inside.
“Seriously, what the fuck?”
“That.” He squared my shoulders in front of the mirror. And then
I remembered.
“I got my eyebrow pierced.” I told his reflection in the mirror.
Apparently, I will do just about anything to impress a girl. That was a
whole new side of myself I wasn’t aware of. Not a pleasant realization.
“And you had no idea.” He was absolutely gleeful.
• 33 •
AShley BArtlett
I leaned in close to the scarred mirror to inspect my eye. The
piercing was red and a little crusty. Gross.
“I’m never drinking again.”
“Of course not, sweetness.” Austin patted my back reassuringly,
then steered me out of the bathroom and back to our table. Reese was
still sitting there snickering.
“You guys ready to go?” I allowed my frustration with myself to
bleed into my tone. They nodded. “Where’s my car?”
“The street.” Reese nodded in the general direction, which made
her hair flutter provocatively around her face. We definitely needed to
leave.
❖
Bed was good. That was my only thought as I fell into mine. I
didn’t take off my jeans or shower. I just crashed. My wonderful sleep
was interrupted throughout the morning by my phone vibrating. The
noise became increasingly insistent until I shut it off. My mom was
downstairs making the normal morning kitchen noises. There were
voices too. I blocked it all out in favor of sleep. I needed to get my own
apartment.
I was asleep again when my door flung open, and before I could
open my eyes, a body landed on me, followed by one, two more. Ryan,
Carson, and Derek, the bastards. It was Saturday morning. How could
I forget? My mother liked to make breakfast, and she liked to make
enough to feed a small army. So every Saturday morning, about twenty
of our closest friends descended on the blue house on the corner.
“I hate all of you,” I told them without opening my eyes. “And
your mothers, and your future children, and the mothers of your future
children. And I hope they all die painful deaths.” They responded to my
tirade by bouncing up and down on me like six-year-olds.
“Come on, Cooper.” Derek.
“Yeah, Coop.” Ryan.
“Miss Vivian Cooper.” Carson. I hated my name.
“None of you guys will live to see twenty-two.” I curled up in a
ball. “And don’t call me that.”
“The way I see it is this,” Ryan put it down for me. “Your mother
is making breakfast. You need to wake up and shower.”
• 34 •
Dirty Sex
“Definitely shower,” confirmed Derek.
“So you can do all of that on your own,” Ryan went on.
“Or we can help you out,” Carson finished.
“If you guys don’t get the hell out, I will kill you.” I opened one
eye. “Slowly.”
“Sounds like she needs help.” I wasn’t sure how Ryan drew that
conclusion.
“Don’t even think—” But they were already going. The three
of them wrapped me in my sheet, despite my kicking and yelling and
empty threats, and carried me into the bathroom. Unceremoniously, I
was dropped into the tub. It didn’t feel good.
“Get her shoes off, Derek,” Ryan directed. I didn’t even know I
was still wearing my shoes. Derek yanked them off my feet and tossed
them over his shoulder while Carson and Ryan held me down. I began
screaming creative obscenities at them. They turned on the cold water
full blast and ran out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind them.
By the time I freed myself from the cold, wet sheet, it was pointless to
chase them.
I made future plans to make their lives hell as I turned the water
to hot and stripped off my soaked clothes. I’d start with stealing Ryan’s
stash and his little pot plant called “Peggy Sue.” For a moment, I
considered letting Derek’s dog out of his backyard. No, that was too
mean. The dog wasn’t that smart. It would be better to take Austin’s
gay porn and poorly hide it in Derek’s room where the housekeeper
could find it. Yeah, that sounded