27. 27
Killian
The cocaine hits my sinuses, delivering a smooth burst of joy. I check the bathroom door, making sure I locked it. I don’t want a dance Mom walking in on me doing snow. I hold the phone to my ear as I sniff a third line.
“What do you mean your brother went to jail?”
“Brax was dealing drugs,” says Charlotte.
That explains why Brax hasn’t answered his phone. What the hell? Where will I get my coke?
I hang up and call Meghan, who, thank God, has the stuff. I head over to her place — the porn palace — after work. It’s another contemporary mansion. I still gawk at it, shocked how much sucking dick on camera can pay.
As I walk inside, I thumb through my phone.
Just a quick check-in on Harlow. I want to make sure she made it back to class after ambushing me with whatever the hell that was. She’s clearly stressed. I could slip more money into her wallet. That should prevent another emotional outburst. I bet she’s on her period.
The GPS pins her car exactly where it should be.
Good.
Meghan beams at me from across the room.
As usual, she’s in lingerie. Her little black bob bounces as she flies at me with open arms. We hug, but my attention is across the giant room.
This hall houses themed stages. Only one is in use.
It’s a regular-looking bedroom. Two men are fucking a blonde — one in her ass, the other in her pussy.
“Busy day,” I murmur.
“Yes, sir. Want to get in on it? I won’t charge you for the blow.”
I open my wallet and pull out some cash. “Nah, I’m good.”
Yet, something draws my attention back to the threesome. I can’t quite figure out why. I stroll that way, slower than my usual gait. My eyes narrow, trying to focus.
Halfway there, I stop.
“No. It can’t be,” I mumble.
One guy pulls on the girl’s hair, yanking her head back. She lets out a long, pained moan.
“Nina?”
“You know her?” Meghan asks.
“Mm-hm, she’s my brother’s fiancée.”
She eyes me for a moment. “Hm. Neither guy is your brother, huh?”
I shake my head.
Meghan sighs and speaks low.
“Don’t make a scene, please. It’s live.”
I grunt, then wait for the spectacle to finish. Nina wraps a robe around her naked body. She walks funny off the set, but laughs and talks to the guys like they’re old pals.
“What the fuck, Nina?”
Based on how wide her eyes bulge, she didn’t expect to see me here. She grasps her robe more tightly around herself.
“What are you doing here?” she says.
Meghan pulls two baggies of powder from a makeup table.
“One for you for the… good work,” she says to Nina, then glances at me. “And one for you, Killy.”
“Thanks.” I stuff it into my back pocket, but fixate on Nina.
She shrugs, her expression a mix of shame and defeat. “I guess we’re both using.”
“I’m not engaged and fucking other people. Does my brother know?”
She frowns. “It doesn’t mean anything! Don’t tell River.”
I laugh, loud and mocking. “Why would I hide this from him?”
“Does your family know you relapsed? That’s the only reason I am doing this — to get high. Just a little bit.”
“River doesn’t give you money to buy shit?”
“Yeah, right,” she says sourly. “He’s been texting and calling you. He needs help. Why have you been ignoring him?”
“He has a trust,” I counter.
“It’s not as big as yours. He has more stuff to pay for, too. He has a house, a boat, the cars. Then there’s the wedding. He’s overextended, and your parents won’t help.”
“Sell stuff.”
“Or,” she says, her voice dripping with venom, “you could give your brother the money. He told me how much you get paid a month. Why do you need that much? You don’t even have a mortgage.”
“My parents give me the most. I’m their favorite. So what? Jagger and River are still rich.”
She stamps her high heel. “That’s not why they give you more.”
“Careful,” I warn, dark and short.
I won’t let this cheating bitch think both of us using drugs gives her a pass to talk about things she shouldn’t.
Nina crosses her arms and pouts, apparently taking my threat seriously. After a tense beat, she speaks again.
“Can you help us with the wedding or not?”
“Let me get this straight. You want me to pay for your blessed union? You’re a divorce waiting to happen.”
She glares. “So are you.”
I squint, confused.
“Come on, Killian. Do you really think you’ll get married? Or stay married? It makes sense for you to pay for our wedding. You’ll never use your trust money for your own.”
I can’t believe this woman. She’s telling me I’m the fuck-up when she had two dicks shoved up her while her future husband is who-knows-where.
Okay... I am a fuck-up, too.
But I got a better chance of evading a divorce than her. I have to. Am I at rock bottom again? I can’t tell.
Fuck this. I got my supply. I spin and march toward the exit.
“Hey! Will you pay for it?” Nina calls out.
“No.”
She scoffs loudly, her voice echoing in the vast space. “I’ll tell River about us hooking up at that party if you don’t!”
That dirty bitch.
“Fuck off!” I yell and stride faster.
In the car, I text Asher, my hands shaking with fury.
Me: Dude, nina is fucking around on River
Asher: well she did sleep with u too
Me: How did u know that?
I don’t remember telling Asher about my drunken mistake. I open the bag of coke and scoop a bump with my house key.
Asher: I got my sources.
Me: R u spying on me???
Asher: Not me.
What does that mean? Fucker still has my phone cloned. Whatever.
Me: She wants me to pay for their wedding
Me: She says I’ll never have one.
Asher: what about the girl with the fake orgasms?
I laugh.
Me: I think they were real. We hooked up again.
Asher: date her
My stomach drops. That’s more jarring than Nina’s blackmail. It’s like Asher doesn’t give a fuck about me at all. He completely moved on.
Me: What about us? We had plans.
Asher: (typing bubble)
Then Asher stops texting completely. He goes silent. He always does when I bring up plans for the future.
I sit back in the seat and stare at my new baggie of coke.
River is crazy about Nina.
I’m like Nina.
Harlow’s crazy about me, and I’m not treating her right. Harlow wants more. I want Harlow. Maybe I could make plans with her.
I cringe so hard it steals my breath. Anxiety presses down on my chest. I need to calm this feeling.
Quickly, I check the tracker. Just seeing Harlow’s car on the map brings relief. She’s left campus and stopped at a shopping center. Huh. She usually goes straight home. What’s she doing there? Who is she with?
I put the car in drive. I need to see her anyway. I want to make sure she’s calmed down. I need the grime of Nina off me.
I need my lowly CNA.