Rule Number One

Chapter One- Oliver (Updated)

Three months ago, I had it all.

Hell, I had more than everything a guy could ever dream of.

I had the girl, the popularity and the money.

Until I didn't have the girl anymore.

I think that's where I went wrong, now that I stop and really think about it. When I say that I had it all, that might be the biggest lie I have ever told. I have no family left after my grandfather died, my mother disappeared when I turned five and my father died when I was fourteen. I am sort of a curse on my family, people dying wherever I go. When my father died, my grandfather was forced to take me in, twisting me into something I learned to hate and then died of lung cancer.

Actually, no.That's not entirely true, he died from being an asshole and we both know it. I still miss him sometimes, though. Not often, but times like this--times I needed a swift kick in the ass for being such an idiot. "Oliver, I told you that girl was trouble, stop being a waste of a man and take life by the balls." His raspy voice haunts the walls of my mind and I shiver, waking myself up from a light sleep, hungover and still exhausted.

A mess of dark hair stirs next to me and yawns, her morning after breath reaches me and tickles my nose. What is her name again? Candace? Mary? Amber? She stretches and moans, making my smile thicken as she turns to face me and I close my eyes quickly, hoping she didn't see me and want to have a conversation. I just want her to leave. Ever since Heather destroyed me, I am not really into the business of knowing anything about the women I bring home, not even their first names. I feel her move from the bed as I pop open my left eye to watch her pick up her clothes, piece by piece, and look nervously back towards me before slipping out of the bedroom.

My eyes flick open when I hear her shut the front door and I stare at the paste white ceiling.

All alone again.

I am a mess.

I hate Heather for sleeping with her brother-in-law in my bed but there was no way I could have known she would do that do me. She always seemed so sweet and normal and interested in only me. I finally realized her game when I caught her, but how can you instantly throw five years with someone out of the window and forget them? At first, her betrayel didn't make sense to me. How could she cheat on someone like me?

Me, of all people.

Now I only have one conclusion of her:

She is as fake as the diamonds she wore before me.

I want to sleep for the entire weekend but I know that isn't going to make me feel any better. What's-her-name that just left, she makes me feel better for long enough periods of time that I can turn off the world and indulge a little. I shiver at my shallowness, closing my eyes when the doorbell rings and hope to God it wasn't What's-her-name. These women, they were always leaving something behind to try and come back for more Oliver Jackson.

The doorbell rings over and over, like a song, as I make my way towards it, getting ready to yell at whoever it was. "What?" I growl, swinging the door open before looking through the peephole, knowing that is probably not a smart idea in case it is What's-her-name.

"Man, move." A broad-shoulder pushes me to the side and Casey, my best friend, rolls his eyes at me in annoyance for growling at him as he enters the apartment, uninvited. I watch him shove his cell phone in his jeans pocket and look at me, crinkling his nose because I am only wearing boxers. "Can you put some clothes on? What is this place? Magic Oliver?"

I scoff, but I know I look good, he doesn't have to remind me of his jealousy. "What do you want, Casey? I need sleep." I yawn and pick up a grey V-neck t-shirt from the back of the sofa, sniffing it for any unknown odors. After pulling it on, I find some sweatpants on the floor and do the same thing, watching the disgust in his eyes grow. "Okay, so I have a great opportunity for you, Ollie."