Consumed (5 page)

“I’ll see you around.” He calls to me.

I glance over my shoulder and give him a slight smile. His words thrill me because it almost sounds like a guarantee. Selena has a firm grip on my forearm as she drags me from the steakhouse. Before we exit she flips off the group of boys and they laugh loudly. When we’re outside and out of earshot I ask her what happened.

“They’re gross.” She states simply.

I don’t press the unlock button on my keys and she stands at the passenger door impatiently waiting for me to unlock it. “Why are they gross?”

“They thought I was a prostitute and they wanted to pay for blowjobs in the bathroom.”

The way her eyebrows pull together, forming a small wrinkle on the bridge of her nose makes me erupt with laughter. I prop my back against the car, leaning all of my weight onto it as my stomach begins to burn.

“It’s not funny.” Selena groans.

Tears squeeze their way out of the corner of my eyes. “I’m not laughing because of what they said.” I manage to say in between deep breaths of air. “I’m laughing because you look so disgusted!”

“I
am
disgusted.” The wind blows a soft, blonde curl into her face and she swipes at it. “Can you unlock the God damn car so we can get out of here?”

When I press the button, she wastes no time in diving into the car. I inhale a few times before opening the door and sliding in behind the wheel.

“Oh, shit.” Selena swears, dropping her face into her hands.

“What?” I ask, as my chest hiccups with a remaining giggle.

“I left my handbag inside.”

“Well I’m not going back to get it.” No way.

Selena turns in her seat so the majority of her body is facing me. Her big, green eyes hold a pleading gleam as she presses her palms together. “Please, O! Please don’t make me go back in there. I’m embarrassed enough as it is.”

“Do I look like I’m eager to go back in there?”

“You should be. Your guy was a total babe and he was so into you.”

No, he was into the fact that I have a vagina, not me as a person. I squeeze the steering wheel.

“He’s not
my guy.”
Is all I manage to say.

“
Just do it for me and we don’t have to go clubbing tonight. We—”

Before she finishes her sentence I’m out of the car and marching back to the steakhouse. I’d do anything to get out of clubbing. I open the door and the bell rings. I allow myself one deep, uneven breath before lifting my gaze from the floor. Various sets of eyes flicker to me, but the only pair I see are the brown ones connected to such a handsome face. My mouth instantly goes dry and I hate myself for it. He leans against the back of his friends’ booth with Selena’s handbag tucked nicely under his arm. His hands are stuffed into the front pockets of his jeans and inwardly, I shake my head at myself. I really need to man up. I hate feeling so little and vulnerable in front of him—in front of a stranger. I force myself to walk towards him, holding my hand out for Selena’s bag. He glances at my palm with a smirk—it’s more of a corner lip twitch, but I still want to suck it off his face.

I clear my throat. “Can I have my friend’s handbag, please?”

Surprisingly, he hands it to me without a word and I take it. Quickly, I turn on my heel and I head for the door, but before I make it, his friend calls out to me.

“Hey, you!”

I let out a slow exhale and turn, forcing my politest smile. The guy with the lousy moustache smiles at me, exposing his teeth.

“Yes?”

“Tell her we’ll pay her extra if she comes back in
and
I’ll throw in double if those full, pink lips of yours are willing to participate.” He smiles at me like I’m on the price is right and I’ve just received an awesome deal. I blink at him, repeatedly. What. A. Douchebag.

The man in the red cap looks over his shoulder at me and shakes his head, embarrassed by his friend’s behavior. I look at Seth and his amused expression becomes murderous as he turns to his friend.

“Show some fucking respect.” He demands in a voice that is low and aggressive, startling me.

Moustache-face slumps a little in his seat and when his hazel eyes fall back onto me, I turn my attention back to Seth.

“Thanks, but I can defend myself.”

I storm from the steakhouse and don’t hear the door close behind me as I step down the small, concrete stairs. Dread slithers through my tummy because I just know he’s behind me.

“Olivia!” Seth calls, forcing me to slow my pace. I whirl around to face him. “I’m sorry about my friends. They tend to get a little... stupid in the presence of beautiful women.”

My stomach flutters and I drop my sight to the bland concrete for a split second. I never would have expected him to regard me as a ‘beautiful woman’.

“It’s not your fault. We can’t control our friend’s stupidity, no matter how much we want to.” I say with a smile. “See you.”

Turning away from him is difficult, but I manage just fine. I make sure I keep my gaze low as I climb back into the car and toss Selena’s handbag onto her lap. She watches me as I reverse from the car park and onto the highway. I pretend not to notice her staring at me, but I do and it’s creeping me out.

“Hello?”

I look at her briefly. “What?”

“Um, a hottie chases you from the steakhouse and you’re not telling me anything.”

I shrug. “There’s nothing to tell you. He had your handbag and I got it back. He followed me out to the car park to apologize for his friend’s attitudes.”

She clasps her hand over her chest. “What a sweetheart. Are you seeing him?”

I scoff and maybe push a little too hard on the accelerator. “What? No, we met briefly at the gym this morning and—”

“Shut up!” She squeals. “
He
is what made you forget to text me back? Did you, you know?” You know? How old are we, twelve? She erupts into a fit of giggles and I feel my cheeks burning.

“No, I didn’t. I’m not
you
.”

Selena doesn’t have the shortest or cleanest sexual relations record book and she knows it. Selena raises her hands, flashing me her palms in defeat. “Okay, okay, but if you do, you better tell me.”

I roll my eyes. “Whatever.”

