LILY ANN

"Last one in has to take the shot challenge with absinthe!" I shouted, hurling myself into the deep end of Zacky's heated pool, clothes and all.

The barbeque had quickly turned into yet another one of the guys' infamous house parties, with every guest being in various stages of undress. After we had eaten, Jimmy had the brilliant idea of playing a game of strip poker, which I had gladly joined. Reggie and I used to play Texas Hold 'Em with her parents and their friends when they'd come around the house for their weekly poker nights. Her dad had taught us everything we needed to know about bluffing and betting, which didn't really seem to matter so much with a house full of drunks.

The only one who had held on to more clothes than me was AJ, but that probably had a lot to do with the fact that she doesn't drink. Or she could just be that damn good at cards. Who knows? Who cares?!

I waded through the water in my jeans and bra, laughing as I was splashed left and right from the other party patrons jumping into the water. I suddenly felt myself being lifted up out of the water from underneath, and looked down in time to see Zacky holding on to my thighs. "CHICKEN FIGHT!"

I stared down at my competitor as she scrambled up onto Johnny's shoulders, making me laugh so hard that I almost fell backwards into the water. "Kayla, you might need to find someone else to hold you up! Short shit has you at a disadvantage already!" Johnny raised a middle finger to me, which was a mistake seeing as Kayla hadn't situated herself yet, and they both lost their balance and fell backwards into the water.

I snorted, holding onto Zacky's hands tightly as they both surfaced, with Kayla laughing and Johnny coughing and sputtering. "Well fuck!" She yelled, her short stature preventing her from touching the bottom of the pool.

"Here, take mine!" Cole shouted from the shallow end of the pool, pushing Jimmy towards her. He cracked his knuckles dramatically and swooped underneath the petite brunette, nearly launching her into the air. She squealed, clutching his hair in her hands before finding her balance and sitting up straight.

"You better keep your hands to yourself, bro!" Johnny called from the steps where he had taken up residence next to Cole and helped himself to another beer. Jimmy scoffed, lightly holding Kayla's thighs. "Don't get your panties in a twist, gnome! I won't disrespect your lady! Besides, I have my own lady," he said proudly and matter-of-factly.

They turned to face Zacky and me again, and Jimmy shot us both a smirk. "YOU'RE GOIN' DOWN STEPHEN KING!" I chuckled, letting go of Zacky's hands and adjusting my red lacy bra so that I didn't flash anyone. Not that it was going to matter, seeing as Kayla was down to just her skivvies.

"CHARGE!" I shouted drunkenly, pointing towards the two in front of us, and Zacky waded his way as quickly as he could towards Jimmy. The height difference had us at a slight disadvantage, considering Jimmy had a good eight inches on Zacky. Luckily, Kayla and I were both around the same height, so I was hoping that would count for something.

We locked arms, desperately trying to push each other off of our bases, with the guys shoving against each other playfully. Just as I went push with all of my might, I felt the strap of my bra snap and the cup fall down. I shrieked, attempting to cover myself before anyone could see me, and Kayla took her opportunity to knock me backwards into the water.

When I surfaced, they were doing a victory lap around the pool and I coughed the water out of my nose and mouth with a laugh, holding onto the red material to keep myself covered. "We. Are. VICTORIOUS!" Kayla and Jimmy shouted in tandem, laughing and whooping before Kayla fell backwards off of his shoulder into the water.

I waded to the shallow end, stepping up between Cole and Johnny, who were in fits of drunken laughter, and accepted the dry towel from AJ. "Thank you, m'lady!" I said with a slur, wrapping myself up and tucking the corner of the towel into the rest to keep it from sliding down. We walked over to the patio table, plopping down next to Reggie who looked so drunk it was surprising that she could sit up straight.

"Hey, are you alright?" AJ asked with a concerned look on her face. She may have only met us today, but already she was taking on the role of the mother hen, making sure everyone had water in between their liquor and she had already gathered towels for those of us who had forgotten the small things in our stupor. I liked this girl. It was about fucking time we had someone responsible. I giggled to myself, earning a smirk from AJ as she leaned forward to check on Reggie.

