“Of course, Babe,” she says, before walking out and closing the door behind her.
I smack my dry lips together, still tasting the remnants of last night. My head is already pounding, and I haven’t even opened my eyes yet. I roll over, and my arm hits something, or rather, someone. My eyes pop open, and while the room is darkened by curtains—curtains that are not my own—I immediately know that this is not my room and that is not my boyfriend. I take a deep breath through my nose, recognizing the scent immediately. Sandalwood and rustic charm mixed with the overpowering stench of liquor.
I move away, slowly, hoping to get up without waking him, when I notice what his arms are wrapped around. A girl—a very naked girl, who is curled up facing the door. Her blonde hair falling back on his face.
He wouldn’t!
I pull the blanket back, one that I am tucked under with him, while the girl lays there with no cover, aside from his arms. Axel doesn’t even like to cuddle. I peak under the blanket to see if he has any clothes on.
Sure enough, Axel is fully undressed. His pasty pale ass looks back at me. I drop the covers and attempt to squirm out from the other side, when he begins to rustle underneath them. I think that he’s going to turn around, hopefully, surprised to see me, because if he knew I was here this entire time, he’s more deranged than I thought. Instead, his arm begins moving and the nameless girl starts making some weird groaning noises.
“Good morning, Adara,” he says, without even looking at me.
I get out from under the blanket quickly and get to my knees to climb out of the bed, when he turns around to face me. It’s hard to make out his expression, but I immediately catch the smirk on his face.
I pull the curtains back in a swift motion, just to be sure I’m not mistaken, and watch as his bloodshot eyes adjust to the light. Sure enough, my eyes did not deceive me.
“You’re sick,” I spit out, before getting to my feet.
“She doesn’t think so. Do ya, Baby?” He mutters into the ear of the girl as she giggles. He takes her lobe between his teeth and growls like a tiger.
I don’t even know why I’m still watching this. He rolls her nipple between his thumb and index finger, making me cringe, as she rolls to her back, as if I’m not even here. His eyes are locked on mine as he traces his fingers down and her legs come up, exposing herself to me. “Do you want breakfast? In bed perhaps?” A devious smirk grows on his face as he looks me dead in the eye. He stretches his arm down and begins flicking the girls clit like he’s knocking off the ash on a cigarette. Her toes curl in the sheet on the bed when she lets out a high pitched moan.
I’m going to be sick.
I turn for the door and attempt to pull it open, but it’s locked. Twisting the lock, I turn it again and storm out as fast as I can, slamming the door shut behind me.
Both hands fly to my face as my body is still in shock with what I just witnessed—what he forced me to watch. I can’t imagine what those two did in that bed while I was lying there sleeping. I’m disgusted just thinking about it.
With my back pressed against the wall, the bedroom door suddenly flies open, startling me and snapping me out of the nightmare in my mind.
Axel steps out in a pair of black boxer briefs, pulling the door shut behind him. At least he had the decency to put some underwear on.
“I was just leaving,” I scoff, rolling my eyes away from him and walking down the hall, so I can get the heck out of this house.
His footsteps coming down the hall tell me that he isn’t done with his daily dose of torture.
“Adara,” he says in a hushed voice, “wait a minute.”
Completely ignoring him, I keep walking, until I reach the living room where cups and random pieces of trash are thrown about: to-go containers, beer cans, paper plates. This place is a disaster, and it reeks of alcohol. I shouldn’t judge because my breath probably smells similarly. Surprisingly, it’s empty of people; I figured there would be some stragglers sleeping on the couch and the floor.
Just when I reach for the door, his hand grabs my wrist, and he forcefully turns my whole body around with a twist of his hand. My heartrate excels rapidly, my mouth agape, as I try to take in deep breaths. His eyes lock on mine. The white of them filled with red streaks, the center still dark like his soul. He lifts my hand over my head, pinning me against the closed door, his body pressing against mine. “What do you want from me?” I manage to say through my labored breathing.
“Not a damn thing.” His free hand presses hard against my chest, and I look down and see that he’s holding my phone and keys.
I grab onto them, as he pulls away, almost dropping them to the floor.
Then he’s gone.
My back is glued to the door. My mind tells me to move—to leave, but my body doesn’t allow it. I close my eyes and catch my breath for a moment, then I’m gone, too.
5
Axel
I tap the pen on the desk, continuously, as I think long and hard about the lineup Blaze has in place for the first fight of the season, which is next Friday. He’s been running this club for a couple years now, but I’m stepping in as his main fighter, and I’m not impressed with his schedule.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Knox walk in. “He’s going in too strong.” I say, shaking my head with my eyes still on the paper.
He doesn’t respond; instead, he knocks me upside the head with the back of his hand. “What the fuck!” I throw the pen down and spin my desk chair around.
“Yeah! What the fuck is right! What were you thinking pulling some shit like that with Harper?”
“No idea what you’re talking about.” I say with a smugness.
“Fucking some chick in your bed while she was passed out.”
I sweep my hand in the air. “She was asleep. She should actually be thanking me for not throwing her drunk ass out of my bed.” I spin back around and refocus on the fight schedule.
“How would you like it if she screwed her boyfriend while you were passed out next to her? Wouldn’t like it so much, would ya?” His voice is stern and forthright.
I shrug my shoulders. “Wouldn’t care.”
I brush the thoughts away quickly because, if I dwell on that possibility, I’ll do more than care, I’ll probably kill her boyfriend and frame her for murder. The idea alone makes it feel like millions of black spiders are crawling beneath the surface of my skin.
“You need to apologize to her.”
I jerk my head up quickly, my neck locked and jaw clenched. “Get the hell out of here,” I deadpan. Knox might be my best friend, but I have no problem repositioning his place in my life if he really thinks that I should apologize to that girl.
“I’m planning a bonfire at the beach tomorrow. She will be there and so will you. You can apologize then.”
“First of all, no one said I was going to your stupid party. Second of all, even if I do go, the only apology I’ll be giving is to my dick because he’ll be covered in sand while I fuck a random chick on said beach.”
“This is pointless,” he scoffs, turning around and walking out my bedroom door, leaving it wide open.