500 Days

by Jessica Miller

  For the most part I could distract myself and not think about wanting to see her naked. Sometimes she made it easy. Spending so much time together she felt more comfortable around me. She had no qualms about burping or farting in front of me and she never cared what she looked like and despite all that, I still found her incredibly sexy. The one mood killer was the mention of cramps and I was out.

  I had a problem and I knew it. Alex was my fix and I could never get enough. After the night we spent together and I woke to find her gone, a part of me felt like it was ripped away. When I found her in the kitchen pacing nervously I knew the conversation wasn’t going to go well. I was prepared to convince her to give me a chance, but when she asked if we could be friends, I chickened out. I knew then she didn’t feel the same way about me as I did her. I was afraid if I didn’t accept her offer I would never see her again. So I caved and agreed to do the friend thing not realizing how much this would kill me.

  Colton said I was just torturing myself and I should move on. But I refused. I was just waiting for the right time. I was trying to get her to warm up to me before I made my move.

  “Declan just called me to tell me she’ll see me later.” Colton leaned against my door frame with his arms crossed. “Something you need to tell me?”

  “No.” I got up and went through my draws looking for clean clothes.

  “You’re a horrible liar, you know that?”

  “Are you insinuating that I’m up to something?”

  “Are you? Because if you are, I’m going to warn you now to stop.”

  “I’m not up to anything.” I picked out my clothes and threw them on the bed. Colton stood in the doorway. “Is there anything else you wanted? Because I need to shower.”

  “Nope,” he said and walked away. I hopped in the shower, excited for my small win tonight.

  I met Jaxson and Jacob outside the fraternity house. I took them in and introduced them around to all the brothers. One of them offered Jacob a beer and I automatically took it from him. “Sorry man, but I promised your sister.”

  Jaxson laughed. “You’re screwed,” he told Jacob.

  “Oh, come on. One beer isn’t going to hurt.”

  I wanted to let Jacob have the beer, but I knew Alex would have my ass. “Sorry, but not tonight.” Jacob pouted like a five year old. “How about I show you around the house and introduce you to some of the sorority sisters we invited tonight?” Jacob’s eyes lit up and I was back on his good side.

  All the girls ate him up. He was a good looking kid and being new they picked at him like he was fresh meat. “Careful with this one girls, he’s still a virgin.”

  “Dude what the –”

  I pulled Jacob closer. “Relax, these girls love virgins. They’ll be fighting to pop your cherry.”

  “Really?”

  “Trust me, play the v-card.” Jacob looked over his shoulder at the girls who were eyeing him up and down like he was the last pair of must have shoes on sale. He smiled and turned back around to the girls. I was pretty sure Alex wouldn’t approve of this, but I was not in the mood to babysit all night and Jaxson was here to keep an eye on him, so I knew he would be fine.

  I made my way through the party greeting friends and turning down girls. I checked my phone several times to see if I had any text messages from Alex, but nothing. I was here an hour and already driving myself nuts. I decided to have a few beers to relax.

  It was just after twelve and Alex still wasn’t there. The party was in full swing and everyone was having a great time but me. I checked on Jaxson and Jacob. They were both having a good time and despite telling my brothers not to serve Jacob he still managed to get a drink. I was about to take it from him when my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a text from Colton saying they weren’t going to make it. I shoved my phone back in my pocket and looked back over at Jacob.

  Fuck it.

  I went down to the basement where we kept the good liquor and grabbed the tequila. I finished off the neck of the bottle by the time I reached the top. “Who wants some shots?” I shouted, holding the tequila in the air.

  The bottle was almost gone and Tanya, or was it Tiffany – whatever – she was hot and currently laid out flat on her back on the table in the kitchen and she was waiting for me. “You might want to pull up your shirt, sweetheart. This could get a little messy.” I handed my beer to the tiny brunette on my left. I reached behind me for a lemon slice and then placed it in the mouth of the willing and able blonde on the table. She had her shirt pulled up just past her belly button. I cocked my head to the side. “You can do better than that.” She moved her shirt about an inch. I took it upon myself and yanked her shirt up high enough to expose her bright pink bra. She blushed, but I knew she loved the attention. I grabbed the salt shaker from the table and dabbed a little in between her breasts.

  “You ready?” I asked her. She nodded with a smile. I poured tequila inside her belly button. It overflowed down the sides and made a small trail toward her jeans. I passed the bottle to one of my brothers and then proceeded to lick the salt out of her breasts. I sucked the tequila from her belly button and using my tongue, cleaned up the parts where it had dribbled over. I could feel her trying not to shake as my tongue dangled close to the top of her jeans. When it was all gone, I sucked on the lemon that was gripped tight in between her teeth. I managed to get a little tongue action before I pulled the lemon away. I smiled, standing up, ready to take on the next girl when – shit.

  Alex was standing not five feet from the table and she looked pissed. I threw the lemon in the sink. “Alex!” I cheered. “You made it.” She stormed straight up to me and shoved me back into a corner. “Whoa, hey now,” I said, putting my hands up. “Save it for the bedroom.” I gave her my cocky smile, but the glare in her eyes told me she wasn’t here for fun. “I was just kidding, Alex.”