"Honey?" She asked, tapping her short fingernails on the table in front of Reggie, who had her head in her hands. "Huh? Wha-?" Reggie's head shot up, her eyes red rimmed and cloudy. Had she been crying?

I frowned, struggling to shake away some of the alcohol's effects. "Hey, are you okay? Do you need some water or something?" I asked, brushing her crimson hair away from her face. She nodded slowly, biting her lip. "Yea, I think I drank too much of that Absinthe..."

AJ stood up before I could, shooting me a concerned look that said 'something's wrong with her'. She headed off into the house, and I turned my chair towards Reggie, leaning in so that I could lower my voice over the uproar in the pool. "Babe, what's wrong? I've never seen you drink too much Absinthe. Hell, I've never seen you choke down more than one shot, and that's only if it's forced down your throat..." I trailed off, chewing on my bottom lip and silently begging her to tell me the truth.

"No really, I'm fine! I promise. And I actually had about five shots of it with Brian in the kitchen." She groaned, pressing her hands back to her head. I giggled, stroking her hair with one hand while I adjusting the towel with the other. "Awe, Reg..."

"Hey, is everything okay?" I felt Reggie's body tense up slightly, and I could almost feel her struggle to relax her shoulders. Well that was fucking weird... I frowned up into the face of Brian, a concerned look in his eyes mixed with something else. Anger? Suspicion? Nah, that would make no sense.

I smiled up at him, still rubbing her hair. "Yea, she said she drank too much absinthe with you. Believe me, that is not this girl's drink," I chuckled, turning my eyes to AJ as she returned with an assortment of water, ginger ale, Advil, and crackers. This girl... Fucking amazing.

"Thanks, AJ! Jesus, you didn't have to bring out the whole kitchen!" I laughed, opening up the Advil and shaking out two pills into my hand. She shrugged, smiling sheepishly, and sipped on her own water. "Fuck, I didn't know. Besides, I figured she'd need the water and meds anyways to fight the hangover that she's bound to have, and the other stuff always works for me when I'm sick."

Reggie looked up from her palms, a relieved and grateful smile ghosting her lips as she accepted the pills and water from me. "Thanks, you guys. This'll help a lot." Brian stepped up behind her and rested his large hands gently on her shoulders, and I watched the conflicting emotions pass across her face before she leaned back into his body, submitting to his caress. Okay, either I'm too fucking drunk, she's really fucking sick, or something strange is going on here.

Suddenly remembering something, I stood up, clutching the towel tightly to my chest. "Hey, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go find my shirt," I said, glancing over at the pool as I inched around Brian's back. Zacky was still laughing in the pool, jumping up to push Johnny's head under the water.

Slipping through the French doors, I crept through the kitchen as quickly as possible and hurled myself up the stairs to the master bedroom. I knew I only had a couple of seconds before Zacky noticed I was missing, so I worked quickly, searching his dresser and finding the small metal box that Reggie had told me she put their the other night. I had almost forgotten about it until I noticed the weird way that Reggie was acting. Something didn't feel right to me, and it wasn't the liquor.

I heard footsteps on the stairs, and I practically threw myself into the master bathroom, closing the door quickly and quietly and locking it. God dammit, who invented these noisy fucking locks?! I swear, that click could have been heard down in the fucking living room.

I clutched the little box, trying to find somewhere to stash it. I didn't want to put it in my pocket, seeing as my jeans were dripping all over the marble floor of the bathroom. Pulling open the cabinet under the sink, I spotted a small pack of toilet paper to the left side and quietly slipped the camera into one of the cardboard rolls, silently thanking the tech gods for the continual minimizing in camera size.

A sharp knock at the door nearly caused me to jump out of my skin and I'm pretty sure my heart was digging its own little grave in my chest. "Lily, are you in there?" I heard Zacky's voice, and I swallowed the huge lump that had formed in my throat from the moment I heard the footsteps outside of the bedroom door.

