that moment.
I needed him.
Reed carried me up the driveway.
I opened my eyes a few times.
I saw stars. His face. Stars. His face.
Then I shut my eyes.
“Hey, honey, do me a favor,” Reed said.
“Huh?” I managed to groan.
“Turn your head the other way,” he said. “Your breath is rancid.”
Oh, I thought women who stunk of vomit was your thing? I’m surprised your dick isn’t hard.
I began to wonder if his dick was hard.
Don’t think about his dick!
But it was too late.
I was thinking about Reed’s dick.
My left hand dangled and swung back and forth like the quiet pendulum of a clock.
Then my brain came up with a really good idea.
Touch his dick. Find out if he’s hard.
I swung my left hand and tried to grab between his legs.
Reed froze.
“Abby, don’t fuck around right now,” he growled.
“You said… angry sex…”
What am I doing?
“Angry sex, right,” he said. “How about being coherent first?”
“I’m fine,” I said.
“Sure you are, honey,” he said.
I felt us walking up some steps.
Then a door opened.
I heard music playing from somewhere in the house.
But we went in the opposite direction.
The music faded away.
Reed opened another door and he slowly put me down on the floor.
“Oh, good, I’m on the floor,” I muttered.
“Just shut up for a second,” he said.
He walked away with heavy footsteps.
I was next to a giant window.
A floor to ceiling window.
And the night was so dark and the sky so clear I could see the stars.
I started to smile.
Reed came back and he moved me around to put me on a thick blanket.
“Just go to sleep, honey,” he said. “I don’t want to talk to you. Or see you.”
“Yeah, same to you, loser,” I said.
He put a blanket on me.
A pillow under my head.
He rolled up another blanket and tucked it behind me to keep me on my side.
Then he put a bowl down next to my head, along with a bottle of water.
“If you puke on my floor, you’re not getting paid for the gig,” he said.
“Why did you put me on the floor here?” I asked.
“Because you like looking at the stars,” he said.
His footsteps thudded again as he walked away.
He slammed the door shut.
I stared at the stars.
Smiling.
Reed remembered that I liked stars.
That was-
My stomach gurgled and I put my face into the bowl and was ready for round two.
Anytime I was near Reed, bad things happened to me.
9
REED
My rock star palace was big enough that I had plenty of space for Abby.
I was not expecting a drunk text from her. And I was definitely not expecting her to show up. Or get sick in my driveway. Not that I cared about that. Someone would go out there and spray it down with a hose.
There had been a long list of people who had gotten sick outside and inside my house.
But Abby…
I never thought in my wildest dreams she would be anywhere near my house.
She wasn’t just near my house now. She was in one of the guest bedrooms, curled up on the floor, looking out the giant window at the stars.
Or maybe she was looking face down into the bucket I gave to her.
My feet stopped moving.
I stood at the entrance to the massive, gourmet kitchen.
I had an urge to go back.
To double check on her.
Last thing I needed in my life was to have some old flame show up drunk and end up choking on her own puke and dying in my house.
That was the rock star way to go, but Abby wasn’t a rock star.
Yes she is, Reed.
I looked over my shoulder and shook my head.
There was no going back.
I meant that in more than one way too.
If I walked back to that room… and I found her on the floor…
I made fists and gritted my teeth.
I spun around and hurried back through the house to the guest room.
When I opened the door, I shut my eyes and reminded myself of what happened that night.
What really fucking happened that night.
Was I the asshole who tossed Abby to the side of the road in the middle of the night? Yes, I was. Was I the asshole who was about to make more money than I ever thought possible, while Abby was going to have to find a way somewhere? Yes, I was.
But I had my reason.
I opened my eyes and I was pissed off.
Some memories in life were deep.
I moved through the bedroom, leaving the door open.
That was my incentive to make sure I left the damn room for good.
I walked