Riley strutted her bouncing, perky ass right by me without even a second glance in my direction.  She reached through the void between Brynn and me into the cabinet behind our heads.  I stepped away to give her room to pull it open so she didn't bash me with the door. There was no telling what she heard when she walked in. Besides the silence, she wasn't giving me anything to go on. 

I couldn't get a good read on her this morning, which made me nervous.

I was fucked. 

Raising up on her tippy-toes, Riley snatched a solid lavender mug off the second shelf. I didn't fail to notice that the mugs were all pastel and lined up in by color in a neat row. No silly little designs or cute catchphrases were ever going to be on any mugs in her kitchen.

So perfectly Riley. 

My beautiful neurotic little tease.

Everything in her world was in its place and she had a place for everything.  I was on pins and needles, waiting for her to let me know where mine was in her life.   I felt like one of those outcast mugs with that said something stupid like "Slut for Coffee" or "My kitty has claws".  I didn't really belong anywhere. Always hiding on the top shelf, trying to earn my way in. I wanted to be the only mug she ever needed. Riley could throw the rest away in the garbage.  I would be the one she could depend on for the rest of her life.  

I just needed to go through the dishwasher first. Then we could have our happily ever after. 

Brynn lifted the corner of her mouth and winked at me as Riley silently filled the cup with the piping-hot liquid.  The energetic blond danced and fidgeted between us, buzzing with electricity.  Riley spun around and pressed her sweet ass to the counter, leaning back against it like she didn't have one care in the world. 

Pushing her pouty pink lips together the same way she did last night, she gently blew on the steam rising from her overfilled cup. The motion wasn't meant to be seductive by any means, but my dick didn't understand and decided it was jealous of the attention she was giving the liquid energy she was about to drink.

Riley must have been a fucking snake charmer in a past life. My cock was already submitting to her will.

After drinking her first jolt of caffeine, Riley's eyes darted back and forth between Brynn and me. Her posture stiffened as she studied both of our expressions.

"What?" Riley questioned both of us.

"Nothing." Brynn's cheeks were still slightly flushed from our heated battle. I knew I probably didn't look much better.

There was a lot in the exchange with Brynn that I didn't want Riley to hear or find out.  Our relationship was too shaky for Riley to put her faith in me.  Brynn hid the side of herself that she showed me from Riley.  Riley was too naive to believe the person she was best friends with would stab her in the back.  She would never think I didn't do something to encourage Brynn's repeated attempts to fuck me. 

Time was what I needed and something I didn't feel like I had enough of.  The damage control I would need to do with my girl would take months, if not years.  Based on Brynn's escalation this morning, I wasn't sure how much longer I had before she blew it all to hell. But, as soon as Riley trusted me again, I would tell her about Brynn and the things she was doing.  Trust was the critical factor because if she didn't have enough of it, Riley would run. I would be shut out for good this time around.

I prayed Brynn would slip up and give Riley another reason to cut ties with her before then that didn't include me.  It would be easier to deal with my overly-emotional girl if I wasn't the person she was upset with. 

"You're acting like I just caught you two talking about me or something," Riley called us out with a trickle of humor escaping her tone.

Based on her casually cool reaction, Riley didn't overhear the worst of her skanky friend's words.  My guilt had me playing down the situation for my girl before Brynn could interfere any more than she already had. 

"We would never do that," I answered.

I offered Riley a devilish smile, testing the waters as I took a sip from my own coffee mug.  The black liquid was bitter and burnt the shit out of my tongue.  It tasted like human excrement after the morning I had.  Nothing was going to make today salvageable or any easier from this point on. 

Except for that cheeky, flirtatious little grin Riley was trying to keep locked down as she eyed me. An honest, genuine fucking smile.  I didn't even know she still knew how to smile after all the shit she had been through because of me.  It looked good on her—like really fucking good. A smile like that could make me forget my own troubles.

I was love drunk.  The girl knew how to pull out the dopey little boy inside me. That kid had little hearts in his eyes and an obsessive need to rub his head against her like a stray cat offered its first ounce of affection.  One little sip of Riley and nothing else around me existed.

Until the she-devil bitch interrupted the high again.

"So, Riley, do you have any plans today?" Brynn questioned, trying to regain control of the conversation.  I shot her a warning glare, daring her to step one toe out of line. 

"I've got to go to my parent's house. JD and Anna are coming over." Riley paused, side-eyeing me before continuing. "Ezra, do you want me to take you back to your place?"

Nope.

There was not a chance in hell I was going to leave Riley after last night.  Not even the nonstop sex missiles Brynn launched at me would keep me away. I could handle Brynn. She was just like every other attention-seeking girl I had ever encountered, throwing it all out there to see who would bite.

"Or, you could stay here another night if you want?" Riley suggested.

Good girl.

"You wouldn't mind if I stayed? My roommate is nice enough, but he keeps a lot of stuff at the house.  I won't be able to stay clean if I go back home. I need another day to clear my head before I go back." I laid the charm on thick since her offer played into my plans perfectly. I had absolutely no intentions of going anywhere she wasn't.

