I had to work tonight and was dreading getting ready. The thought of leaving Ezra on his own terrified me. I offered to let him stay at the apartment while I was at work, but he said he should get a few things from his place if he was going to stay with me longer. I knew it made sense, but in the back of my mind, I kept wondering if he would be leaving to try to get his next fix. We had such a breakthrough today with our relationship. He had finally started to open up to me. I hated the fact that my mind immediately went to the dark places. I wanted to trust him, but the hurt girl inside of me kept doubting him.
Ezra watched me from the bed as I wiggled into my uniform. I was a little hippy for the short shorts, but he was getting a kick out of watching me dance to pull them up. I leaned into the mirror, drew a light line on my eyes and applied a sheer lip gloss. I rubbed the gloss between my lips and looked at his eyes as they stared hungrily back at me in the mirror. I puckered my lips and sent him a kiss.
"Are you sure you have to go to work?" Ezra whined and laid back on the bed. I turned around and raised one eyebrow at him.
"I need the money."
"Fine, but I don't have to be happy about it." He pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.
He looked like a little boy who just got told he couldn't go outside and play with his friends. He was so adorable when he didn't get his way. I laughed as I thought about saying no to him more often just to see this face again.
I walked over to the bed and leaned down and kissed my spoiled boy. His hands were pulling me down on top of him the second my lips met his.
"Ezra." I warned. "I'm going to be late for work."
"Don't care." He whispered, kissing my neck.
I pushed at him playfully to stand back up. He groaned and pulled at his hair when he saw I wasn't going to give in to him.
"You are such a tease." He accused playfully. "You're doing this on purpose."
"I have no idea what you are talking about." I said innocently.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Ezra looked down and I covered my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing at him.
"There's some lotion on the dresser." I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to hold back my smile. I mentally gave myself an at-a-girl for not stripping all his clothes off right then. I had developed a little bit of self-control.
"You could sit on it for me?" He suggested and licked his lips as he examined my tiny shorts. Self-control gone. We had to get out of this apartment before I hopped back in bed to join him.
"Enough already. Take me to work." I shook my head at him and waved to the door.
Ezra raised himself up reluctantly and scowled at me. "You know that you're going to pay for this later tonight, right?"
"I don't doubt it." I said, running my hands over his chest.
I picked up my phone and looked down before walking out the door. No missed text messages, no phone calls.
It felt strange not hearing from Brynn. I would have to find some way to track her down. Maybe I could call her mom and see if she had heard from her. All her stuff was here. She had to come back sometime. I missed my wild best friend and the way she would always try to lighten the room. I had extinguished that light; I had dimmed her until she faded into darkness.
"Don't worry. She'll be back." Ezra said, reading my mood.
"I really hope so." I whispered as we both began to walk out of the door.
A few minutes later, Ezra was pulling into the bar's parking lot to drop me off near the employee entrance. I leaned over and kissed him before jumping out of the car.
"Behave tonight." He shouted after rolling down my window.
"You know I will." I blew him a kiss back. I skipped up to the employee entrance where Rachel and Jules were sharing a quick cigarette before the crowds started pouring in.
"Hey guys," I chirped. My tone was far too cheery.
"Hey, Riley." Rachel beamed back at me. "Looks like you're in a good mood."
"Maybe just a little." I smiled.
My body was buzzing and I couldn't keep myself from bouncing around. Ezra had decided he was not going to keep his hands to himself in the car. I was feeling pretty good from the instant stress relief he just gave me. The things that boy could do with his long fingers surprised me every time.
"Save some of that energy for work." Jules said. "Rough crowd tonight."
"I can handle it." I winked at him before I turned to walk in the door.
Jules was not lying.
The male to female ratio in the bar tonight was totally out of balance. It was like there was a sign on the door that said, "Boy's Club: No girls allowed". Nights like these were rough as a female server. Tips were usually pretty good with the men competing for the attention of the only females in the bar. It had its drawbacks like "accidental" groping. The worst by far were the guys who were convinced they could get you to come home with them by using cheesy one-liners. They would spout things like, "Come on, baby, don't be shy." and "I think you would look better on top of me."
When the last customer left the bar, my feet were sore and sweat was pouring down my face. Jules offered me a drink and I actually took him up on it since I knew I wouldn't be driving tonight. I gulped down a powerful screwdriver as I watched Rachel dance with the broom that she was using to sweep the floor. She had a couple of drinks herself and was out of her mind. Jules kept looking up at her, laughing as she swayed and sang to the broom. I looked over at him, watching her and started laughing myself.
He had the look.
Jules was infatuated with her.
"You should ask her out." I whispered to him. I put my lips to my third drink. It was hitting me a little harder than I planned, but I was having a blast. He made them a lot stronger than he would have if we were normal customers. Since I didn't drink that often anymore, I was already feeling the tingles.
"Nah, I'm her boss. It would be too weird." He said, finishing up the dishes in the sink. He looked back over to her and smiled.
"Seriously, I know for a fact she's single." I said, gulping down the last of my drink. He continued to shake his head no.
The door opened and I grinned when I saw Ezra standing in the door frame. He looked nervous but returned the smile when he saw me leaning against the bar. He jogged over to me and jumped over Rachel's dance partner, who was now resting peacefully on the floor.
