Page 93 of Lyrical

Alex glared back to Tommy, but he just shrugged. “Chicks dig guys in glasses.”

“What the fuck does that mean? You’re not even wearing any.”

Tommy smacked around his face. “Huh. And here I thought I couldn’t see straight cuz I was so fucking plastered.”

“Just get your whores out of here, all right?”

“Hey, watch it, pal.” He stuck out his finger, then lost his balance forward into Alex. “Those whores happen to be friends of mine. Have a little respect.”

Alex stormed off, leaving Tommy to grasp hold of the couch. He leaned face-first over it and… shit, I was just about to push Daniel out of the way. I thought he was going to puke all over his head.

Instead, he gripped Daniel’s shoulders and shook. “You get it, don’t you, man? People were taking too long here. If they’re not going to the party, I hafta bring the party to them.” Tommy ruffled Daniel’s hair, then staggered off to the kitchen.

I didn’t see Stephen or Alex anywhere. The women were at the table with a handful of guys playing strip poker, already down to their underwear.

“I think I’m gonna get going,” Daniel said. “This may be your thing, but it’s not mine.”

What the hell?“What makes you think this is my thing?”

“I’m just saying the drinking thing, that’s all.”

No, that’s not what he was saying. At all. Fuck that. I didn’t want it pissing me off, but yeah, it fucking pissed me off.

I sat down, my head starting to pound. If I was going to marry Jillian someday—which I fucking was—Daniel would be my family too. It wouldn’t do any good to start it all by going off.

“Daniel, don’t you get by now how much I love your mother?”

“And none of these guys have someone they love? I doubt that.”

The funny thing was, he really didn’t sound judgmental at all. Just stating a fact. But I didn’t fucking appreciate him stating it about me.

“I don’t know most of these guys enough to say anything other than they’re frickin’ wasted out of their skulls and acting stupid as shit. And yeah, I also drank too much tonight. So did Stephen. But that’s pretty much where our stupid ends.”

“It’s really none of my business,” he said, and I wanted to beat my head against the wall. He stood up. “I’m just gonna run to the bathroom before I go.”

I blew out a deep breath, digging my fingers into my forehead. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for this shit. Couldn’t think clearly. Way too fucking jacked up. Didn’t know how any of my words came across and if he’d even listened to any of it.

“What’s up, bro?”

“Fuck off.”

“Hey, now. No reason to be like that. Just being friendly.” Jeff sat down and tried passing me his blunt. He shrugged when I ignored it, finishing it off. “Not partaking in any of the festivities tonight?”

If he wasn’t going to fucking leave, I would. I put my hands on the chair arms, started pushing myself up when I saw that smirk. Close enough to smell the mixture of whiskey and weed on his breath.

“Get the hell out of my face,” I said.

“There’s just something I gotta know. Been bugging the shit out of me all night. What possibly could a fine-ass good woman like Jillian ever want with someone like you? Shit, you’re just a kid. She needs a man to satisfy her. I think it’s high time for me to show her—”

That was as far as he got before I had his face slammed into the ground. It didn’t take much; he was a big guy, but further gone than I was. It felt good. I wanted to fight. It’d been boiling up in my veins all fucking night. I wanted my fist to teach him that if he ever came around Jillian or spoke any shit again, I’d….

Fuck, Daniel was watching us.

Jeff squeezed out a tiny smile, even though I could tell he was hurting. “Jillian doesn’t like fighting,” he said.

“Fuck you.” I jammed his head, not enough to knock him out, but enough to shut him up and increase the hurt. I was not going to tolerate his shit completely. I pushed Jeff aside and got up as Daniel was almost to the door.

“Hey, Daniel—”

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