WARNING: A mild steamy make-out session ahead. You can skip the first half if you want, or you can just skim through it. Whichever the case, the second half starts at the paragraph with the words 'Arisa jumped off of me...'. Happy reading!

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PRESENT

I wished time would goddamn stop.

I pushed her back against the couch as I assaulted her lips. She kissed me back, both of us fighting for dominance. My hands gripped her waist, while she raked my hair.

Holy fuck, don't wake me up from this.

My lips kissed their way down to her jaw, wandering to her neck. My hands traveled up until they were under her breasts, my thumb stroked her through the clothing. I wanted to rip off her fucking bra.

"Quit teasing me," she breathed out.

I chuckled, pulling away for a quick second to take off my sweatshirt. When I threw it away, I reached for the remote and turned off the porn.

I only wanted to hear Arisa's moans.

She was so clean and fresh, while I was still sweaty from my run. But I didn't give a shit. I pulled her up to a sitting position and grabbed her legs so she could straddle me.

For a moment, I just fucking stared at her.

"I win," she said, grinning.

"You win." I reached up and placed a strand of her hair behind her ear, then my hand wrapped around the back of her neck. "You fucking win," I added in a whisper, before pulling her face towards mine and kissing the hell out of her.

Felt like a win-win situation to me, though.

My other hand made its way up on her sides, my fingers brushing against a nipple through the fabric. Her breathing hitched. But when I pinched it gently, it made her moan into me – her body relaxing and grinding on me.

Fuck, she was so warm and soft. She kissed me harder, and I felt her tongue darting out to tease me. Tease me, huh?

My hand on her neck wandered downwards, softly brushing my fingers against her skin along the way – between her breasts... down her stomach... below her abdomen... and when it reached its destination, I stroked her between her legs ever so lightly, making her tremble against me.

I fucking loved the feel of that.

Feeling her soaked down there, I couldn't help but groan. God, I wanted to set aside her panties so goddamn bad. When I flicked a finger and she gasped, I took the chance and touched her tongue with mine.

I could do this heavenly shit forever.

"Alfie," she whispered, as I kissed down her neck and started sucking hard.

She gave me shit for it last year when I gave her a hickey, but at least she didn't drink shitless again. Call me an asshole, but I didn't like the idea of her getting plastered like that and making a pass on some horny dickhead. I wouldn't know what I'd do if anyone took advantage of her.

When Arisa realized what I was doing, though, she immediately grabbed my hair and pulled my face away.

"Ow, babe."

"Don't you dare."

I flashed her a wicked grin. "Too late."

She frowned and squished my face with her hands. "Ugh, do you know that it's still too hot to wear a scarf or a turtleneck?"

"I'll make it up to you," I said easily, rubbing her between her legs again and she almost jumped in surprise but I held her in place. "If you'd let me."

She bit her plush bottom lip, her expression crossed between looking horny and deep in thought. Damn, she looked cute.

"I promise not to take off my pants," I said, lowering my voice and pulling her closer again to peck her lips. "I just wanna make you feel good."

She stared into my eyes for what felt like a fucking eternity that I thought my boner turned into a statue already, before she slowly nodded. It took all of me not to throw my damn fist in the air.

I was about to set aside her sexy ass panties and slide my finger along her wet slit when the shitty motherfucking doorbell rang.

Arisa quickly jumped off of me and covered herself with a throw pillow.

"Don't get shy now," I teased.

She only gave me the middle finger, which meant she was too flushed to come up with a smartass remark. Ha, I made her speechless.

Chuckling, I picked up my sweatshirt and gave it to her.

Her nose scrunched up. "It stinks."

"Babe, you already rubbed your body against my sweaty one—and I didn't hear you complaining."

She tilted her head. "Hard to complain when I was too busy winning."

I burst out laughing, as I stood up and headed to the front door. When I opened it, a small brown box greeted me. I looked around the street and saw no delivery truck or even a mail person.

Fuck, what now?

I hesitated for a minute, thinking it could be a bomb inside – or it could be a care package for all I knew. But the fact was, I wouldn't know if I didn't open it. I eventually picked up the package and brought it inside.

"What is it?" Arisa asked, following me into the kitchen.

I noticed that she didn't wear my sweatshirt. Instead, she wrapped it around her body like a towel.

"I've seen you in your underwear all damn week, babe," I said, trying not to sound too smug. "That shit's forever engraved in my mind."

"You mean, your spank bank," she countered, with a raised eyebrow.

I smirked. "Well, you are the star of my dreams."

"Then, why do you still wake up?"

"The real you will miss me too much."

"Are you sure you're still not dreaming?"

I laughed. "Maybe I am."

Her attention zeroed in on the box. "So what is it?"

I turned and eyed the package again. I debated on taking this to my room but that was my safe space. No shitty vibes allowed. I didn't wanna risk bringing any bad mojo there in case this was what I thought it was.

"Can you give me a minute?" I asked Arisa.

I didn't want her to be here when I opened it.

She nodded, already turning around. "Sure, I'll just take another shower. I have to wash off your smell of defeat."

I grinned, and called after her retreating body, "If you call that losing, then I'd be happy to let you win every time!"

"Be sure to take a shower first!"

I chuckled and turned my attention to the package in front of me. There was nothing written outside. It was just a plain brown box. With a sigh, I tore the tape that sealed it and balled the sticky shit before setting it aside.

Without wasting another second, I opened the box. What the fuck? I stepped back, frowning at the contents inside.

I was just glad Arisa wasn't here to see this. I was expecting the worst, so I wasn't surprised. But hell, that didn't mean this shit was fucking okay.

The wings were ripped off the lifeless bird. Its blood spilled out into a shitty mess. My scowl deepened, trying not to imagine how it was ripped off of the poor animal. Whoever the fuck did this was a sick bastard.

My eyes finally tore away from the dead bird and noticed the empty bottle of tequila on the other side of the box. It was as if my heart dropped to my goddamn stomach as the realization kicked in.

It was a message.

No, it was a fucking threat.

I backed away until I was leaning on the opposite counter. I dragged a hand down my face, before shaking my head and laughing at the fucking irony of it all.

I was so used to dishing out revenge. Hell, I fucking reveled in it. Payback was a bitch, but we were the goddamn devils.

But now, the tables had turned.

This time, I was on the receiving end.

At least, the fucker didn't vandalize my new car.

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Ooh, who's after Alfie? Is it karma or something else?

This weekend's chapters aren't very long but there's really nothing more to add. I'll make it up to you next weekend! (Also, are my author's notes bothering you? I'll remove it if you don't like it.)

Next update: I update on weekends!

Coming up next... Chapter 10: Break Stuff
We're gonna see what happened the first time Alfie got a 'message.' How do you think he handled it?

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