Swallow

Chapter 1.16

"Mark, this is Cookie."

I practically shoved the girl headfirst in front of him the second we stepped foot through the front door of the house. If I would have pushed her any harder, she would have faceplanted right into his shins.

I was going to break something or someone if I had to spend another second with her.

My patience was on the bottom end of non-existent.

Not only did I just give Sean every cent I had to my name for the Camo tickets, but I also had to spend the last fifteen minutes in a car listening to this idiotic girl who liked to hear herself talk. She enjoyed her own voice so much that she didn't even shut up when I told her to close her legs before I passed out from the stench.

The entire car ride back to the house she was having a conversation with herself about how many men adored and worshiped her at the club she worked at. No matter what bullshit came out of her mouth, it wasn't going to change my interest level.

There was no way I was going to touch that tonight.

Cookie was a total narcissist and it wasn't even the normal overcompensating kind of bragging that girls did to hide their flaws. That girl believed every word coming out of her mouth. She was the type of over-the-top confident and self-important person that made her hard to stomach.

I wished I had brought the pills I had stashed in my room with me. If I could take enough of them, I might be able to find a way to tune her out.

It was a good thing Mark wasn't picky when it came to the opposite sex or my night would have been ruined.

If I was being completely honest with myself, if Riley wasn't coming back to the house tonight, I would just have gone ahead and hooked up with Cookie. My dick was uncomfortably hard and my balls felt like they were the size of grapefruit since Riley's little show. The way her green eyes devoured me tonight drove me fucking insane.

I had to see her again to try to convince myself I was just making this all up in my head. There was no way she had this much power over me.

I began to walk away from Mark and Cookie to see if I could find her.

"Stay, have a drink with us." Mark smiled a toothy, intoxicated grin at me.

"Not interested in my ears fucking bleeding all night." I motioned towards Cookie.

"Asshole." She snapped at me. "I don't even know how you have any friends."

"Well, see, Ezra is a brussel sprout." Mark slurred.

I raised my eyebrow at him. What in the fucking hell did he mean by that?

"Just hear me out, big guy." Mark reached out and patted my chest. He turned his head and started trying to explain. "No one likes brussel sprouts."

"Should I break your nose or your eye socket?" I asked.

"I'm saying you are an acquired taste." Mark rolled his hand in front of him like he was conducting a symphony. "It takes at least ten times of trying you before learning to tolerate you."

Mark was smiling at me like it was a compliment.

It didn't make it better, not one little bit.

"Fuck you." I hollered out and flipped him off.

"You know where I live. My door's always open. Bring flowers and a saxophone. I like to be wooed."  Mark wrapped his arm around Cookie and blew me a kiss.

I had no words. Once again, Mark had found a way to confuse me until I was completely speechless.

Aiden's gregarious, inebriated voice bounced off the walls around me as I made my way around the house searching for Riley. It sounded like he was in the kitchen. He was always hovering over her; she was probably in there pretending to laugh at his poor attempt at humor.