You’re gonna be sick tonight, jackass.
With a blink of my eye, the world righted itself. But my stomach didn’t feel well. I drew in some deep breaths, trying to keep it all down and not get sick on myself. This crowd of assholes would spread it around school come Monday. I slumped against one of the bar stools as the girls walked away, jumping into the pool and shrieking in delight. Marina beckoned for Roy, swaying her hips and jiggling those small tits of hers, and Roy clapped me against the shoulder as he headed for his lay of the night. I sat there with thoughts of Rae floating around in the alcohol that swirled around my brain.
She deserves better than you, dickweed.
I scoffed as I closed my eyes. I swallowed hard a few times, trying to settle the bile creeping up the back of my damn throat. I mean, how long could I have expected us to last, anyway? Rae would have left me the second something better came along. I knew how women worked. What they wanted out of life. They were all the same, once I stripped back the clothes and the soft demeanors. And knowing my luck, something better would have come along sooner rather than later.
Just when I’d started to fall for her.
Get up, asshole. You need water.
But I didn’t want to get up.
“And this is Clint,” Roy said.
The giggle that filled my ear caused me to open my eyes, and I found myself staring at a very pretty girl. Short red hair. Freckles all across her face and bright brown eyes. A slim figure not at all concealed in a string bikini. She looked like the rest of the girls here. A bit too long-legged. A bit too buck-toothed. A bit too much waterproof makeup and absolutely no curves in sight.
I nodded. “Hey there.”
The girl giggled. “Hi.”
Roy smiled proudly. “This, my friend, is Lindsey.”
I licked my lips. “Nice to meet you.”
She nodded. “You, too. I, uh, saw you over here. With those shots.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “You like what you see?”
And when she blushed, I had my answer.
Roy cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll let you two get to know one another. Clint.”
“Yep?”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn't do.”
I rolled my eyes as the girl let out another soft giggle. A forced one. One that probably got her into Roy’s good graces in the first place. I appreciated the effort, but I wasn’t into it. Lindsey was a pretty girl, but she wasn’t Rae.
Still, though, she sat next to me at the bar.
“Do you come to these parties often?”
I slowly panned my eyes over to her. “Yep. You?”
She shook her head. “No. First time ever being invited.”
“Is it everything you could have hoped for, and more?”
“That depends. What are you doing later on?”
My cockeyed grin spread across my face, but I didn’t make a move for her. She wasn’t my type. Wasn’t my style. And I had no issues letting her know it. I lobbed my head over to see her and found her blushing again. Tainting that creamy skin of hers that, in any other world, would have had me on my knees ready to give her the attention she wanted.
Tonight, however, was different.
I chuckled. “I’m sleeping off this alcohol and trying not to wake up with a bleeding hangover in the morning.”
Lindsey’s face fell. “Oh.”