Chapter 3
When I was satisfied that no one would guess I’d been crying—which took longer than anticipated without a makeup bag—I finally exited the restroom to rejoin the party. Rich and I had been heading for a breakup for a long time. I just never expected it to happen in quite such a public forum.
I wouldn’t take it back, though. It was done, and fuck if I didn’t feel better already. Now I needed to find Jared and Miles, let them know what’d happened, then go home. Who cared what bullshit the tabloids made up about my early departure? I needed my bed.
My high heels clicked on the tiled floor as I made my way back toward the stairs, and I took my sweet time admiring the paintings lining the walls as I went.
A huge part of me was shit-scared to go back in there and face Rich.
He had such a way with words, I couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t somehow make me regret breaking up with him.
Still, I couldn’t hide out in the library all damn night, so I forced my feet to keep moving and descended the staircase to the main floor where the party was being held.
I barely made it three steps past the bottom of the stairs when distinctive grunts and moans reached my ears, coming from one of the small private study rooms.
Good for them. If Rich wasn’t such a douche, I might have been tempted to do the same.
I continued toward the party, but a familiar voice made me freeze.
“You fucking like that, don’t you? Dirty bitch. Keep going, I’m close.”
Shock was the only excuse for what I did next, doubling back to the study room and pushing the ajar door open further.
Sure enough, there was a blonde woman on her knees, her head bobbing furiously as she sucked Richard’s dick.
He moaned, his hands fisting in her hair, slamming himself deeper into her throat with zero regard for her ability to breathe— something I was all too familiar with.
Utter disbelief and outrage held me in place, staring in horror as the boy I’d loved my whole life pulled his dick out of the woman’s mouth and came all over her face. He smirked as he did it, knowing he was messing up her makeup at a very public party and not fucking caring.
And yet, I still couldn’t make myself leave. I was just rooted to the fucking spot, like I wanted Rich to see me standing there. To my intense relief, someone grabbed my elbow and tugged me away from the open doorway before Rich even finished shooting his load.
“You okay?” my savior murmured, tucking my hand through his arm and walking quickly away from the study rooms.
I licked my lips, trying to find words but none came. What the fuck did I just witness?
“That was your boyfriend, huh?” the guy asked, finally making me glance up at him.
I inhaled sharply, realizing who’d saved me. “You’re Zeth Briggs.” And one of Xavier’s best friends. Also a top-ten content creator on ClikByte, as well as being the son of the Seventeen Daggers lead singer. He was a big deal.
He flashed me a blinding grin. “No, my father is Zeth Briggs, and an arrogant son of a bitch to name me after himself. I’m just Z. You’re Norah, right?”
I winced. “Sure,” I agreed. It was close enough.
His brows hitched. “So? Wasn’t that your boyfriend back there with Candy Sweets?”
That made sense. Candy was also a big deal on ClikByte, but her channel was on the adults-only side. Porn had a huge presence in the social media world these days, and sex workers were making bank on those Cliks.
“Um, ex,” I corrected him as he tugged me into what seemed to be an office. He released my hand once we were inside, nodding at me to close the door.
“Ah, well, that’s not so bad then,” he replied, heading for the big carved wood desk and tugging open the top drawer. “Still awkward for sure, but I definitely thought he was a current boyfriend based on how crushed you looked.”
I gave a bitter laugh, wrapping my arms around myself. “Well, my ex as of thirty minutes ago. We literally just broke up.”
He paused in his rummaging, looking up at me with a raised brow. “Oh. Ouch.”
I shrugged. “Yeah. What are you looking for? Whose office is this, anyway?”
“No idea,” he replied, tugging open another drawer then grinning. “But I figure anyone with an office inside a library probably has a bottle of booze stashed.” He pulled out his prize, holding it up to show me.
“Not that I’m complaining or anything,” I murmured, taking a few steps closer to see what the bottle of booze was. “But you do know there is a free bar out there, right? You don’t actually need to swipe liquor from the librarian.”
Zeth—or Z, he called himself—flashed me a grin. “Downside to being famous is that we can’t use fake ID’s. I’m not twenty-one, and my friends turn into smug fucks when I have to ask them to order for me.”
Despite my sour mood, I laughed. “I know the feeling. Except without the helpful friends.”
Z raised a brow, then slouched back into the leather office chair as he uncorked the liquor. “You don’t have friends?”
That hadn’t been what I meant, but now that I thought about it…
“I guess not,” I whispered, rubbing my chest uncomfortably.
Maybe Z had the right idea with his stolen booze after all.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I circled the desk to where he sat and reached for the bottle.
“Are you sharing? I feel like I need it more than you right now.”
He handed it over. “Can’t argue with that.”
