With a squeal, he pulls his hand back, the lustful gaze he had been giving me seconds ago becomes murderous. “You fucking bitch,” he snarls.
“Yeah, I’m a bitch, and when I tell you to leave me alone, maybe listen and actually Leave. Me. Alone.” I enunciate each word incase his small brain can’t comprehend it.
His gaze narrows and his lips pull into a grim smile. I can feel his gaze on me, and it makes my skin crawl.
“You’ll open your mouth for Warren, but you won’t for me? You know he doesn’t mind sharing his girls.”
“I’m not Warren’s girl, so you can kindly fuck off.” I interrupt, completely dismissing him. All I want to do is find Valerie and escape this fucking hell hole.
He nods, his eyes alone promise a world of pain, though he doesn’t take another step toward me, “Okay, I’ll be sure to let everyone know who you are…and that when they need a blow job, you’re the girl to come to.”
“Say whatever you want. I don’t care. Just leave me alone.” I slip past him and all but run down the hall, refusing to look back and see if he’s following me. When I reach the living room, I pull my cell out of my pocket and prepare to dial Valerie’s number. My finger hovers over the green call key, but I survey the room one last time and spot her across the living room, sitting on some guy’s lap.
Jesus. I can’t do this right now. Walking over to her on wobbly legs, I stop dead in my tracks when I find Warren standing there. Smug and confident, he doesn’t look like he just got a blow job in the bathroom, he looks like a god. He brings the cup in his hands to his full lips and takes a sip. Everything inside me says to walk away, to leave without talking to Valerie, but I can’t. I came with her, so I owe it to her to let her know I’m leaving. Holding my chin high, I take another step, and then another. From this spot, he can oversee the entire room. Almost like he’s on his throne merely waiting to lash out at someone who steps out of line.
“Val,” I call out to her. She’s locked lips with some frat boy, probably one of Warren’s friends. Knowing she probably won’t hear from the distance I’m at, I walk right over to her and grab her by the arm, tugging her backward. The kiss breaks, and she whirls around, shrugging out of my hold.
“What the hell—”
“Let’s go. I want to leave.” I don’t dare look over at Warren. I can feel his hot gaze on me though, moving over my flesh. Heat blooms in my cheeks, and I try and ignore the feelings forming in my gut. Ignore him. I tell myself.
Valerie stares at me for a second before shaking her head, “No. I’m not leaving. I’m having fun, and you should be too.”
“Fun?” I snort. “Getting herpes from a frat boy at a party is what you call fun?”
“Whatever, Harper,” she rolls her eyes, “Go back to your apartment and cry some more about how alone you are. I’m sure all your friends will care… wait, you don’t have any.” That’s a low blow but not surprising. Valerie is known for saying mean stuff when she drinks, and even meaner stuff when she’s around her friends.
Sighing, I clench my jaw to stop myself from lashing out at her. Of course, this entire conversation has to happen within ten feet of my biggest bully.
“Yes, Harper, why don’t you run along…” Warren’s voice grates on my last nerve. Concentrating on my breathing, I force air in my lungs.
“I’m leaving, Val,” I tell her, but all she does is roll her eyes and go back to kissing the guy who has his arms wrapped around her like an octopus.
“Nobody cares,” one of the guys standing beside Warren yells as I turn and walk away. When I reach the door and walk outside, I feel a little better. Like I can breathe and think properly.
Wrapping my arms around myself, I walk in the direction of my apartment complex. It’s only a couple of blocks away, but it might as well be a thousand miles after everything I’ve dealt with tonight. Each step I take away from the house, the softer the music gets, and the clearer my thoughts on what happened become.
Holy shit, I gave Warren a blow job. I guess before it hadn’t really hit me, but it has now, like a train running into me head-on.
What did I do? Why did I do it, and why the hell did I like it? I search my brain for an answer but find nothing. When it came to Warren and me, we were best friends, but also much more than that. Before my life fell apart and we moved, I was sure that we would marry and live happily ever after. Oh, how wrong I was. Warren wasn’t prince charming. He wasn’t a knight. He had become what true nightmares were made of. My bully. My monster. My tormentor.