"Mark, this is Cookie."

I practically shoved the girl headfirst in front of him the second we stepped foot through the front door of the house. If I would have pushed her any harder, she would have faceplanted right into his shins.

I was going to break something or someone if I had to spend another second with her.

My patience was on the bottom end of non-existent.

Not only did I just give Sean every cent I had to my name for the Camo tickets, but I also had to spend the last fifteen minutes in a car listening to this idiotic girl who liked to hear herself talk. She enjoyed her own voice so much that she didn't even shut up when I told her to close her legs before I passed out from the stench.

The entire car ride back to the house she was having a conversation with herself about how many men adored and worshiped her at the club she worked at. No matter what bullshit came out of her mouth, it wasn't going to change my interest level.

There was no way I was going to touch that tonight.

Cookie was a total narcissist and it wasn't even the normal overcompensating kind of bragging that girls did to hide their flaws. That girl believed every word coming out of her mouth. She was the type of over-the-top confident and self-important person that made her hard to stomach.

I wished I had brought the pills I had stashed in my room with me. If I could take enough of them, I might be able to find a way to tune her out.

It was a good thing Mark wasn't picky when it came to the opposite sex or my night would have been ruined.

If I was being completely honest with myself, if Riley wasn't coming back to the house tonight, I would just have gone ahead and hooked up with Cookie. My dick was uncomfortably hard and my balls felt like they were the size of grapefruit since Riley's little show. The way her green eyes devoured me tonight drove me fucking insane.

I had to see her again to try to convince myself I was just making this all up in my head. There was no way she had this much power over me.

I began to walk away from Mark and Cookie to see if I could find her.

"Stay, have a drink with us." Mark smiled a toothy, intoxicated grin at me.

"Not interested in my ears fucking bleeding all night." I motioned towards Cookie.

"Asshole." She snapped at me. "I don't even know how you have any friends."

"Well, see, Ezra is a brussel sprout." Mark slurred.

I raised my eyebrow at him. What in the fucking hell did he mean by that?

"Just hear me out, big guy." Mark reached out and patted my chest. He turned his head and started trying to explain. "No one likes brussel sprouts."

"Should I break your nose or your eye socket?" I asked.

"I'm saying you are an acquired taste." Mark rolled his hand in front of him like he was conducting a symphony. "It takes at least ten times of trying you before learning to tolerate you."

Mark was smiling at me like it was a compliment.

It didn't make it better, not one little bit.

"Fuck you." I hollered out and flipped him off.

"You know where I live. My door's always open. Bring flowers and a saxophone. I like to be wooed."  Mark wrapped his arm around Cookie and blew me a kiss.

I had no words. Once again, Mark had found a way to confuse me until I was completely speechless.

Aiden's gregarious, inebriated voice bounced off the walls around me as I made my way around the house searching for Riley. It sounded like he was in the kitchen. He was always hovering over her; she was probably in there pretending to laugh at his poor attempt at humor. 

I should go save her.

Four heads turned to stare at me when I walked in, but none of them were the girl I was looking for.  Aiden was standing next to some brunette, talking to another guy who had bright-ass pink hair and a couple of piercings on his face. 

There was not enough money in the world to ever get me to dye my hair pink.  He looked like someone put a fuzzy pink fur hat on his head.  It reminded me of the stuffed animals from the music store that day when Riley was going to attack Mia.

Riley.

Fuck, I wanted her. 

She had to be here somewhere. She said she was coming back to the house.

Where the hell was she?

Was she avoiding me?

I left the kitchen without joining in or grabbing a drink. There was a slightly sour feeling in my stomach and I wasn't in the partying mood tonight. I searched every corner of the house for another fifteen minutes and even went up to Aiden's room to see if she snuck past me.

There was no sign anywhere. She must have changed her mind and decided to go home.

I took a few steps back down the stairs. The high vantage point would make it easier to scout out the party. I didn't feel like being down in the crowd with everyone else, but I wasn't ready to go to sleep either.

"You look lost." Cookie walked up the steps slowly, sucking on her bottom lip.

"Not at all." I groaned in frustration and closed my eyes as I fought the urge to hit my head against the stairs.

Fuck, this girl never gave up.

"Which one is your room? I want to go lay down." She started sliding her hands over my thighs.

"Use Mark's."

"He's busy." She leaned down and pressed her chest against my dick. 

"Go. Find. Mark." I said through gritted teeth. I opened my eyes and stared down at her as she moved against me.

"He's...um... I don't know what he is doing, actually." She turned her head and looked down the stairs.

When my eyes followed where she was looking, I saw Mark standing on the coffee table, gyrating his hips like he was using a hula-hoop. Aiden and the brown-haired girl were sitting on the couch in front of him, cracking up and egging him on.

"He's practicing for you. Stay here. I'll get him." I stood up and pushed Cookie back from me to go downstairs.

I stood next to Mark who was still wiggling his body. I was afraid to reach out to touch him. There was no telling what he was going to do if I did. 

Mark was smashed. 

He looked down at me and flipped his hair back off his face.  One of the large droplets of sweat that was dripping down his head landed right in my mouth.  I spit at the floor to get the taste of rotting salt off my taste buds. 

He was so fucking disgusting.

"Dude. Now I know how it feels to be a giant like you!" Mark raised his arms, trying to make himself look even bigger.

I pulled his arm and yanked him off the table to take him over to Cookie.  Those two were made for each other.  They had a combined IQ of a box of defective glowsticks.

"You see that?" I pointed up to the purple-haired girl waiting on the stairs. "Take her to your room."

Mark cheesed up at me with glassy eyes but didn't leave my side. I threw my hands up and then pushed him towards the steps. Cookie walked down and grabbed his hand.

"Good luck," I grumbled.

Mark turned around and gave me a thumbs up and then began walking back down the stairs towards the tv. Cookie ran down the stairs chasing after him.

Fucking idiots.

I went upstairs to the bathroom and rinsed my mouth out with mouthwash. As I unlocked the door, Aiden burst into the bathroom and hit me in the side with the door knob.

"Sorry. My bad. Hey, why are you in my room?" Aiden asked as he and the girl he was holding onto struggled to remain standing.

"This is the bathroom."

"Oh yeah. Do you know where my room is?" Aiden grunted as he tried to hold her up.  "She is sick and wants to go to sleep." 

The girl's skin looked green and Aiden didn't look much better either.

I shook my head and stepped out in the hall to help Aiden carry her to his room.

Fuck, this night just needed to end before I lost my shit.