Page 9 of Zone Protection

When we round the corner, the house comes into view. Music is thumping, though not as loud as it usually is. A neighbor might have finally complained, or it’s not as wild. Yet.

“Okay, let’s do this. Not gonna lie—I’m hoping that girl I hooked up with last weekend isn’t here tonight,” he says. “She was blowing up my phone all week. I probably shouldn’t have answered the first text. So, if I see her here, I’m bolting, just so you know.” He looks over at me, eyes wide.

“All good. Let’s see what’s up. If it sucks, we can go home and get some food or something.” I have to admit, this is a big shift for me, but Emma blew my mind, and I can’t stop thinking about her.

The porch is empty for once as we walk up to the front door.

I open it, and because I am who I am, I yell out, “Ladies and gentlemen, I have arrived! Let the party begin!”

Pitz laughs as he walks by me toward the kitchen. A few girls try to catch my attention as I follow Pitz.

I don’t stop walking but look over at them. “Hello, ladies. How you doin’ tonight?”

“Hey, Archie! Come dance with us later,” one of the girls says.

She looks familiar, as in she’s always at our parties, but I don’t have a clue what her name is. I probably hooked up with her at some point.

“We’ll see. May just do that.” I wink, but I’m not feeling it.

Liam looks back at me with a smirk. “Not entertaining the ladies tonight?”

I flip him off.

We get into the kitchen and find Schuster and Smith standingaround the island with beers in their hands. Where there is typically a bunch of liquor on the countertop, it’s empty tonight.

“Sup, fellas?” I fist-bump them both. “Quiet night tonight, yeah?” I walk over to the fridge and grab myself and Pitz a beer.

“Bro, I got trucked today. I’m so sore; I can hardly move. There’s no way I’d be able to do cleanup and shit tomorrow. I could use a good rubdown from that blonde out there,” Smith says, pointing his finger at one of the girls we just walked by. “But I’m ready to kick all these people out and just play some video games and crash.”

“I feel that. I’m not planning to stay late myself.” I look around to see who else is here.

Am I looking for Emma? You bet.

“Arch, you’re pathetic, man.” Liam laughs and looks at our friends. “He’s looking for a chick he hooked up with, like, over a month ago. Got her first name, and that’s it. Hasn’t seen her since. Dude’s down bad for her.”

I glare at him. “Fuck you. I am not down bad for her. I just had a good time, is all.”

I know I’m downplaying it, but the last two years at Walker, I’ve never tied myself to a girl, let alone had more than one night with one. I’ve never misled any chick into thinking it would be anything more either. Like I said, I love women, and my mom would kick my ass if I ever disrespected one.

“Who was it?” Schuster asks.

“Her name was Emma,” Pitz answers for me.

Schuster punches him in the chest. “There’ve probably been at least a dozen Emmas who came through here in the past month alone.”

“What did she look like?” Smith asks.

I take a drink of my beer before I answer. “Long blonde hair. Green eyes. Complete baddie.”

I could say more, but like I said, I respect women, and they don’t need to know anything else. Like how she tasted like thesweetest honey. How she rode me like a rodeo queen. How tight her body was …

Fuck. I’m gonna get hard if I keep thinking about her.

“That narrows it down. Blonde, green eyes, Emma. Yep,” Schuster says sarcastically and nods.

“Fuck you, Travis,” I say with a laugh.

He has a point though. But this girl isn’t like any of the other Emmas who have come through here.

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