Scornfully Yours (Torn Series) (31 page)

Feeling the blues, I strode back to my room after I turned the damned television off.

The thought of Bass on that hotel balcony made me want to hurl. Curled up and feeling lonelier than ever, I willed myself not to shed a tear. Surely this loneliness was the outcome of the pregnancy scare and Carter’s immediate take off?

Would Bass have reacted like how Carter did,
just now?
I told myself that Bass would…but somehow deep down, I knew that Bass would’ve acted differently.

Thinking about Bass wouldn’t help anything. It’s best that I shove my thoughts of him somewhere in the back of my mind.

I closed my eyes until I fell asleep.

It was his voicemail again.
“Stop bugging me. Thanks!”

That was my fifteenth call to Carter that went straight to voicemail. I sent a few text messages and
they too
went unanswered.

Where was he? Was he mad at me?

It was midnight, more than twenty-four hours has passed since the baby false alarm and I still hadn’t heard from him. 

A knock on the door made me look up and I found a smiling Lindsey. “Are you sure you don’t want to go and party with us on Main Street?”

Positive. “No, I’m good.”

Before she left I asked, “Do you know where your brother is? I can’t reach him.”

“I think Brody mentioned that they’d be at Amanda’s house party. See you later, Emma!”

“Laters, Linds,” I murmured once she closed the door.

So, Carter was out and about partying while I stared at the ceiling. Well, that would have to change. He can’t just leave and not speak to me again after the pregnancy scare fiasco yesterday.

In haste, I grabbed the first skinny jeans I saw and fetched my nude leather jacket. After tying my lace booties on, I headed out the door. I’ve been to Amanda’s house once or twice and I somewhat remember where it was. I had to remind myself to check on Facebook because I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure that her party is blasted all over our common friend’s pages. All buckled up, I was right that the people from our campus were heading to her shindig. After a few taps on my iPhone, Siri smoothly directed me to Amanda’s home.

Amanda’s house was a massive sprawling mansion in Carpinteria. Her parents were apparently well connected to politicians and they held a lot of shares in one of the most popular hotel chains in the country. Once her palace came to view, I had to park a bit further down the road since it was jammed with cars. Once I got out of the car and walked towards the house, I wondered how she could pull off having a party this loud in this type of neighborhood. I shook my head when I saw a girl puking her guts out on the pavement and her friends trying to soothe her.

As expected, the house was a tsunami of madness. People were making out on everywhere, bare-naked titties with girl-on-girl action with guys hollering on the sidelines, lit-up rolled-up weed passed
around, and of course it wouldn’t be a party without thong-clad women dancing and singing their hearts out.
Now, where the hell is Carter?

Once I saw Cooper weeding through the crowd, I tugged at his shirt. His eyes bugged out when he saw me.

“
Heeey
pretty little thing. What can I do for you?” Cooper slurred his words.

“Where’s Carter? I can’t find him anywhere.”

“Carter, right,” Cooper shook his head. “Oh, he’s around…somewhere.”

My heart started to palpitate. Why was Cooper being so cryptic?

“
Where is he specifically
, Cooper? Don’t lie because I know
you know
where he is.”

Cooper contemplated for a bit and finally shrugged. “Listen, Em. I like you but don’t tell Carter that it was me who told you. He’ll chop my dick off if he found out. Got it?”

WTF? How serious is this? Was Carter cheating on me?

“I promise, I won’t tell.” And I wouldn’t. This was between Carter and I.

“Is Lindsey here?” Cooper hesitantly asked. Was he still hung up on Lindsey after all the Cece craziness?

“No, I don’t think so.”

Cooper nodded and squeezed my shoulder. Okay, spill already!

“Try the boathouse. That’s where I last saw him.”

F.U.C.K.!

“Thanks, Coop!” I gave him a sad smile and weaved through the throng of people to get outside. The backyard was massive. It had a sprawling lush lawn that spread out until it hit the sandy beach. Palm trees were scattered everywhere with torches surrounding the trunks. There was another DJ playing out here. The DJ inside played hip-hop, this tatted-up dude played trance and techno. I looked around for the damn boathouse. It was about a quarter mile from the house to my left.
Was Carter really in there?
It looked too dark for anyone to be in there.

“Come dance with me hot stuff!” Some sleazebag tried to pull me towards him.

Ugh! No thank you.

“Not interested, bubba. Maybe you should try a few mints before you open that mouth of yours? It reeks of garbage.”

“Jeez, I only wanted to dance!” The stinker muttered under his breath and left me to my own devices.

With my four-inch heels, I strutted towards the boathouse. I stopped right outside the door to listen for any commotion
or
any sound, but I couldn’t hear anything.

Should I just open it?
Am I ready if I do
find
something in there?

After a few footsteps, I was against the door. I pressed my ears against it, listening.

There were giggles and laughter from women. I didn’t hear Carter.

