002

Camille

Before my last professor for the day was at the door, my books were already packed in my bag and I was on my feet, ready to go. When I made it out of class without someone calling me back, I heaved a sigh of relief.

I had successfully escaped an awkward situation. Carla, my only other friend in this class wasn’t in school that day so I didn’t want to give anyone else the chance to talk to me after what had happened a few days earlier.

From school, I went to the book store where I worked and greeted Miss Winston who was the owner and my boss. I had been working there since my first year in college and it was the best decision I had ever made. I only had to work for five hours everyday after school, and all I had to do was sit by the counter to receive payment from the very few people who ever patronized the old store.

Miss Winston was nice, the pay was worth it, and the quiet solitude of the store gave me enough time to do my schoolwork and read whatever books I wanted in peace. It also helped that I clocked out at eight in the evening, so that on days like this when Lucia, my roommate was on ward duty at night at the hospital, I didn’t have to stay alone at home all evening.

“It’s well past eight,” Miss Winston said, springing out of the blue and I jerked in shock, falling off the chair. “Aren’t you leaving?”

I turned the novel I was reading upside down so that she wouldn’t see the embarrassing title and quickly climbed back into the chair. I cringed inside when I noticed her slight smile that showed me she had seen the erotica novel before I unsuccessfully hid it. I didn’t know why I was so embarrassed. She had seen me read worse books, and most of them were books she sold at the store anyway.

“I am. I must have forgotten to check the time,” I said and started to gather my things together to leave.

“Yes, you were distracted by that hunk,” she said and I blushed when I realized she was talking about the perfectly chiseled shirtless man on the cover of the book I had been reading, which I had somehow managed to place on the table, thinking I had turned it upside down.

Shit.

“He’s hot though,” she said with a wink. “Close up dear. See you tomorrow.”

I heaved a sigh of relief after she left and started to lock up like she asked me to.

On the way back to my apartment, I thought about calling Lucia, but decided against it. I didn’t want to distract her if she was busy. It was going to be really boring at home and it was still two more days before her brother would show up.

I scoffed to myself. Judging from what she had told me about her brother, I doubted he would bring any form of entertainment into my life, not that I was looking forward to that. If anything, he was probably just going to be depressed throughout the month and Lucy would try to force me to cheer him up in some way.

As I climbed the long stairs up to my apartment, I rolled my eyes when I heard loud music blasting out of one of the rooms upstairs. I smiled to myself. It had been so long since I ever went to a party and in a weird way, I missed it., even though my last party experience had ended with someone drugging my drink. Fortunately, I was saved by an angel from heaven, who ended up cheating on me just two months after we started dating.

This was why I no longer liked parties. The unpleasant memories they brought.

I furrowed my brows in confusion when I got to my door and saw neon lights shining through the creaks.

The party was in my apartment?

My confusion turned into fear. Did someone break into our house? But then who would break into someone’s house just to throw a party?

Had Lucia quit her training to throw a party? That was impossible. Lucia, although she was the ‘black sheep’ of her perfect family, was too good to throw parties. But there was no other explanation.

Should I call the cops?

I rang the doorbell over and over, and the door eventually opened on the third ring.

A tall man with a beer in his hand held the door open for me and smiled when he saw me.

“How did you know we need more girls?” He asked excitedly and pulled me inside the house. “Make yourself at home. Hey, Reggie, girl!” He said the last part to some other guy while pointing at me.

“What is going on here? Who are you guys?” I asked, but he obviously couldn’t hear me over the loud music.

My heart pounded when he locked the door shut. Who the hell was he and what did he mean when he said he needed more girls?

“Hey pretty, there’s space for one more,” someone said over the music and I turned, my eyes widening in surprise.

There were several guys all over our living room, all drunk. Some were dancing and some were doing shots. The few girls in the room were busy with the guys, either kissing or dancing or dry humping. One of them looked like she was completely naked so I averted my eyes and stepped away.

I felt a hand on my butt and jumped back, glancing up at the very muscular guy with tattoos all over his body, who wrapped his hand around my waist and leaned in for a kiss. I pushed him off and ran into the kitchen.

“Fucking tease,” I heard him curse when I ran off.

My heart was pounding as I clutched my phone in my hand and wondered what to do. The front door was locked and even if I called someone, they probably wouldn’t even hear me over the deafening music.

“Hey,” I heard a deep voice say from the kitchen counter in front of me.

The light in the kitchen was dim, but I could make out shadows when I squinted.

The perfect figure in front of me almost made me forget everything else as it became clearer. It was a guy obviously. His sparkling eyes drew me in and the way his lips rose up in a smirk made me bite my lips.

He was shirtless, just like every other guy I had passed by in the living room, but just staring at his chiseled abs made my legs go weak. The male models on my favorite erotica novel covers were nothing compared to him.

“You’re beautiful,” he said in the sexiest British accent I had ever heard and I blushed. This was not the first time I had been called beautiful, but hearing it from someone that looked like him made my mouth go dry.

“Come,” he said, and I swallowed as my legs started to move toward him on their own accord.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, when I got closer because I didn’t know what else to say. I had no idea what was going on in my house or what this guy was doing shirtless in my dark kitchen, yet I was so eager for him to like me.

“Having fun,” he said with a smile. “Would you like to join? You don’t look familiar. Have you ever snorted coke before?”

His voice was so alluring. I had never found the British accent so hot until now. Even though he was drunk and his words slurred a bit, he still managed to make everything that came out of his lips sound sexy.

Wait. Did he just say something about snorting coke? As in coca*ne?

I froze. Wasn’t that illegal? And this gorgeous guy was casually asking me if I wanted to do it. How did he even get here in the first place? That was a reality check for me. I stepped back.

“Who are you?” I asked more firmly this time.

His eyes were dilated, like he wasn’t even hearing me and his lips were slightly parted.

“F*ck,” he let out a sound from his throat and held onto the edges of the counter he was leaning on. I heard slurping noises but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from or why he was acting the way he was acting.

Before I could ask what was going on, someone switched on the kitchen light and I gasped when I saw everything clearly.

“What the f*ck Reggie!” A girl who I hadn’t noticed before yelled, standing up from where she had been kneeling in front of the British guy. My mouth hung open when I realized what she had been doing. That slurpy sound now made sense.

“You’re needed outside,” Reggie, the guy who had turned on the light told the girl.

She ran after him and I was left alone with the guy I had been drooling over moments ago, whose very thick and erect d*ck I couldn’t take my eyes away from.