Chapter 10

Ethan

"You're late." My brother wrapped an arm around my shoulder and patted my chest as we walked into the belly of the new club.

"I was waiting for the grand opening to be over. The last thing I need is to be accosted by the media because they spotted me in a crowd." I moved toward the bar through the hordes of people dancing where they stood. The place was extravagant and decked out in black and gold.

"I understand that. I brought a couple of girls with me. You'll like them." He slipped in beside me at the bar and leaned against the railing. "And I love you enough to let you pick which one you want for the night."

"I'm not taking anyone home tonight. I'm here to hang out with you and to try and forget how much I want Riley."

"I would ask what the fuck it is with this girl, but I've met her." He glanced over at me. "I don't need to ask."

"No? Then tell me what it is. I'm still trying to figure it out. She's more cute than beautiful, more soft than hard-core, more sweet than salty. It's fucking weird." I turned and ordered a shot of Patron and a Corona to chase the shit down.

"She's old school, bro." He lifted his beer to his lips and drank half his beer down. "She looks like a movie star from the days of Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn. She's got eyes that tear you down and a mouth that you'd love to hear whisper incredibly naughty things as she sat beside you in a church pew."

I laughed and threw back the shot before taking a sip of my beer. The alcohol burned like a bitch going down, but I knew in a few minutes I'd be feeling a hundred percent better. I wasn't myself and it was all thanks to Riley.

"Tell me I'm wrong." Liam turned and pushed his shoulder against mine.

"You're not wrong. I hate to admit it, but you've hit it right on the head. The only thing I need to do is forget about her, but it feels impossible."

"So what exactly do you want from her? Just a quick fuck or a friendship or something more jacked up, like a relationship?" He shivered as if disgusted by the thought.

I snorted and glanced out to the floor to see a busty blond and pretty redhead dancing together provocatively. My cock twitched, which was a relief of sorts.

"I don't know." I glanced over at him and smiled. "Look at those hot bitches at the edge of the dance floor. I should slip in between their make-out session and hope for good times, no?"

"Yep. You should. The blond is Tara and the redhead is Sarah." He smiled. "That's our evening you're looking at."

"Tara and Sarah?" I handed him my beer. "Sounds like they need a little bit of meat between their buns."

He laughed loudly as I walked toward the dance floor. The sound of a few people whispering my name as I passed made me want to turn on my heel and get the fuck outta there, but I ignored the need to run. I hated large groups and having random ass hands all over me, but it was part of the gig. I kept thinking as I got older, I would be able to handle it better.

"Hi girls." I stopped in front of them and watched them dance to a different beat than the one playing above our heads.

"Ethan Lewis." The redhead reached for my shirt, dragging me in between them. "I told you Drake wouldn't lie about this being his brother."

"Drake?" I ran my hands over her sides and squeezed the top curve of her ass. "My brother, Drake, hmmm?"

"Mmmhmmm." The blond pressed herself to my back, her breasts soft and huge from what I could tell. "He's as handsome as you are, but not in a movie star way."

"A movie star way?" I shifted to the left a little as the woman in front of me came in for a kiss. Something about it felt too intimate. "Not so fast, baby."

I spun her around and pulled her flush against me as I tucked my erection against her ass. "Which one of you girls is planning on spending the night with my brother."

"Sarah is." The redhead glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "I'm Tara."

"Of course you are." I shook my head as I looked toward my brother. He was nodding with a big goofy ass grin on his face. I swear we could be in our forties and he would still act like getting a hot girl was a new thing for the two of us. It was almost comical.

Something caught my eye as a camera flashed near me. A sexy minx with short strawberry blond hair moved by me as she walked toward the back of the club. Riley.

"Excuse me girls." I moved away from them and walked as quickly as I could toward the girl. "Riley. Hey... Riley."

I reached for her about the time she slipped into the arms of a big guy with tattoos. Why the hell would Riley-

She turned and I realized the error of my ways.

"Hey. Get your fucking hands off my girl, bitch." The guy moved around her as she squealed with what appeared to be delight.

"Fuck me," I mumbled and took a step back. It wasn't Riley, unless my girl had grown her eyebrows out to meet in the middle and gotten her nose pierced. I tilted my head to the side and studied the bull ring in her nose, amazed that any woman would want one of those.

"She's not fucking you or anyone else." He grabbed my shirt as I glanced up toward him.

"What? I wasn't talking about-"

"Duck!" the girl yelled behind the big guy.

I ducked as best I could and pulled away from him as he swung. What was it with me and getting my ass handed to me lately?

