As we walked out of Bannon's, I broke off and started to follow Mark and Aiden. I couldn't even force myself to look in Riley's direction or I would have never been able to walk away from her.

Space. I just need a little space. Maybe some time too. Time and space.

Riding in cramped quarters next to her wouldn't give me that. I was already stuck in a loop, replaying the way she shook as I touched her. I thought being with her would have ended my sick fascination, but it only did the opposite.

I only wanted more.

Mark started to open the passenger seat and I shot him a quick warning and nodded towards the backseat. He let go of the door handle and proceeded to climb in the back without putting up a fight. I opened the passenger side door and plopped down.

I closed my eyes and sat in silence as Aiden and Mark got in the car. They started gabbing on like teenage girls, giving a play-by-play of the concert. Mark kept smacking my shoulder and asking me random things about the music. I kept mindlessly nodding my head like I agreed. I didn't even have the slightest clue what they were talking about because my mind was still in the wrong place.

I was still back at the concert. I was stuck on her.

This nagging longing in my chest didn't make sense at all. What was it about her that made me feel this disoriented? I had been with a ton of girl's and none of them had ever left me starving like this. There were a hundred numbers in my phone right now I could call. Any of them would give me anything I wanted if I sent them a one-word text. My phone should be in my hand, setting up one or two of them to come over to help me forget.

Fuck me. I should just let her go and move on to the next one.

The problem was I didn't want to call anyone else tonight. None of them would do the trick for me. In fact, I didn't even remember the last girl I fucked because it had been so long. I had never gone without for more than a few days and it was all because of the game Riley was playing with me.

That must be it. I only wanted her this way because she was an actual challenge for me. She didn't just immediately give me what every other girl did.

We beat JD and the girl's back to the house. I was tempted to hop in my car and go for a drive to clear my head, but I decided to go clean myself up instead. It had been a long time since I had to deal with dried cum in my pants. It felt like someone had taken paper mâché and smeared it all over my cock. It was starting to itch and I think one of my balls was permanently glued to my leg.

I went upstairs to my room and grabbed a clean pair of shorts and boxers to change into. I decided I was just going to go to bed as soon as I was done showering. The rest of the crew would be living it up downstairs and I wasn't in the mood to join in.

I stood in front of the mirror and began peeling my shirt off over my head. I chucked it to the floor before turning my attention to my pants. My boxers were practically standing up on their own. Once I broke the rigid fabric loose from my skin, I pushed them down and kicked them off the side.

I caught my reflection in the mirror and turned to try to figure out what was wrong with me. I looked like the same person. The tattoos and piercings were all in the right places, but something in the way my eyes stared back at me was off. It was like the reflection flipped and I was on the other side, beating on the glass to break free.

"This is your fault." I looked down at my dick and reprimanded it.

It just fucking shrugged at me like it had no idea what I was talking about. The other brain down there had found a way to take control of my body every time Riley came within a few hundred feet of it.

The lower brain needed to be punished and reminded who was still in control.

I leaned in the shower and turned the cold water all the way up to high. I stepped in and sucked in a sharp breath as the freezing, hard droplets splattered against my skin. I turned around and let the water assault the front of my body until it hurt.

That should teach my dick a lesson.

It didn't work at all; I just thought about Riley even more. The memory of her warmth next to me took every other sensation away.

After fifteen minutes of standing there, I turned up the heat to skald my skin until it was bright red. I began alternating between hot and cold as I scrubbed my body clean. My body was in a constant state of confusion from the temperature changes. It was a more helpful distraction this way. The pain helped keep my brain from focusing on the curvy blond in the tiny skirt.

When I couldn't take it any longer, I climbed out of the shower and started to get dressed. Showering ended up being a bad idea; I was now way too awake to sleep. If I couldn't have Riley, then it left me with two options to get through the overwhelming stress taking me over.

The pills in my room or playing my guitar.

The pills were winning the battle in my head. My addiction would find any excuse to justify using again, which meant I needed to get myself as far away from them as possible.

