Malt Me (Liquor Cabinet Series #1)

by D. L. Gallie

  “Clint, I don’t have to put up with this.” Spinning, I turn to leave, but he grabs my arm, nearly ripping it out of its socket when he turns me around to face him.

  “You are mines and mines alone. ”

  “NO, I am not yours!“ I pull my arm free and stalk away. After a few steps, I turn back and point directly at Clint; I stare into his soulless brown eyes. “You know what Clint? I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t like the person you’ve become, and most of all, I don’t like the person I’ve become. I wish you the best.” I turn around and I walk back into the college.

  Of course, being Monday morning, Clint and I have our first class together but he doesn’t show. I sigh in relief. I find it really hard to concentrate in class today, and normally, it’s my favourite.

  After class, I head to the Java Lava Café, next to the college, for a much-needed coffee. Having just placed my order, I’m digging in my monstrous Guess handbag for my wallet, when the person behind me says, “And add a hazelnut latte, full cream milk, and a double chocolate brownie to that order too, please.” They hand over a twenty to pay. I spin around ready to seethe and see Jordan standing there, smiling. His smile stops me in my tracks and he winks at me. Pretty sure with that wink my ovaries went boom.

  After staring at him for a few seconds, I smile. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “It’s my pleasure, Mackenzie, but there is an ulterior motive to me buying you a coffee.”

  “Here we go, what’s your ulterior motive?”

  “You have to have it with me.” He winks at me again before smiling smugly at me.

  Ovaries: boom…again.

  Cheekily, I reply, “I guess I can lower myself to have a coffee with you,” winking as I walk past him to the end counter to wait for our coffees. We grab our food and drinks, and head to a table by the window. Grabbing my coffee, I lift the lid take a deep breath of the caffeine goodness that I am about to enjoy and take a sip. My eyes close and I savour the flavour, letting out a little pleasurable moan. When I open my eyes again, Jordan is staring at me; the look in his eyes is intense but electric. “Who knew drinking coffee could be so erotic?”

  My neck and cheeks immediately heat, I lower my head in embarrassment. He reaches over and lifts my chin; I feel a spark as soon as his fingers touch my skin, leaving my chin tingling and warm. He looks directly into my eyes. “Don’t be embarrassed, that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, Kenz.”

  “Umm, that doesn’t make me feel any better.” Jordan lets go of my chin, and I feel naked and alone, missing his touch. He grabs his coffee, and copies what I just did. I burst out laughing. He opens his eyes and looks at me, trying to contain his laugh, but he can’t hold back. We are both laughing and before I know it I’m snorting. He is laughing at me for snorting and it becomes one vicious laugh/snort cycle, as it usually does the first time I snort around someone.

  We eventually compose ourselves and manage to have a nice and normal conversation, with no awkward silences. It turns my shitty morning around. He tells me about his course and how he hopes it will lead to a job managing a bar. Jordan is so passionate about beer. It’s a total turn on, seeing him so enthusiastic about it. At one point, I zone out and imagine him pinning me to the couch, kissing the life out of me. Yep, I’m going to need a change of undies, as that mental make out session was hot.

  As we are finishing up, I look out the window and see Clint glaring at me from the corner. If looks could kill, I’d be dead right now, as would Jordan and everyone in a five-kilometer radius. Jordan notices the change in me and he looks to where I am staring, and then looks back to me, “Is everything okay with you two?”

  I look at him, then I look back out to where Clint was standing but he is gone. Looking back at Jordan, I can feel my eyes starting to water. “Ummm, I broke up with him this morning.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” He reaches across the table and gently gives my hand a reassuring squeeze.

  “He’s not the person I thought he was, the way he spoke to you this morning was one of the final straws. I was so embarrassed.”

  “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Kenz. He’s a douche, plain and simple.”

  “Don’t be like that, you sound just like him. This week away with my friend Sarah, made me realise that I didn’t like the person I had become while I was with him. I didn’t like the person he was becoming either. It’s for the best,” pausing, I add, “I think.”

  “Well, he’s a fool for pushing you away. If you were mine, I would do everything in my power to keep you happy and smiling.” I can’t help but smile at that statement. “Much like you are now,” he adds.

