"You do the honors." Sean offered me a joint and lighter he produced out of thin air.

I eagerly grabbed it out of his hand and stuck the end between my lips. I struck the lighter with my thumb and it sputtered out before I could light the damn thing. I shook the cheap plastic container and flicked it again until the flame blazed right in front of the miniature stick of doom.

I leaned back in the passenger seat and took a deep enough hit that it would have knocked a normal-sized person out immediately. I held it in and twisted the perfectly rolled masterpiece between my fingers until my lungs were burning for oxygen. The hit had a little extra kick on the exhale and I shut my eyes slowly to disappear into it. I pulled the joint back up to my lips and hit it again, enjoying the second go around much more than the first.

"Good shit, isn't it?" Sean asked, reaching his hand out to pluck it back from me before I could take a greedy third.

"Yeah, what kind?" I asked, running my tongue over the top of the roof of my mouth to get rid of the stench that clung to me. It felt utterly devoid of moisture and was beginning to hit the base of my skull differently than usual. Something about whatever he gave me felt familiar, like an old friend I hadn't seen for years dropping in for a surprise visit.

I rolled my head around on my neck, already knowing what Sean's answer would be before he could say it. I was a fucking idiot for not being more cautious and asking him what it was first. Never trust the guy whose primary source of income was hooking people to rob them blind. The stuff had the same bite and pull as the kind Jake offered right before he helped step his clientele up to the next level.

"My own special blended A-bomb. I just got a new batch in today. You like? Got more at home for the party tonight." Sean smiled crookedly and took a quick drag off it before smashing the cherry into a makeshift ashtray to snuff it out. Sean lifted the center console lid and stashed it under a pile of trash as he continued to race down the road.

"About that. I think I'm going to pass on the party. I have a 1960 Les Paul Doublecut with a bent tuning peg that I need to work on tonight." I lied to him.

Being around anyone who wasn't Riley was the last thing I wanted after last night. Until she decided to come back to me, I was going to shut myself in a cave to petrify without thinking twice about it.

"So, you're skipping out on a house full of easy pussy for a broken guitar?" Sean scoffed in disbelief.

"Need the money." I shrugged it off and returned to staring at the blurry images outside the window.

My skin began twitching and itching the longer I sat still. The sensations would typically bother me if it didn't feel so good to experience something other than misery for a change. The irritation was a blessing to me for once because it lit my body up in ways I hadn't felt since the last time I had Riley in my bed.

It was euphoric and exhausting.

I yawned and fought to keep my eyes open as Sean sped down the road, swerving in and out of traffic like a complete dumbass. Signs flew by my face and I jumped, thinking they were about to smash into me.

Fucking heroin.

Why did Sean have to bring the pot laced with heroin of all things he could have grabbed?

But it was so fucking good. A little more and I would be soaring through the sky.

I wanted to dive back into the rancid compartment to pull the toxic poison back out. A two-second lapse in judgment would cost me weeks of compulsive thoughts until I rid the urge from my system. My sobriety was tossed out the window again before I even began to try. One intense hit and I had moved my game piece to a whole new board. I had been playing Candyland for months and now I was a calling out checkmate on a Twister mat.

Right ball blue—left ball blue. The announcer called out to me as he spun the dial.

"So, where'd you disappear to last night?" Sean asked as he slowed to wait in the middle of an intersection for the other side of traffic to clear. The light above us turned yellow and he floored the accelerator, cutting the turn sharper than necessary, throwing my body into the door with a loud thud.

"No place in particular." I mumbled and focused on the last callus on my middle finger instead of the pain in my shoulder. I began picking obsessively at it until my fingertip started bleeding.

I didn't need it anymore. I was never going to play music again.

"Shit, you went to see that chick again, didn't you? Fuck, what was her name? Ruby...Rhea...Rayleigh?" He prattled on and on as he snaked the car through a couple of gut-wrenching turns.

"Riley," I grumbled at him as I fought the urge to vomit from the motion sickness.

"Yeah, that one." Sean laughed and turned into a lot in front of a free-standing brick building that looked like every other one in the complex. He whipped the piece of junk car into a parking spot and shut it off like he was in a hurry.

"Where are we?" I asked him as I stared around at the rundown building.

"Making a house call. Hooked up with this slut a few weeks back who is really into Molly and giving head." Sean answered. He pulled out his phone and sent a message to someone. His phone pinged a reply and he smiled wickedly, jarring the keys from the ignition to pocket them as he climbed out of the car.

I didn't get out to follow him. I was content riding out my raging high while wallowing in self-pity and dreaming about the blond who was just out of my reach.

Plus, I wasn't interested in listening to slurping sounds for the next ten minutes.

"You coming up? She'll help take your mind off Rayna for a while. You can probably even fuck her if you want." Sean suggested.

"No, I'm good here. You do your thing." I sighed in frustration about how little Sean paid attention to anything I ever said. He couldn't even get my girl's name right and I talked about her constantly to him.

Her name was Riley. Riley Elizabeth Davis—the only girl in the world who mattered.