Curious, antsy, angry, confused, I finally decided to open the damning door. It took a few blinks and squinting until my eyes adjusted to the candle-laden feast that brightened the entire place. There were five girls, naked, around some copper thrown silk sheets on the floor with overflowing embroidered pillows everywhere. They seemed oblivious to me, so I got closer to see what they were giggling about. Once I could make out faces, I found Cece and Amanda all in their naked glory along with a few girls I saw that always hung-out with Amanda (the names escaped me) start to touch and make-out with each other.

My feet froze as I stared horrified when I got close enough and found Carter in the middle of the damn sheets and pillows naked with his arms behind his head like a fucking emperor having his usual night time delights with his concubines. Amanda was sucking him off while Cece tried to touch and kiss him everywhere. The other nameless woman licked his nipples while Carter’s hands skimmed over her ass cheeks…and was about to touch her vagina.

“MOTHER FUCKER!” I screamed like a banshee, halting their movements.

My eyes misted and I was seeing red.

How long had this been going on?

I sprinted towards the indulgent sexual five-some. I stood before Carter and immediately pushed Amanda off his cheating dick. Bastard!

“Emma, baby!” Carter started.

Baby my ass! I thought before I stomped on his crown jewels with a good force. FUCK YOU!  “
Here you go
, now you won’t be fucking anyone tonight!  We are through! I bellowed at him. I bellowed at him.

“What the fuck, Emma!” Carter yelled before he curled up, cupping his balls.

Good
, he deserved it!

I spun towards Cece, “Do you need to fuck the entire campus, Cece? Didn’t it matter that you knew he was with me? You’re such a low-life skank!”

I looked at the rest of the girls who started to scamper. “By the way, I’m Emma Anderson and you just fucked and screwed my life right now. But I won’t have the likes of skanks and tramps affect and ruin me. You can go and fuck yourselves now.” With that parting, I left the boat house and Amanda’s house.

I didn’t let my guard down until I got inside my car. Tears were streaming continuously down my cheeks as the scene I just witnessed flashed in my mind. Carter was such a womanizer! He would never change. Well, he did for a month or two but that didn’t last long.

Wiping my tears, I drove. Not towards Santa Barbara but towards Los Angeles.

“If you are going through hell, keep going.” 

―
 Winston Churchill

Once I exited the freeway, I had no clue where I wanted to go. After thirty minutes of mindless driving, I found myself parking at the Chateau Marmont. With my purse in hand, I walked to the reception desk.  Old Hollywood glamour greeted me. The design was retro chic with a hint of old charm. Most of the people that worked here, it seemed, were all hot. I guess whatever works for their brand and image.

  There were a lot of celebrities here tonight–this was, after all, a loc

I don’t know why I chose this hotel. Since Lindsey and I were supposed to stay here the last time, it was the only hotel that popped in my brain. There was only one thing I was here for and that was to mend my broken heart and find solace.

I finally managed to get a room without shedding a tear. The woman named Sandy was a fucking chatterbox asking way too many questions. I smiled and pretended to listen to her, but in reality I was holding my temper before I completely lost it and snapped her head off.

“Here you go, Ms. Anderson. Have a pleasant stay.” Sandy finally handed me my keycard.

I murmured my thanks before I headed towards the bank of elevators.

Once I got to my floor, I inserted the keycard and let myself in the one-bedroom suite.  I felt like I just walked in on an old school TV set circa 1940’s. Mustard colored couch, beige walls, the style of the rug and the lamps were quite…fashionably period-themed? The room was homey and charming. It made me feel right at home. Although, I felt like Lucy and Ricky Riccardo would walk through the door any minute now.

I walked over to the bar and got myself a chilled bottle of water. I grabbed the wine bottle along with the wine opener and strode towards the bedroom. Sighing, I took my jeans off and only wore my shirt and undies and jumped in bed. With my phone, I decided to text Lindsey and Trista.

Me: Hey. I just checked in at Chateau M. for the night. Carter and I broke up. Be back on Sunday.

FML!

What the hell just happened tonight? Carter and I were doing well…until, that is, before the incident happened. Well, I guess that’s that.

Groaning, I sat up and I took hold of the wine and opened it. Since, I would be getting drunk alone there was no need for a wine glass. Now, where’s the TV remote? It sat on the other side table. Grabbing it, I turned the TV on. I immediately went to go check out the movie section. Maybe I should watch
The Notebook
or something really depressing like
A Walk to Remember
? Scrolling and browsing, my thumb stilled when I found one of Bass’s films. Should I? Since, I really didn’t pay attention to any of his movies before, maybe I should start now? Oh, fuck it. I pressed play.

Lucian
, the vampire, from
Knights of Cimmerian
film was definitely something. I got excited when I remembered Bass had a blatantly hot sex scene in this film. I suppose I’m doing some research to see how he’ll be for
Blasphemous
.

I took another gulp of my wine and almost choked on in when I saw that Carter was calling me. WTF!

“Leave me the fuck alone, man whore,” I muttered as my heart pounded at the thought of Carter. Why was he calling? To apologize and try to give me some reasonable explanation as to why he cheated on me with not one woman but
with five
? I chastised myself for getting back with him. I shouldn’t have…especially when I wasn’t hundred percent sure about it at the time.