  Again, I blush at what he says. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

  “Nope, only the pretty ones.” I look up and he is intently staring at me. I smile back at him and think to myself, he is the kind of guy I need to be dating. My phone pings with a text, bringing me back to reality. Reaching into my bag, I slide the screen and see it’s a text from Sarah.

  Sarah – morning bitch. Thanks for a great time away. I think our annual weekend needs to become an annual week…but no fucking horses

  I laugh as I read her text. I quickly reply,

  Me – sound like a plan…the horses stay

  Me – I broke up with Clint this morning

  Sarah – I’ll bring wine and choc chip cookie dough, be at yours in an hour. Love you XoXoX

  Me – it’s a date, see you then. Love you too XoXoX

  I look up to see Jordan staring at me. “Sorry, that was Sarah. I just told her Clint and I broke up, and we now have a date with wine and Jerry.”

  “Jerry?”

  “Ben and Jerry’s Jerry.”

  “Righto,” he laughs.

  “I have to go meet her now, but thanks for the coffee and chat. Next time it’s on me,” I say as I stand up and clean away our plates and cups.

  “On you, hey?”

  “Oh My God, not on me on me, but on me, you know my treat”

  Jordan laughs, “You are too funny, Kenz, I can’t wait to have coffee on you.” He winks at me as he says this. I feel my cheeks get heat and I giggle like a schoolgirl.

  Jordan and I walk out; I head to the bus stop to go home and he goes back to college, for his next lecture.

  Sitting on the bus, I think about my coffee with Jordan; my heart rate increases when I think of his smile. I had a really nice time with him and was so relaxed. Smiling to myself, I remember him calling me Kenz, the way he wraps his tongue around the Z is kind of hot. I’m now imagining other things he can do to me with his tongue and his hands. Clenching my thighs together, I blush when I realise I’m having dirty thoughts on a public bus. My cheeks turn a deeper shade of red and I start to get hot under the collar.

  Deciding to get off the bus a stop early, I duck into the local bottle-o. I’m winning as they have my wine on sale, two for one, so I grab four bottles and quickly head home to chillax and unwind with Sarah. I want to forget all about this morning, well not the coffee with Jordan part.

  Placing the wine bottles on the front steps, I notice a stain on them. “I’ll clean that off on the weekend,” I mumble to myself. I’m digging in my bag for my house keys, when I feel someone behind me. I recognise Clint’s cologne, but before I can turn and acknowledge him, he whacks me across the back of the head and I black out.

  This past week without Sweetcheeks has been tough, I miss her so much. Doesn’t she realise that she and I are meant to be together? I can’t and will not let her go.

  I’m looking forward to today, as Mackenzie and I have a class together first thing on Mondays. Then I’m going to take her to the Dirty Duck, where we are going to get super drunk. After that, I’ll take her back to her apartment and fuck her silly. I get hard just thinking about her sweet, sweet pussy.

  Looking up, I see her walking in with that asshole that hangs around her like a bad smell, and they are laughing. My blood starts to simmer as I stalk ove
r to them. With all my might, I shove the asshole in the chest, I should pound him into the pavement for laughing with my Sweetcheeks. The pussy has no balls. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t fight back. Pussy. My blood boils when he looks at my Sweetcheeks and smiles.

  Who does this fucker think he is?

  I so badly want to beat the shit out of that asshole right at this minute, instead I grab Mackenzie’s arm, dragging her towards the street, and down the alley near the college. I’m going to find out what the fuck is going on between her and douche hole.

  It occurs to me that this weekend she was away with him and not Sarah. Fucking bitch! She keeps denying it but the bitch is lying to me, I just know it.

  Why do they always lie?

  Do I look stupid or something?

  Reaching out, I roughly grab her, spinning her towards me. I growl between clenched teeth. My blood continues to boil with fury. “You are mines and mines alone.”

  She pulls away and when she turns back around, our eyes lock; it’s magical. I get hard seeing the anger deep in her emerald green eyes. I’m lost in her beautiful eyes when she shocks me by breaking up with me. I don’t think so, she is mines.

