Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 138526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
The music soon changes, and the lights go down and the fun people linger whereas the ones not looking to party like they’re teens again escape. We order takeout on Robert’s card and stuff our faces with pizza. We dance a little too, but I only partake in that when forced.
I’m acutely aware of Ezra watching me the entire night, especially now as I play a game of poker, badly, with my new friends around a coffee table. Robert is pressed against my side, his arm along the back of the couch.
“I’m getting tired,” Elizabeth says to her husband, rubbing his thigh and kissing his cheek.
I want to scream at him. I want to ramble at him in drunk language but instead I slap my cards on the table and shout, “Full house!”
“Fuck,” Joshua, my new friend, and Sally, my other new friend, both laugh as I scrape my few dollars towards my body.
“I am so going to put this towards sushi tomorrow. Best hangover food ever.”
Halley, the woman I met through Robert during my first visit to the city, begs, “Please let me come. I love sushi but nobody else does so I never get to eat it.”
We bump knuckles. Something drunk me now does.
“We’re going to head out,” Ezra says to Robert who is now whispering in my ear and playing with my hair. He’s only telling me what hand I’ve got because I’m too drunk to see the cards.
“Boring,” I say to the man leaving with my soul.
He looks torn between staying and leaving, but in the end, much to my fucking heartbreak, he will leave me again.
“It’s my fault,” Elizabeth defends, smiling up at the man who owns my soul. “Sorry. Maybe we can meet tomorrow after your sushi lunch?”
I’m about to tell her to go fuck herself as hard as I fucked her husband a month and a half ago, but Robert, likely sensing my drunken change, turns my face towards him and kisses me on the lips.
I’m surprised, of course I am, I wasn’t expecting it, but I go with it. Kissing him back like the drunken harlot that I am, welcoming his tongue in my mouth and moaning like we’re alone and not in a room full of people.
Halley cheers and hollers like a teenager and I laugh against Robert’s lips when Joshua and Sally both join in.
He tastes sweet, like soda and lime. I tingle where we connect but I’m too drunk to really feel it anywhere else.
When we part, Ezra and Elizabeth are gone and our little group cheer louder.
“You okay?” he asks softly, his voice a breath against my lips.
“I’m okay.”
We smile at each other, but really, I’m picturing Ezra’s face in my mind which is unfair of me. I just wish I’d seen his reaction. But then that would be another moment burned to my mind forever.
“You okay?” I ask him, my eyes hazy… or is his face blurry? Who knows?
He kisses me in response, sucking on my lower lip.
“Get a room,” Halley jokes as Sally and Joshua stand.
“Where are you going?” I ask, gazing at them after forcing my eyes away from Robert’s. A difficult task what with how intense they were and unfocused.
“It’s almost two,” Sally answers sadly, shrugging her shoulders.
“I’m in the guest room.” Halley stands, stretches, and yawns. “See you in the morning, bitches.”
As Robert sees out Sally and Joshua, Halley gets herself a glass of water and brings one to me too. I thank her and drink as much of it as possible while she slinks away into the guest bedroom.
That just leaves me, Rob, and a super untidy apartment.
“Fun night, huh?”
I stand, collecting discarded glasses between my hands, using every available palm and finger space. “Definitely. You throw great parties.” I move to the sink and place the glasses beside it, swaying a little on the way.
I’m about to reach for more discarded glasses that are further along the side when warm fingers brush my hair from my neck. The fingers are soft and slightly rough, I can almost pretend they’re Ezra’s.
“You were the life of the party tonight,” he whispers, reminding me that he’s Robert. I hate that I feel less of an impact from his touch after that realization. “And you shouldn’t be cleaning.”
“It’s driving me crazy,” I admit, turning to face him in the dark, open-plan kitchen.
“You’re driving me crazy.” He dips his head and claims my lips. I accept it, closing my eyes and melting into him, wishing I wasn’t so drunk so I could feel it more than I am.
I gasp when he lifts me onto the counter edge and nudges between my thighs, bringing my hips to the edge so he can press his hardness against me. With the amount of alcohol he has consumed, I’m surprised he’s hard at all.