I woke up what felt like three seconds after I closed my eyes. Naked on my bed with a splitting headache, I was on the wrong side of my high.  Still exhausted and somewhat disoriented, I tried looking at my clock to see what time it was, only to remember it was in pieces on the other side of the room. 

I groaned and rolled over, falling off the bed onto a pile of shattered rubble on the floor.  It felt like I had a wooden statue digging into my asshole.

"Fucking hell." I groaned and quickly rolled off the object before it took my virginity.

It turned out to be a leg from a wooden chair that was in the corner of my room—was being the keyword.

Now it was just splintered firewood. 

I chucked the broken piece of furniture across the room to remove any possibility of accidental penetration.  The room surrounding me was demolished by my catapult off the deep end. It didn't really matter where it the piece landed or if it broke something else on its way there.

There was no salvaging anything in here—I had made sure to tear everything apart and didn't regret it all. Even if it was triggered by a make-believe encounter between Riley and Aiden last night, the fact that I knew they were together the night of the accident made it feel too real.

It was hard to let go, but I knew I had to figure it out if I wanted to be with my girl. We both had things we had to atone for and it was going to start right now.

The first step was forgiving her for sleeping with Aiden so she could forgive me too.

My hand searched the floor blindly for my jeans, where my phone would still have been from last night.  I found them a couple of feet away and wiggled the upper half of my body closer to grab hold.  I missed a few times and swore at myself, but I was too weak to scoot closer. My arm started cramping up from being overstretched for too long, but I finally clasped the denim between my fingers and pulled them over. 

I dug in the pocket, pulled out the phone, and held it up.  The time flashed 8:53 PM on my lock screen. 

"Shit," I grumbled, realizing I spent the whole day high in my bed when I should have already been over at Riley's apartment, convincing the girl we were still meant to be. 

When the phone unlocked and lit up, I saw that I had missed two calls from my mom and three text messages. I ignored them for now, not wanting her to know how far I had slipped again.  She would load up Uncle Charlie in the car and drive out here to force me to come back home. 

I didn't want to spend another six months performing back-breaking labor while my know-it-all uncle stood over me to ensure I was doing everything the right way. I just needed a day or two to get my head on right and I would call her and ease her fears.

The time changed to 8:54 PM while I stared at it.

Fuck me. 

I sat up on the floor and wondered what Riley was doing right now.  Was she thinking about me too? Was she waiting for me to come over?

Riley usually worked most nights at that shit bar on the edge of town. My best guess was that Riley was already dancing around the place in those little shorts, getting herself into trouble like she always did.

Riley was a magnet for the worst kinds of people. 

My overwhelming need to protect her already made my decision for me. The bar was the first place I was going to look for her. If she wasn't there, I could still grab a drink and then head over to her apartment to finish the conversation we started last night. 

I grabbed a fresh pair of boxers from the drawer and jumped over the mess in my room to get to the closet.  Once there, I pulled out a pair of black jeans and a black shirt. I threw them both over my shoulder and out into the hall and towards the bathroom, still wearing nothing but a hangover. 

I showered, shaved, and brushed my teeth. I even took a few extra minutes to do some landscaping on my body just in case the night took a pleasant turn like I was hoping it would. My reflection in the mirror was much better than it deserved to be, except for my eyes. They were bloodshot and cloudy, and the bags under them were covered in shadows.

I didn't even look like me anymore. 

I finished getting dressed and tried to ignore the stranger I saw staring back at me, praying Riley would choose to do the same.

As I was about to walk out the door, I made a pit stop by Sean's pharm store and grabbed a small bottle of pills to take with me. He wouldn't notice their absence. If he did, I could always lie and say I found the door open last night during the party. I wasn't planning on using them tonight and would give them back in the morning.  I just wanted to have them in my pocket so I wouldn't spend all night obsessing over having nothing left of my own.

They were only a safety net to make me feel less breakable. 

About five minutes after ten o'clock, I spotted Riley's crappy car in the parking lot of the little bar. Unfortunately, the place was busier than usual, which didn't bode well for me and my grand plans. 

I wanted all of Riley's attention and it would be hard to keep it with the crowd.

When I stepped inside the bar, I was surprised at the size of the place.  It was a lot larger than it looked from the outside.  The bar was sunk back into a deeply recessed portion of the building that I had thought was abandoned from the outside. It was surprising to see it filled the whole building.  The space was run down and not much to look at, but it was at least clean and the floors weren't sticky with fuck knows what. 

I had a feeling the little blond bundle of energy had something to do with that.

As soon as I processed that thought, the tiny thing herself whizzed by me without even stopping to give me a second look. 

Riley ran back and forth in front of me for two whole minutes without acknowledging I was there. My girl was lost in her work, concentrating hard on the demanding crowd around her.   She sent dazzling smiles to the unruly customers when she was facing the tables and taking orders. But as soon as Riley turned away, the frazzled blond would huff and make these cute little faces that only disappeared when she got to the next one. 

