Chapter 5: The Pucking Wrong Number: Chapter 4

I slammed the door behind Jared and sank against it, my heart racing with fear and disgust. Was I cursed? Because it certainly felt that way at the moment. Between Jared and Kevin, I’d won the award for most asshole interactions in a day.

Rubbing my face, I took some deep breaths, feeling violated and powerless.

Think, think, think…

At that moment, my phone buzzed. No one ever called or texted me unless it was about work, so I quickly pulled it out to look at it. It was from an unknown number.

I stared at the text for a moment in disbelief. Was today national douchebag day, when everyone came out of the woodwork? Which creep was texting me? Kevin? Sleazy Jared? Someone else I didn’t know?

I moved to put down my phone and ignore it…but then I changed my mind.

Not in a million years could you blow my mind, I typed back angrily. Setting the phone down, I felt strangely better.

The phone buzzed. We both know that’s not true, the text read.

What a conceited asshole. Of course, he would think he was God’s gift to women. I could just picture both Kevin and my landlord sending these texts to some poor girl.

There was a longer silence after this response, and I moved to set my phone down again, satisfied I had successfully embarrassed him.

If this was your attempt to get a dick pic, it actually almost worked, the text read when it came in.

I sat down on my bed in a huff, snorting to myself. The last thing any girl wanted was some guy’s wrinkled old balls on their phone.

I’ll pass, I wrote back. Old wrinkled balls are not my thing.

A grin snuck onto my face. This guy may resemble my landlord, but at least he was funny.

If I’d known you were actually interesting, I would’ve shown up last night, the next text read, and my grin quickly faded. Who the fuck was this guy?

Well, I knew you were uninteresting. So I didn’t bother showing up either, I quickly typed out.

My homework started calling for me then. As much as I’d enjoyed the brief reprieve, I knew it was time to get back to work. Especially if I was going to have to find another place to live. I didn’t make enough to come up with a first and last months’ deposit right now—and I knew I wouldn’t get my deposit back from Jared obviously—so finding somewhere that didn’t require that was going to cut into my already non-existent time.

My phone buzzed again.

Let’s be uninteresting together, it read.

I scoffed. You have the wrong number. Hopefully whatever girl you ditched doesn’t ever text you back, I typed before pulling out my calculus book, knowing that it wouldn’t make any sense today, just as it hadn’t yesterday.

Kara? the next text read.

I ignored it.

It’s B.S. to pretend this is the wrong number and ignore me, Kara. It’s like putting blood in the water, he texted.

I don’t know what I was thinking–maybe I wasn’t–because I quickly snapped a selfie with my middle finger up and shot it to him.

A second later, Please, please don’t be Kara, the text read.

I put my math book down. I believe I already told you I wasn’t her. Now, good day, sir.

What’s your name? came the immediate text.

I wrinkled my nose. My name is Monroe.

I threw my phone down, furious with myself. I wasn’t sure why I was answering. Maybe it was my desperation to have any sort of human contact. That was the only thing that could account for me losing my mind at the moment.

So you do know who I am…his next text read.

I sent him a confused emoji, followed by, What part of that sentence said I knew who you were?

There was a long silence, and when he hadn’t answered back after five minutes, I forced myself to pick my math textbook back up and start working on my homework.

Lincoln

I stepped off the ice and headed straight to the locker room, eager to take off my gear and get in the shower. I smelled like sweaty balls after the sprints Coach had us doing for the last thirty minutes. At least we looked better today. I was feeling pretty good about our chances in tomorrow’s game.

As I walked past the mirror in the locker room, I caught a glimpse of my reflection and regret immediately flooded my insides. The world thought I was everything, with my golden hair and piercing amber eyes—their words, not mine—but all I could see was my brother’s reflection staring back at me. We’d had the same eyes, the same hair, and yet, it was only me still standing there.

I took a deep breath and tried to push the memories away, but they were always there, lurking just beneath the surface.

I had everything. And I would give it all back. Just for one more day…

Every time I caught my reflection in the mirror, I was reminded of what I’d lost. What I’d done to the only person who’d ever loved me.

The guilt that gnawed at me, the sense of responsibility that weighed me down like a heavy burden. Every time I looked in the mirror, all I saw was his reflection gazing back.

“Staring at yourself again, beauty queen?” Lancaster teased, stripping off his practice jersey.

I forced my lips to curl into a smug smile as I sidled over and opened my locker before sitting on the bench and taking off my skates.

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out.

