Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Hunter
Smoke billowed out around me in a thick cloud, permeating the room. The high seeped into my mind, doing a great job of contorting my thoughts. Leaning forward, I snatched a bottle of bourbon off my side table and took a swig. The liquid slid down my throat with ease. After a few more gulps, I returned the bottle to the wooden table and picked up my glass rose again.
My life was a fucking mess.
Jessica was pissed at me, undoubtedly planning my demise as she had done to her ex-boyfriend. Aspen hated me. Not that I cared…right? Fuck her, too. Raven was still dead. That bothered me more than I cared to admit. On the bright side, my mom had gone MIA, choosing to ignore my existence after I refused to give her any more money.
Since Aspen’s death , alcohol and drugs had become my best friend. Her reappearance into the living didn’t change that. There were still other factors at play when it came to my life and what was going wrong within it. The Christmas party was in a few days now, and I’d be surprised if my mom didn’t stop by in an attempt to guilt trip me into caving.
Annoyance snaked through my veins, and I shook my head. Lining up the lighter with the spout of the pipe, I lit it. I sucked in a lungful of the tasteless smoke before blowing it back out. My eyes fluttered closed when euphoria coiled around my insides. Seemingly, my thoughts grew more and more distant, which was exactly what I wanted.
Reality snapped me back in place when the knob to my door started to twist. My heart raced for reasons other than the alcohol and drugs coursing through my veins. I knew they’d find out eventually. It was inevitable. I just figured I’d have more time.
Foster strolled inside with gritted teeth. Anger radiating off him in waves. The door slammed closed behind him, rattling the frame that surrounded it. He’d been on edge since lunch, sulking quietly in his seat and directing glares in Aspen’s direction while she ate with Gia, Jax, and Rocky.
He started pacing back and forth for a moment while he fumed. I knew better than to address him when he got like this. There was no reasoning with a pissed off Foster Henderson.
Foster stopped dead in his tracks when he finally noticed the pipe resting between my fingers. A mixture of emotions flashed across his face before he walked toward me and snatched it out of my hand along with the lighter. He brought it to his mouth, lit it, and inhaled deeply. Almost as if a switch had been flipped, his shoulders relaxed.
“That stupid fucking bitch.” He seethed, taking a second hit. He dropped onto the bed beside me and then offered me the pipe once again.
“Who?” I asked with furrowed eyebrows.
He rolled his eyes like it were obvious. “Aspen. Do you know what she did?”
This was definitely a conversation I didn’t want to have right now. I came in here to forget my problems, not to lengthen that list.
“What’s wrong, Henderson?” I mocked. “Your best friend not everything you thought she’d be?”
“Fuck off,” he growled. “We were never friends.”
I snorted in amusement. “Could have fooled me.” He literally came to her fucking rescue because she got jealous. Jealous ! What the fuck had that even been about anyways? For someone who claimed to hate us, she was doing a shitty job at showing it. Now she probably really did despise us.
“She fucked Rocky,” he continued, ignoring my previous comment.
My head reeled back in surprise, but then confusion took place. Sure, we hated Rocky. He was a cocky asshole, beat Collin’s ass, a tough competitor, and grated on our goddamn nerves, but why did that piss Foster off?
“So?” I questioned, arching an eyebrow. “Why do you care? You’re the one who wanted to get rid of her so badly.”
Everything concerning this girl was one big mind-fuck. I thought she loathed us. Then she cradled Collin after she hurt him out of guilt. Now she was jealous. Why were girls so fucking complicated? Couldn’t she just be up front and admit that she had feelings for one of us? I shook my head in annoyance, lighting the pipe and taking another deep hit.
Foster was back to pacing, rolling his lip ring between his teeth, making the metal of the ball clack against them. The sound might have annoyed me if I was sober.
“I didn’t want to get rid of her,” he muttered, the drug doing its job and loosening his tongue.
My back straightened at that declaration. He was out to get her the second she fought back against him. He hated her and was attracted to her at the same time. Anyone around long enough could see that. Foster also wasn’t one to admit his faults, or to admit he was wrong. Hell, he never opened up about anything personal. We still didn’t know what happened within his childhood to make him hate women so damn much.
After a few moments, he let out a breath. “My feelings are fucking complicated.” He came to a halt at my bedside, this time reaching for the bottle of liquor. He took a long drink, chugging a good portion of it before setting it back down. “But now that she fucked him , that just solidified everything.”
I snorted in amusement, everything becoming clearer to me with every word he spoke. “Did it?” I challenged with a raised eyebrow.
