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Noise. There is noise all around me. Loud thumping music from the massive speakers in the corner. Chatter from the mass of people around me. My own voice as I laugh too loudly at the joke that the guy opposite me cracked. And yet, it’s still not enough to drown out the constant buzzing in my head.
Leaning forward on the couch, I snatch my glass of vodka from the table and down the rest of it in one go. It burns in my throat on the way down. But it might as well have been water, because it does nothing to numb the terrible restlessness that vibrates inside me.
I flex my fingers on the glass and then grab the half empty bottle on the table to refill it.
“What did I tell you?” the guy on the couch opposite me says to his friend as he slaps his arm with the back of his hand. “If there’s anyone who can hold his liquor, it’s Jace Hunter.”
I laugh, again too loudly, and then hold out my glass in a cheers. “I’ll drink to that.”
They chuckle and clink their glasses against mine. They drink a mouthful. I empty my glass again.
Blowing out a long breath, I rake my fingers through my messy hair.
It feels as if there is a swarm of angry bees buzzing inside my ribcage. I just want to crack my chest open and release them. Or crawl out of my own skin before I start crawling up the fucking walls instead.
I flex my fingers on the glass again and then once more drag my other hand through my hair.
Distraction. I need a distraction. Something to block out everything that goes on inside my head.
“Hey, Jace.”
I look up from my now empty glass to find an attractive brunette dropping down on the couch next to me. All around us, the party is in full swing. People are dancing on the floor to our left and others are playing a drinking game to my right. Blackwater University might be a school for hitmen, but we still know how to party.
Raising my empty glass, I give the brunette next to me a salute before I set my glass back down on the table. “What’s up.”
“What’s up?” she echoes, and purses her lips in a show of exaggerated disappointment. “That’s all I get?”
I glance at her from the corner of my eye while I lean back on the couch again. I’m pretty sure I fucked her at some point. Was it this year? Or last year? I can’t remember. In fact, I can’t even remember her name. And I don’t care.
Just like everyone else at Blackwater, she’s just one of the many meaningless distractions I’ve used in order to get some stress release and to get out of my own head for a little while. She doesn’t matter. None of them do. Nothing matters.
“You don’t remember me?” she continues, still with that fake pout. Then she flashes me a seductive smile. “I’ll help jog your memory.”
Before I can reply, she swings her leg over mine and twists so that she is straddling my lap. The guys on the couch opposite us whistle and cheer before laughing approvingly. The girl, whose name I still can’t remember, places her hands on my shoulders and rolls her hips.
“Remember me yet?” she teases, looking very pleased with herself.
“Nope,” I reply.
This time, the disappointment that flashes across her face is real. But it’s gone quickly and instead replaced by a sultry expression. Climbing off my lap, she grabs my wrist and starts pulling me up.
“I suppose I’ll just have to give you a more thorough demonstration,” she says as she pulls on my wrist.
But I weigh probably twice as much as her, so unless I get up on my own, she won’t succeed in pulling me up with her. I study her face. She’s pretty. My gaze drops to her body. Toned and athletic, like most girls on this campus since she’s here to become an assassin. But she also has some nice curves.
Ah, fuck it. I wanted a distraction, and I guess this will have to do.
Pushing myself up, I let her pull me away from the couches and towards the hallway that leads to the staircase.
“I still can’t believe you don’t remember me,” she says, still holding on to my wrist as she weaves through the crowd.
Since I’m walking behind her, I can’t see her face. But I can hear the disappointment and embarrassment in her voice.
To be fair, I get it. I was probably the best fuck she ever had. A true night to remember. So the fact that I don’t remember her must sting a little.
Yeah, well, I fuck a lot of people.
You were just a distraction.
