Surviving Regret (34 page)

Hailey laughed a nervous laugh. “Oh no, I’m good back at the dorms, but thanks.”

“So, Bentley, do you know Logan and Dominic? They play on the football team here.” I asked.

“Oh yeah, Logan is actually right over there.” He pointed to Logan who was in the corner near the DJ, talking to a couple of the other guys dressed in their football jerseys. “I saw Dominic a few minutes ago out on the back deck.”

Hailey and I talked to Bentley for a little while, and then Dominic finally made his way into the kitchen. I was standing near the back door but he had not seen me yet.

“Psst.” I said, trying to get his attention.

When he noticed me, his face broke out in a grin. Then he gave me the once over, examining my outfit. He came over to me, let out a low whistle and said, “Damn, baby, I knew you were going to look hot, but damn, I’m speechless.”

Dominic pulled me tight to his body, started kissing me lightly, at first and then deepened the kiss as his tongue met mine. I almost forgot we were at a party with a bunch of people all around us.

I ran my hands slowly up Dominic’s chest, under his shirt; I looked up at him and gave him a sly smile. He grabbed my hand and quickly took us out the sliding glass doors, down the stairs and to the side of the house.

Dominic placed both hands on either side of my face, caging me in. “Kenzie, you look fucking amazing in this.” He kissed me hard, teeth to teeth. “I can’t wait to strip you out of this later.”

I reached down between us and started rubbing him through his jeans. He groaned at the contact. “Baby, stop.”

I started to unbutton his jeans. “But you’re so worked up.” I looked around to make sure no one was in sight, and slid his zipper down. I would never have done this, but we had worked ourselves into a frenzy.

“Kenzie, stop, really, I don’t want…”

I interrupted him. “Dominic, just shut up, okay?” I dropped to my knees in front of him, looked up with a sexy smirk on my face, then pulled him inside my mouth and proceeded to twist my hand up and down.

Dominic’s hands wrapped tightly in my hair, holding my head in place, he groaned his approval of what I was doing. I continually sucked and swirled my tongue along his length. I knew he was not going to last long, not with the way he was moving his hips back and forth.

“Ahh, baby, that feels amazing…” Moaning my name repeatedly, his breath hitched and I felt his legs go stiff.

“Baby…..” He gripped my hair a little tighter, pumped into my mouth once, twice and then he let go.

A few seconds later Dominic pulled me back up and wrapped his arms around me. He started placing kisses on me while he whispered, “Damn, baby, that was hot. Now let me take care of you.”

I cupped his face with both of my hands. ‘No, that was a thank you for the outfit. I love it.”

“I love you so damn much, Kenzie. I’m so glad that you are finally here with me.” We stood there together for a few more minutes, just holding each other before we headed back into the party to find our friends.

Dominic straightened his clothes out, and made sure my hair was back in place before we made our way back into the house to find Hailey, and get some beer. I looked around for her but didn’t see her. I texted her but she didn’t answer.

I was getting worried and Dominic sensed it. “Hey, Bentley, can you watch Kenzie for a minute? I’m going to go see if I can find Hailey.”

“Yeah, sure man.” Bentley said. Dominic gave me a kiss and then went to search for Hailey.

Bentley grinned at me and handed me another beer. I told myself this was going to be my last one. I needed to get Hailey and me home in one piece.

“Have you been here since he came down a few weeks ago?” Bentley asked, while peering at me as if he was trying to put a puzzle together.

I shook my head. “Oh no, we just got here.” I looked out into the crowded living room, trying to figure out what was taking Dominic so long. “So do you live here all the time, or is this just where you stay for school?”

“This is my parents’ vacation house so I live here all the time. Like I said, during school, I have a roommate.” He shrugged. “It helps pay for the bills and shit.”

I looked back out in the crowd, trying to spot Dominic again, but I still couldn’t find him or Hailey anywhere. I know Hailey would not just leave me at the party without at least texting me first. I was starting to get worried that neither one of them had come back.

