“So, what’s a fine man like yourself doing drowning in a bottle all alone tonight, huh?”
I shrugged. “Drinking to forget.” With a wink, I tipped the top of my bottle to her procured glass. “Shooting for beer goggles. You?”
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, biting down. “Gosh, you’re a cutie—” She paused, waiting for my name.
“Colton,” I offered, filling in the blank.
“It’s nice to meet you, Colton. I’m Coco.”
“My pleasure.” After another long pull from my beer, I realized she hadn’t answered the question. “What’s a beautiful woman with bazoombas like that doing all alone at the bar tonight?” Her face flushed with a shy smile. And I was worried about my game? I was killing it tonight.
“I’m on the prowl, honey.” Well, all right then.
“For?”
Coco took a sip from her cocktail. “Funnily enough...beer goggles.”
I was convinced that it was a stroke of fate that her tits showed up in my face when they did, delivering the antidote to my problem. Beer to numb the pain and breasts big enough to make you forget your name. Allie who? Okay, so obviously I hadn’t forgotten her, but I was having a good time, and that was something.
After a few more drinks and lots of chatter, Coco and I were becoming fast friends. I felt comfortable enough to ask the question that had been weighing heavily on my mind since her arrival. “Can I ask you a personal question, Coco?”
“Go for it.”
“Who gets credit for the tatas?” I asked, sizing them up with my hands in the air.
A loud laugh boomed from her chest. The deep, rich sound threw me for a moment. “One hundred percent credit goes to my surgeon.”
“Well, the next time you see him, you can tell him your new friend, Colton, approves of his work. And that’s a high compliment. I’m sort of a connoisseur of tits.”
The apples of her cheeks turned a deep crimson. “You wanna feel?”
Did I wanna—? Was this chick for real? “You sure?” I asked, stupefied.
“Sure, why not. Knock yourself out, cutie.”
It started out lightly with a little poke, and before I knew it, there was groping and boob shots, and we’d gained a small audience. It was the best night ever. Or, at least that I could remember because my memory was blessedly a blur. Beer goggles accomplished.
“For fuck’s sake,” I heard Blex growl as I was yanked from my stool by the back of my shirt and dragged out of the club.
“What the hell?” I shouted, fixing my shirt. “Why’d you do that?”
It took a minute for me to focus enough to realize that Blex and Finn were about to piss themselves laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“She’s a dude,” Blex said, enunciating each word as soon as his obscene laughter permitted it.
“Huh? Who’s a dude?”
“Your new buddy in there,” Finn supplied, guffawing on the side of me.
Nooo. “No way,” I challenged, deep in denial. So, her laugh was a little deep...that didn’t mean—
“She had an Adam’s apple and feet the size of a small country,” Finn mused.
Bile churned in my stomach, burning its way up the back of my throat. “Why’d you assholes let me play with man titties?” I shouted, on the verge of losing the buzz I’d worked so hard to achieve all over the parking lot.
Blex shrugged. “You were having a good time. I didn’t see any harm in it.” A shit-eating grin crept across his face. “Well, until you started getting frisky with the man’s jugs.” He spit out another laugh.
“Does licking another man’s nipple make you gay?” Finn asked, his face suddenly super serious. “Asking for a friend,” he added, holding his palms out before his composure cracked and the hysterics resumed.
I was never speaking to either of them again.
ALEXIS
I WAS IN A deep sleep when a sound I hadn’t heard in what felt like ages had me popping right up in bed. For half a second, I debated whether to read it or not. I’d been a wreck, barely functioning since Colton annihilated what was left of my heart. Hiding the reason for my depression from my parents had not been easy, but I was dead set on not allowing this mess to cause friction between our families. I’d be civil when we saw each other, but beyond that, I had to quit him. Cold turkey. That part had been easy thus far, because not once had he even tried to contact me. Until now.
My body went nuts, acting as if it were a live grenade cradled in my palm rather than my phone. As I swiped right, I held my breath, anticipating the explosion.
Colt: I licked a man’s nipple tonight bcuz of you. Thanks for ruining my life.
What the hell? I had no idea what that message was about. It was weird, even for Colt, but I stared at it for hours, imagining his fingers as they moved over the screen. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he was drunk. It was two in the morning on a Saturday. He was probably lying in bed, thinking of me, just like I was lying in bed thinking about him. Always thinking about him. I didn’t care that he was obviously pissed. My heart raced just knowing that he cared enough to send that message. It proved that he wasn’t indifferent where I was concerned, and that thrilled me to no end. I hoped I haunted his dreams, keeping him up at night. It’s the least he deserve for what he was doing to me.
I almost broke, typing out countless messages, and deleting them all, unsent, between the time I got his and my alarm going off at eight. It was time to get ready to go shopping with the moms, and I was running on little to no sleep.
After I was showered and dressed, I went downstairs, finding my father on the computer, messing with his stocks. “Hey, Daddy.”
His head popped up, a worried smile on his face. “Hey, princess. How’re you feeling?”
“Good,” I lied, rushing off to the kitchen to grab a granola bar before he could see my tired eyes. I hated making my parents worry, but I didn’t know how to pull myself out from the dark cloud I now existed within.
As soon as I sat to eat, my dad walked in. That same crooked smile aimed my way. “Mind if I join you?”
I shook my head, even though I’d have preferred to be left alone because pretending to be fine when you’re not is exhausting, and I was tired.
Dad pulled out the chair across from mine, staring silently over my head as I ate. He waited until I’d swallowed the last bite before speaking. This time there was no beating around the bush. “What did that boy do to you?”
His directness caught me off guard. “Wh—huh?” I stammered, looking around the room. “Who?”
Dad’s fist came down on the table, causing me to jump back in my seat. “Goddamnit, Alexis. I’m not stupid. You haven’t been the same since you got home from California. I haven’t heard you talking on the phone with him. Haven’t seen you messaging each other.”