squeals in my ear. If I had a knife, I’d stab my eardrums so I never have to hear that sound again. I silently thank the inventor of alcohol because the effects are working to help drown out Summer’s annoying qualities. “This is my entertainment for tonight.” I want to irritate Reece. I want her to notice me.
Wait. What? No.
She’s indifferent or it seems like she is. “Summer is a lucky girl.”
Summer bites my neck in attempt to arouse me. It doesn’t work. What is meant to bring me pleasure just brings me pain. I bite my tongue and pretend to enjoy Summer’s efforts. “So? Where’s your drink?”
I don’t know why I am making such an issue out of this. So she’s not drinking. Big fucking deal.
She’s excluding herself from me. She thinks she is better than me.
Maria gives Reece a sympathetic look. They gaze at each other longer than I expect. Reece winks at Maria. “Alcohol doesn’t play well with my crazy. Besides…I’m having way too much fun watching you get wasted,” she yawns.
“Am I boring you?
“Kind of.”
“Are you always a bitch?”
“Are you always an idiot or just when I’m around?”
There are ‘oohs’ and
Dan Gutman
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Calvin Wade
Marcelo Figueras
Coleen Kwan
Travis Simmons
Wendy S. Hales
P. D. James
Simon Kernick
Tamsen Parker