"Your loss." Sean gave up on me and slammed the door.

I closed my eyes to shut out the bright sunlight and relaxed back into the seat for a quick time out.

When I opened my eyes again, it was pitch back outside and I was standing in the alleyway next to the same bar entrance as the night before. Riley was standing near the dumpster again with her back to me while wearing those tiny black work shorts that could barely contain her ass cheeks.

I wasn't sure how I got here, but I wasn't disappointed. The view was outstanding.

Riley turned her head to the side. Her long blond ponytail swished across her back as she looked back over her shoulder at me with a smile. Her hair was so much longer than last night, and the color was gone from the bottom. It was precisely the same style as the first night I met her. Before I corrupted and ruined her—before she broke me.

"Well, don't just stand there. Come here." She giggled and bit her lip at me.

My feet carried me forward as I admired Riley's amazing curves from behind. She was a brilliant piece of artwork created on dirty, worn canvas. Riley's beauty always shined through no matter how dark and demented the world around her was. It wasn't just what was on the outside that made her that way—that was just a bonus. Riley's sweet innocence and the way she made everyone around her feel like they belonged in her world were what made her so captivating.

Fuck, I was so in love with this girl.

It took me a few long strides before I realized Riley was looking down, smiling at something in front of her. Her arms were cradling something important to her and I was scared to find out what it was but too curious to turn away from it.

I turned my head to the side and she rotated slightly to block my view.

What was she staring at?

I stepped in close behind her, burying my nose into the back of her hair. Her hair always smelled so delicious, holding every scent of her trapped in it just for me.

"Hi," I whispered as I closed my eyes and ran my hand down the outside of the top of her arm. I bent down and kissed her shoulder, moving my lips slowly across it to the side of her neck.

"Hey, you. I missed you." She leaned all her weight back into me and turned her head to give me the spot below her ear.

"Why do you always smell so good?" I asked her with a deep, uneven voice between kisses as I devoured her. I wanted to stay like this the rest of my life—touching and kissing her, worshipping her the way she deserved.

We had lost so much time and I was going to make up for every second we spent apart, starting right now.

My hands slid around the small of her back to her waist to hold her when I felt a warm, soft, plush bundle blocking my path to her skin. My fingers landed on the outside of the thing in her arms and I felt the instant despair wash over me.

Riley was holding our baby.

I wrapped both of them into me like my life depended on it. I couldn't let either one go this time. I had to protect them before it was too late. There was a demon lurking in the alleyway, wanting to steal everything I had away.

The tiny bundle moved in Riley's arms and slipped out of the blanket between my fingers. It hit the ground with a soft, mournful cry before they both vanished into thin air right in front of my eyes.

My arms were empty except for a blue blanket stained with black blood.

Riley and my baby were gone again.

My eyes flew open as sweat poured down my face. Every place one of my limbs moved collided with something hard. The space was closing in on me, pressing in and confining me until I couldn't move. I began to panic, smashing against the glass and metal, trying to get it to break away so I could breathe again. My hand was on the door handle and I pulled it until it was freed. My body went tumbling out onto the ground, smashing against the concrete.

I laid on my back for what felt like hours, staring up at the cloudless sky as I caught my breath. The sunshine rained down on me in waves of color in frightening, undulating patterns. Everything was reflected in sound waves of violent neon lights.

It wasn't real. None of this was fucking real.

Sean was going to be pissed off at me, but I didn't care. We had to get home before something else bad happened and he was taking way too fucking long. There was a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach, telling me my day would only get worse if I stayed in this parking lot another second on the shit he had me smoke.

I peeled myself off the ground and stormed up to the outside door of the apartment building Sean had disappeared into. I began yanking and pulling on the heavy security door that was locked. It wouldn't wiggle or budge at all in my hands.

Not even drug-induced super strength was going to get this thing to move.

I started pressing all the buttons on the buzzers to get someone to let me inside. I waited a few seconds between each one to see if someone would answer. I didn't know which apartment Sean and the girl were in, but hopefully, someone would feel sorry enough for me to open the door.

"Who's there?" A nasally, shrill voice screeched out at me through the speaker like she was annoyed.

"I'm looking for Sean," I replied.

"Oh, yeah. Come on up. We're in 3A." She answered back in a seductive, sultry tone.

The mechanical mechanism on the door clicked and I pulled it open before it could latch again. I took the narrow stairs up two at a time, holding onto the railing so I didn't fall flat on my face. The walk up took forever as the stairs swayed underneath me like watered-down jelly.

Who would get an apartment on the third fucking floor of a place without an elevator?

When I reached the top floor, I was thrilled to find the first door I went to had a faded sign resembling 3A. I pounded my fist against the metal mustard door that had seen better days.

The door clicked as the lock on the other side was being turned. The doorknob spun in slow motion while I waited impatiently for whoever was on the other side to let me in.

The first thing I saw was swollen, wet red lips when the door opened. My jaw dropped in complete shock as a thin body, wearing nothing but a sheer burgundy bra with a matching g-string, took a step towards me.

Someone was playing a cruel fucking joke on me.