I watched as Henley walked away from me before I turned and stalked off in the opposite direction, unsteady on my feet with rage and alcohol fueling me. Who the hell did she think she was?
Stumbling down the sidewalk, I slipped back inside of Dive Bar.
"I thought you had to take that wet blanket home," Payton said with a laugh as I walked by her, ignoring her ignorant comment and making my way to the bar. Milo eyed me for a moment as he ran a damp rag over the top of the bar.
"Shot," I mumbled as I pulled a twenty from my back pocket and slapped it on the damp surface, causing the cash to stick.
"Don't you think you've had enough?" He asked eyebrow cocked.
"What? You worried about my wellbeing, grandpa?"
"I'm only twenty-five, you prick." He laughed, shaking his head as he looked to Payton and back to me. "I don't know why someone like Henley hangs out with you."
"Me either," I replied with a groan, turning around to watch Payton bend over the pool table to take a shot. Her eyes had met mine before my gaze dipped to the fabric of her shirt that was hanging low, revealing the tattoo I'd done for her between her tits.
"She's got a nice ass. Here," Milo called from behind me as he sat a bottle of Jack down with a shot glass. "Last one, then you need to go crawl back into that hole you came out of." He turned back to the lemons he had been cutting into wedges behind him.
"That's not a nice way to talk about my mum," I snorted at my own joke as I grabbed the bottle and tipped it to my lips, not bothering with the glass. The liquor burned its way down to my stomach as it sloshed and churned with all of the beer I'd drank.
"Wanna play with me?" Payton asked from across the room as her friends said their goodbyes to her.
Shoving from my stool, I sauntered across the empty room, leaning in close to her. "Nope." I drank down what was left in the bottle before I tossed it in a bin beside the door, and it landed in the empty bag with a thud because Henley had just replaced it before her shift ended. Henley. She thinks I'm not good enough for her. She's probably right.
"Milo," I called behind me, and he glanced up from the prep work he was doing for tomorrow. "Want me to take the rubbish out?" He looked at me quizzically before I laughed, turning my attention to Payton. "Let's go."
"You're such an asshole," she muttered but laid her stick on the table and followed me out the front door of the building into the muggy night air.
"And you still owe me money."
She rolled her eyes as she slipped off her heels, carrying them in her hand as she walked across the asphalt on her toes.
"Noah left you," She said with a laugh. "How you going to get home?"
"Home is across the pond."
Her eyes had cut to me before I flung my arm over her shoulders, pulling her closer and using her to keep myself steady.
"You're wasted. Give me your cell. I'll see if Beef will come get your sorry ass. You can't stay with me and have whiskey dick."
Pulling my mobile from my pocket, I slapped it in the palm of her hand. "Bollocks. Just because you don't turn me on doesn't mean I have whiskey dick," I shot back. "What are you doing?"
Payton held up the phone with the camera on as she puckered her lips. "Snapping a pic of us so tomorrow when you forget how you got home there is proof I did something nice for you. Maybe you will stop being such an asshole."
"A girl can dream, I guess," I slurred with a laugh before stumbling.
"Sit." Her feet stopped moving, and she ducked out from under my arm. I stumbled over to the curb of the sidewalk that ran along the car park and sank down, hanging my head as the world around me kept spinning.
"He says he is on his way." Her fingers continued to tap rapidly against the screen as I groaned.
"Brilliant. Are you going to wait with me?" I looked up at her blurry image. She sighed, shaking her head.
"You look really pathetic right now." She sank down next to me on the curb, shoes in hand as she laid her head on my shoulder and we waited for Beef to show up. "Who is this?"
I glanced down at the phone, closing an eye to help the image come into focus. "That's Amelia." I smiled as I looked over her face framed by wild blue hair that was always changing color.
"Hmm."
"What?" I asked as I took the phone from her hand and shoved it into the pocket of my jeans.
Payton shrugged. "She's really pretty." When I glanced over at her, her sullen face only inches from mine. It was the first time Payton had ever shown a sliver of insecurity.
