Breaking Down Sydney (Sydney West #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the potheads. I’d hunt them down and smoke a bowl with them if I knew they had the good stuff. College kids usually didn’t know how to test quality marijuana and ended up with extremely expensive but crappy marijuana.
    There was a tall, tattoo-covered guy standing in the doorway of the bathroom. I peeked around him to find a blonde girl on her knees in front of the toilet. Just my luck, the first bathroom I find and someone had to be sick in it. I was about to go when the guy turned around.
    He looked down at me from his almost seven foot height. His long dark hair and brown eyes reminded me of someone. If only I could place him with all the faces I’ve seen over the years, parties, and one-night stands.
    As I tried to place him, I could tell he was doing the same thing with me. Then it hit me like a bullet fired from a gun. He was Andrew, a summer boy from last year. I caught him making out with a dancer from some hot pop star’s concert. Usually I forgot a face, but he pissed me off by ripping my favorite pair of panties and then shoving his tongue down the first girl’s throat he saw after screwing me.
    “Sydney? Sydney from Malibu?” He squinted at me, looking shocked. Fuck, he figured out who I was too.
    “Gotta go,” I said over my shoulder and ran back down the hall. There was no way in hell I was going to linger around to catch up with the likes of him. I’d rather hold my hand in fire.
    I made my way outside. With the fresh air in my lungs, I lit a cigarette. As the nicotine kicked in, I simmered down. After two cigarettes, I felt well enough to face the party again.
    Bodies were pressed together, forming a human maze. I searched for Amelia to see if she was okay. I couldn’t see with all the chaos going on around me. A couple of guys were fighting, and the sound of broken glass echoed across the house. If I didn’t know any better, it sounded like a window had been shattered.
    My nicotine high faded away fast. I got a shot of whiskey to keep me on track. As I downed another shot, I heard the music change. The tempo swelled and the lyrics poured all around me, hauntingly beautiful.
     
    You’re the reason I breathe. Watching you with him is like being shot in the heart. If only I…
     
    It was a song that was meant to mend a friendship. Brad Penn’s voice made my skin crawl. His touch lingered on my waist, neck, lips as I heard the words. I bumped into the rock star at a club during the summer. He used me probably out of boredom, even though he was entangled with Lacey Moore, one of the hottest female rock stars of this generation.
    In a way, it was incredible to be able to say you had sex with a rock star, but who’d believe you? I had no proof, and even if I did, they’d be nasty pictures to treasure. Brad wasn’t the man I wanted inside my head. I blocked out the lyrics as I went for the exit once again.
    Outside I decided to text Amelia and mentally kicked myself for not doing it sooner. She replied that she was having fun and one of her friends would bring her home. With her out from under my wing, I was free to do as I pleased.
    With Brad’s song far away, Jason came into mind. He saved me from sleeping with random men. There was something about him…maybe how he wouldn’t let me release him. I was thankful he was a fighter. God knew I needed someone to save me from myself. I wished more than anything that he was in Arizona with me.
    Memories weren’t the best thing for me. They were my enemy, mostly. I hit the local liquor store to buy a bottle of Jack Daniels. If I couldn’t have my Jason, I could at least spend the night with Jack. He always knew where it hurt.
     
    ***
     
    At two in the morning, I woke to giggling and someone stumbling into a desk. Amelia turned on the light and cursed to herself.
    “Excuse me, some of us are sleeping,” I said, irritated.
    “S—sorry, I think I had one too many.” She burst into more giggles.
    I sighed and rolled over, trying to block out the