Page 8 of Promised to the Nightmare Realm
After a fruitless search upstairs, I make my way back to the main party area. The drunk girl is now asleep and covered with someone’s furry cape, but I can only pay her so much attention if I’m to find Richie and end things.
Just as I pass the large kitchen, his warm voice reaches my ears. Bingo.
There are no speakers here, so I can follow the conversation, but as I step inside, hidden behind a bunch of drunk people munching on what I suspect to be hash brownies, my confidence dwindles further. What if I don’t express myself right and he needs to ask questions? What if his friends laugh at me? Maybe it’s less awkward if I let him finish his current conversation first?
Dressed as a sexy cowboy, Richie’s leaning against the counter. Jeans hug his thighs, he’s in a fringed leather vest that shows off his bare chest and has a cowboy hat to finish the look. He does look hot, I have to give him that.
I hang around the kitchen counter decorated with pumpkins and pretend I’m very focused on the choice of beers. It’s easy to see that the guy dressed in leopard print overalls, cat ears included, is drinking every word from Richie’s lips like it’s ambrosia while stealing glances at my soon-to-be-ex’s abs. Why wouldn’t he? It wasn’t him Richie left for dead.
“…so I stuffed all those puppies in my duffel bag,tenpuppies, Ian, can you imagine? And I could already hear people yelling, so I just made a run for it. And then these crazies literally started shooting!Pow, pow, pow, at least twenty times. And all I was thinking was about those puppies, you know? Like, when you see something like that happening, you just have to act. I don’t care if it was illegal. At least now they’re safe.”
Ian nods fervently, lips open, eyes glued to Richie like he’s the second coming of Jesus. “Oh, my God,yes. You’re fucking amazing.”
One of Richie’s buddies, who’s dressed as a mechanic, swallows a long swig of booze and clears his throat. “Was whatshisname there too?”
My heart stops, waiting for the acknowledgement I’m owed even if I’m not the hero of this semi-fictitious story, but Richie sighs, leaning a bit closer to Ian. “Well, he bailed. Maybe you could be my sidekick next time?”
Rage spins through my head, scalding every thought, and before I can think, the carved pumpkin that’s been staring at me since I entered the kitchen flies above the crowd. Richie only avoids being hit square in the head due to his superior reflexes.
“You stinking liar!”
Do I sound a bit shrill?
Is this loss of control embarrassing?
Maybe, but I can’t stop the explosive emotions from ripping out of me.
Richie blinks, and darn, do I like the flush on his cheeks. He’s been caught in a lie and knows it.
“You took the car and left me there, you coward! You didn’t even bother to check if I was fine!” I scream, tearing the mask off my face when a loose thread tickles the corner of my eye.
Richie takes a bit too long to answer, and I hope his friends see that. “You went off somewhere, whileIwas taking the puppies to safety!” he finally sputters, so, in my fury, I grab another pumpkin and hurl it at him to a mix of gasps, laughter, and one ‘that’s not cool, man!’. This one manages to hit Richie in the shoulder. I’m not a violent man, quite the opposite really, but everyone has their limits.
“I was grabbing the final puppy when you ran away. And you wouldn’t have been there in the first place if I didn’t convinceyou to come, so don’t pretend like you’re some big animal lover, because you couldn’t even remember to feed your friend’s fish for a week!”
There’s jeers, comments, laughter, but all I can see is Richie’s handsome face. Too bad it’s only a mask of the treacherous swine he is!
I can’t believe I had his cock in my mouth.
“I thought it was a misunderstanding, but here you are, flirting with someone else and lying to his face. We are done!”
Richie walks up to me and pushes me on the shoulder. “Oh yeah? I told you we were done last night!” He did not, but of course, all he cares about is optics. “Why are you even here if you hate me so much now, huh? Bet you came for another fuck and now you’re throwing shit at me ‘cause you got jealous I moved on?”
I’ve been so blind.
I idealized him just because he wasn’t hiding me like all my other exes. I thought of him as my prince charming, but there are no prince charmings. There are guys who will say and do anything to get their dick sucked.
I can’t believe I fell for it. Again.
The anger inside me needs to be vented, so I grab one side of that stupid vest and tug at it. “I’m not interested in Ian’s sloppy seconds. No offense,” I growl Ian’s way, and the guy steps back, rolling his eyes.
“Maybe if you weren’t such a goody-two-shoes, we would have worked out,” Richie says, slapping my hand aside.
I yelp, because that actually hurts. I just don’t know if it hurt my hand more or my heart. As embarrassing as it is now, I had feelings for Richie, romantic ones. What am I supposed to say to that? I can now see that he’s been checked out of our relationship for a while. That’s why he didn’t want to committo a birthday party. He wasn’t even sure we’d be together next month.
I’m stuck in limbo, unsure how to react as I cradle my hand, suffocating under the weight of surrounding sniggers.
A large gloved hand reaches from behind me and grabs Richie’s wrist. The tall man steps to my side, watching my new nemesis like a hawk, and I can’t believe my eyes, because it’s the elven knight from my dream.
