By the time there’s another pounding on my front door hours later, I’m drunk.
And not just a little bit.
“Make him go away,” I whine.
“You don’t even know it’s him.”
“Of course it’s him. Why wouldn’t he want to come back and drive that knife a little bit deeper in my chest? Maybe twist it for good measure.”
“It’s not him, Bri. He’s been warned to stay the fuck away.”
“Oh yeah? And you think he listens to anyone?”
“I do.”
Placing her glass on the coffee table, she crosses the room, twists open my deadlock and pulls the door open.
“No, Jodie. No,” I cry, leaning forward in an attempt to stop her and rolling straight off the sofa with an audible thud. “Ow,” I complain.
Deep, rumbling laughter hits my ears, and anger blooms.
I scramble to my feet, ready to go toe to toe with Nico if necessary. Any fear of facing him after what happened earlier has been drowned by prosecco.
“NO,” I bellow. “You do not get to turn up here and—” My argument comes up short when my eyes land on Toby and Alex, who are staring at me as if I’m some unknown creature. “Oh.”
“Having a good night, Bri?” Toby asks with a smirk.
“No. No, I am fucking not. And do you know why?” I slur, poking him in the chest. “Because your best friend is a fucking cunt. How do you put up with him? How? You don’t even get the added benefit of orgasms. Why bother keeping him around?”
A snort of amusement fills the room before I turn to his buddy.
“Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?” I glare pure hate at Alex, but honestly, it’s hard to keep it. He’s too bloody cute for his own good when he’s fighting laughter.
Letting my eyes drop down his body that’s wrapped in a navy polo shirt and a dark pair of jeans, I take a step closer.
“You know,” I drawl, “I think I might have settled for the wrong boy.”
He tenses as my hands land on his chest and slide up until my arms are looped around his next.
“Oh yeah?” he asks, his smirk getting wider.
“Shame I don’t know anything about your skills. I’m not sure you could handle me, cutie.”
“Cutie?” he asks, his eyes wide as Toby and Jodie laugh.
“Yeah. You’re not as bad boy as the others. There’s something softer about you.”
“Well, I can assure you, there is actually nothing soft about me,” he quips.
“Alex,” Toby warns, but even that dark edge to his voice isn’t enough to stop me.
“Well, let’s see about that shall we?”
Pulling my arm back, I let my hand trail down his body.
Excitement licks at my insides as I descend, but it all comes to a grinding halt as my fingers touch his waistband.
“I like it attached to my body, Brianna. And Nico would fucking kill me if you found out mine was bigger than his,” Alex teases, his fingers wrapped around my wrist in a vice grip.