"What the hell is wrong with you?" Riley scolded me and jumped back in disbelief.

Shit.

The girl took half a second to stare at her drenched shirt. My eyes slowly followed hers, surveying the damage I had done.  The whole front of her light gray shirt was stained with the brown, pungent liquid. 

The tattered edges of regret and remorse began seeping in instantly.  I had lost control of my body and mind again. My conscience searched for some way to remove the blame from itself and place it on her, but it came up empty-handed. 

I started to open my mouth to mumble out an apology and offer to take Riley back to the band house when the upset girl darted away from me. She headed straight towards the bonfire, walking as quickly as her legs could carry her. 

I took two steps and latched onto her forearm to stop her.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked, pulling her back towards me. I was tired of watching her back as she threw her little immature pissy fits. 

"Don't you ever come near me again?"  She whispered harshly and wrenched her arm from my fingers. 

I crept up behind a furious Riley to grab ahold of her waist to stop her from leaving when I saw Anna, Aiden, and Brynn gawking at us with their necks craned in our direction.  All three of them watched every move we made and were ready to get up to come rushing to her defense.

I backed off from my Riley pursuit and let her go. It wasn't out of cowardice or fear of what those three would do, but more about not wanting to get the whole group involved in my battle against Riley.

There were things I knew we both weren't ready to share yet. Putting ourselves on display was a risk.

It was none of their business anyway and I sure as hell didn't need anyone else's input tonight.  Riley was nudging me too close to the edge of my sanity.  I was holding onto nothing but the air around me to keep myself from falling off.

"Riley, what happened?" Anna asked suspiciously as soon as the blond stepped in closer to the fire's warmth and protection. The flames flickered and wrapped Riley in an orange glow.  The flickering light reflected harshly off the liquor stain covering her. There was no way she could hide it.

Anna noticed the spot and gave me a hate-filled, accusatory scowl. I raised my bottle to congratulate her for successfully finding a way to irritate me even further.

I tipped the bottle back again to my mouth and sipped down another shot worth. The bottle had grown significantly lighter since Riley was now wearing most of it.  I would have to go back over the table for another sooner than later.

"I'm just clumsy. Where's the bathroom?" Riley asked in a tiny voice, insecure voice.

"I'll show you." Aiden's tail wagged as he jumped in again to play her savior.  Before I could step between them, he grabbed her hand and began pulling her up the hill towards the empty house.

Riley was wide-eyed when she turned her head to search my face hoping for a reaction. She was enjoying what this was doing to me.  I could feel the blood already pooling in the base of my neck.  My back tensed and spasmed. I clutched my fists tightly until my knuckles were white.  My teeth were going to crack under the pressure as I ground them down to nothing.

Why was she so determined to destroy me?

"What's wrong, Ezra? Did someone take your ball away?" Anna mocked me.

"Fuck off." I hissed, watching Riley walk away with Aiden instead of me.

They were busy, side by side, whispering secrets into each other. They couldn't get close enough to one another.

Everything was so backwards and upside down, caving in and burying me under the rubble of my own collapse.  I was so drained and just fucking exhausted.  Trying to hold onto Riley was tearing me into pieces and I was losing the fight I had left.

I couldn't do it anymore. 

The back and forth with her, the pregnancy I never wanted, and all the people around me with their noses in the air—I was done with it all.

I wanted out.

"I'll be back. I've got to pee." Brynn announced as she got up on her feet. She passed by me, brushing her breast against my side and ran her hand along my stomach. She leaned in slightly and whispered only loud enough for me to hear. "Follow me."

Anna shook her head and frowned at me with disappointment as she watched Brynn shamelessly trying to tempt me to disappear with her.  Little did Anna know that no matter how much I wanted to be a vengeful asshole out of spite, I could never even touch another girl who wasn't Riley—not even to get back at her for the way she was maliciously torturing me for her pleasure.

I shook my head at Brynn and went back to paying attention to the bottle in my hands.  Brynn huffed at me and left the warmth of the fire to find someone else to rub her desperate self against.

JD glanced over and grinned at me, oblivious to everything happening around him. Anna apparently hadn't told him there was anything going on yet. I felt a hint of guilt that he was still in the dark but not enough to do anything to change it.

It was time to finish my drink and leave before Anna said something and this night turned out any worse than it already was.

Getting the hell away from this place was the only way I was going to survive. I never belonged in this world with these people anyway—there was no point in pretending any longer.

