Page 57 of Bittersweet Revenge
I take a step down the hallway and toward the bathroom, hoping there’s something in there I can use to pick the lock, when I hear laughter coming from the media room. I recognize it immediately, making a riot ignite in my gut.
He can laugh with whoever the fuck is in there yet not say a word to me all night?
I shove open the door, and Tiernan doesn’t even bother looking up. There are about ten people with him, the large screen in front of the room not on. Cillian is there, of course. He’s always fucking there, this goddamned shadow who does anything Tiernan wants.
Two girls are dancing with each other, both in their bras, sensually moving together, their lips teasing, then touching, kissing, then pulling away. It’s dusty with smoke—two bongs being passed around—one girl and one guy on either side of Tiernan, both too fucking close for comfort. I recognize desire when I see it, and they both want him, are both hoping to have him.
“If it isn’t the fucking new kid,” Cillian says before putting one of the bongs to his mouth and inhaling. “Like an annoying fly that never goes away.”
“Eat shit,” I tell him. “Better than a fucking puppy following around at Tiernan’s heels.”
“Fuck you.” He shoves to his feet but only makes it two steps before Tiernan speaks.
“Cil. Sit the fuck down and dust that bowl.” Cillian curses but does as Tiernan says.
And then finally, for the first time in what feels like an eternity, I’m pinned under Tiernan’s piercing green stare. “What do you want? We’re busy.”
The guy beside him laughs, making red flash before my eyes.
Ignoring Tiernan, I walk over, not stopping until I’m standing in front of the muscled jock who has no fucking clue who he’s messing with. “Get up.”
“Fuck off.” He chuckles again, looking away as if he doesn’t care to give me the time of day.
He doesn’t realize I’m grabbing the front of his shirt until it’s too late. I jerk him to his feet, and before he can make sense of what’s happening, I punch him in the face, my body toobuzzed with adrenaline to feel any pain. He shoves me away, lip bleeding, but seconds later, I’m in his face again.
The girls gasp. Cillian scrambles to his feet, but Tiernan doesn’t move from his spot on the couch, just…watching.
I don’t hit the motherfucker again, but stand right in front of him, smelling blood mixed with pot and alcohol. He’s breathing heavily but staying still, apparently unsure what to do. “Now you can get out,” I tell him.
He takes a step back. He’s bigger than me, taller and broader, but he must sense the rage pouring off me. “Who the fuck are you? Tiernan—”
“You heard the man.” Tiernan shrugs, lights the weed, then puts the bong to his mouth.
“Fuck you.” The jock shoves past me, storming out of the room. I collapse beside Tiernan, leg pressed against his.
Tiernan nudges me, so I turn to look at him, can read what he wants, so I lean in, mouth open, so fucking close to his as he exhales smoke. I breathe it in, feel the burn in my lungs.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Cillian says.
The girl on the other side of Tiernan scoots away.
Still, he doesn’t talk to me as we all smoke. The bras come off the girls dancing together. They pull Cillian’s attention as one of the girls palms the other one’s breasts. The party within the party are all doing their own thing, when I feel Tiernan’s gaze on me.
“You’re being a dick,” I tell him.
“I’m always a dick.”
“Next time I’ll hit him more than once.”
“Am I supposed to care about him?” He shrugs. “It’s all a fucking game, Dean. Learn to play it. You throw the chess pieces across the room instead of strategically moving them. You’ll never win that way. Get some fucking control.” He moves gracefully yet powerfully to his feet, then walks out.
When I look over, Cillian is between the women, sucking on the tits of the one with dark braids in her hair. He gives me a smile around her nipple, one that says he thinks I’m an idiot, which he probably enjoys since I don’t think he likes me very much.
I shake my head and leave too. I don’t join the party, instead making my way to the stairs.
“You can’t go up there,” this guy I don’t recognize says.
“Yes. I can.” I shove past him, and he doesn’t try to stop me. It’s quieter up here, a light shining beneath Aislin’s closed door.
