worst behavior

em

When I returned to my room, Ian was still enjoying the sleep of the dead, sprawled across my sheets with the covers tossed off. I admired him for a while, watching his muscled chest rise and fall, before flinging the thick curtains open to let in blinding light.

"Ahhh!" he hissed, rolling over away from the window. I watched Ian with sadistic glee as he tumbled off of the bed.

"Morning sunshine," I said sweetly, my smile growing as he glared at me from the floor. I climbed onto the bed to look down at him. "Did ya sleep well?"

"You might look like an angel right now," Ian growled, his sleepy morning drawl positively electrifying, "But I'm pretty sure you're the devil." In one smooth motion, he got up and grabbed me, tossing me onto the mattress. It all would've been very appealing, had he not reeled back when his headache hit him at full force.

"God," he moaned, wincing. "My head..."

"Mhm," I hummed unsympathetically. "Shame. Unfortunately, I don't have time to nurse you to health. You have to get out of my house."

Ian peered at me from under the pillow he was currently trying to smother himself with. "What? No breakfast, babe?"

I cringed, giving him a peck on the cheek before turning around to grab my keys. "We're not there yet. I need to drive you home, my Nan will be up any second."

With a shrug, Ian swung his legs slowly out of bed, throwing last night's clothes on. "Well," he drawled, once he was dressed. "I had fun last night." He reached over to pull my body against his, inclining his head to kiss me.

"Ah, ah, ah," I chided. "Your breath smells like nail polish remover and death."

"Jesus Christ," he mumbled, letting go of me to tug his shoes on. "You're kinda mean, Em."

I grinned at him, swinging one leg out of the window in preparation for the routine escape. "I know. It's part of my charm," I replied. "Let's get out of here."

"Jesus, Cass, you have got to stop worrying about that boy."

"That boy totally rejected me for Karina! And then she had the nerve to- ugh! What is wrong with the world?" I listened to her huff angrily into the phone before she added, "I have way better boobs than her, anyway."

I sighed. "Well, Cass, if it helps, I'm pretty sure Sam doesn't like her anymore."

"Well, how would you know?"

With the tiniest smirk on my face, I looked down at the boy lying next to me on my bed, freshly coated with sweat. "Call it a hunch."

"Whatever. This does not happen to me. It just doesn't. Is there something wrong with me? Am I losing it?" Her voice grew even more frustrated, bringing up the tiniest bit of guilt.

"Do you want me to be completely honest with you?"

"No," Cass replied, knowing full well I'd say my piece anyway.

"There is one thing that Karina has that you just don't: mystery. Maybe Sam wanted a chase and he wasn't getting it with you. You were sorta throwing yourself at him."

"Are you calling me a whore?"

"Its not a bad thing, Cass." 

"Jesus Christ, Em. You're always so mean."

"It's part of my charm."

"Whatever," Cass sighed. "I gotta go. Wanna hang out tomorrow?"

"Of course. The boys'll all be in Keynes, we can do a girls' day," I suggested. Of course, our "girls' day" would be nothing like the the name led one to imagine. 

"Okay," Cass agreed, her voice already growing brighter. "I'll see you later."

"Bye," I said before hanging up. I glanced down at Sam, watching him read. "You brought a book to my  house."

"Yes. Sometimes I like to read things."

"Don't be condescending. You know what I meant. You came her for benefits, not a book club." I rolled my eyes. "D'you feel better?"

"A little. I don't know," he exhaled. "I don't ever want to talk to Karina again."

"Jeez, was it really that bad?" I asked. Karina wasn't known for doing anything badly.

"No, that's not it at all. It was good.  Great, actually," he replied, furrowing his brow in thought. "I guess I just don't like her as much as I thought."

"Oh, well," I said, shrugging. "It's not the end of the world. There's a million other girls in this town just dying to let you have your way with them. And if that doesn't work, you've got your benefits."

"Yeah," he said hollowly. "Sure."

I eyed him once again, but his face was completely blank. Sam was being even weirder than normal, and it was off-putting. But maybe a weekend of getting piss drunk with a bunch of dudes a few towns over would fix that.