***

After the steakhouse Selena and I stay at my house for the rest of the day. We didn’t do much. She helped me clean and prepare dinner then we went down to the store to buy snacks for our movie night. When we were back at home I strangely couldn’t stop thinking about Blade. I scroll to his name on my contact list and stare at it.

“Maybe I should call him...” I tell Selena as she puts the chicken on the portable grill.

“Call who?”

“Blade.”

She stops what she’s doing and faces me. Without warning, her hand firmly slaps my cheek, tossing my head to the side. My skin burns and anger prickles across my flesh.

“What the hell, Selena?”

She pulls my phone from my hands and tosses it into the lounge room. It bounces off a fluffy, blue cushion and then onto my turquoise shaggy rug. “You
cannot
call him. He’ll use whatever sneaky shit he can to weasel his way back into your life. He cheated on you—a million times. You deserve someone better than him.”

“I know, but I should call him and see if he’s okay.”

She shook her head as she tied her curls into a bun on the top of her head. “He’s fine. Don’t convince yourself that he’s sitting at home staring at the phone waiting for you to call because he isn’t. He’ll be out somewhere hitting on girls and drinking until he passes out. Fuck that noise.”

I turn from her to pour Caesar sauce onto the salad mix. I know I’m not the one who did the wrong thing, but am I supposed to let six years go down the drain like it meant nothing? Is that how it works? Six years of your life is a long time to give to someone. I should at least clear the air between us so it makes me feel better about wasting so much time.

Selena finishes mixing the chicken with the salad and leaves it to cool.

“I need to pee.” She announces, leaving the kitchen in pursuit of the toilet.

As soon as I hear the bathroom door close I run for my phone and step outside. I dial Blade’s number and for the first time ever, he answers immediately.

“Are you fucking a guy named Seth Marc?” There’s no warmth to his voice and it startles me.

“Hello to you too...”

“Answer me.”

“Who told you that? And how do you even know who he is? He’s new to town.”

“A friend saw you with him at the steakhouse and everyone who follows amateur MMA knows who he is. I don’t want you seeing him.”

The demand in his voice instantly pisses me off. How dare he tell me what to do?

“I can see whoever I want to see. We aren’t together anymore, remember? I broke up with you.”

I don’t deny whether or not I’m seeing Seth. Blade thinks I’m boring and plain so I want him to see that other men—sexy men—want me. I want him to see that he messed up.

“Olly,” Blade breathes into the phone. “This guy beats people for a living. I don’t want you anywhere near him.” His tone takes a softer edge and it almost gets to me until I hear a girl in the background telling him to get back into the shower. I’m not going to lie, it hurt. Why did I even call him in the first place? I like the air between us just as it is—dirty—like him.

“I’ll continue to see Seth if I want to.” I’m sure he can hear the tremor in my voice, but I’m thankful he can’t see my hands shaking. “You don’t own me, no one does!” I hang up as the bathroom door opens.

Selena narrows her green eyes at me, folding her arms tightly across her chest. “Please tell me you did not just call Blade.”

I push past her. “Yep and you’ll be glad to know it’s still over between us.”

I throw my phone onto the couch and drop into a chair at the kitchen table. The look of the grilled chicken salad makes my mouth water. Regardless of how pissed off I am, a girl’s gotta eat. My stomach growls and I’m past the point of being hungry. I feel kind of nauseous, but everything smells so good. I dig into my salad eating large mouthfuls of chicken and lettuce, swallowing gratefully.

“So,” Selena begins, picking at her salad. “Are you going to tell me what happened with Blade?”

“I kind of told him I had a new boyfriend.” I say through a mouthful of food.

Her eyes widen. “What did he say?”

“That he doesn’t want me to see him.”

“Him?”

“I told him I’m dating Seth.”

“Who’s Seth?”

What?
I’m about to throw my fork at her. “The guy from the steakhouse.”

She clasps a manicured hand over her mouth and laughs through the gaps between her slender fingers. “Jesus, O. Why’d you do that?”

I almost chuckle. “Because Blade seems to think I’m plain and no one else would want me. I want him to see that I am desirable to men—especially someone like Seth who, let’s face it, has a face
and
a body carved by God himself. He can have any girl he wants.”

“Not every girl.” Selena says, trying to make a statement. I angle my head and narrow my eyes at her, challenging her. Even Selena knows all a handsome guy has to do is bat an eyelid at her and she’ll go with it—he doesn’t even have to be handsome half the time.

She chews on a piece of lettuce, giggling. “I totally lied. I’d let him have me. Hell, if he was the one that asked for a blow job in the bathroom I’d do it and I’d pay him.”

I spit salad all over the table, unable to contain my laughter. Selena laughs too and soon, the conversation between Blade and I falls from thought. All I want to do is hang out with my best friend.

Chapter Five

Spending last night eating snacks and watching Mean Girls was exactly what the doctor ordered. After I dropped Selena at her father’s law firm, I went to the gym. I’m going to have to spend extra time on the treadmills today if I want to burn off all of the sugar and Trans fats I ate last night. It was worth it though.

I approach the building and as my fingers curl around the long door handle, I realize I’m holding my breath. I let it go slowly and open the door.
Do not look at him. Do not look at
him. I fail miserably and my eyes betray me, darting straight to where he was standing yesterday of their own accord. I pout when my gaze falls onto an empty space.

Seth isn’t here.

Suddenly, my motivation to be at the gym depletes.

“Olivia!” My dad calls from the window in the middle of the wall at least two stories up. He waves his hand in front of him, gesturing for me to come up the stairs.