"She is," I agreed. "She's also my sister." I let out a small chuckle.
"Oh," she laughed quietly, shaking her head. "Well, don't ever bring her to visit. Beef won't be able to keep his hands off her." She rolled her eyes.
"You still have feelings for him," It wasn't a question, and I knew that he felt the same way. But both of them were so volatile together, like gasoline and open flames, there was no way they wouldn't destroy each other.
"Doesn't matter. I don't think we could ever come back from all of the things we put each other through. I mean, I slept with his friend." Her eyes locked onto mine for a moment. "Sorry, I made things so horrible between the two of you."
"Maybe you should tell him that."
"He won't even talk to me."
"Have you even tried?"
Beef pulled up to the curb wearing only boxer briefs, yelling at us to hurry up and get in the car.
"You could have taken the time to put on trousers, mate," I joked as I put my hand on the small of Payton's back, guiding her into the back seat.
"Some of us actually sleep at night."
"You're a good friend," I muttered, patting him on the shoulder as he took off quickly, causing me to fall back against the seat with a moan.
"Better than you deserve," he snapped.
"I'm going to be sick."
"You puke in my car I'm going to have to rub your face in it like they do to dogs."
"Oh, God. Shut up." My stomach rolled, and Beef's lack of driving skills wasn't helping.
"I got him," Payton called up to Beef as she grabbed an old empty shoe box that was half shoved under the seat and held it up to my face. "If you need to be sick use this."
I nodded, unable to talk.
"Here," Beef tossed back a water bottle and Payton caught it.
"Drink this," She whispered in my ear as she unscrewed the cap. I sat upright, draining the contents in a matter of seconds.
"Cheers," I exhaled as we pulled to a stop. Beef rushed to the back door, looping my arm around his neck.
"I'll help him up the stairs," he said to Payton who followed close behind us. "Why don't you go back to whatever gutter you crawled out of."
She scoffed but continued to follow us.
"I can walk."
"Shut up," Beef replied as he practically dragged me through the front door and back the hall. He dropped me on my bed before turning to Payton. "I suppose you're staying?"
I didn't hear a response, but I assumed she nodded because once the door closed, I listened to the floorboards creak as she made her way to the side of the bed.
Tugging off my trainers, she tossed them to the floor. "Rollover."
I pushed to my feet, swaying to the side as her hands gripped my hips.
"I got it." I unbuttoned my trousers and yanked down the zipper. Pressing her hand against my chest, she shoved me backward, and I fell onto my comforter.
"You're not actually helpful," she giggled as she grabbed my trousers and began to yank them off. "Shirt," she commanded, her tone more clipped now than it was when we sat in the car park.
"This night went all to pot," I mumbled. I gripped the fabric and yanked it up over my head causing one of the seams to rip. I closed my eyes as the bed dipped beside me.
My mouth was dry, and my tongue felt like it was stuck to the roof of my mouth. Visions of drunkenly kissing Henley replayed in my mind. The night became foggy after that moment, but I knew I had fucked up. At least she came back.
I rolled to my side and wrapped my arms around the warm body next to me and pulled her against me.
"Company," Beef bellowed as he banged his massive fist against my door, causing it to rattle against the hinges.
"Bugger off," I mumbled as my eyes slowly peeled open and focused on the blonde hair in front of my face. Blonde. What the bloody hell? I sat up, rubbing my palm across my face as I looked down at Payton who was curled up under my blanket next to me.
"You decent?" Henley's voice called from the hall. Looking up at my ceiling I mumbled a curse as I threw off my covers, thankful that I was still wearing my boxer briefs.
"I'll be right out," I called back as Payton stirred beside me, groaning but not waking up.
I pushed from the bed as quietly as I could before grabbing my jeans and yanking them on, not bothering to button them. Wracking my brain, I struggled to remember how in the hell I went from kissing Henley to sleeping next to the biggest skank on campus.
Swallowing hard I pulled open the door, relieved when Henley wasn't still standing on the other side. I slipped out into the hall and closed the door quietly behind me as I made my way to the living room.