  She walks off, leaving me standing there in shock. There is no fucking way I’m letting that bitch break up with me. I turn and punch the wall in frustration, I’m too pissed off for the lecture. I decide to skip class and I head to the pier to think. I always go there when I need to think, or I drive around but I’m not in the mood for driving today.

  Why does this always happen to me?

  Why do they always leave me?

  I’m a nice guy.

  I’m fantabolous in the sack, and my cock is quite impressive, if I do say so myself.

  Why do they always leave me?

  As I sit at the pier, I think about Mackenzie when it hits me. I know what I have to do. I race back to the college to talk to her, but I see her and that douche in the Java Lave Café together. I fucking knew it! I knew she was with him this weekend and not Sarah.

  She looks over at me and her beautiful face lights up when she sees me, but I’m so pissed that she is with him. I can’t be near him, or her, right now, so I decide to go to her place, calm down and wait for her.

  On the way to her apartment, the perfect plan comes to mind; I’m going to take her away, it will be just the two of us, together forever. Sitting in my car I wait for my Sweetcheeks to get home. When she gets here she doesn’t see me, so I decide to surprise her.

  She places her bags on the steps, so she can dig in her ginormous handbag for her keys. I will never understand why chicks need such a big handbag. I sneak up behind her and whack her across the back of the head. She collapses into my arms and I catch her before she hits the ground. I’m caring and nice like that.

  She groans and screams when she opens her eyes, why is she wailing? Something inside of me snaps when she starts to scream. Pulling my fist back, I punch her over and over, I can’t stop.

  I tell keep telling her, “You are mines.”

  I keep punching and kicking her, repeatedly, hoping that it will click in her mind that we are meant to be together. I wish she would stop screaming, fucking bitch.

  Sarah and her nosey neighbour arrive, and they are shouting at me to stop but I can’t. I need Sweetcheeks to know how much I lover her, to remind her that she is mines.

  She groans and I swear I hear her say, “Baby, I love you.” I pause, mid-swing and smile. Turning around, I smile and want to show these assholes that she does love me, but there is nothing but anger radiating off them.

  Old mate from next door pulls me off her and I stumble down her stairs. Sarah races over to Mackenzie. I sit there frozen until I hear them call 000. I decide to leave Sweetcheeks with her friends, I’ll come back later to see her.

  Blowing her a kiss, I turn and run off.

  When I wake up, I’m in a hospital bed, with a drip in my arm, a throbbing head and my body aches all over. Everything is foggy; I blink a few times for my eyes to adjust to the light when all of a sudden I remember. Everything comes rushing back to. I start to scream as I remember Clint hitting and kicking me at the apartment.

  The door to my room flies open and in rushes a nurse and a doctor. Their words are all muffled as the fear I felt earlier courses through my body. They put something into my drip, my body immediately relaxes, my eyes get heavy, and I drift back to sleep.

  A few hours later I wake up, I see Mum and Skye huddled together on the green pleather sofa. Mum looks over at me and smiles; she shifts Skye off her and comes over to my bed. She sits on the edge and grabs my hand, squeezing it.

  “W..Where am I? What happened?”

  “Honey, your in the hospital. You were attacked. Do you remember?”

  I’m stunned at what Mum tells me, but after a moment of silence, I nod my head and start to cry. Mum stands up and wraps her arms around me. I wince from the discomfort, but I really need a Mum hug right now, so I push through the pain.

  Pulling back, I look at Mum and sadly whisper, “I remember Mum,” The tears start to fall again. “I remember Clint attacking me at the apartment. Sarah and Mr. Neil saved me.”

  Panic sets in again when I start to think about Clint, “Wh…where’s Clint?”

  “He took off when Sarah and Gavin arrived but the police picked him up earlier this evening and he’s currently in jail. The police want to speak to you but the doctor said not today. They’ll be coming by tomorrow to get your statement.” I just nod my head, still too shocked to speak.

  I’m starting to get sleepy again when the door to my room opens and in walks a nurse. Smiling, she says, “Hi, Mackenzie. I’m Paula and I’ll be looking after you.”

  “Hi, Paula!”

  “On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain right now?”

  “I’d say an eleven.” Laughing at myself, I lift my hand and rub the back of my head gently before adding. “My heading is killing me, my face hurts, and my ribs are aching.”

