Chapter 44: Claw Marks-2

"Also from Jordan," he smiles. "Shit, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" "You swore," he laughs, ignoring everything else I said. "Yeah, I feel like i've been doing that a lot lately, thanks to you and your dirty mouth." My eyes unintentionally trail down his shirtless body, and at the waistband of his boxers I notice something on his skin sticking out. "What's that?" He pulls down the waistband of his boxers and I blush at his V-line, feeling my body heat up, but then notice the thing on his skin is a tattoo. Of a penguin. He laughs. "I was out with the guys one night. We were drunk and there was this hot chick," he pauses. "Cole said that if I went over to her and straight up said, let's fuck, and she agreed, then he'd get any tattoo of my choice. If I fail then I have to get a tattoo of his choice." "So you lost, but what happened?" "She slapped me and threw a drink in my face." I laugh. "And why'd Cole choose a penguin?" He shrugs. "The dude has this secret addiction to penguins. And he wanted it in this place so that every time a girl was about to blow me, she'd see this." "You see, that cocky attitude of yours can get you in trouble. You're not as much of a catch as you think you are." "I was enough of a catch for you last night when you were all over me," he teases. I feel embarrassed again. I'm such an idiot. I wish I could go back and undo that, even though I loved it and I didn't want him to stop. It was a mistake. "About last night, that shouldn't have happened." "Don't worry about it-" "No, really. You're my friend and it was... weird," I say even though everything coming out of my mouth is lies. I don't want to seem pathetic to him. "I was drunk and upset about Mason. It was wrong to use you like that. I guess i'm just not over him." He nods and stands up, then walks to the door. "Zeke, I really am sorry," my voice is more sincere this time. "Whatever," his tone is harsh. "I'll get Zoey to take you home." Then he walks out. He must be mad about me using him. I put my bra back on and try to sort my appearance, using the tap water to wipe off the makeup smudged under my eyes, and running my fingers through my messy hair to make it look better. When I check my phone, I realise there are no missed calls from my mom. I told her i'd be home last night, wouldn't she be worried that I didn't come back? I call her number and place the phone to my ear. I hope everything's okay. It's really out of character for my mom not to be worrying about me. "Hello?" She says. "Mom, I'm sorry I didn't come home-" "It's fine, Marnie," her voice is cheerful. "Zeke called last night and told me you fell asleep and that you're safe." "Really?" I clear my throat. "I mean, um. So you're not mad?" "Of course not. I trust that Zeke was looking after you. He really cares for you, Marnie." I wrap up the conversation and end the call, feeling a little too happy that Zeke took my mom into consideration like that. I head downstairs and into Cole's living room. He must have cleaned up because there isn't much garbage lying around. Zoey and Cole are on one of the couches having a thumb war, and Zeke is on the other, looking at his phone. He's dressed now in the clothes he was wearing last night. "Good morning," Zoey says when she sees me standing there. "How was your first time drinking?" "Absolutely terrible." "Seems like it was a lot of fun considering Zeke's back is covered in claw marks," Cole smiles. Oh God. Zeke flips Cole off without looking up from his phone screen. Looking at his hands, I notice they're bruised. I guess he got Jordan back from the black eye he gave him. "Tell me, Marn, is Zeke as good as everyone says he is?" Zoey nudges him in the stomach, shutting him up. "I'm leaving," Zeke announces and stands up, taking his car keys out of his pocket. "Me too," Zoey says. "You ready, Marnie?" "Yeah," I move out of the way so Zeke can walk past me. "Nooo, everyone's leaving me," Cole pouts. "I'll come back later," Zoey assures him and kisses him. "Okay, and make sure you get all the goss about Marnie and Zeke's sex so you can fill me in." He winks at me. "We didn't have sex," I roll my eyes. "I have already told him that two-hundred fucking times," Zeke shouts, followed by the sound of the front door slamming. Cole sighs, smiling. "I'm gonna hold this against him for a loooong time. I took photos of his back when he came down here half naked. Wanna see? I made a group chat with Isaac and we're gonna annoy him with them. Do you want me to add you?" "No thanks." My cheeks heat up. The last thing I want is this to keep being brought up. "Don't worry, I'll make him delete the photos," Zoey says as we leave the house. As Zoey's driving me home, I feel my phone buz and check the notification on my screen. Cole added you to the group "Zekey Daddy". I sigh and go onto the messages. Asshole: fuck you Cole: you mean, fuck MARNIE *Asshole left the chat* *Cole added Asshole to the chat* *Asshole left the chat* *Cole added Asshole to the chat* This is gonna go on for a while. Isaac: shut the fuck up im trying to sleep *Isaac and Asshole left the chat* *Cole added Isaac and Asshole to the chat* Oh God.