"Can we talk... alone?" She asked, ringing her hands together, her eyes darting to Beef who was sitting on the couch eating a bowl of cereal with a broad smile, apparently amused by my predicament.
Rubbing my hand across the back of my head, I looked to Beef, pleading with him to help me. He rolled his eyes before standing up and walking off toward his room. "You kids behave," he called out as he disappeared and I cringed at how loud his voice was. The last thing I wanted was for him to wake Payton but after coming home wasted with his ex, I couldn't blame him if he did.
Henley sank down on the edge of the couch, and my eyes darted to a pair of cream colored heels on the floor behind her.
"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting down in front of her.
"About last night -"
"I'm sorry," I blurted out. "I was drunk and being an arsehole. To tell you the truth most of it is really blurry."
"Oh." She blinked at me a few times before nodding her head slowly. I knew she wanted to know if I remembered her kiss and I couldn't think of what would be worse, remembering and having it be awkward because my advances were unwarranted, or forgetting and pretending none of it ever happened.
"Was there something else?" I asked as I heard the floor boards back the hall creak and groan before the bathroom door slammed shut and water began to run, whining in the pipes before it abruptly halted. Henley seemed oblivious, and I was thankful that she was so wrapped up in what was going on in her own head to pay attention.
"No," she said with a smile, pushing to her feet. I stood too, craning my neck to the side to crack it. "So... everything is okay between us? Still friends?"
"Of course." I forced a smile feeling like the biggest shitbag on the planet. This girl obviously struggled with trust issues.
"I should get to class." She began walking toward the door, and I sighed with relief, looking up to the ceiling and mouthing a quick thanks to God for looking out for me. "Oh, I almost forgot. I left Gigi's clothes here the other night. She is going to go insane if I don't have them and I don't want to explain why they are here, you know," she laughed as she turned, walking back the hall.
"Henley," I called after her as I watched her slip into my room. After a second she came back out with clothing in hand. I watched her walk back toward me, her expression unreadable.
"I'll see you later?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll be around. You work tonight?" I asked.
"Yeah. Same hours. Text me or whatever if you want to hang out. Who knows how busy we will be and I probably won't have time to talk or anything but -"
"You're rambling."
"I just... I'm running late. I was supposed to meet Gigi..." She cleared her throat when she realized she was still talking.
"So... later?"
"Yeah, of course," she smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.
I pulled open the front door and waited for her to walk through before I closed it, twisting the lock and leaning back against the frame.
The bathroom door opened and out walked Payton wearing my white sheet, holding it loosely over her chest.
"I feel like death," she moaned.
"You look like death."
"Charming, as always." She rolled her eyes.
"We didn't -"
"Are you kidding? You were practically comatose. I'm not into necrophilia."
"Fuck." I scrubbed my hands over my face. "You gotta go." I hurried past her toward my room.
"I'm not walking. I'm too hungover."
"Just get dressed." I pushed open my door and there on the floor was Payton's slutty clothing that she had worn out to the bar the night before. The bar Henley worked at. There was no possible way she didn't see them, and she had to know who they belonged to. "Shit," I yelled, grabbing my desk chair and shoving it over.
"Jesus, I'm going. Calm down," Payton snapped, walking around me and plucking her apparel from the floor. "This is what I get for being nice to you," she mumbled.
I walked back the hall and into the living room where Beef was standing, a bowl of cereal in hand and eyebrows raised, waiting to hear how things played out.
"I didn't mean to bring her here."
"You didn't. I brought you both here because you were too fucked up to walk last night."
"I didn't sleep with her," I reassured him.
He shook his head as he dropped his spoon into his empty bowl. "You mean again?"
"You know that wasn't my fault. I had no idea -"
He groaned, walking into the kitchen to drop his dishes in the sink. "I know, man. Doesn't make it hurt any less."
I nodded, hating myself for creating more tension between us.
"How did it go with Henley?" He asked.
"I cocked up."
"What's new?"
I sighed as I sank down on the arm of the couch, my thudding head in my hands. "I regret it."
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