"Whoa, dude. I thought she was a friend of mine. I wasn't..."

"Try again, mother fucker. My girl ain't getting taken by a pretty boy bitch like you."

"Pretty boy bitch? That's new." I moved to the side as he swung again and was quite grateful when two bodyguards moved in front of me and took the guy to the ground. His girl was watching me with stars in her eyes.

"Oh my God. You're totally Steve Sumner." She swooned and let out a long girly sigh.

"Does that shit hurt?" I moved my finger around my nose as I stifled a shiver of disgust. The guards had the guy on the ground, but they were losing the fight.

"Ethan. What the fuck, man?" Liam moved up beside me and jerked me back, moving us toward the bar. "You start shit everywhere. You know that?"

"Yep. That's the reason we usually stay at your place, remember?"

The girls from earlier were standing by the bar snuggled up to each other. "What's with these two? I think they're more into each other than you think."

"It's hot, right?" He popped my chest and laughed like a ten-year-old girl. He was the creepiest mother fucker I knew and yet I loved him for it.

"How about you take them home and knock yourself out? I just need to get drunk and try to pretend like Riley isn't ruining my fucking life."

Tara reached out and brushed her fingers down my chest. "Who's Riley? That new girl they brought in from the streets?"

"The streets?" Sarah glanced toward her friend. "What do you mean?"

"So get this," my brother kept his arm around my shoulders, but leaned toward the girls a little, "Eon wanted to show how supportive they were of actors and actresses everywhere, so they had an open casting call."

"What's a casting call?" Sarah asked as she eye-fucked me.

"It's a try-out of sorts," my brother responded as I moved around the girls and ordered another shot. Why had I thought that coming out would be a good idea? Me and 'public' only did well when there was a big ass movie screen between us.

"Yeah, and Ethan here supposedly let them bring in a nobody. Isn't that right?" Tara wrapped her arms around me and pressed herself to my back as I lifted my shot to my lips.

"She's not a nobody." I tossed the shot back and forced myself to stay calm. Getting up in arms over Riley wasn't going to help anyone, least of all me.

"He's so sweet. Isn't he?" Tara must have been talking to her friend.

I pulled her arms off of me and turned back to my brother with a wicked smile on my face. "I am sweet, right?"

"Like sugar." He winked at me and wrapped his arm around Sarah's shoulders. "Let's go dance. I think my brother wants to test out the theory of his sugary goodness."

Sarah laughed and wagged her eyebrows. "I like the sound of that."

I reached out and pressed my fingers beneath Tara's chin, lifting her dark blue eyes to rest on me. Her thick mane of crimson-colored hair would be fun to hold on to for a long night of drowning my sorrows, but I knew good and well that I wouldn't be fucking her. Not only was I not ready to deal with the issue of my size, but I was tired of closing my eyes in hopes of living a moment that didn't really belong to me.

"How about you, pretty girl? You wanna test out the theory."

She licked her lips and glanced down the length of my body. "I'd love to. Where?"

I took a sip of my beer and nodded toward the back as she pressed herself against the front of me.

"I'm sure there's somewhere in the back where we can find a little bit of privacy." I gripped her hand and moved past her. Something nagged at me to release her and go home. There was no good outcome for the two of us, and I was moving toward being drunk. My inhibitions were down, my body aching for sex and my heart hurting from chasing after someone that looked like my Riley only to come up empty.

She's not yours, idiot. She never will be.

"Oh shit. I left my wallet up there. I'll meet you in the back." Tara pulled from my grip on her hand and disappeared into the crowd.

Now was my chance to make a run for it. I didn't need to have some other poor chick suck me off in the back of a club to feel worse about myself. I already felt like hammered shit if I were being honest. I must have stood there, looking like an idiot because ten different people asked me if I were okay before taking a selfie with me.

"There you are." Tara laughed and moved up to grab my wrist. "I got us a drink to share, but I'm not feeling it. Finish it for me?"

I nodded and downed it, ignoring the burn of the liquor and the sour taste of it. "What the fuck was that?"

She pulled me toward the back into a closet of sorts and half climbed up my body as I tried to keep myself standing. "God, you're so hot."

I didn't stand a chance as she pressed her lips against mine and forced her tongue deep into my mouth. A groan left me at the hot sensation of her wrapped around me, and I ignored the fact that the room was spinning. I just wanted sex. Hot, uninhibited fucking with the pretty woman stripping me down.

I gripped her ass tightly and slipping my fingers under her panties as she pressed back and fucked herself against my fingers.

"Riley," I mumbled as the world came crashing in.