After the last table in the row, Riley dashed back to the bar.  She was standing there, tapping her leg against the floor impatiently, while a guy probably in his early thirties, stood behind the bar making small talk. His hands were moving as fast as his mouth, filling up the tray she was using with shots.

Now was my chance if I was going to catch her while she wasn't moving. 

It took me a minute to get around the crowd and it made me appreciate how fast Riley was buzzing in and out, working her way through it.  This girl was a far cry away from the same girl I went to the Camo concert with. Back then, she could barely stand on her own in the line outside the building without falling over.

Riley always found a way to surprise me.  I had to admit that I found this determined, hardworking version of her incredibly sexy.

Just as I was about to finally reach her, the too-focused girl darted away from me again. 

"Damnit." I cursed under my breath and stared at her bouncing ass as she walked away from me. Her cheeks were sneaking out of the bottom of her tiny shorts as they rode up with each step.

Those shorts were going to be the death of me.

I took a deep breath, trying to control the urge to play her bodyguard and follow behind her so no one else could stare at her like I was.

"Need a drink?" The bartender questioned me with a suspicious voice, noticing I was still enthralled by Riley's delicious ass.

I shook my head and waved him off with my hand.  I could feel his eyes on the back of my head, keeping tabs on me as I kept my gaze on Riley. The only time the bartender glanced away from me was when the brunette Riley worked with strutted between us and gave him a wave. He smiled a lopsided grin at her and ogled her out of the corner of his eye as she walked away.

Riley ended up with her back facing me after she completed another lap around the room.  I stepped away from the bar and went to where she was standing.  I didn't expect the girl to spin around and take off with her tray in the exact spot I had stopped. 

The edge of the tray drilled my stomach and bounced off, sending it flying off her hand and down to the floor. 

The glass shattered all around my feet, catching the attention of everyone in the bar. They jeered and booed vigorously at my girl's clumsiness.  Her cheeks reddened and she dropped to her knees in front of me to start cleaning up the mess. 

I bit my lip ring, trying to use it to stop the laughter threatening to burst out.  I wanted this girl on her knees for me again, but I never expected it to be this easy.  Riley reached out and grabbed a piece of glass right between my legs and her face went from scarlet to purple when she realized it situated her in a very compromising position. 

Her eyes slowly went up the length of my body, stopping not-so-briefly on my dick before making their way up to my face. They opened wide and lit up brightly with desire, reminding me of every fantasy I had ever dreamt up about her.

"You are still such a dirty girl." I ran my thumb across her bottom lip, teasing her. I could see her squirming for me as the words went straight to the spot between her thighs.

If I weren't so insanely jealous, I would have ripped her clothes off and taken her right here in front of the whole crowd.

The damn girl always brought the animal out of me.

"Here, Riley!" The brunette threw something at us. 

With catlike reflexes, Riley broke the spell she was under and snatched what turned out to be a broom and dustpan out of the air. She stood up quickly and swept the ground, taking all her nervous energy out on the poor floor.

Riley didn't look up at me the entire time she was sweeping, but I couldn't stop staring at her. She began mouthing something to the annoying brunette in some weird ancient female sign language that I couldn't follow.  The only thing I took away from it was that Riley disagreed with whatever the brunette said.

The other girl must have given up because she went back across the bar to annoy someone else. 

"You shouldn't be here." Riley smacked the floor again with the bristles of the broom.

Riley obviously didn't remember our conversation when I walked her home.  She told me last night to ask her tomorrow. Today was tomorrow—well, it was today—but yesterday, today was tomorrow.

Fuck, my brain hurt as I confused myself.

No matter what day it was, Riley told me to ask her again if she wanted me back and I was going to make that happen tonight.

"It's a bar. I am allowed to go to a bar Riley." I joked with her. 

"Ezra, I am working. I don't have time for this tonight." She hissed quietly, like everyone around us was listening to our secret conversation.

"I can wait." I stood my ground and placed my arms over my chest.  I wasn't going to move from this spot until she was ready to talk to me.  I was borderline sober and she was completely clear.  There was no better time than now to talk things through.

Riley's eyes darted behind me to the bar and I saw her shake her head.  The bartender was probably trying to figure out if I was a problem or not. I wasn't right now, but he would have a massive problem on his hands if he did anything to attempt to interfere. 

Riley balled her fists and let out a sigh.

"You can stay. There is one condition." She caved, letting me have my way.

"Anything for you, beautiful." I smiled victoriously. 

"You have to let me do my job. I need the tips." She leaned in and whispered.

"Be a good girl for me and I'll give you a big tip." I teased and flipped my lip ring from side to side, while enjoying another look at her curves in the skimpy bar uniform.

The top of Riley's ears were tinged pink, which meant she was either extremely angry or horny.  She let out a little involuntary squeak and tensed up. Her thighs pressed together and she squeezed them, attempting to make the sensation disappear. 

Horny—definitely horny.

Tonight was going to be fun.