I headed down the stairs to go to the basement. The acoustic guitar I liked using to write was down there already. It was the furthest place in the house that I could go from the bottles and the only other place I could be alone. No one went down there unless we were practicing. I usually had it to myself most nights.

I took a deep, measured breath when I got to the bottom of the stairs. Riley was tucked in a tiny ball next to Aiden on the couch. I could hardly believe this innocent-looking girl was the same one from the concert. She was sleeping and using him as her pillow, which didn't surprise me one bit. Those two always managed to find their way to each other. Every cell in my body hated the relationship they had with each other.

It wasn't normal.

I felt like a trespasser as I watched them hold onto each other. I was the thing in the picture that did not belong.

I stared at Riley for a while longer, watching her chest rise and fall in a slow, steady motion. The rhythm of her breathing was the same one I was hearing in my head. I could hear the notes attaching themselves to the beat, forming a slow, sorrow-filled chorus.

I went downstairs and strapped my guitar against my bare chest and began playing the song in my head. I hummed the desperation-filled melody, trying to figure out the spots to put lyrics in. This song was not the band's style and I would never pitch it to them.

This one I was writing for me. It was her song. This song was always the one I heard every time she was near.

But it wasn't even close to good enough for her.

"Fuck" I lashed out at my strings as I could still feel her all over me. Even after the shower, I could still smell her scent. I could still taste her skin. I began to push my hair back off my face and froze when I heard a small noise across the room.

Someone had come down to the basement and I was so lost I hadn't even noticed.

Riley's eyes had already taken possession of mine the second I saw her. Her hair was hanging down in soft waves on her shoulders, covering the mark I gave her earlier. I was jealous of the blue tips that brushed against the spot. It should be me touching her there.

I lifted the strap from around my body and placed the guitar down. She followed my every movement with her eyes. I stood in front of her, staring directly at her as she lowered her eyes to my chest and down my stomach. She kept lingering on the music notes tattooed on the front of my hip. I think that one was her favorite; she always gave the crudely drawn lines way more attention than they deserved.

She bit at her bottom lip and looked back up at me.

"You shouldn't be down here. You should be upstairs with everyone else." I scolded her.

My eyes followed the black top down her waist to the spot where her hips curved back out. My large hands fit perfectly in that spot like she was made just for me.

"Everyone else is asleep or occupied," Riley whispered seductively. She ran her fingertips along the wall. I closed my eyes as the phantom feeling of her hands on my skin washed all over my body.

I was losing my mind.

"Riley, go back upstairs." I hissed, fighting back my desire for her.

"Can I borrow one of your shirts to sleep in?" She taunted me mercilessly with every step closer that she took. She stopped a few feet in front of me and moved her finger slowly around a slight imperfection in the concrete.

"Riley, this is a bad idea." I sighed out in frustration.

"What's a bad idea?" She was playing with me. Riley was always fucking toying with me. "Can I borrow a shirt to sleep in so I can take this corset off?"

She pulled at the fabric and looked down at her flawless body to mock me further. My eyes were glued to her breasts that were busting out of the top.

"Don't play dumb. I know what you're trying to do." I swallowed.

"That's not why I came down here at all. I don't know what that was tonight at the concert, but it is not going to happen again." She was too quick to defend herself and gave me attitude right back.

Someone in this room wasn't honest with herself.

"You're a bad liar, Riley." I shook my head at her.

"I'm not lying. Quit being an asshole for like two seconds. I just really want to take this stupid outfit off." She stuck her finger in the top of her skirt and pulled it down just enough to show me the top of her little blue panties.

She wanted me to see her. She was doing this to get back at me for what happened after the concert.

"Don't do that again." My hand was massaging my dick as she played with her skirt. She watched me stroke myself and licked her lips. She raised her eyes up to mine.

"Will you please help me take this off?" She smiled wickedly as she pulled the skirt down lower.

"Fuck it." I roared as I bolted across the room and crashed into her.