Fuck.

Ari’s little boys’ night had turned into both of us getting completely shitfaced. Some girl had sucked my dick in the club hallway…and I’d forgotten all about Kara.

And now my father was going to make me pay for it.

You wouldn’t think I’d be at his mercy at twenty four, but when you were responsible for killing his only other son, his heir to the Daniels empire…it was complicated.

Fix this now, he sent, before I could even respond.

Got it, I messaged before pulling up my contacts and scrolling to Kara’s number, something I thought I’d never use.

I huffed and set the phone down, dreading eventually meeting up with Kara. She had the personality of drying paint, and her body wasn’t good enough to make up for it. She was so stuck up that I was sure she had the vagina of a frozen fish. My dick would freeze if it ever made contact.

My phone buzzed, and I glanced over, eyes widening when I read Kara’s response.

Well, that was unusual. I had expected Kara to offer to meet me anywhere…for anything. She was desperate like that.

I was…a little intrigued by this new side of her.

We both know that’s not true, I sent back.

My jaw literally dropped. Had some alien come down and taken over Kara’s body? Had she been hit in the head and sustained a personality change? Every interaction I’d had with her had been a slow death…

If this was your attempt to get a dick pic, it actually almost worked, I typed.

I mean, she would know that my balls were, in fact, perfect, considering I’d fucked some of her friends, and I know those chicks talked about everything…

Lancaster’s breath hit my head, and I turned and glared at him.

“Is there a reason you’re trying to make out with me?”

He grinned and winked. “Just wondering what has the golden boy so entranced.”

Well, I knew you were uninteresting. So I didn’t bother showing up either, came the next text.

I scrolled through the messages so he could read them. He lifted an eyebrow. “Why is this turning me on?”

I snorted. “Probably because we love a game,” I mused.

Let’s be uninteresting together, I typed out.

“That’s what you came up with? How do you get anyone to suck your dick?” Ari mused.

I lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t need game with a face like this,” I shot back, ignoring the pang of guilt that sliced through my insides.

“No way,” I muttered, quickly responding. Kara?

I tapped my fingers on the bench, my earlier amusement gone, replaced by annoyance. Waiting for her response, I watched the bubbles showing she was typing…but then they disappeared. The minutes passed and I realized she wasn’t planning on answering.

The picture that came in then, it was life changing. Like my DNA had been rewritten. Like my stars had rearranged themselves.

I didn’t believe in love at first sight.

I didn’t believe in love at all.

But if I could have, I would have fallen in love with the girl in that picture.

Her face left me breathless, with sharp, delicate features that seemed almost too perfect to be real. Long black hair cascaded down her shoulders in soft waves, framing her face in a way that had my heart racing. Her verdant eyes hit me in the gut, pools of emeralds I wanted to dive into. They were eyes I could get lost in for days on end, drawing me in with their hypnotic gaze.

The girl’s face was like a lightning strike of beauty and rebellion, with full lips that begged to be kissed…or wrapped around my cock.

She was flipping me off in the picture, a firecracker for sure–the kind of girl who could make my blood boil with desire.

I stared at her picture, obsession stirring in my veins.

“Dude. Where’s that picture from? That’s girl’s fucking fiiiine.”

I jolted. I’d forgotten Ari was there. Quickly swiping from the picture, irrational anger threaded through me that he’d seen her.

Ari gave me a knowing look. “Sharing is caring. Especially when she looks like that.”

“Get fucked,” I huffed, ignoring his existence when it hit me…it was still probably Kara sending me these texts. Which meant the perfect goddess in this photo could be anywhere in the world, impossible to find.

I felt a tinge of relief. I mean, I had thought that there was no way Kara could be sending these messages. So there was a chance…

I laughed, and Ari shot me a look as he finished getting dressed.

Monroe. I mouthed the words, my obsession threading through every letter. What the fuck was wrong with me?

I frowned. Shoot your shot. This was fucking Kara, or at least one of her friends.

I felt possessed as I stood up, flipping back to the picture of the girl…Monroe…and saving it to my phone. Tossing my bag over my shoulder, I walked away. I had to get to a computer. I had to figure out if this girl existed.

I wouldn’t be able to think about anything else…wouldn’t be able to eat or sleep, or fucking breathe, until I knew what I was dealing with.

“Lincoln, what the fuck? Where are you going?” Ari called after me.

“See you later,” I responded, not bothering to look back as I shot him a middle finger over my shoulder.

Please be real.