"Brynn, do you care if Ezra hangs out here while I'm gone tonight?" Riley asked, seeking unneeded permission.  It was Riley's apartment. She paid half the bills.  My girl could do whatever she wanted. Brynn would just have to suck it up and go with it. She was already a fucking Hoover vacuum anyway. It wasn't anything she wasn't used to.

"As long as he promises not to punch any more walls for fun." Brynn sent me another conspiratorial wink that made me gag on my own vomit.

"I promise," I grumbled back and took a drink of the nasty shit in my cup to wash it back down. 

Riley continued talking to Brynn like I wasn't even there.  I was perfectly alright with tuning them out, only paying enough attention to make sure Brynn wasn't saying anything that would upset the unsteady balance between Riley and me.  She seemed to stay away from that line during the rest of the conversation, which was a blessing in disguise.  My hands were starting to shake so violently that I couldn't even hide the tremors any longer.  The withdrawal symptoms were escalating quickly.  

When Brynn finally exited the room on a mission to secure me some clothes, Riley focused all her attention back on me.  Her brows drew down and the worry lines crept over her face. I felt like shit and she knew it.  I avoided her gaze for as long as I could, only turning back to her when she glanced away.

Brynn returned a few minutes later, offering up a pile of clothes one of her fuck buddies left behind. Needing a minute, I quickly snatched them and headed toward the bathroom to freshen up.  I nearly collapsed the second I shut the door behind me. All the coffee in my stomach was in the toilet bowl—chunks of my spleen and liver were probably floating around somewhere in there too. I was dizzy and close to passing out. I washed my mouth out with Riley's minty toothpaste and fought to hold back another round as the overpowering flavor hit my tongue.

There was no way it could get any worse than this.

My fairy-bitchmother struck again. The clothes Brynn brought me didn't fit well and showed off more than I felt like sharing.  The shirt was too tight and didn't give me much room to breathe. It also didn't help that I had to go commando so Riley could wash my boxers.  The outline of my dick was so prominent under the thin blue shorts that I could even see my ring without having to strain. 

Brynn picked these out on purpose as payback.  She was fucking dead as soon as Riley left to go see her parents.

Riley startled me when she met me in the hall as I stepped back out of the bathroom.  I didn't even get a chance to put my game face back on.  The wear and tear on my body was finally starting to catch up with me. My hands wouldn't stop spasming.  I bet I couldn't even clench them together right now and make them move to play a simple G chord on my guitar. 

Riley sensed the change in me and stared at my hands with concern. Without me having to say it out loud, she knew how much my hands functioning incorrectly was bothering me.  I wasn't anything other than a useless asshole without them.  

"Are you going to be ok while I'm gone?" She whispered sweetly.

"Just a side effect from the withdrawal. The headaches and nausea will be worse." I informed her.  "I'm probably going to go lay down while you're gone if you don't mind. It's going to be a really long night."

"Not at all. You can sleep in my bed again." Riley offered a split second before her face went blank.  Her cheeks flushed all the way up to the tops of her ears. Riley was turned on by something she was imagining in her head.

Dirty, dirty girl.

"Riley, hello? Did I say something wrong?" I jabbed at her.

"Huh?" She jumped out of her stupor with a goofy little grin sneaking out.

"Where'd you go?"

"What do you mean?" My girl must not have realized she zoned out on me.

"I said I was going to take you up on the offer and you were staring off in space." Dreaming about fucking me stupid, my brain added silently. "Are you sure you're ok with me staying here another night?"

"Please sleep with me...." She blurted out.

I chuckled and began my lazy trek down her body with my eyes.  Her perfectly round tits—the salacious way her hips curved out from her waist. It all screamed she was made to be ridden hard until she broke—even the big green eyes pleaded with me to use her in every way I could dream up.

Gorgeous and all mine. 

"...in my bed."  Riley turned purple when she realized what she had said. Her head was spinning as she tried to think of a way to backtrack. 

It was so fucking cute.

Even if she didn't realize she meant it that way, her nipples did.  They saluted me from underneath her shirt. I had to scold myself like a dog when my hands started doing their own thing, raising up to pinch and pull the tight little things. 

"I meant please stay another night until you feel better." Riley fumbled around her words.

"I fucking love it when you beg."  I leaned down to whisper against that spot below her ear just to make sure her panties would be soaked all night. Riley would rush through dinner to get back home to me.  It was cruel to manipulate her, but I never liked to play fair when it came to her.

I walked away with a satisfied smirk, knowing Riley was still quivering behind me. 

I should be sending her off in a daze from a decent dicking-down. If I were at full strength, I would have already filled her up with my cum without letting my conscience get involved. She would sit at the dinner table with my marks on her neck while JD and her mom prattled on about the weather or some bullshit. She wouldn't be able to move her leg without me leaking out all over her thighs. They would all take one look at her and know she was still mine.  No one else would ever question what she meant to me. 

My possessive urges were precisely why it was a horrible idea to take her until my head cleared a little. Right now wasn't the best time to play. I wasn't sure how my body would react mixing in detoxing and mind-blowing sex. It couldn't be a good thing if I already wanted fuck her raw and make the same mistakes that got us here in the first place—if I could even do it at all with the way my body felt.  

What if I couldn't even get it up long enough to make her scream for me when she got home tonight?

My dick twitched at the challenge.  He didn't seem to think there would be much of a problem trying.