  She smacked me in the chest, hard. “The only reason I am here is because Jacob called me to ask for a ride and I thought to myself, ‘why would Jacob need a ride home?’ Why you think that is Casper?” Not sure if I was supposed to answer that or not. “Because he’s fucking drunk you asshole!” She punched me in the shoulder. Jesus, this girl had one hell of a swing. I was going to be bruised tomorrow. She put her head in her hand and looked away from me. She laughed humorlessly. “One thing Casper, I asked you to do one thing and that was to make sure nothing happened to my brother.”

  “Nothing did happen. He’s perfectly fine, look at him.” I pointed in the direction of the living room where I last saw him.

  “Alex!” he cheered when he saw her. He tried to make his way over, but stumbled and fell into the wall, laughing hysterically. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t as fine as I thought. Alex turned her piercing eyes on me. I was almost positive if she opened her mouth she would breathe fire. I scrubbed a hand down my face.

  Jacob managed to make his way over to us. He fell into Alex’s arms. “Jesus Jacob, how much did you drink?” He pinched his thumb and forefinger together, squinting, and then stumbled again. She grunted, annoyed. “I’m taking you home.” Jacob was a little guy but he was still bigger than Alex and more than she could handle. She struggled to carry him out of the party.

  “Let me help you,” I offered.

  “You’ve done enough,” she snapped. I ignored her and gripped onto Jacob’s other side, helping her drag him out to the car. We stuffed him in the back seat and then she turned on me again. “Where’s Jaxson?”

  The hell if I knew. “He’s inside.” She started to stomp off back into the party. “Alex, where are you going?”

  “To get Jaxson because I’m pretty sure he’s too drunk to drive too.”

  “Alex, wait!” I caught up to her and spun her around. “Don’t be mad.”

  “I don’t know which is worse. The fact that I thought I could trust you to keep an eye on Jacob or that I get here just in time to see you doing body shots off of one of your whores of the week.”

  I took a step back. “Why would
you care what I do?”

  “I don’t.”

  “Bullshit,” I said, not believing her.

  She poked me in the chest, backing me up into the car. “Casper, I could give a flying fuck what you do. Your little ‘after hours’ activities are none of my business.”

  “No, they’re not, but for some reason you seem to keep making it a theme to point out everything I’m doing wrong.” I got in her face. “Why don’t you just admit you don’t like seeing me with other women because you’re jealous?”

  She laughed harshly. “I will never be jealous of those sluts you take home.”

  I smiled cockily. “I took you home. What does that make you?” She slapped me across the face and then shoved me into the car. Her eyes burned holes in my head. I knew I took it too far. Fuck. She was about to open her mouth but before she had the chance we heard a horrible retching sound and the splatter of something hitting the window. I didn’t have to look to know Jacob had just puked all over the backseat and window. She looked over my shoulder at her car and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Move. Now. Before I make you.”

  I stepped aside, allowing her to get in the car. She automatically opened the windows to let out the smell. “You can personally pick up my car tomorrow to take it to get detailed.”

  She peeled out before I could say anything else. “F-U-C-CK!” I cried. My plan had turned into a disaster. I’d never liked a girl the way I liked Alex. To top it off, instead of managing to bring her closer to me, I seemed to push her further away. Declan was right. I was a grade A asshole. So I guess it was time I started acting like it.

  I went back into the party and found the next volunteer to continue the body shots.

  I never made it out of the fraternity house. I woke up in my room with a pounding headache and two girls in my bed. Not wanting to deal with them, I got dressed, and headed out. The house was trashed. There were cups, cans, bottles, and bodies littered everywhere. I heard someone groan from the next room and spotted Jaxson sitting up on the couch. I walked over to check on him. “How you feeling?”

  “Like I got hit with a ton of bricks,” he groaned.

  I laughed. “You’ll get used to it.” I held out a hand to help him up. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.”

  “Are the parties always like this?” Jaxson asked, once we were outside.

  “Nah, last night was pretty tame.” Jaxson stopped and looked at me wide eyed. I smiled and patted his back. We hopped in the car and before I could ask him where he lived he suddenly realized something.

  “Shit, where’s Jacob?” he asked, slightly panicked.

  “Alex picked him up last night.”

  His head dropped into his hands. “I am too hung over to deal with her wrath.”

  “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. She already chewed me a new asshole last night.”

  “Ouch, sorry about that.”

  “I’m getting used to it,” I replied, putting the gear in drive.

  Jaxson couldn’t stop talking about the party. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. I’ve been to a million of these and lately they all seemed the same. I didn’t mind listening to him. It was always cool to hear how it was from a different point of view and a nice refresher when you forgot half the night. Jaxson told me he was even considering pledging this year and he was pretty sure Jacob already signed a blood oath last night to become a brother for life. Jacob and Jaxson were good guys and I knew they would make a perfect addition to our fraternity. I told him I would put a good word in for the both of them.

