Page 55 of Embriagado

Fuck being calm.

Fuck this shit.

And mostly, fuck Ariyan.

Sweating my ass off in that shitty uniform and dying to take a piss, I glared at the damn cactus, beyond tempted to just kick it to the ground. I’d been baking in the sun for the last eight hours without a single break. If that wasn’t a blunt violation of my workers’ rights or whatever it was called, I didn’t know what was. My throat was dry as a desert, legs sore from standing, and my sanity close to being done for. I knew my job was to do whatever, but to guard a cactus? A fucking cactus? Like I said, fuck this shit.

Shoving my hands into my pockets, I glanced at the cactus one last time, then turned around and went over to find the toilets. Despite Ariyan’s explicit instructions not to leave it alone, I wasn’t about to piss myself over a plant. If he wanted this damn shit secured, he was more than welcome to leave his air-conditioned office and come down to do it himself.

After pissing, I made a quick stop in the bar to catch up with Imani. You’d be surprised, but in between Ariyan tying me to a bed and blackmailing me, I had no time to chat with her.

“Sup, girl?”

“Girl, my ass,” she hissed while mixing a cocktail. “Where the hell have you been?”

I sat on one of the barstools. “Getting screwed.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” I scratched my jaw. “Anyway, what’s up?”

Finishing the drink she was making, she placed it on the edge of the bar for a waiter to take before walking toward me. “Work and all, you know.” She pulled out a new glass and filled it with Coke. “There.” She pushed it my way.

“You’re a fucking goddess.” I grabbed the ice-cold drink.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Leaning her elbows on the bar, she stared at me as I finished my drink. Fuck, it hit the spot.

“Seriously—” I wiped my lips. “—you’re a lifesaver.”

She smiled. “Yeah, yeah… Now, tell me, what’s up with you?”

“What d’you mean?”

“You know, a while ago, you couldn’t shut up about Ariyan, and now, not even a word. Did you finally take my advice about him?”

If only.

“Yeah, I’m over him.”

She tapped my arm. “That’s a good boy.”

Down, boy.

Heat spiked through me at the memory, going straight to my cock before quickly turning into anger. Pure rage that my body still reacted to that lunatic, even when he wasn’t near me.

God damn it.

It was the same rage that gripped me almost every night after I jerked off to the thought of him. So yeah, maybe I didn’t only fantasize about running him over with a bus. But how the fuck was it possible to be turned on by a man you wanted dead?

“Your face looks better.”

“Huh?” Snapped out of my thoughts, I glared at her when she pointed at the side of her cheek.

“The bruises. They look better.”

“Oh.” I brushed a hand over my jaw. “Guess so…” A thought then occurred to me. “Say, Imani.”

“Yeah?”