CHAPTER FIVE TABATHA

CHAPTER FIVE

TABATHA

I open my eyes and moan at the bright light that assaults my sensitive eyes. I close them and place a hand over my face. I have a pounding headache in need of some Advil. I slowly rub my temples as I take a deep breath.

I open my eyes slowly this time and glance around the room I'm in. I don't recognize anything—from the cream walls to the immaculate clean tan furniture and spotless wood floors. Seriously, I could eat off them. I'm sure as hell not in my bedroom. Did Jackie and I not go home last night?

Beside me, I hear a faint sound of snoring. My head snaps to the left, and I wince from the sudden movement. But my breath catches and my heart pounds in my chest when I see the back of a head covered in brown hair that's a little longer than what I'm used to on a man. I quickly lift the sheets and look down at myself. I'm naked.

"Shit," I say a little too loud making the dark-haired man stir beside me.

What the hell did I do last night?

Last thing I remember was Jackie coming into my bedroom and telling me to get ready. I had a few hours before we had to be at Blake's party. Then I started drinking while getting ready. Rodger wouldn't leave me alone. She finally dragged me out of the house as she complained how late we were.

Then nothing. Until now.

I have to get out of here!

I take a quick look around the room to locate my clothes.

I spot my skinny jeans wadded up over in the far corner. They aren't hard to pinpoint since they are the only thing lying on this bedroom floor.

I throw the covers off and run over to them. I pull them up not caring about my underwear. Those babies are too fucking small to even look for.

I place my hand over my breasts and look for my bra—where is that at?

I spin around and spot my shirt tossed behind the couch. Who has a couch in their bedroom? I snatch it up and start to put in on when I notice that it has been ripped.

That motherfucker.

I smile to myself. At the time, I probably liked his enthusiasm. Now, not so much. I spot a man's t-shirt on the floor underneath the desk. I see Dash written across the back with a number 88 placed underneath it.

That's the only shirt I see, so I grab it and put it on.

Grabbing my purse from the other side of the room along with my heels, I step out without waking him or leaving a note.

Seriously, what would it say?

Thanks for a night I can't remember and for losing my favorite pair of panties? Oh, and when you find my bra, can you please return it?

No, that's just tacky. It's bad enough I woke up in bed with a man. And let me set the record straight—this sort of thing has not happened in a long time.

I mean, yeah, I like sex as much as the next girl and have had a couple of one-night stands before Rodger. I at least knew those men, though. It just happened once, therefore, one-night stand.

But I don't make it a point to sleep with random men I don't know at parties. That's how girls end up with a disease or worse, dead or missing. So, I'm just gonna chalk it up to a lapse of judgment and alcohol-induced horniness.

It's totally a thing. Plus, I just went through a breakup. Doesn't that allow me one night of craziness?

Slowly and quietly, I make my way through this mansion as I try to do the walk of shame without being seen.

Long ass hallways with expensive artifacts hanging from the walls make me think this guy does not own this house. He looked way too young. His parents probably own this, and he lives with them.

I roll my eyes. I always find the ones who need their mommy and daddy to support their asses.

That's why his room is so clean. I bet his parents are out of town for business, and he had the maid come and clean so he could throw a party. That's what I would do. And by looking at the beer cans and empty liquor bottles covering the floor, I would say he needs her to come back to clean once more.

I turn down another hallway and walk past several shut doors. I can hear movement behind the last door I come up on.

"That feels so good," a woman's voice says softly. "Right there," she moans.

I come to a stop and stare at a soft yellow painted door. Please don't be Jackie. She has to be here somewhere, right? And that could easily be her horny ass.

"You like that, Val?" a man's deep voice says next, and I release a sigh of relief. Not Jackie. "What are you?" he demands, his voice rising.

"I'm your bitch," she hollers out in a high pitch voice.

I cover my hand over my mouth trying not to laugh.

"I'm your bitch, baby," she repeats.

Okay, so the bitch is totally into her role, but he's not buying it.

"You can do better. Now. Tell Daddy what you are." I hear a slapping noise followed by a moan. And I can only guess it's his hand hitting her ass.

"I'm your little fuck toy," she calls out. "Fuck me. Use me," she continues.

I roll my eyes and walk away from the door.