  When we pulled up to his house, I spotted a pair of evil green eyes staring out the window. They looked like they were on fire. The curtain shut and not a minute later the door swung open. She looked even more pissed off then she was last night and I knew the fire breathing dragon was back. “Fuck,” Jaxson muttered. He turned to me, shook my hand and thanked me for the ride. I watched him drag his feet with his head down. He looked like he was walking to meet his maker.

  Alex attacked him instantly. She smacked him in the chest and head and then yelled at him for being so stupid. “I’ll deal with you later,” she said, shoving him in the house and then setting her eyes on me. Shit.

  She turned around to retrieve something behind the door. My eyes widened in fear at the long wooden bat in her hand. I barely had anytime to process what was going on before she swung the bat against the passenger side door, making a loud thwack. I flew out of the car, running around to the other side. She managed to put a nice dent in the door and knocked off the side view mirror. “Alex!” She lifted the bat and aimed it at me. I stepped back with my hands up.

  She lowered the bat but kept it at the ready. “You,” she pointed angrily. “You have a lot a nerve showing up here.”

  It took me a minute to understand why she had gone psycho. Then I remembered. I had called her a slut and basically told her she was a whore for sleeping with me. I was a fucking idiot. “Alex, I’m sorry.”

  She held up her hand, eyes closed, she took a breath. “Save it. I should have known better.” She opened her eyes and looked up at me. My heart stopped when I saw the prospect of tears forming in her eyes. “But it was my choice, right? I knew the consequences.”

  “Alex…I don’t –”

  She stopped me. “I don’t expect you to understand and that’s okay.” She was right. I didn’t understand. “This whole friend thing. It’s not working out for me.”

  “Alex,” I reached for her but she flinched. Without another word, she turned around and went back inside the house. I picked up my broken mirror, chucking it hard across the street and into the trees. In the car I gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turned white. I peeled away from the house, going faster than the limit, risking getting pulled over, but I didn’t care.

  Once back at my place, I went straight to my room, and slammed the door. I paced the room as the anger inside built. The more I paced the angrier I got. I started seeing red. I knew I needed to calm down before I did something stupid. I went to my closet to grab some clean clothes but the door jammed. I yanked and pulled, but nothing happened. So I decided to take my anger out on my closet door. I kicked and punched the door until it cracked, splintered and broke into several pieces.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Colton asked. I turned to face him, chest heaving, panting. He instinctively took a step back. He looked over to the mess on the floor. “What did the door do to you?”

  “It got in my way,” I growled, breathing heavy.

  “Okay, um…is there something you need to tell me?”

  I kicked off a piece of the door again. “Cas,” Colton warned, letting me know he meant business now.

  “Alex,” I said.

  “What about Alex?”

  I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. “I fucked up, again.” I felt trapped all of a sudden, like I couldn’t breathe. I needed air. I grabbed my keys and left without another word. Colton tried to stop me. I bolted without giving him a chance. I drove straight to the one place I knew I wouldn’t be bothered. I headed to the garage where my bike was stored. I hopped on, revving up the engine, and took off, leaving skid marks.

  I drove for miles, with no particular place in mind. My bike was the one and only thing that really helped me clear my head. With the open road in front of me, I felt alive. Unfortunately my head was too much of a mess to enjoy my ride. I turned around at dusk and made it back shortly after the sun had set. I spotted a familiar silhouette in the garage. Her hair was pulled back and she was wearing her normal business attire. I pulled into the garage and cut the engine.

  “At first I thought, ‘to what do I owe the honor?’ Then I discover your prize possession was gone and I knew this wasn’t a tea and crumpets visit.”

  “First off you’re not tea and crumpets material. It’s not in your blood to be socially kind with anybody except those who have the potential of offering you money.”

  “Do not speak to your
mother that way. I can still bend you over my knee you know.”

  “Will it actually be you or will you hand me off to the nanny again?”

  She fixed me with a glare. “You know I got rid of that trollop the second you moved out.” She hated when I brought her up. She could quite possibly be the reason I have an affliction towards women. She was the woman of my dreams, hell, she was the woman of any thirteen year old boy’s dream. She had gorgeous long blonde hair, humongous breasts, and a body that didn’t quit. She was eighteen and saving up for college and she also happened to be very giving, and loved young boys. I was fourteen when I lost my virginity to her. She taught me what women liked. She taught me a lot.

  “I wonder what she’s up to? Maybe I should give her a call?”

  “Over my dead body,” my mom warned. “Now, are you going to come inside or is this where I say farewell?” I stifled an eye roll and followed her inside and straight to the kitchen where she slid over a cup of coffee. “Hungry?” I shook my head no. She gestured for us to have a seat at the table. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

  Despite my bastard of a father, I actually had a decent upbringing. My mom made sure of that. She wanted to be a stay-at-home mom and take care of us, but my father insisted she had to work; which was ironic because his other wives, he insisted they stayed home. I think he didn’t realize the consequences of making my mother work when all she wanted to do was spend time with her kids. She was a very strong, independent woman and she told me all the time she had my father to thank for that. I think that’s why he never had any of his new wives work. He learned his lesson with my mother.