I turned on the stool I was sitting on to face Bentley, “I’m going to go look for Dominic. He should have been back by now.” Bentley put both his hands on the tops of my thighs, and I froze.

“No, uh…” he looked over my shoulder, and then back at me, “You’ll never find him with all the people in there. Plus, you don’t know your way around. I’ll go get him. You stay here, just in case Hailey shows up looking for you.”

He released my thighs and walked past me. I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. That was strange. I followed Bentley with my eyes, and that was when I saw what exactly was holding Dominic up. Some girl was grinding herself all up on him, and kissing his neck. Being nearly tipsy from all the refills Bentley gave me, I stormed over to Dominic.

I shoved his shoulder. “What the fuck was that, Dominic?”

He tried to grab my hand, but I yanked it back. “Baby, what are you talking about; I was just telling her I had to go find you.”

“Kenzie, what’s wrong?” Hailey asked from behind me.
Now she shows up.

“Stop the bullshit, Dominic. I saw you dancing with her, and she was kissing your neck. You just left me in the fucking kitchen, waiting for you to come back.” I looked back at Hailey, “I think I have had enough fun for one night. I’m leaving.”

“Baby…” he started to say something, but I cut him off by grabbing Hailey’s arm, and pulling her towards the front door. After what we just did outside, how was he doing this to me? What happened to the Dominic who made me feel as if I was his whole world?

Hailey pulled her arm, causing me to stop walking and turn around to look at her. “Kenzie, wait a second. I was just coming to find you to tell you I was going to stay with Logan for the night.”

“Shit! Hailey, you just met him and you are already going to spend the night with him? Do you think that is such a good idea after you have been drinking?”

Looking past me over to where Logan was standing, she gave him an
I’m sorry
look, and then she nodded her head at me. “Okay, let’s get out of here.”

I knew we both had not made many friends here at school since we had only been here a week. It was not fair to Hailey for me to guilt her into coming home with me tonight.

“No, no, it’s okay, Hailey. You stay here and have some fun. I’m going to go out front and call a cab to come pick me up. Send me a text in the morning when you wake up, and please, be careful.”

She gave me a hug, “Are you sure? I know he’ll understand. We both have been drinking pretty heavy, so we were just going to stay here anyway. Logan knows Bentley, and he said we could take the extra bedroom for the night.”

I gave Hailey a kiss on the cheek. “Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I was upset, and on the verge of breaking down in tears. I needed to get out of here. I opened the front door, and ran right into a hard chest. Groaning to myself for not paying attention, I mumbled, “I’m sorry,” and tried to move around him. He kept blocking my path so I couldn’t move past him. I looked up, wondering what the hell this guy’s problem was.

I was frozen in place by his piercing blue eyes. “W-what are you doing here? You’re a little late for the party.”

Hunter looked me up and down, “I live here, CC. Where you off to by yourself, and where the hell is Hailey?”

The beer was starting to catch up to me. My words were slurring. “Dominic and I got into a fight, Hailey is going to stay here with Logan and I’m going home. If you could move out of my way now, I need to go out front and call a cab to come get my ass.”

Hunter put his hands on my shoulders to steady me. “First, you’re not calling a fucking cab. Second, you aren’t going anywhere. You can stay here tonight, in my room. I’d take you home, but I’m too damn tired, and I don’t want you to stay by yourself like this.”

Hiccupping, I said, “I can call a cab. You don’t need to take me home. I’m a big girl.” Damn, Bentley, and the way he kept refilling my cup!

Hunter didn’t respond, and I didn’t have the energy to fight anymore. I knew I was going to lose this battle. Hunter guided me up the stairs to what I assumed was his bedroom. Once he unlocked the door, he flipped the light on, pulled me inside and then locked the door behind him. He walked to his dresser, put his keys down, took out his wallet from his back pocket and placed that on the dresser as well.

