Chaotic Perfection

Chapter One

Adam Castle dangled from his window-ledge, the hard metal groove of the windowsill digging into his hands as he looked at the grass below. It wasn’t that far. Screw it. Taking a deep breath, he let go. Every bit of air was knocked from his lungs as he slammed into the hard, wet ground. Ouch.

It was a few seconds before he pulled himself together enough to roll onto his knees, wheezing and laughing. The night air was humid, but cool compared to the hot room he’d just escaped. He hadn’t planned on going out tonight until his dick-head father had made the mistake of grounding him.

Clearly, this required a stand, since seventeen was way too old to get grounded to his room.On top of that, who got grounded over forgetting to pick someone up? So what if his bitchy sister had to walk a few blocks? She was twenty-years old—not five. Besides, God knew she could do with the exercise. In fact, it could be argued he’d done her a favor. Scrambling to his feet, Adam took off down the gravel carport.

By the time he made it to the blinking purple neon lights that read, CHAOS, he was breathing heavily, his dark hair sticking to the back of his neck. The bouncer stood outside. Crap. Another new guy. This place went through bouncers like his sister went through tampons. Putting on a confident grin, he pulled out his shitty, obviously-fake ID, hoping it would pass the inspection. The new bouncer was tall, with slicked-back greasy hair and stumpy fingers. He barely glanced at the ID, rolled his eyes and looked at Adam. “You’re kidding me, right?

Adam held up a finger. “Oops. Wrong one. What was I thinking? Can I have that back?

Looking bored, the bouncer handed it back to him

Adam pulled out a twenty, glanced at the bouncer’s scowling face and, with a sigh, added another ten. He pressed it into the bouncer’s hand. “Sorry. This is my ID

The guy looked down at the bills and chuckled, showing a couple gaps where teeth should’ve been. “Better. You look much older here.”

This time, it was Adam who rolled his eyes. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” The bouncer was still chuckling as he turned and unchained the rope. Adam gave him a quick nod, walked past and pushed open the metal door. He was greeted with a heavy whiff of smoke and old, bitter beer. He grimaced as he pushed through the swarm of bodies banging together to the hectic beat of techno-rock.

When he got to the back he sprawled out on one of the stained couches.

 Jennifer, his regular waitress slinked over to him, swaying her hips. “Hi Adam.” Her voice dripped honey. Shit. Now he remembered why he’d been avoiding this place. He hid his wince with an easy smile. God, he hoped she wasn’t going to spend the whole night hitting on him. One slip up and she’d been on him like a tick on a dog ever since. He could barely even remember that night…

There’d been a lot of beer and Jell-O shots. And then some laughing and groping behind the bar. He’d woken up in Jen’s car, with her sprawled across his lap. He still wasn’t sure how far things had gone. Jen, however, persisted on acting like he’d pledged his eternal love to her.  She couldn’t seem to take the hint that one drunken hook-up didn’t make them star-crossed lovers.   

She bent down a lot more then was necessary to take his order. Slurring her words a little, she said, “I’ve missed you, baby. Where you been?”

 “Working a lot. You know how it is.”

She nodded, still hovering over him.

Adam sat for a moment pretending to think, when really he was checking out her clothes. Although he couldn’t help but appreciated the view, it was a bit much, even for Jen. The mini-skirt barely covered her ass and her tank-top was at least three sizes too small. Since her cheap vanilla perfume was making him slightly ill, he gave her an easy smile and said, “I’ll just take the usual, Jenny.