1 Chapter 1

The party was a mess, but it wasn’t a surprise because every time Gabriel organized one, the apartment was filled with a bunch of people of all types, from the typical businessman to the woman who still had the illusion of being a teenager. Alex was even sure he had seen a girl with two blond pigtails that swayed as she walked away wearing nothing but a pair of blue underpants.

Yeah, this was a typical Gabriel party. The air smelled of beer, whiskey, and smoke, and the music was so loud that, probably, the police would come around sooner or later.

Alex was peacefully lying on the couch, watching the people around with his big green eyes, thinking someday he would have to say “no” to these parties for his own good. The beer had its effect and he was relaxed, his vision a bit blurry.

Kate approached him, swaying, and she gave him a meaningful look, before bending over and licking his lips.

“Are you going to stay here all night, or can I hope for something better?” she purred in his ear, trying to keep a sensual tone, even though she practically had to shout to be heard. She let one hand slip between Alex’s legs, who chuckled and shook his head, a little bit too drunk to react.

“You’re not having fun, K?” he asked with a mischievous smile, grasping her waist and hauling her onto his lap. She wasted no time and leaned forward, claiming his lips.

Kate was beautiful. She had long, curly red hair that danced in front of her eyes like swirls, green eyes with long black lashes, and a perfect and curvy body. She was wearing a tight, emerald green dress, which now was sliding up on her thighs, and her breasts were in plain view thanks to the deep neckline.

“This is not a whorehouse! Why don’t you two go and get a room?” Gabriel yelled, slapping the top of Alex’s head while he was passing by.

“It’s not a whorehouse, but sure as hell it smells like one!” Alex glared.

“You should wash yourself more, then!” Gabriel replied with a grimace. “And anyway, why do you know what a whorehouse smells like?”

“Shut up, asshole!”

A pillow flew toward Gabriel’s head, who dodged it quickly and smiled in amusement at his friend before disappearing into the crowd, flipping the bird.

How many people were here? Alex knew maybe a quarter of them, the rest were Gabriel’s friends, or at least pseudo-fans of his group. That was the luckything in sharing the apartment with a musician…or two.

Gabriel and their friend Kevin, the other roommate, played in a country rock group called Outlaw that was quite famous in Northridge, Los Angeles. They were semi successful and were still hoping to become one of the big names in country music. Usually, they performed once a week and Alex enjoyed their gigs, though he didn’t like the people they attracted.

Alex knew the guys from his last year in high school and they were his best friends since forever, even though they were totally different from each other. He had moved in with them when he had found a job in the same part of Los Angeles and he liked living with them, even though sometimes it was difficult, considering Alex’s closed nature versus Gabriel’s being so open. Kevin was in the middle; he was like the needle of the scale and he made sure the equilibrium would remain intact

Alex closed his eyes and opened them again, seeing the mute request in Kate’s heated look. Maybe Gabriel was right. Maybe they needed to go to his bedroom, but at the moment, Alex wasn’t interested in having sex with her. She was so beautiful and very sexy, but he was wallowing in the torpor of being drunk and was really relaxing, despite the chaos inside the apartment.

“I’m going to get a drink,” he finally said, rising from the couch, moving Kate on to the pillow next to him, and noticing her disappointed look. “Do you want anything?” he added.

“Nah. Come back soon,” she answered, pouting.

Before going to the kitchen, Alex paid a visit to the bathroom where he washed his face to recover some clarity.

The smoke was irritating his almost impossibly green eyes and wearing lenses made it even worse. Maybe he should wear his glasses, but he knew better. He looked like a loser with glasses. And he wasn’t a loser. Not anymore.

When he was a kid, he was so different from now. He was short, chubby—actually, he was fat—with a pair of huge glasses. The older students mocked him, and even the ones in his class teased him, calling him Mr. Magoo. Alex had tried to ignore it, but the jokes hurt and made him feel unsure

Only Ben had made him feel better during those days, only Ben had seemed truly interested in being his friend, or at least, he had been for a while.