One Night Only

Chapter 5

Sometime during the night, I hear Owen come into the room. I listen as he goes into the bathroom before coming to bed. He smells of liquor and perfume. I bury my face into my pillow, wishing I would've stayed asleep. "Hey, baby," he whispers.

For a moment I consider pretending to be asleep but decide against it. "Hey," I respond tiredly.

I turn my head and he leans down to kiss me but I don't reciprocate. "I'm sorry about missing our date."

"What happened earlier?" I ask curiously.

He sighs. "By the time I got there they already had everything resolved and were drinking with the guys. I was going to leave but Michael convinced me to stay for a couple drinks."

"More than a couple," I mutter.

He frowns. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You drink all the time now," I say. "When we first got together you said you didn't drink much yet here you are."

"I've had a lot going on these past couple of months. Forgive me for wanting to relax and have a beer once in a while."

Not wanting to argue with him, I sigh and roll back over to go to sleep. He places his hand on my hip and kisses my shoulder. "Are you going to sleep?"

"Yes," I mutter. "I'm not in the mood."

He sighs, standing up. "I have a fucking job, you know."

I turn to stare at him in disbelief. "You come in here smelling like a barroom and perfume and expect me to have sex with you? You're unbelievable."

"You know I'm completely surrounded by women in every house. What do you expect?"

"I expect you to return home and take me out on the date you promised me," I say. "I need you to make time for me. Even if it's one night only. I feel like we're drifting apart and I won't try if you don't put in any effort."

"You're being dramatic. We're fine."

Pushing the blankets aside, I stand up and head towards the. "You can fuck yourself because I'm definitely not doing it."

How does he not see an issue with his behavior? When I hear the front door click behind me, I realize that I'm only wearing a pale pink silk pajama top with matching shorts. I left in such a hurry that I didn't think about grabbing anything to wear over it. Walking down the hall, I decide to stop and find a robe in the wardrobe room before finding an empty room. About halfway there, I spot Dominic talking to a few women. When I glances in my direction, I wave politely before continuing forward in hopes of him staying there. But, of course, he abandons the women to join me. "What are you doing up so late? And why aren't you wearing clothes?"

I glare up at him. "This is better than nothing."

"Not necessarily," he states suggestively.

I chuckle. "For your information, I left the room because Owen returned home smelling like a bar and perfume and we had an argument. So after I find a robe, I'm going to find an empty bed."

He gently grabs my wrist, stopping me. "You can stay in my room."

I turn towards him and his eyes flicker uncontrollably down to my chest. Robe. Crossing my arms over my chest, I shake my head. "As irritated as I am with Owen, I don't want to make things worse by staying with you."

He nods. "That's true. Well, your old room is empty so help yourself."

I furrow my eyebrows. "What about Annie?"

He frowns. "Owen didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"She overdosed over a month ago," he says.

My jaw drops. Why wouldn't he tell me that? She was one of the few people I actually knew here. "Was there a funeral?"

He shakes his head. "They took her to the hospital and the sheriff tried tracking down any family but couldn't find anyone. We paid for her to be buried at a local cemetary."

That's horrible. No one mourned her death. My heart aches for her. She went through a lot before she passed away. I find myself wondering if this would have happened if I had told someone about the drugs. Maybe I could have saved her. "I wasn't even here to help here," I state quietly.

"Don't think too much into it. She was surrounded by familiar faces. You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved. She knew the risks that came along with taking drugs."

I shake my head. "Yeah, but I knew and I didn't tell anyone or try to help her. Maybe her fate would have been different if -"

He crushes me against him and I bury my face into his chest. "It isn't your fault. Lily was her best friend and tried to help her. She didn't want to be saved."

After a long moment, I pull away. "I guess I should get some sleep. We should go out again tomorrow."

"Sure. Just let me know when. I haven't been doing much lately," he says.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow," I say, beginning to walk away.

"Goodnight."

I glace over my shoulder to see him looking over my body. "Goodnight."

Heading into the wardrobe room, I spot a girl sitting at the vanity staring down at her phone. She looks to be in her early twenties and is very attractive. She has tan skin and dark curly hair. Her makeup is perfect, along with her perfectly manicured fingernails. She looks vaguely familiar but I can't put my finger on where I've seen her before. Perhaps at the other house when we were in the casino. She pays no attention to me so I go to the closet and grab a robe. After putting it on, I head to the hallway where the bedrooms are.

It's crazy to thinks it's been months since I first arrived here. Time had flew by and now I'm getting married.

When I reach my old room, it is eerily silent. Glancing at Annie's old bed, I get a pang in my chest. She was still so young. Crawling into bed, I decide to ask Dominic to take me to visit her grave tomorrow. It's the least I can do since I wasn't there before she passed away. Thinking back to my argument with Owen, a tear slips down my cheek. Annie would have comforted me. Why did her life have to end so soon?

**************************

Vote ★ Comment ★ Follow

{A/N: As mentioned in the story's description, the first 5 chapters are published on Wattpad as a preview. The story is 100% complete & published on Dreame (more info in my bio). HOWEVER, I fully publish them on Wattpad at random times throughout the year to give you all a chance to read my stories here. If you follow me & add the story to your library, you will get a notification when I republish them here. Thank you all for your support! 😊}