Yeah, I don't need to know all the ways he feels he needs to degrade her. That's what Rodger did to me. Made me feel degraded. Made me do things that I wouldn't have normally done before him. I have more self-respect for myself now.

"Right," I mumble to myself. This coming from a girl who had a one-night stand with a stranger. I shake my head at myself.

"Thank God," I whisper harshly when I finally make it to the front door. I let out a sigh of relief that instantly turns to fear when I walk outside and don't see my car.

I see a black Bentley, a red Ferrari, a yellow Porsche, and a couple of sports bikes. Yep, none of those are my white BMW.

Looking down and digging through my purse, I locate my cell phone. Pulling it out, I thank the Lord that it's not dead. I also cuss out loud when I notice that I have three missed calls from the ex himself. I ignore them and call Jackie. The one who left my ass here. In my car. The bitch!

I impatiently tap my foot as I squeeze my eyes shut waiting for her to answer. Damn headache!

"Hello?" she sleepily answers on the third ring.

"Wake your hungover ass up and come get me," I demand, looking around to make sure no one is gonna walk out of the house and see me.

"Where are you?" she asks sounding more awake.

"Wherever you left my ass at last night," I snap.

She groans. "I'm coming."

"Hurry your ass up," I say before hanging up the phone.

I make my way down the stone steps and white stucco pillars. I walk past the cars in the circle drive and continue to walk down the long driveway.

I'm going to kill her!

Why would she leave me? We never leave one another behind.

As I start to come to the end of the long paved driveway, I stop and try to look through my purse for my sunglasses.

"Shit," I cuss when I realize they are not in there. I remember having them while driving to the party last night. They must be in my car.

I huff, throw my purse back over my shoulder, and squint trying to block the hot sun that is just intensifying my annoying headache.

I come to the end of the driveway and see a tall, wrought-iron gated entrance.

Well, this can't be good.

I come up to it and look for a button that I can push, but the only button I see is on the opposite side sitting in front of the guard shack.

Hmm well, so much for the Lord being on my side this morning. I start to look around to make sure I didn't miss something to help open it from this side. I could go back and try to see if there is a gate opener in one of those cars.

I turn around but stop before I can take a step. I really don't want to go back there and set off a car alarm. I'm trying to get out of here unseen. And what are the odds of them being unlocked? Not likely!

I look around once again to see if I can find another way out. When I come up with nothing on this side to help me with, I decide the best thing I can do is climb and jump over the fence. It seems to run the full length of the property. It's not like I can just walk a few feet down and walk off their property.

I shake my head at myself. I am too hungover for this bullshit. I squeeze my eyes shut and rub my hand over my throbbing forehead. Why did I have to drink so much last night? Everyone knows that alcohol is only a temporary fix. All you are left with the morning after is a badass headache. You're still gonna remember the heartache and betrayal.

Taking a deep breath and trying to forget about Rodger, I open my eyes. I notice a tree that stands off to the right. To any other person, it would be too hard to climb. Good thing for me, I started climbing trees as soon as I could walk.

I go over to it and adjust my purse over my opposite shoulder so it hangs across my chest. That's all I need—to climb this bitch and have it fall off once I get to the top.

I spit on my hands and then rub them together. I know, classy. I feel like a pitcher spitting on the ball. Nothing can be nastier than that. I dated a baseball player once. Why do we find them so sexy when they spit on the one thing they all touch? Oh yeah, the tight fucking pants that showcase those beautiful round asses.

It only takes a few seconds for me to figure out how to get up it. I grab ahold of the lowest branch and lift myself up. At this moment, I'm thankful Jackie made me take all of those stupid yoga classes with her back in the day, which has left me limber. Climbing far enough up, I swing my body around and come level with the fence.

"This is going to hurt," I whisper looking at how far the fence is from the ground. There's not a tree for me to climb down on the other side. I'm just going to have to jump. And I'm guessing the distance to be over six feet.

"Let's go to the party," Jackie had said. "It will be great," she had said.

"Great my fucking ass," I mumble. I remove my heels and throw them over. I cringe when my three hundred and fifty dollar pair of shoes hits the grass. I treasure my heels. What woman doesn't?

Taking one last deep breath, I swing my legs over the fence and jump down. My feet instantly sting when they hit the ground. I don't even try to catch myself, which could injure my body worse. I just let go and crumple to the grass.

