Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“Cil. Sit the fuck down and dust that bowl.” Cillian curses but does as Tiernan says.
And then finally, for the first time in what feels like an eternity, I’m pinned under Tiernan’s piercing green stare. “What do you want? We’re busy.”
The guy beside him laughs, making red flash before my eyes.
Ignoring Tiernan, I walk over, not stopping until I’m standing in front of the muscled jock who has no fucking clue who he’s messing with. “Get up.”
“Fuck off.” He chuckles again, looking away as if he doesn’t care to give me the time of day.
He doesn’t realize I’m grabbing the front of his shirt until it’s too late. I jerk him to his feet, and before he can make sense of what’s happening, I punch him in the face, my body too buzzed with adrenaline to feel any pain. He shoves me away, lip bleeding, but seconds later, I’m in his face again.
The girls gasp. Cillian scrambles to his feet, but Tiernan doesn’t move from his spot on the couch, just…watching.
I don’t hit the motherfucker again, but stand right in front of him, smelling blood mixed with pot and alcohol. He’s breathing heavily but staying still, apparently unsure what to do. “Now you can get out,” I tell him.
He takes a step back. He’s bigger than me, taller and broader, but he must sense the rage pouring off me. “Who the fuck are you? Tiernan—”
“You heard the man.” Tiernan shrugs, lights the weed, then puts the bong to his mouth.
“Fuck you.” The jock shoves past me, storming out of the room. I collapse beside Tiernan, leg pressed against his.
Tiernan nudges me, so I turn to look at him, can read what he wants, so I lean in, mouth open, so fucking close to his as he exhales smoke. I breathe it in, feel the burn in my lungs.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Cillian says.
The girl on the other side of Tiernan scoots away.
Still, he doesn’t talk to me as we all smoke. The bras come off the girls dancing together. They pull Cillian’s attention as one of the girls palms the other one’s breasts. The party within the party are all doing their own thing, when I feel Tiernan’s gaze on me.
“You’re being a dick,” I tell him.
“I’m always a dick.”
“Next time I’ll hit him more than once.”
“Am I supposed to care about him?” He shrugs. “It’s all a fucking game, Dean. Learn to play it. You throw the chess pieces across the room instead of strategically moving them. You’ll never win that way. Get some fucking control.” He moves gracefully yet powerfully to his feet, then walks out.
When I look over, Cillian is between the women, sucking on the tits of the one with dark braids in her hair. He gives me a smile around her nipple, one that says he thinks I’m an idiot, which he probably enjoys since I don’t think he likes me very much.
I shake my head and leave too. I don’t join the party, instead making my way to the stairs.
“You can’t go up there,” this guy I don’t recognize says.
“Yes. I can.” I shove past him, and he doesn’t try to stop me. It’s quieter up here, a light shining beneath Aislin’s closed door.
I knock, and a moment later she pulls it open an inch, peeking through. “Oh, hey.” She lets me in.
“You’re not partying?”
“No. I’m not ready for that after what happened at the bar. If I hadn’t been drinking…”
“It wasn’t your fault. It’s never your fault. You should be able to drink without asshole predators trying to take advantage of you.”
“I know. I’m just…so angry. I try to hide it, and I want my life back. Nothing even happened to me, but it could have.”
“Something happened to you. Your trust was betrayed.”
Her gaze softens, like my words are getting in. “Yeah, I…I guess you’re right. When this is over, I’ll feel better. We’ll deal with it and—”
I frown. “Deal with it how?”
Her mouth stretches into a small o, her pupils expanding as she realizes what she said. “Nothing. I just meant when I deal with my shit.”
“That’s not what you said. You—”
“Let it go, Dean.”
“No. You said—”
“Let it go.” Her voice is softer when she says, “Please,” and it tugs on something inside my chest that I didn’t even know was there. She’s upset enough, been through enough. I don’t want to be the one to hurt her. If there’s anyone in this house who truly gives a shit about me, it’s her.
“Fine. I’m going to bed.” I turn for the door, but her words stop me.
“Do you want to stay? I mean, not in a way that will make my brother rage against the world…or in a way that you wouldn’t like since you’re not into girls, but…”
But she doesn’t want to be alone. I can see that now. Aislin is so fucking strong, but like the rest of us, she puts on a brave face. We all have secrets. None of us are exactly who we say we are, exactly who those on the outside see.