Right now, though, with him looking down at me with his eyes narrowed and his body tense as a metal post … yeah, even I knew when to shut it with Deck. He had thrown me over his shoulder and carried my ass out of bars numerous times and every time he did it, I felt the guilt wash over me.
“Listen, man, I didn’t know she was yours. I was—”
That got my attention. “His? You think I belong to him? Like a fucking hamster? Listen here, cheesecake.” Because he really was cheesecake, smooth with no hardness about him. Shit, he was even missing the best part … the crunchy granola. I started toward Lionel, my eyes blazing and my fists ready to smack him a good one. I was sick of men who were pissants. “I’m not a pet. I have—” I screeched as I felt my body fly into the air and land hard on my stomach over Deck’s shoulder.
“Shut it.”
I did because I had the wind knocked out of me and couldn’t breathe. Plus, I felt kind of sick as my stomach sloshed with the five shots I’d consumed. So, I was a little tipsy tonight, nothing wrong with that.
Shit, I was going to throw up and it wouldn’t be pretty all down Deck’s back. I cupped my hand over my mouth and swallowed several times.
“She’s mine. That means you touch her again and you’ll be in a body bag.” He abruptly turned on his heel, which did nothing for my uneasy stomach.
I caught a glimpse of Lionel, pale and cringing in the corner of the room. “Pussy,” I blurted then clamped my hand over my mouth again as Deck strode out of the room. Tonight was a total fail, and I was so going to hear about it.I WOKE UP to the familiar grey, sterile walls and the cold, smooth, black furniture, which was Deck’s bedroom. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and saw the bottle of water on the nightstand half-gone. He’d forced me to take two pills and drink water before he put me in bed and tucked the covers in around me. Whenever he thought I was too drunk, he brought me back to his place. That was, whenever he was around.
I grabbed the bottle, cracked it open and tossed the lid on the floor as I tilted the liquid back until the plastic bottle was sucked dry. No matter how much I was immune to the drinks, I still felt like shit in the morning after having tossed back a few.
I set the empty bottle on the nightstand and it fell over then rolled to the floor. A little mess would do Deck some good. Besides, he was probably gone by now, considering it had to be … I looked out the window and saw the sun beaming high in the sky … noon. I’d woken up in Deck’s bed—minus Deck, of course—enough times to know he was rarely around in the morning.
I shuffled to the bathroom, leaned my palms against the counter and looked at myself in the mirror. Makeup smudged, the dark black eyeliner in the corner of my eyes was exaggerated even more than usual with bright blue and gold now faded on my eyelids. A few sparkles were on my cheeks from the eye shadow. I tried to run my fingers through my blue streaked mass of hair, but they got caught in the mess and I groaned as I tried to disentangle them.
I didn’t recognize who stared back at me, and I really didn’t care. No expectations. That was the best way to live. I’d done it for so long now it was second nature.
I looked away and snagged Deck’s blue toothbrush hanging in the metal holder on the wall. I opened the drawer, piled a ton of toothpaste on the tip and stuck it in my mouth.
I wonder if he knew I used his toothbrush every time I stayed here. Ha … Deck knew everything. He was the sniper of knowing everything, except what was right in front of him—me. He didn’t know me. Although, it wasn’t his fault. I did everything I could to make certain he didn’t.
I spit into the sink then brushed some more, trying to get rid of the sandpaper feeling on my tongue and down my throat. I spit again, stuck my mouth under the running water and swooshed.
“What were you thinking?”
I spit my mouthful of water into the sink. “Jesus, Deck. Make some noise when you enter a room, would ya?”
I held up his toothbrush and smiled. His brows rose, but he said nothing. I put it back then turned off the taps.
“I asked you a question.”
I grabbed a facecloth from the metal basket on the counter. “Heard you, too. Just not feeling up to answering your sexy ass right now.” I turned on the water again, wet the cloth then looked in the mirror while I wiped away the makeup smudges under my eyes.