It sounded to me like he realized he was catching feelings and found the first thing he could in order to justify disliking her so that he didn’t have to face his ‘complicated’ emotions. Maybe he had more in common with Collin than any of us realized.
His piercing gaze slid over me. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he sneered.
I shrugged, knowing that if I said what I was truly thinking, he’d coil into himself. “Forget it. Why are you so bothered that she hooked up with Rocky. Honestly?” I pressed instead. “She hooked up with Monroe too and it didn’t leave you this pissed.”
His lip curled back in disgust at the mere mention of his name. “Because I let her touch me,” he growled. “I let her do things I’d never even thought of allowing. Probably similar things she had also done with him.”
A laugh escaped me before I could even think about stopping it. “It sounds to me like you’re jealous.”
He narrowed his eyes, rage burning through them. “Fuck you, Castillo.”
“It’s normal, dude. Relax. You like her. Just admit it.” I could definitely see the appeal. She was stunning, had a huge personality, was snarky as hell, and never backed down, which was both annoying and alluring.
He fisted the front of my shirt abruptly, making me flinch from the speed in which he moved. My head wasn’t registering things as quickly as it needed to, and I was left defenseless as he jerked me toward him, our faces inches apart.
“I don’t like her,” he growled. His minty breath ghosted over me, and even I could admit, it smelled nice. “I’ll fucking prove it if I have to. She’s nothing but a slut.”
“Then prove it.” I smirked, clutching the glass rose tightly between my fingers so it didn’t fall. “Oh…wait,” I continued, acting like I was thinking. “You can’t, because you promised to leave her the fuck alone.”
He released me abruptly. “Fuck it.” He turned on his heels and stormed out of the room without a backwards glance.
Idiot .
We almost killed her. He needed to give it a fucking rest. As much fun as screwing with her had been while it lasted, we went too far. Just like we had with Dory. Though, we barely even tormented her. That had been Jessica and Madison.
I ran my hands through my hair, my mind reeling a mile a minute. It still felt surreal, knowing she wasn’t dead. It was the first time I’d ever felt pure guilt. Not that I’d ever admit that to Foster. Even though I knew he had felt it too, he’d still make me feel shitty for having basic, human emotions over the incident.
Blowing out a breath, I winced when my emotions took a new course of action. Since we’d been babysitting Aspen, we all couldn’t attend the meetings with the queen bitches over the party coming up. One of us was always stuck behind. As expected, it hasn’t been smooth sailing. Jessica was constantly picking fights while we were there, wanting to talk about our relationship . It didn’t matter how many times I told her that we didn’t have one. I was only putting up with this bullshit for Myles, so he better be fucking thankful.
I snatched my bottle off the side table and took another drink before returning it and bringing myself to stand. My head spun from the abrupt movement it wasn’t prepared for, and I stumbled, catching my balance on my bed frame. The high and intoxication hit me all at once, the peak making me feel dizzy. Warmth spread through every crevice of my being and suddenly, life just got a whole lot better.
I didn’t wake up until dinner had already passed, which was fine by me. I wasn’t sure I could eat even if I’d wanted to. The drunkenness had faded somewhat, but the high was still consuming me entirely, leaving me in a euphoric state and making me want to be reckless. This was becoming somewhat of a normality as of late. I’d get high before class every morning and take a couple shots. Afterwards, I’d head back to my room and get completely blitzed out of my mind, keeping a bottle close. I found that it helped me forget, even if it was only temporary.
Stumbling out into the hallway, I didn’t give a shit that my feet were only protected by a pair of black socks. My steps were uncoordinated with every movement, and I didn’t have the slightest idea as to where I was going.
“Hunter?”
The words bounced around my skull like a melodic tune, and I realized that the voice belonging to them sounded familiar. Bracing myself on the wall nearest to me, I turned on my heels and squinted. The lighting in this place wasn’t usually this bright, so why was it the only thing I could see?
“Dixie?” I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows.
I didn’t know her well. She fucked around with Barlow—everyone knew that, but for the most part, she was quiet. My feelings toward her were neutral. She was a pretty girl with an hourglass shape and was on the shorter side when it came to height.
Slowly, the light around the shadowy figure dulled, making her look ethereal as she approached. Her long, dark hair hung loosely down her back, and her big, blue eyes seared into mine. Her room wasn’t on this floor, was it? No…her room was on the fourth floor with Rocky. So, why was she hanging out on the second one?
As if sensing my confusion, she giggled. The sound tinkled around my brain, making my mouth twitch. It sounded strange.
“You look rough.” She smiled, her teeth seeming to sparkle.