  “I’m not surprised honey, the doctor has prescribed endone for the pain. I’ll go and get them for you and I’ll be right back.” Paula returns a few moments later and hands me the pills and a little cup of water. Swallowing the tablets, Paula leaves and I lay back down.

  Skye comes over and sits on the end of my bed, rubbing my leg gently. “So glad you’re okay, Kenz. When Mum got the call, it felt like Dad all over again. We jumped in the car and got here in record time.”

  “I’m sorry that I made you worry.”

  “Don’t be sorry, I’m just glad you he didn’t do more damage. Who knows what would have happened had Sarah and Mr. Neil not intervened? Besides, us Merlot’s are tough, it takes more than one asshole to bring us down.”

  “Language, Skye,” Mum scolds.

  Skye and I both laugh.

  Paula comes back about half an hour later. “Sorry, ladies, but visiting hours are over. You can come back tomorrow morning and see Mackenzie.”

  Mum and Skye both give me a hug and tell me they will be back in the morning.

  Sleep eludes me, each time I close my eyes, I relive the attack. It’s about 1:00 a.m. when the night nurse gives me something to help me sleep. I drift off quickly but wake up an hour later in a cold sweat, my heart racing. Tears pouring down my cheek, I see his evil face every time I close my eyes. Staring at the ceiling, I wonder, if I’m strong enough to deal with this?

  Early, the next morning Mum and Skye are back to visit me. The doctor does his rounds and I am to be discharged later in the day. They decide to go back to my place, and get me a change of clothes.

  Not long after they leave, there is a knock at my door; Sarah pops her head in. As soon as she see’s me, she bursts into tears and races over to my bed. She sits in the chair next to the bed, grabs my hand and sobs, I lean forward and rest my head on hers and together we cry. A movement by the door frightens me, I look up to see Jordan standing there. He has one hand in his jeans pocket and the other is holding a tray
of coffee. He smiles at me. “Hi,” is all he manages to say and for the first time in twenty-four hours, I genuinely smile.

  “Hi yourself.” I manage to squeak out.

  He walks towards the bed and places the coffees on the tray table. He is staring at me and I feel really self-conscious. I let go of Sarah’s hand, discretely smoothing down my hair, I look towards the bed as I must look like a mess. My heart rate increases, and I feel my cheeks flush. When I look up into his eyes, a sense of calm washes over me and I relax.

  Sarah blows her nose and it sounds like a foghorn. She throws the tissue towards to bin in the corner and misses. She then turns to me. “You scared the freakin shit out of me woman. I got to your place, heard a scream, and I raced down the path. Clint was on top of you and he was kicking and punching, mumbling to himself, “You are mines.” She pauses to make sure I’m okay, I nod and she continues, “Mr. Neil came out, grabbed him and shouted at Clint to stop. He ran off and Mr. Neil called triple 0 while I went to you. The police and an ambulance arrived pretty quickly, you were whisked off here and we gave our statement to the police, and…”

  I sniff, “I’m so sorry, Sar.”

  “Don’t apologise but if you ever do that again, I will punch you in the vagina.” I cringe at what she says, but oddly enough, it also makes me smile. Man I love this woman, even when she is being totally inappropriate. “Shit, sorry, babe, but please don’t ever do that again.”

  “Not planning on ever doing that again. Trust me.”

  Turning my head I look out the window, it’s a dreary, dark, overcast day outside. Much like I am feeling now, I think to myself, as I look back over at Jordan. With a smile, I say, “Not that I’m not glad to see you, but what are you doing here?” Looking between Sarah and Jordan, I’m confused as to how they got in contact, and also a tad jealous that Sarah has been spending time with him. “How do you two know each other?”

  He smiles and takes a seat on the windowsill, and goes to answer but Sarah butts in, “After I had finished with the police at your place, I had to do something. So I headed to the college, hoping that Clint was there and I could kick his ass. I did a Kenz move and smashed into Jordan. He could see the distress on my face and asked what was up. I remember he was the guy checking your ass out before we went away.” Jordan and I both blush at this comment, but I’m secretly thrilled that he’s embarrassed about it. “I told him what happened when I got to your place, he and I then searched around the city for Clint, but we had no luck. I felt to stupid and helpless.“