Loni is the woman of my fucking dreams. She's beautiful, funny, smart, and she knows how to use her mouth.

The girl made me come twice. TWICE. Within five minutes. All with her perfect tongue. And those lips. Her throat. All of it. She even swallowed. Every last drop of my orgasm, she took it all down her throat. I have honestly never been with a girl that did that. They normally stopped before I was able to finish and made me come in a towel or in my own hand.

Did I mention how perfect Loni is?

When she stands up from off her knees, she grins at me. A perfect grin. I feel like I don't need to mention that, but I'm going to. I have to say these things mentally to myself because even though I see her loosening up on these rules of hers, I can't scare her off. Talking about our baggage is one thing. But professing my feeling for her to her, that's a no-go.

My legs are shaking as I come down from my high. No matter how many slow breaths I try to take, my ears are still ringing. This girl is crazy. She drove me wild, and I wasn't allowed to make a single sound.

Payback for what just did to her.

"I like this," she sheepishly says with a blush crawling up her cheeks.

"What? Hiding out in the bathroom together?" I tuck a few strands of her light brown hair behind her ear and she shivers under my touch. "Or giving each other amazing orgasms?"

She giggles. "Hanging out with you." She smiles with her mouth closed and nods her head like she's finally coming to terms with the feelings she's been trying to fight off. "I'm happy you invited me here tonight. And I think it would be okay if we hung out. Did activities together that don't involve sex."

"Ah, is that what you think?" I tease with arched brows.

"That's what I want."

Fuck, the look she's giving me right now, those sexy green eyes, could give me my third orgasm of the night.

I lift her chin with my index finger and lower my face to hers. "You can have whatever you want, pretty girl. But I'm picking what we do."

"Oh really?" She moves from my grip.

"Yeah." I cross my arms over my chest. "If it were up to you we'd end up at some karaoke bar again."

She snorts. "That wasn't even my idea. That was— what's his name— idea."

"You still got up on that stage and shook that cute little ass of yours. I have a video of it."

"You do not!"

"I do."

I don't. But seeing her get all flustered settles a warm feeling in my stomach. And it's funny as hell to watch as her freckles are soaked up behind a sea of red.

"Give it to me!" She holds out her hand.

A knock on the bathroom door rattles us, but she keeps her hand out to me.

"Not a chance. I may need that one day."

"Jace," she says sternly, but a smile tries to play on the corners of her mouth.

I ignore her turning to the door. I open it before she can beg anymore. A guy pushes his way into the bathroom and doesn't wait until we're gone before pulling his pants down.

Loni gasps at the sight and runs up against me. She pushes my back and slams the door behind us once we're out of there. She scurries behind me as I make my way back downstairs. I'm sure she asks about the nonexistent recording again, but I can't hear it because the music is so damn loud.

From the time that Loni and I were in the bathroom, I swear about a hundred more people have flooded in. I grab Loni's hand, pulling her through the sea of sweaty, drunken bodies.

The air is so thick and reeks of weed and tequila. Not a good combination. I need to get outside. Breathe some fresh air into my lungs. The smell, and the vibration of the music running through my body, remind me too much of all the bad decisions I have made. It makes me sick.

Sweat coats my forehead and the black eyeliner I borrowed from Asher's cousin is running down my face. But when the cool night air from outside hits me, I can finally breathe. It's like a weight is lifted from me. I can tell Loni feels the same way by the way she lets out a huge sigh.

"Come on," I mumble over my shoulder to her when I spot my friends sitting in a couple of lawn chairs by a big fire pit.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Kaden asks as a petite redhead sits on his lap. She starts kissing his neck but he doesn't seem interested in it at all.

"Do you even have to ask?" Asher flashes a glance to Kaden before locking his eyes on Loni. "Your face is redder than this fire."

I look down at a blushing Loni, who tries to cover her shy smile with the back of her hand.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you. Just envious is all." Asher smirks.

"You're telling me there's not a girl in there that you're interested in?" Loni asks, slumping down in a chair next to him.

There's a weird feeling in my chest. as I watch the two of them. I like seeing Loni interact with my friends, joke around, and smile. I don't know, it's a nice feeling. All the women I have been with never really met my friends. Or if they did, they would hook up with them too.

Asher scans the property around us which is littered with women. "There are definitely some cute ones here tonight. Especially that one dressed as a sexy boxer." He points toward a girl standing by the door to the house talking to a group of girls. She's wearing shiny white shorts and a matching braw with a pair of bright red boxing gloves draped around her neck.

I much prefer cheerleaders.

"So, go talk to her," Loni presses.

"Nah," Asher shakes his head.

"Why not?"

"Because." He fluffs his hand in the air, rolling his eyes, letting out an aggravated sigh before speaking again. "I talk to her. We flirt. She wants me to take her back to my place. But I can't do that because Tyler is— Tyler." Asher jumps up from his seat.

I turn around and Tyler stalks towards us. The dimming light of the fire reveals a small gash going through his right eyebrow.

"Oh fuck," Kaden says, pushing the girl off his lap, standing up. "What the hell happened?"

Tyler's face is expressionless.

"Talk to me, man. What is this?" Kaden pokes at Tyler's eyebrow.

Tyler hisses, turning his head away. His jaw ticks, waiting for the obvious pain to subside before speaking. "It looks worse than it is." He grumbles.

"Did Valerie do this to you?" I don't even need to ask. I know it was her. Just the sound of her name makes his shoulders tense up. My jaw clenches. I fucking hate her.

"Please, I really don't want to talk about it."

"Is she here?" Kaden says sharply, looking past Tyler towards the house. If she is here, Kaden is about ready to kick her ass.

Kaden and Valerie have never had a good relationship. Valerie has crossed the line a few times with him. She even slapped him across the face once. He never touched her. But when she does something to Tyler, it's like all bets are off.

"No, she's not," Tyler answers, instantly calming Kaden down. "She..." he pauses, shutting his eyes for a moment as if remembering what just happened, what he just buried. But we aren't about to let it go until he tells us everything. "I don't even know how the fight started. When I tried to leave, she grabbed me and when I ripped my arm away, she threw your old peewee football trophy at my head." He looks at Asher.

"That bitch."

I laugh at Asher's remark and then look at Tyler, but he avoids my eyes.

"She left the apartment right after that."

"Seriously, you need to—"

"I know," Tyler says, cutting Kaden off. "But right now, all I want to do is drink."

"Atta boy." Asher slaps his hand down on Tyler's shoulder and leads him inside.

Kaden rubs the bridge of his nose in frustration. But there's nothing we can do. We have told Tyler countless times to leave her, but he won't. At this point, there's really nothing we can do. I just hate seeing him like this. He's such a good guy and doesn't deserve any of her shit.

"I'm gonna go find my redhead." Kaden stalks off. He needs a way to get his mind off of Tyler and Valerie tonight.

Loni is still sitting in the lawn chair. Her eyes are wide and glossy. Her fingers are fumbling in her lap.

"What are you thinking?" I say, crouching in front of her, placing my hand on her knee.

"How can someone do that? God, it makes me sick." Her voice is shaking but there is a harshness to her tone. "I don't know Tyler all that well, but I know he doesn't deserve that."

"Trust me, I know." I glance over my shoulder. Tyler is shotgunning a beer with Asher, trying his best to enjoy what's left of this night. "The things we do to satisfy our parents."