I drained the bottle and dropped it on the ground.  My legs were leading the rest of my body towards the driveway where my car was parked when I heard JD yelling my name behind me.

"Ezra. Ezra. Dude, where are you going? You just got here." He called out.

I didn't even turn my head back to acknowledge him at all.

When I got to my car, I bent over the roof and placed my head in my hands to steady myself. I wanted to break something or cry, but I was paralyzed and overwhelmed by the storm raging inside me.  I had to move now, even if the rest of my body didn't want to go with me.

It wanted to stay here for her.

My hand finally cooperated and was on the door handle of my car, pulling it open when someone walked up behind me. The person behind me was shuffling their feet too loudly, like they were dragging the tips of their toes over the pavement.

Fuck, why couldn't they just leave me alone?

I couldn't stomach being around any of them any longer.

Thin, gangly arms wrapped around my waist from behind. Cheap floral perfume stung my nostrils as a face buried into my back.    

Fucking Brynn.  She never knew when to give it up.

"Ezra." Brynn whimpered and started sobbing against me. Her whole body was shaking mine.

"What's going on?" I asked, tensing up.

"Riley...Aiden...they...they...." She hiccupped the words out between cries.

"They what?" My body switched from sad anger to pure rage-filled adrenaline at the mention of both of their names.

"They are inside the house.  Aiden has Riley bent over the couch and is...is..." She sniffed.

"What?" I froze, not wanting to believe what I was hearing. " Are you fucking serious?"

Brynn nodded her head against my back.

I slammed the car door and hit the car as hard as possible, denting the roof with one blow.

"You have to stop them right now." She cried into my back and squeezed me tighter.

I turned around to shove Brynn off me and bolted towards the house.  The faster I ran, the further away the place moved. My rage consumed me and I couldn't even see or think. The only things I could focus on were Brynn's words and the images in my head.

"Riley...Aiden... in the house... bent over...."

Aiden really did it. He fucked my girl and was going to take her from me.

When I finally got to the house, I burst inside the side door. I fully expected to catch them in the act but was utterly unprepared for it at the same time. I had no idea what I was going to do if he was still leaning down over top of her. 

I found Aiden in the kitchen, leaning back against the counter and breathing heavily. The sweatshirt he was wearing earlier was gone. He was straightening his pants out, pulling at the front, and adjusting himself. He was in a daze, enjoying the afterglow of the blond's juices covering his dick.  He was so entranced by her that he didn't even realize I was standing there watching him.

There was a small noise in the back of the hallway—Riley was back there, probably prepping for round two with him.  I rushed in and passed Aiden to get to her. I swung my arm out and knocked his head back into a cabinet in the process.  I wanted to kill him and make him suffer as much as I was, but I had to get to Riley first. 

It was time for her to tell me the truth.

"Stay away from Riley, asshole," Aiden yelled as I flew around him.  He attempted to grab my arm to stop me and I pushed him back into the counter. I grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him up on his toes to look me in the eye.

"Don't you ever come near her again or I will fucking kill you," I growled back at him.

Fear flashed across Aiden's face as he cowered back. He should have thought about what would happen before he touched her.

Riley was mine.

She was mine.

She was fucking mine.

"I'm going to get JD." Aiden threatened like a pussy.

"Fucking go get him." I shoved Aiden back hard and he crumpled down to the floor.

I stalked down the dark hall towards the only source of light in the house.  There was a tiny sliver of golden light creeping out from under the door crack.  A shadow blocked out the light as it crossed in front of its path.

Riley was in there. 

I forced the door open, and Riley stood on the other side in just her bra and jeans.  She had Aiden's sweatshirt in her hand, clutching it to her chest to cover her skin.  What Brynn said was true.  If I had had any ounce of doubt in my mind left, it would have flown out the window the second I saw her.

She fucked Aiden.

I had the actual proof—it was slapping me across the face with every breath the girl took. My beautiful girl was nothing more than another fucking whore. She had been playing me this whole time, pretending to be something she wasn't. It wasn't just my messed up head—she really did it.

I loved her with everything I had and I would never be able to take it back.

Riley took everything from me. 

I had nothing left.

She didn't love me. 

She never loved me. 

The beautiful green-eyed girl used me.

Riley's eyes grew and her lips parted wide in shock as her mouth hung open when I stalked towards her.  She didn't even blink at me and froze in place.

Riley knew she was caught.