"Yea?" I squeaked, and then cleared my throat. "Are you alright?" He asked, his voice calm and gentle. I nodded to no one in particular, and then reached over and flushed the toilet. Might as well make a viable reason as to why I came all the way up here and was locked in his bathroom.

I unlocked the door and opened it, taking in his dripping ebony hair and piercing green eyes. "Sorry, I had to use the bathroom and didn't think you'd mind if I came up here. Reggie looks a little sick, so I didn't want to tie up the one downstairs in case she needed it," I smiled apologetically, leaning against the door frame.

His guarded expression melted into a smile and he placed his hands on my hips, leaning in to gently caress my lips with his. "Of course it's okay, Lily. I already told you that you could make yourself at home when you're here." I scrunched my nose up and smiled at him, raising up on my tip toes to kiss him again, my tongue sliding across his bottom lip and the cold metal of his snake bites.

He lifted a hand to push his fingers into my blonde curls, and I let go of the towel, feeling it drop to the ground and pool around our feet. I moaned into the kiss, my back against the wall next to his bathroom door, as he deepened the kiss, tugging gently at my hair and working his tongue possessively against mine.

Reluctantly, I pulled away gently and placed my hands on his tattooed chest. "What about everyone downstairs? I should go check on Reggie." He leaned in to kiss me again, this time just a gentle peck, and then pulled away. "Alright alright. But this," he gestured between the two of us, "is nowhere near over." I giggled, walking around him.

I noticed he had brought my gray flannel upstairs, and I fished a small safety pin out of the change dish on his dresser, securing my bra strap the best that I could before pulling on my shirt. There was no way I could attempt a strapless number with the size of my chest, and especially not around this drunken lot.

Stealing one more private kiss, I followed him out of the bedroom and down the stairs, hoping to God that he wouldn't find that camera by chance.

REGGIE

I was working my absinthe story to a tee, complaining of head spins so that no one would notice the fact that I had been crying. I was really trying to keep up a good facade in front of the group, but flash backs from the previous night kept assaulting my brain, and every time I felt him touch me or heard his voice, I wanted to scream and rage.

Unfortunately, I wasn't going to be able to stay in my secluded corner all night. Brian was beginning to get suspicious, and Lily Ann had already given me her 'don't bullshit me' look. She knew me better than anyone, and of course she'd read right through this cock and bull story I was feeding everyone. No one...and I mean NO ONE could ever convince me to willingly take more than one shot of that black licorice tasting bullshit.

Brian had finally left me to go smoke a cigarette with Johnny, and AJ had slid away to bat those long lashes and flirt with Matt. I couldn't blame her though. Those hazel eyes and to-die-for dimples? Shit, I wouldn't care if I was puking all over the morning glories. I'd still insist that she find a dark corner so that she could attempt to suck those pretty lips off of his face.

Sighing, I finished my bottle of water and felt myself relax as the scent of cloves met my nose. I grinned as my pint-sized best friend plopped down in the chair across from me, pushing a glass of Jack Daniels in front of me and taking a healthy gulp out of hers. "Drink," she gestured towards the glass, and I arched my eyebrow.

"Do you think that's a good idea after the absinthe?" I asked innocently, playing with the sculpted glass, and she scoffed, inhaling the fragrant smoke deeply and blowing it out. "Oh come on, Reg. It's me. No one else. So cut the fucking bullshit. What's your problem?" I pursed my lips, catching sight of Brian in my peripheral vision and noticed him with his back to me.

"It's nothing," I muttered, taking a long drink of whiskey. She chewed on her lip, leaning forward and resting her forearms on the glass table. "So, I finally snagged the camera. I almost forgot about it," she said in a hushed voice. I looked at her with wide eyes. "Did you get a chance to look at the video?" I asked, cursing myself for the hint of nervousness in my voice. I didn't want to alarm her yet, and even though I wanted to warn her about what was on the video, I didn't want to create a scene here at the party that would lead to even more trouble.

