just now catches my attention. I smile a little, vaguely, and turn back to James.

“What makes you think I would?”

“Maybe because he looks kinda scary?” Mills laughs.

“Does he?” I lean in closer and look into his eyes with a small grin. “Takes a whole lot more to scare

me.”

He notices the underlying challenge in my voice, and swallows. “Right. Then why don’t you prove

it?”

Sweet. Little Casey thinks we’re playing in the same league. We haven’t even started, kid, and

you’re wetting yourself already.

James glares at both of us. “Nobody needs to prove anything here, okay?” He stares at Goth as he

makes his way through the crowd to the counter. Something dark seems to flash in J’s eyes. Hold on.

Does he somehow know I’ve had the kid? If he does, he doesn’t seem too pleased, and I quite like that.

It gives me a thrill to think that he might be jealous.

A small frown appears on Casey’s forehead, and I realize that he’s noticed the look in J’s eyes as

well. Interesting. Maybe Sweetheart isn’t as thick as he lets on, after all.

“I was only joking”, he is quick to defend himself. Lame-o.

I shrug nonchalantly. “Too bad. I wasn’t.”

“Guys?” James interferes with a tired sigh. “Cut it out. I thought all that shit’s in the past.”

“It is.”

We nod simultaneously, and once again I’m astounded as to how skillfully James plays my

emotions. I think of his mom, and the man in the photograph with the confident smile and the cold stare.

I try to catch his eye, but he looks at Mills, and they smile at each other. And then Mills leans in for a

brief kiss and I get the urge to heave. I hate that they absolutely look like they belong. They have their

own small world that I’d never be able to understand, even if I wanted to. But J and I… what do we

have? Other than mind-blowing sex and one amazing conversation every couple of weeks? And lately

there’s been a devastating lack of sex, too. But here’s the big surprise: I thought that I’d mind more than

I do. Man, I crave to be with him again, and yet… the moments when he’s with me and we’re just

talking almost feel more intimate. I’ve never had anything like that before. I’ve just never bothered.

What for? But with J, everything is different. I feel like I need to own him completely to figure this out.

One thing’s for sure: I won’t be the other guy for him. It’s not acceptable.

But alright, let’s play nice, at least for now. I manage a pretty convincing smile as I look at superboyfriend.

“What? We’re cool. Aren’t we, Mills?”

“Sure.” He smiles. “I mean, it’s a weird situation for all of us, with everything that happened,” he

adds with a wry smile.

You mean that night on the beach, when I made you beg for more, and your boyfriend had me in

front of your eyes and you totally dug it?

“But we’re all adults, right?” Right. Funny how he can’t seem to look at me. “It happened, we all

had fun, no need to feel awkward now.”

No shit. I can’t hide an amused grin. “You’re feeling awkward, Mills? Do I make you nervous?”

“You wish.”

“Will you stop it, or I’m leaving right now.” James looks like he really means it, and I know he’s

mad. I’m just not sure if he’s mad at me, at Mills, or at both of us. Shit. Okay, I’ll be the reasonable one

then. They tend to look better. So I shake my head and get up. “No, you two stay. I’m leaving.”

“Rizzo, wait.” Casey sighs deeply, jumping on the reasonable bandwagon. “Can we at least try to get

along?”

“Sure.” I crack a charming smile and wink at him. “We can try.”

When he’s smiling back at me, unable to hold my eyes for long, I realize that there’s something else

there, unspoken. Is he blushing? His eyes dart up to my face again, briefly, and he swallows. Well,

damn. I blink slowly. Are you sure you’re completely over me, kid?

“See you two later.” I don’t wait for them to reply.

I make my way through the crowd to the counter, ending up exactly where I meant to, which is right

next to Goth. I lean against the counter and look at him as I wait for Josephine, the barkeep, to make her

way over. She’ll bring me the coffee Trey ordered before. Our eyes meet and I give Keller my special

grin. Yep, still pretty, this one. Wouldn’t mind having him again. Doesn’t seem like he’d mind being had

either.

I know that James is watching. I also know that Mills is doing his best not to watch but can’t help it.

Not that I give a damn about Mills. But I’m about to make a point here, and I have no doubt that both of

them will get their individual message. I’ll make you realize what you truly want, Jimmy boy. I’ll make

you see what you need. I’ll force you to if I have to. Whatever it takes, you know that I’m game.

Chapter 4

The Living Dead

NICK KELLER: Shit. Oh, damn. This isn’t my bed. My eyes aren’t even open yet, and I can already

tell. Where the hell am I? All right. First step: eyes open. Ow! Shit, it’s bright in here. I’m blind! Wait.

No, just adjusting to the sun. Okay, this room looks… female. I’m in a girl’s room. I wonder if she’s

pretty. I wonder how I got here. I wonder if it’s a bad thing that I don’t remember it.

Ah, the answer to my question. One of them, at least. She is pretty. And also angry.

“God, I thought you’d never wake up! I poked you just about a million times! I was this close to

calling an ambulance for you, I hope you know.” She’s talking too fast. And too loud. My head feels

like it’s going to explode. Why is she so loud? “You have to leave, you know. Some of us need to go to

class.”

Class. Right. What day is it?

“What day is it?” My voice sounds awful. I’m not that surprised. My mouth tastes awful too. What

the hell was I doing last night?

“It’s Thursday you idiot, now get out of bed. I have to get to class. Don’t you?”

Probably, but I don’t really care. Not like I’d be much good in class right now anyway. And why is

she so pissed off at me in the first place? Didn’t we…

“Did we fuck?”

She snorts and rolls her eyes. “Real classy, Romeo. And no. Never in a million years. You came back

here with my lunatic of a roommate. She’s been gone for hours, but like I said, we couldn’t wake you

up. But you’re awake now. So get out.”

Rude bitch. I manage to roll out of bed and somehow stand up. And the room is moving. And I’m

naked. Right. Clothes.

“Oh! God, they’re on the chair!”

I finally get out of the room while I’m still pulling my shirt on, and she’s still bitching at me through

the door. Like I really need that. She’s definitely not making my head feel any better, that’s for sure.

I can think of exactly four things that would make me feel better right now. My first choice - well,

there’s no chance of me getting my first choice this early in the day. Marc would kill me for even

thinking of calling before noon. Even if he didn’t kill me, he’d certainly never sell anything to me ever

again. And I’m not sure which is the worse threat: death or sobriety. My second choice isn’t going to

work either, because if I remember correctly, I don’t have a damn thing left to drink in my room. Third

and fourth are a shower and some coffee. And they seem to be my best bet.

The only question now is: which one first?

A quick look around, and I realize exactly two things. According to the mirror in the hallway, I look

about as good as I feel. Which is to say, like complete and utter shit. So a shower definitely needs to be

first. Luckily, I also realize that I’m in my own building, and just a few floors from my room.

It’s only a matter of minutes before I’m under hot water, washing something pretty disgusting out of