Page 15 of Tears and Other Fears

“Samuel stopped by last night and said he wanted an extension to pay his debt. I didn’t really like that, and I think it’s time we team up. This is a partnership that could have a lot of benefits, don’t you think?” he asked, insinuation in his tone. I could think of a fewbenefitsI’d like to cash in on.

Yeah. I think I could benefit from having his massive cock pounding me into oblivion. Maybe I could have that cocky tongue lapping me up, too. I shivered at the thought.

I looked up just in time to see Young leaning against the doorframe. He had his hand under his shirt and was scratching his abs, which were marked up with cuts from my fingernails. I watched in a trance before returning to my call. “Wanna be my date to Samuel’s graduation party? I’ve got an exclusive invitation and could use some arm candy.” Silence met me on the other end of the line, so I spoke again. “I do have a minimum three orgasm rule for all my dates though. You’ll finally have to put that smooth-talking tongue to use.”

“You’re saying you got an invite to his house? Yeah, I’m in. And I think that’s a fair trade. I get to come to the party; you get to come in my mouth.” Fair trade, indeed. I was definitely liking the sound of this. Maybe I could convince Young to pay up, too.

“Cool. Young is my date, too. You’ll have to play nice. No pissing contests, unless the contest involves who fucks me harder.” Visions of both of them filling me up had me drooling. I was a mess, a fucking mess.

He gave a dark chuckle on the other line before responding. “Young?”

“As in Nathaniel Youngblood.”

Renon laughed. “Sounds like fun.”

My eyes shot to Young’s. “Pick me up tomorrow at six. Bye.”

“You’re really taking him?” Young asked before walking over to me. He cupped my cheeks, forcing me to look him in the eye. I didn’t necessarily like what I saw there, but I didn’t let him know that it had affected me.

“And you. Is that going to be a problem?”

“I don’t have a good feeling about him,” he whispered.

“I don’t have a good feeling about a lot of things, and yet here we are. I have to deal with the fact that you’ll always care about a dead man more than me, so you can deal with the fact that I’ll always love revenge more than I love people. I’ll always choose myself first. I’ll always fight for myself. I’m a narcissist, I’m single-minded. I’m not good, Young.” His face slipped as I broke off every piece of my destruction and lay it on the table. “The sooner you realize that, the sooner this will be easier for both of us. I’m fun. I’ll keep you on your toes, but we both know I’m something temporary, in every fucking sense of the word.”

He let out a puff of air before crashing his lips to mine, drinking me up like I was a cup with a leak in it. My tongue danced along his as I sunk into the kiss. His lips were warm and comforting, but the passion in his sweeping movements had me on the edge of a cliff I had no business jumping off of. I knew I couldn’t love him back, but I couldn’t help myself. I was always being tempted by things I knew would hurt me.

“You’re also a liar, Octavia Wilson,” he whispered against my lips while holding me in place. “You couldn’t be temporary even if you tried.”

Chapter 9

Samuel’s househad so many windows, it looked like it was made of glass. I’m sure there was some symbolism hidden behind those transparent walls, but I was too busy navigating his toxic stare and pretentious attitude to really submerge myself in the poetry of it. Samuel was standing in an upstairs bedroom, looking down at us below. I debated on throwing rocks at his window, because I was more than okay with casting the first stone.

Renon had picked us up in his sexy car, and I made Young sit in the front seat beside him so that they could get used to the idea of being cordial. I wanted to know Young could mend fences without me, because pretty soon he’d have to tackle his issues alone.

The three of us stood on the lawn, observing the guests get out of their flashy cars and saunter inside. Samuel’s family had a great big house in the suburbs. It was about an hour out of the city, and I wondered if the brick had malevolence embedded in it.

Young bought me a lovely red dress that was long and had a slit up the thigh, making my fiery hair the center of attention. I wore it down in wild waves trailing the middle of my back. Young also gave me one of William’s old watches. I didn’t put it on. I took the battery out and set it in the microwave because the idea of staring at something that reminded me that life went on without William pissed me off.

“What’s the plan?” Renon asked while looking me up and down. His stare was a sultry dance that felt like pricks on my skin. He was wearing a tight suit that looked like it belonged on the body of a rockstar. His neck tattoos peeked over the collar of his suit jacket, and his shoes were scuffed.

“I plan on enjoying the party with Octavia,” Young replied coolly before wrapping his arm around my waist. I didn’t necessarily appreciate the subtle marking of territory. In fact, I would’ve preferred that he unzipped his pants and took a piss on my heels; at least that would’ve shown that he was acting like a dog. Or maybe a wolf.

Unlike Renon, Young wore one of his perfect suits that were perfectly pressed and perfectly molded to his fucking perfect body. Perfect.

I uncoiled myself from Young’s hold and strutted towards Renon to fix his tie. As I adjusted it, I made sure to pull the material tightly around his neck. He didn’t even wince. “I plan on stealing some shit to pay for the drugs he owes me and kiss your girl. Idoowe her three orgasms,” Renon replied cheekily. “And if I’m lucky, scare the shit out of Samuel.”

I rewarded Renon with a kiss on the lips, just to test the boundaries of Young’s restraint, and naturally, Renon took it a step further. He cupped my breast over my dress and bit my bottom lip so hard I wasn’t sure if it was red lipstick on his mouth or my blood. So he was a boob guy? Nice.

I broke the kiss first and whirled around to take in Young’s anger. I expected to see his teeth clenched and brow furrowed with resentment, but instead, he was smiling at me. He’d figured out my game. Or maybe he was trying to hurt me by acting unaffected. Either way, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

“And what’s your plan, Octavia?” he asked.

I rolled my neck before starting over to him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I lifted up on my tiptoes to sear a kiss upon his lips. At first, he didn’t respond. But then I moaned into his mouth, and he greedily took everything I gave him. We put on quite the show in the Smiths’ front lawn, making out and groping one another until a whistle made us stop.

“My plan is to cause a little chaos and piss Samuel off,” I said in a breathy tone before pulling away. “And hopefully find you the evidence you need. You still think he’s your best friend despite how fucking obvious it is. I mean Renon is here as confirmation, Young.”

“I don’t trust Renon,” Young replied plainly. “And don’t you think any evidence Samuel has would be at our penthouse?” Young asked.

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