She shook her head, ashing the little black cigarette into the ashtray in front of her. "Nah, I didn't get the chance. Zacky almost caught me, but I ran into his bathroom just in time. Hid it in a toilet paper roll under the counter until I can get a chance to get it to my bag." She smiled slightly, proud of her sleuthing ways. I couldn't help but smile into my glass as I downed the remainder of the contents.

As I relaxed against my chair, Cole and Kayla came bounding up to the table, excited expressions lighting up their faces. "Hey, what's up?" Cole asked, her bubbly personality helping to calm my nerves. "Not much, just getting fucking wasted," I said, setting my empty glass on the table and frowning. Lily Ann chuckled and stood up, taking both of our glasses in for a refill.

"Are you okay, Reggie? You've been kind of quiet," Kayla frowned at me, concern etched into her pretty features. I shrugged. "I'm better now. I just wasn't feeling good, but AJ fixed me up and I'm better than ever!"

"GOOD!" Lily Ann shouted, nearly causing me to have a heart attack. She set a bamboo serving tray down on the table, which held a big ass bottle of Ciroc vodka, a few Red Bulls, four whiskey glasses, and four shot glasses. "Because it is now time for VODKA BOMBS!" She said in her announcer voice, lowering it to a manly growl like she was introducing some burly heavyweight wrestler.

I groaned, watching her pour equal amounts of vodka and Red Bull into their respective glasses. Kayla and Cole accepted theirs excitedly, and I took mine, knowing this always led to wild and crazy antics, as well as plans that I would surely forget I'd made.

Lily Ann took a long drag off of her clove cigarette before setting it down to hold both of her glasses. She let the smoke trail out of her nose like she was some cute and cuddly version of Puff the Magic Dragon...only super fucking wasted.

"Annnnnnd shoot 'em ladies!" She said excitedly. We dropped out shot glasses of vodka into the glasses of Red Bull and tilted them back, chugging until our glasses were empty. I smacked my lips, wincing at the taste of the vodka, and wiped my chin on the back of my hand. "FUCK YEA!" Kayla shouted.

Cole pushed her long blonde hair over her shoulder and eyed the three of us excitedly. "So, Kayla and I were talking, and we came up with a great idea. How about we get away from all of the guys and have a girls night? That way we can get to know each other better and have some fun?" She chattered, looking between the three of us with wide, flashing eyes. God damn, how much did this girl drink?

I glanced over at Lily Ann and shrugged, accepting another vodka bomb from her. "Hell yea, sounds like a plan to me!" Lilly Ann clapped and hopped up. "I'm going to go find AJ and invite her to come along!" She ran off towards the house, and then reappeared almost instantly, wide-eyed and gaping. "Never mind..."

Cole arched a brow, taking her second bomb without even flinching. Now these were my kind of ladies! "What's the matter?" Lily Ann had flushed slightly upon returning, and now was in a fit of giggles. Kayla went to stand up to go inside, but Lily Ann grabbed her wrist and shook her head earnestly, unable to speak through her laughter.

Suddenly, Jimmy went running into the house, leaving the door open. Seconds later, you heard a loud whistle and some cat calling, followed by, "FUCK OFF REV!" and a shriek. Lily Ann had started to recover, but at those words, she nearly knocked her chair backwards from laughing so hard.

Jimmy reappeared at the door, followed by Zacky who was shaking his head. "On my fucking couch, man..." I snorted so hard that I almost felt the unwelcome burn of alcohol in my nasal passages. Cole's eyes went wide and Kayla held up her glass. "Cheers to Matt and AJ! Congratulations on defiling Zacky's beautiful couch!"

Notes

Here's some light hearted fun to break up the craziness of our sexy psycho action.

But don't fret! If all goes according to plan, I'm aiming for another 1-2 chapters tonight, and some more dirty, dirty smut action!

Enjoy! <3