I roll over onto my back as I let out a growl of frustration. The fact that I had to sneak out of the house—from some guy whose name I don't even remember—couldn't have been the worst part of my morning. No, I also had to listen to some dude take care of his morning wood. Then climb a tree and jump a fence. Yeah, today is not my day.

I groan at my sore body as I get to my feet. I don't even bother to brush myself off before I grab my shoes and start to limp my way off down the street.

I am in the process of dreaming about a hot bath and curling up in my bed for an early afternoon nap when Jackie passes me and then does a U-turn, coming to a stop beside me. I pull open the passenger door and fall inside, thankful for the cool air-conditioning.

"Do you want to drive?" she asks, car idling in the street.

"No," I growl. "Just get me home."

"What the hell happened to you?" she asks, looking me up and down with a sour look on her face. "Did you sleep outside or something?"

"Just take me home." I can explain the situation to her after I sleep off this hangover.

She looks from me to the clock on the dash. "Don't you have a test today?"

Shit! "How do you know that?"

"You told me that like thirty times last night before I left."

I look over at her. "Speaking of leaving…" I huff. "Why did you leave me?"

She frowns. "You said I could." But then she gets a dreamy smile on her face.

"Thanks." She sighs, and I can't help but scowl. Glad she remembers how good her night was.

"Just drive me to the college. Please," I say, pulling my sun visor down to look at myself in the mirror. I look like a horror movie gone wrong. My dark hair still looks freshly fucked, only with a few added leaves in it. What makeup is still on has smeared across my face. And my light brown eyes are bloodshot.

She frowns. "You're going to go to school like that?" Her dark blue eyes look me over and her frown deepens before she scrunches her nose.

"I don't have a choice, Jackie." I sigh. "If I miss this test, I'll be in deep shit with my dad. Just take me there. I don't think the test has a hygiene requirement."

She nods her head and starts to drive off. I run my fingers through my hair and try to take off what's left of my makeup, before I lean my head back against the headrest and close my eyes—trying to remember what the hell happened last night. I remember showing up at the party with Jackie. I remember making myself a drink in the kitchen. I remember Rodger calling me, and I remember pressing ignore before I ended up just turning my phone off. But this morning, it was on. When did I turn it back on? I don't remember.

Then we made our way to the back of the house to the game room where I proceeded to smoke a guy who asked me to play a game of pool. The same guy who had helped me make my drink in the kitchen…

I smile as I start to remember the color of his eyes. They were the sexiest gray eyes I had ever seen. I had eye-fucked him with no shame. His smile had caused me to miss a few shots, but I still beat him every time.

His strong jaw and dark hair.

My eyes snap open at that. Well, that answers that question.

I ended up sleeping with him?

I don't remember going to his room, though. Hell, I don't even remember kissing him. So, how did we end up there?

Jackie gets my attention as she rolls down the windows and cranks up the A/C.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"You smell like booze, cigarettes, and sex," she says matter-of-fact. "It's making me nauseous," she adds. "And what happened to you?"

I laugh. "Well, it seems I got some action last night, but I don't remember it."

"Oh, you got some action all right," she agrees. "I thought you two were going to do it on the pool table. Or in the hallway," she adds with a laugh. "Did you end up doing it in the garden or something?"

I scowl. "Why didn't you stop me?"

She quickly looks over at me with a smile. "He was hot and why would I stop you? You were pissed off at Rodger for calling you and started drinking like a fish. Plus, you were totally digging one another." She wiggles her blond eyebrows.

Digging? Who says that?

I shake my head. Even if she had tried to stop me, I wouldn't have listened. "Did you get some?" She better have left for me a good reason.

"Yep," she says with a smile on her face.

"Well, then, our life is complete," I say dryly.

I stretch out my legs and smile. At least the sex I got was good. I can tell it by the feel in my muscles. Whoever he was, he used every inch of my body, and I guarantee I loved every second of it.

"Do you want me to wait for you?" she asks as she pulls up to the college.

I shake my head. "Just come back and get me in an hour," I say digging through my glove box.

"What are you looking for?" she asks.

"Advil." I always keep some in my car.

I look over at her when she sighs. "I already took it," she admits with a small smile.

"What?" I snap. "You took the only two I had left?"

She holds up three fingers, and I let out a growl. She calls out, "Sorry," as I swing the door open and get out.