Even the broom couldn't keep up with Rachel.
"Hey, beautiful." He greeted me by wrapping his arm around my body.
"Ezra, this is my boss Jules. That brunette vixen over there is Rachel. They are my best friends." I slurred a bit when I introduced him and he raised an eyebrow at me.
Jules chuckled at me.
I was a little bit more gone than I realized.
"You have a drink or two tonight?" Ezra turned and asked. His eyes narrowed as he studied my face. He didn't look very pleased with me at all.
"It's ok." My mouth mushed out the words. I ran my fingers over his lips and pulled at the ring. "I was a very good girl for you." I winked at him and busted out laughing. I nearly peed my pants at my own joke.
"Hey man, we're about done here." Jules said to Ezra like I wasn't even in the room. "You should probably get her home. We can finish up."
Ezra nodded in Jules' direction silently. He looked like he was trying to reign his temper in. He held onto my arm and started to help stand me up from the barstool. I landed wrong when I stepped down and felt a sharp pain in my ankle when it rolled.
"Ouchy." I paused, rubbing my ankle. I looked up at Ezra and stuck my bottom lip out at him.
"Really, Riley?" He shook his head, frustrated with me.
"It hurts." I whimpered. "Maybe one more drink will make it feel better."
"You are done drinking tonight." A small twinge of anger flared in his eyes and he tried to cover it up just as fast.
"Well, I can't walk! I'm broken! It's like a noodle, all wiggly and stuff." I dramatically pointed to my sore ankle and caught myself on the bar when the room began spinning around me.
"I guess I will have to carry you home then." He rolled his eyes. He picked me up and swung me over his shoulder, effortlessly.
"She's crocked. Good luck man, it looks like you're in for a long night." Jules called from behind the bar.
"I am not!" I defended myself as I dangled over Ezra's shoulder.
Ezra raised his hand with a small wave and turned to leave.
I was hanging over his shoulder, bouncing up and down, when he began walking towards the exit. I reached down and smacked his butt as he walked.
"Fuck, Riley." Ezra jumped, surprised at the contact.
"That was fun." I giggled, talking directly to his back. "No wonder you like to spank me."
Rachel was rolling on the floor in laughter as Ezra pulled the door open. I was still waving at Rachel and Jules when we got outside to the cool night air. Ezra continued to carry me to the parking lot without saying another word. His shoulders were tight and his body was rigid. He was mad at me again.
He lowered me slowly when we got to the car and leaned me up against the door. I had to shift my weight. My ankle was throbbing and sore. I was going to feel it tomorrow.
"You're fucking sloppy tonight." He accused, leaning all his weight into me. His jawline tensed when he looked down at me.
"Please don't be mad at me, baby." I put my fingertips to his hard jawline and traced it. I moved my thumb over his lip ring. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
"You make me nervous when you drink like that and I'm not there. You get too friendly when you're drunk. I don't want someone to try to get the wrong idea and think you will let them fuck you."
"Rachel doesn't like me like that, silly. She's in love with the broom." I cracked up at myself. Ezra looked really confused. I lost him somewhere along the way. I thought it was funny.
"You are trashed. Time to get you home." He said, opening the door. I bumped my head on top of the car door and whined as I rubbed it.
"I hurt my head. Will you kiss it and make it better?" I frowned.
Ezra bent down and kissed the top of my head and then placed his hand on top of my head. He guided it me down low enough so I wouldn't hit it again.
The ride home was much less fun than the ride into work. I fell asleep in the car almost immediately as Ezra tapped his fingers to the beat of a song on the steering wheel.
I woke up to Ezra standing with the passenger door open, shaking me awake to let me know we were home. He placed his hand on my knee and leaned over to kiss me. The pressure of his lips sent shockwaves through me. I pulled at him to bring him closer. He parted my lips with his tongue gently and found my tongue ring.
I think it was his new obsession.
"Let's get inside. Do you think you can walk?" His eager eyes were full of excitement. He must have forgotten he was mad at me while I was napping.
I nodded and held out my hand for him to help me out.
Ezra pulled me out of the car and wrapped himself around me, which made it difficult for me to walk up the stairs to the apartment. My ankle was still a little sore, but I was able to put a little more pressure on it.
After I fumbled for ten minutes trying to find the key to my apartment, Ezra grabbed them out of my hands to unlock the door. I still had a buzz and wasn't able to get my hands to do what I wanted them to.
When the door opened, I noticed right away that my living room had been overtaken by things that weren't mine.
Ezra had already come back to the apartment before picking me up to drop off his bag. From the look of the fullness of it, he was planning on staying for a while. He brought one of his guitars too, which excited me more than anything else. It had been a long time since I had been able to watch him play. I was hoping he would give me a special stripped-down acoustic concert in the bedroom—preferably completely naked.
We went inside and I headed straight to the couch to lay down. The room was spinning a bit and I needed some rest after my busy night before I could even think about doing anything naughty with the dark-haired boy.
Ezra placed my keys on the counter and came into the living room. He grabbed the blanket on the arm of the couch and smiled down at me as he gently tucked me in.
"I love you." I yawned and closed my eyes, falling down into a deep sleep.