My gaze hooded, I stumbled toward her. She backed up a step, holding her arms out in front of her like she stood a chance of catching me if I fell.
“What are you doing here?” I slurred, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth.
She snorted in amusement. “What are you doing out of your room like this?” she countered, sweeping her big eyes over me.
A breathy laugh escaped me. “I don’t know.”
“Well, you smell like alcohol. Come on, let’s get you back inside before someone important sees you like this.” She strode toward me, wrapping an arm around my bicep. Touch was electric when I was high, the feeling intensified by the drug. It felt amazing. Why didn’t everyone do drugs?
With minimal reluctance, I allowed the pretty girl to steer me back to my room. She helped me to my bed and grabbed a bottle of water from the floor that had half of its contents missing. Taking it from her, I unscrewed the cap before chugging the remainder of it.
“You wanna get fucked up?” I asked, tossing the bottle back to the floor. Her gaze followed it as it rolled before she met my eye again.
“I think you’ve had enough.” She laughed.
She was probably right.
“Then do you wanna just fuck?” I smirked, leaning back on my elbows with the lower part of my body draped over the bed.
Surprise weaved its way into her features followed by hesitation. “As attractive as you are, Hunter Castillo, I’m going to have to decline.”
My dick was hard as a rock. I needed a release and had the sinking feeling that my hand wouldn’t cut it this time. It always happened when I got fucked up, and for a while, my hand did the trick. It was getting harder to get off lately.
“Because of Rocky?” I queried.
She rolled her eyes. “Yes. We have somewhat of an exclusive agreement.”
My ears perked up at that. “Exclusive?” I repeated, genuinely curious this time. She released a sigh and sat down beside me on the bed, crossing her ankles.
“Yep. We’re friends with benefits but have only agreed to fuck each other. Well, he’s allowed to screw guys, but no other women.”
I attempted to pull myself back up into a sitting position, but my body wasn’t having it so I ended up looking like a floppy fish out of water. Deicing that it was in my best interest to remain where I was, I placed my hands behind my head and looked over at her instead.
“So how pissed would you be if you found out that Rocky had fucked another girl?” I pressed, not giving a shit how messy I was being. She was hot and I wanted to get my dick wet.
She whipped her head in my direction, narrowing her eyes. “Don’t screw with me about this, asshole.”
“I’m not. The girl who fucked Rocky admitted to it.”
Her lips parted in disbelief and a look of betrayal flashed within her baby blues. After a few moments, she managed to compose herself. “Who is she?” she growled.
Hook, line, and sinker.
“Suck my dick and then I’ll tell you.”
I expected her to tell me to go to hell, or to walk out. What I didn’t expect was for her to drop down to her knees on the floor of my bedroom and tug my pants down my legs.
“If you’re fucking with me, I will cut your dick into tiny little pieces and feed them to the fish,” she warned, shooting me a pointed look.
I snorted at that. “Trust me, I don’t have to lie to get some action around here. If you want to know so badly, wrap your lips around my fucking cock and make me cum.”
She scoffed at my crude tone, but as expected, it didn’t deter her. She finished pulling down my boxers, tossing them to the side as she’d done with my sweats. She braced a hand on either one of my legs before rising on her knees and sucking me into her mouth.
The warmth from her tongue had electricity spiraling through me. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten off by someone else while being high off my ass. It had almost happened at the cabin with Aspen, but Foster had to ruin that and then took her for himself.
Asshole .
“Deeper,” I encouraged. “I want to hear you choking.”
She took me about another inch deeper, only managing to take me about halfway into her mouth. With every suck, I could feel myself on the brink of hitting that spot I needed in order to get off, but it wasn’t enough.
Wrapping my hands in her hair, I held her in place before bringing my hips up and jamming myself down her throat. The sound of her choking filled the room, doing things to my insides. I continued thrusting into her mouth furiously, saliva dripping down my dick and thighs. Her nails bit into my legs as she attempted pushing against me, but nope. She wasn’t done until I was.
My eyes rolled as she hit that spot for me over and over again. In no time, I was coming down her throat. After a few more pumps, I released my hold on her and she fell back, gasping for air. Tears were running down her face, her hair in disarray.
“Asshole,” she spluttered.
I smirked, pulling myself upright and reaching for my discarded clothes. I slipped on my boxers and pants, exhaustion taking hold of me once again.
The thought of her kissing Rocky after having my dick in her mouth and tasting my come made me happier than it probably should have.
“So, who is she?” she demanded, losing her patience with me.
“Aspen. Aspen Palmer.”