When he’d come over last night, after my blowout call with my parents, he’d smelled like alcohol.

I knew that smell.

I used to smell like that, back in high school.

Emo. Goth. Suicide Watch…

Christos was hiding something. But what?

Another woman? That stupid Isabella? I’d claw the bitches eyes out.

Bitch. Slut. Whore…

But I didn’t think that was it. In truth, I had no idea what it could be. I’d believed that telling Christos I wanted to move in with him was going to magically fix all my problems. I guess I never considered his problems. But what problems did he actually have? None that I knew of.

Unless…

Did it have something to do with me moving in?

Oh, no. Was my mom right?

Had I somehow scared Christos off, now that I’d agreed to live with him? It couldn’t be. He’d seemed so excited the night I’d told him. So what was wrong? Was it possible he was having second thoughts? I wasn’t sure, but I knew he was pulling away.

Oh, God, please no.

Maybe I’d been stupid to think Christos was so perfect. He was human, after all. He had to have some flaws somewhere.

Whatever they were, I would love him and accept him. If he would only tell me. The not knowing was driving my crazy.

I jumped up from my couch and grabbed my phone. My finger hovered over the speed dial for Christos.

I was going to call him again and ask him to come over right away. I desperately wanted to sort things out with him.

But he was out with Jake.

Groan! I suddenly felt guilty at the thought of calling. I knew Christos needed a break. He’d been working hard on new paintings ever since New Year's Eve. He never took any breaks, other than when he was with me, and that wasn’t nearly often enough, considering how busy I was with my jobs and classes.

Maybe he just needed space. For tonight.

I reluctantly set my phone down on the coffee table and went to my kitchen.

 I’d been a good girl lately. I’d barely touched my ice cream in weeks. I pulled a pint of Double Dark Chocolate Devil’s Delight out of my freezer, grabbed a spoon, then went back to my couch.

Ice Cream always helped me study. That’s the only reason I was going to eat any. Because Sociology 2 deserved no less.

I would not let Sociology 2 down at any cost.

I swear, my worries about Christos had nothing to do with my sudden urge for an ice cream splurge.

I wondered if perhaps the red cartoon devil printed on the side of the ice cream carton would be waiting for me at the bottom of the tub when I reached it.

Nope, just cardboard.

CHRISTOS

Jake and I stumbled out of the bar a couple hours later. I’d lost count of how much I’d had to drink after the beers at Dick’s and those shots of Wild Turkey.

Whatever.

We cruised the streets, trying to sober up.

Neither one of us was in any shape to drive.

“Maybe you should call Sam,” Jake belched.

“Naw, we’ll be fine in a while.” I didn’t want to tell him that I felt like a dipshit for getting so loaded, and I didn’t want Samantha to see me like this.

“I can call Mads,” Jake said.

“We’ll be fine, just give it some time. There’s an all-night coffee shop around here somewhere. We can sit in it and suck back espressos until the booze bleeds out.” At this rate it was going to be sunrise before I saw Samantha.

We strolled through the thinning crowds on the sidewalk in the Gaslamp.

As we turned onto Fourth Street, we passed by Horton Plaza. “I fucking love that place, man,” I slurred. “It’s like the Disneyland of fucking shopping malls.”

Jake snickered. “Dude, you’re fucking wasted.”

“I’m fucking wasted,” I smiled.

We continued down Fourth until we hit the Hooters on the corner of Market Street.

We paused.

I cocked a thumb toward the Hooters. “Wanna get some more drinks?”

“And have a bunch of PG-13 strippers wearing those road-crew orange shorts hit on us all night? That shit is comedy, but I’m all good,” Jake smiled. “Hey, didn’t you used to bang one of the waitresses who worked here?”

“Probably,” I sputtered, meaning it.

Jake cackled, knowing I was telling the truth.

Jake and I both turned as the doors to Hooters opened and a group of rowdy guys poured onto the sidewalk. They were laughing and shouting and making a bunch of noise.

One of them was that guy Hunter Fucking Blakeley. He had his arms around two bar babes. They were clearly into him. He was clearly into them. Both bar babes looked toasted. Both were pretty damn hot in their tight skirts and tops. Neither were in Samantha’s league, but both were hot enough for a magazine cover.

They were gazing up at Hunter like he was Brad Fucking Pitt or some shit.

I could fix that.

I stood my ground as Hunter’s buddies parted around me and Jake like we were our own fucking continent, and they had no choice but to flow elsewhere.

I made sure to stare Hunter right in the eyes.

It didn’t take long.

“I know you,” Hunter said. “Where do I know you from?”

“From my girlfriend,” I growled.

He stopped. “Oh yeah! You’re Sam’s man. You were too pussy to fight me the other day.”

He could spin that shit however he wanted. But that wasn’t my point. I was strategizing.

It took about three seconds for his two honeys to turn their greedy eyes on my shit.

“Is this your friend?” the brunette asked Hunter.

Hunter had some game. “Yeah, sure,” he said confidently. He wasn’t ruffled yet.

Yet.

“What’s his name?” the blonde asked.

Hunter didn’t seem inclined to answer.

Both of the girls were drooling at me openly.

Despite the chill air, I wore a short-sleeve black V-neck. My tatted arms were cocked and loaded. I twitched both arms, making the muscles pop and stand out like hard-chiseled granite, all striated and rugged.

“Mmmm,” the blonde said. She literally released her grip on Hunter and stepped up to me. She slid her hand down my chest and abs. “I like,” she purred.

I was used to this shit. When I turned it on, like now, chicks went fucking nuts.

“What’s your name, honey?” she asked.

“Adonis,” I said. Fuck yeah, Adonis.

“Sounds like a hero’s name or something,” she said.

Fuck yeah, it did. “What’s your name?” I asked her.

“MacKenzie,” the blonde murmured. “Check him out, Kylie,” she said to her friend. “He’s yummy,” she purred.

Kylie the brunette was now gaping at me.

I cocked my dimpled grin at her.

As if hypnotized, her hands relaxed from touching Hunter and drifted slowly to her sides. She leaned away from him like she was hypnotized and floated toward me on her heels. She grabbed my belt with one hand and slid her other into my front pocket.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, her fingers gliding across my dick through the material.

The thing was, this shit only worked when you did it for real. I was hard as a fucking rock.

“He’s huge, MacKenzie,” Kylie said to her friend, sounding astonished, like she’d just met God.

Hunter glared at me.

His buddies circled around me and Jake. There were three of them. Four on two. Jake could fight. We were going to be fine.

I could feel the tension on the street corner.

MacKenzie and Kylie hung off me like they were my harem.

The second I’d seen Hunter walk out the door of the Hooters, I’d wanted to kick his ass. But this was better.

“You guys ready to go?” Hunter asked the two girls who were humping my legs.

They looked at him like he was a ghost or maybe a gust of wind.

One of them broke into a stripper laugh. That was all either of them had to say on the subject of going anywhere with Hunter and his boys.

“Shall we?” I said to the girls. I nodded toward Jake. He opened the door.

I walked inside Hooters with MacKenzie and Kylie on my arms. Jake followed.