I glanced at the label, but knew nothing at all about liquor so all I knew was that it was whiskey.
Whatever, it’d do. I brought the bottle to my lips and took a gulp, while Z watched me unblinking.
It tasted awful, but I went straight back for another huge swallow anyway.
Maybe if I could get as drunk as other rich eighteen-year-olds, I could erase the pain of Rich’s betrayal.
“Ease up, Norah,” Z said with a laugh after I took my third mouthful. He gently took the bottle from my hand and brought it to his own lips. “Something tells me you don’t drink much.”
I hiccupped, clapping a hand over my mouth in embarrassment. Then smiled. “What gave it away?”
His response was just a slow smile. He took another sip. “How come our paths haven’t crossed sooner? It feels like there’s one of these fucking fundraisers every weekend, but I’ve never seen you at one before.”
“Maybe you haven’t been paying attention,” I suggested with a shrug, perching my ass on the edge of the desk, no longer caring about the delicate fabric and crystal beads.
Z licked his lips, giving me a long look. “Bullshit. I would have remembered.”
Okay, I wasn’t imagining things, he was definitely flirting. Maybe it was pity, after what I’d just seen Rich doing, but I was tipsy enough not to give a fuck.
“Well, I can’t say I’ll be in any hurry to come back to another one of these,” I admitted, taking the bottle from him when he offered it. “This has pretty much been a disaster.”
He ran a hand over his clean-shaved cheek. “Yeah, I can feel that. You know what they say, though? Best way to get over an ex is to get under someone new.”
Did he just suggest I play Rich’s game? I choked on my mouthful and handed the bottle back while coughing up my lungs.
“Typical guy,” I croaked when my coughing got under control. “You really think I’ll feel better about Rich fucking Candy less than half an hour after we broke up, if I hook up with a stranger?”
“Sure, why not?” He flashed that blinding, cocky fuck grin again. “Besides, if you think that he waited for you to break up, you’re an idiot. Any guy that quick to move on was already cheating.”
Christ, he was right. I hated that he was right. I hated that I’d been so fucking weak that I’d let Rich convince me I was being paranoid every time I’d suspected him of cheating. I hated everything about this person I’d become.
“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” Z teased, leaning forward to put the bottle on the desk beside me. He didn’t sit back, though, instead resting his elbows on his knees as he looked up at me. “Being petty and evening the score with a hot, steamy, one-night stand?”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Uh-huh, sure.” My sarcasm was thick. “You offering, then?”
Surprise flickered across his face, quickly followed by the heat of lust. “Fuck, yes, I am.”
Oh shit, I was joking. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped in shock, but Z just chuckled a sexy sound, rolling his eyes.
“Ah, you weren’t serious.” He sighed, hanging his head like he was truly disappointed, and I couldn’t fight the grin pulling my lips. Why was that so fucking flattering? Alcohol was giving me a level of confidence I’d lost in the last few years. I should drink more often.
“I wasn’t,” I admitted, then dipped a toe in the deep end. “But maybe I should be.”
Z’s head snapped up, his brows raised as he searched my face. Then he smirked as he rose to his feet. I tipped my head back to hold his gaze, a hot rush of excitement and anticipation filling my chest.
He carefully placed his hands on the desk either side of my hips, his lips hovering over mine like he was offering me a chance to back out. To change my mind and go back to being the sad girl once again. That girl deserved better, and right now was a golden opportunity to change my life.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I closed the gap between us and brushed my lips over his.
Cautiously. But it was only for a moment, and then he was kissing me back harder than I’d ever been kissed by Rich.
Z coaxed my lips apart, his tongue delving in to twist with mine and his fingers threaded through my hair.
Holy shit, was I seriously about to hook up with this guy I’d just met? Was that… slutty? Fuck, why the hell was that even a thought in my head when Rich just had his dick in another girl’s mouth?
“Don’t overthink it, Norah,” Z murmured, his lips caressing my throat as he gathered up the yards of expensive skirt fabric between us. “Trust me, I’ll make you forget that prick ever existed.”
“Cocky,” I accused, my fingers flicking the buttons of his shirt open faster than I could even comprehend.
He chuckled, kissing my neck. “Confident.”
“Prove it,” I taunted, already breathless. My dress was bunched up between us, but he only had his hand on my thigh, hadn’t even touched my core, and I was already panting. Call me crazy, and maybe it was the liquor talking, but I got a feeling that confidence was rooted in pure skill.
Z gently bit my throat, his breath hot on my skin. “Well, when you ask that nicely…” Then he dropped to his knees and buried his face beneath my glittering red ballgown.
“Oh shit,” I breathed in surprise as he licked me through my panties. Yep. Pure skill. Maybe this party wasn’t such a bust after all.