“I have my own bathroom over there.” He pointed to another door. He opened his drawer, pulled out a pair of boxers and a t-shirt and handed them to me. “Here, you can sleep in these, because you sure as hell can’t sleep in that.”

I grabbed the clothes he handed me and made my way to the bathroom to change and wash my face. Hunter grabbed a pillow, and a blanket from the bed and placed them both on the couch.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He turned to look at me as if I asked a stupid question. “I’m sleeping on the couch. You can take my bed.”

I shook my head. “No, I’ll take the couch. I’m smaller than you.”

“CC, no, just take the bed. I’m fine on the couch.”

“Fine, I’ll take the bed, but only if you sleep with me. I can’t have you giving up your bed for me.”

He looked at me for a minute before he grabbed the pillow and blanket off the couch and put them back on his bed. I climbed in while Hunter stripped down to his boxers. After laying there for a few minutes staring at the ceiling, I looked over at Hunter, who was also looking at the ceiling.

“Thanks for letting me crash here. I hope this isn’t going to be weird for you. I can go sleep on the couch. I really don’t mind.”

Turning his head, he looked at me with a painful expression. “This isn’t weird, CC. It’s not like we’ve never fallen asleep together before.” He grabbed an extra pillow that he had thrown at the foot of the bed and positioned it between us. “There, just like we used to have it.”

Sighing, I said. “It’s too loud out there; I’ll never be able to fall asleep like this.”

Hunter reached over, careful not to touch me, and grabbed the remote to turn the radio on. The radio stared playing
Trying Not To Love You.

When he laid back down, I looked over at him and whispered, “Thanks.” Then I flipped to my other side to try to get some sleep. I was thoroughly exhausted from the events of the night, and just wanted to shut my brain off for a while. I would deal with all the other problems tomorrow.

I heard Hunter mumble, “Nice fucking song,” and that was the last thing I remember.

CHAPTER SEVEN

When I woke up the next morning, Hunter was still sound asleep on his stomach, turned in my direction, with his right hand tucked under his face. He looked so at ease. Despite having a hangover, I had one of the best nights of sleep in a long time. I laid there for a little while watching his back rise and fall with every breath he took, but nature called. I got up as quietly as I could and went into the bathroom. While I was in there, I looked in his cabinets for some pain reliever to help with my slight hangover from the night before. After I took some, I made my way down to the kitchen to get something to drink.

I walked down the stairs, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The house was a mess, and there were people passed out everywhere. I looked across the living room to the couch, and just about died at what I saw. Two girls were duct taped to it. I shook my head and mumbled to myself, “Looks like they aren't getting up anytime soon.” I made my way toward what I was hoping was the kitchen. As I approached, I saw a guy duct taped to the bathroom door. I mumbled to myself again, “What is it with people being duct taped to shit?” Walking back down the hallway, I passed a guy asleep on the floor. Someone had taken black marker and had drawn all over his face, arms and legs. In the kitchen, there were still a few people playing poker. I grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge, and headed back upstairs. I walked past a huge window at the top of the stairs, and looked outside. I noticed the picnic table had been set on fire at some point during the night, and there was a guy and a girl sleeping on an air mattress in the pool.

Shaking my head at the mess left behind, I opened the door quietly to Hunter’s room hoping that I wouldn’t wake him up. I was surprised to find him sitting up and running his hand through his hair.

“Damn it, CC, I thought you left.” He was pissed.

As calmly as I could, I said. “Relax Hunter, I just went to find something to drink.”

“Fuck! I’m sorry. I thought you had left me.” He pointed towards the fridge that was in the corner of his room. Somehow, I had missed that earlier. “There’s water and orange juice in there.”

I sat on his bed and pulled the covers over my legs. “Sorry, didn’t see that over there. I wish I had though,” I started giggling. “You don’t want to go out there. Your house is trashed.”

He looked up to the ceiling. “I’m not surprised. Every time Bentley throws a party at the beginning of the year this shit happens. He hires a cleaning company to come clean all that.”