Page 5 of Sour Lollipops and Sweet Nightmares (The Society #1)

Issac

M ost people had some kind of morning routine. They woke up grumpy or annoyingly happy, made coffee or maybe a smoothie, and got ready for their day. This morning’s routine started in the early hours while I was in that state of half-asleep and half-awake.

The Sandman’s embrace still surrounded me, and I could feel the lull of dreamland, but that was quickly giving way to the sound of my father’s voice.

All because he decided to call last night. Apparently, he was coming for a visit this afternoon. My father didn’t do random visits. Our child/parent relationship was virtually non-existent.

We didn’t call or check in with each other, unless necessary. That was a waste of his precious time. My father was more concerned with having a loyal heir than he was with having a son.

I didn’t fault him for it. If anything, I respected him for it. What valuable skills would I learn from playing catch? Instead of giving in to my ridiculous childhood notions of magic and fairy tales, he prepared me for my future. For that, I was grateful.

But in moments like this, when I should’ve been able to enjoy the quiet, relaxation, and comfort of my bed, I wanted to hit him.

Grumbling, I threw my arm over my face and attempted to enjoy the last few minutes of peace I would have today.

The sound of my father’s voice whispering the back of my mind quickly destroyed that peace. It was like a leech sucking the calm out of my soul. I lay there with tension coursing through my body, while various rules invaded my subconscious that had been drilled into my head growing up.

Take what you want, but don’t take too much.

Never bow down to anyone, but respect authority.

Control the populace, but don’t let them know what you can do.

And, nothing truly belongs to you, but never let anyone take what’s yours.

What kind of contradictory bullshit was that? But that was The Society. Sometimes things simply didn’t make sense. Levi passed one of his trials because he was wearing green on the right day. Trials and judgment, that was what I spent my childhood doing.

While other kids were playing with their friends, I was under constant scrutiny. Everything was a test. Trips to the park, family dinners, and even my choice of toys. My father watched every action I’d ever made. And now the asshole managed to invade my dreams.

I used to hate him and his rules, but as I got older, I realized that he was preparing me for the role I would one day have to play. He showed his version of parental love through criticism, if he was even capable of such a thing as parental love. Either way, I saw the world for what it was.

Fake.

People wandered around day after day, repeating the same monotonous tasks while dreaming of a better life. But they were all just sheep, marching to the beat of someone else’s drum. Fear could only control someone to a certain extent. But hope… that was the real downfall of humanity.

A man would work a job he hated until the day he died, as long as he believed there was a chance that his dreams could come true.

The lottery wasn’t created to give the poor an opportunity to become rich.

It was to keep them in line. Hopes and dreams weren’t something I’d ever had.

Things like that were for ordinary people, and we weren’t ordinary.

That was something that bitch from last night would soon find out. She was who I could thank for my restless night’s sleep. It wasn’t my father’s voice that kept me up. It was her smug and sweetly sang, ‘bye-bye now.’

I didn’t even know her name, and I already had her destruction plotted out.

Or mine? I wasn’t sure at this point. No chick had ever affected me this way.

Pussy was pussy and all that. Yet I couldn’t stop thinking about the fire in her bright jade eyes.

How bright would that fire burn when tears streaked her face?

No one challenged me like that. I kind of liked it and was curious to see how deep her defiance went.

I wanted her to suffer, and I wanted her to fight me while she suffered.

It was a confusing and frustrating feeling that made it impossible to pass the fuck out.

Add in my father’s voice whispering in my head, and I was ready to punch someone.

Bang, bang.

Great, now some asshole was knocking on my door.

I gritted my teeth against the resounding bang vibrating through my room.

“Fuck off.” I was gonna kill whoever that was.

“Open the door, Issac.”

Fucking Ravi. Figures it would be him. “Get lost, Ravi.”

He banged on the door louder. “Time to get up.”

Creaking my eye open, I looked over at the clock on my bedside table and groaned. Time to get up my ass.

“I’m not leaving, Issac.”

Ugh, I was going to kill him. Don’t get me wrong, Ravi was probably my best friend—he annoyed me less than his brother and Levi—but sometimes, I wanted to hit the guy, especially when he pounded on my door at seven in the morning. I didn’t have class for another two hours.

I missed Aiden. At least he left me alone. Fuck knows where he was now. Or if he was even alive.

“Get your ass out of bed.”

“I will fucking hurt you, Ravi.”

I was too tired for this shit. Was it too much to ask for two more hours?

I blamed that meddling blonde bitch for this.

Who the fuck just walks into an office? She could’ve turned around and walked away.

Most people would’ve. But no. She took a fucking picture.

And why wasn’t the door locked? That part was on Ravi.

“Come on, Issac.”

My desire to hurt her was almost as strong as the drive to knock out the prick who wouldn’t let me sleep.

“Don’t make me break the door down,” Ravi threatened.

“Fucking try it,” I dared him.

“Alright,” he sang. “I’m coming in.”

Ravi’s version of kicking a door open didn’t involve any actual kicking. There was no violence at all. Only the soft clicks of a lock being picked. Thirty seconds tops, and he’d be in here, dragging my ass out of bed. And that was only because I’d invested in a high-quality lock.

“Ugh,” I groaned, rolled over, and threw a pillow over my head.

That was when I felt something on my chest.

What the fuck?

Peeking out from under the pillow, I looked down at a hand with navy-painted nails resting on my chest.

Who the hell was in my bed?

One roll of my head to the right answered that question.

Lying beside me, with her eyes closed, was a brunette. She looked good and used, and judging by the smell of sweat and sex coming off us, I had a good idea who used her.

My eyes ran over her hair splayed out in tangles on the pillow, down to the mascara streaked on her face, and back up to a fake eyelash that had lifted and was hanging off one of her eyelids.

Disgust curled in disdain.

That tiny strand of fine hairs, reminded me why I hated the bitches in this place. All the dyed hair, make-up, and hair extensions were false advertising. Natural beauty was lost. Just once, I’d like to see a chick without all that crap. There was, however, one thing she couldn’t fake.

Lifting the blanket, I scanned her naked body.

Not bad, I guess. She could use some more in the tits department, and a few more curves, but at least she had curves.

She was pretty, but not very memorable. If it weren’t for the empty condom wrapper on the bedside table, I wouldn’t recall fucking her.

The lack of sleep might’ve had something to do with that.

Normally, I didn’t bang random girls, but I ran into her while out for a late-night walk and thought, Why not? She was ready to go and there. I didn’t remember inviting her to spend the night, and I certainly didn’t agree to this cuddling bullshit.

Brushing her arm off me, I tapped her cheek with my palm. “Wake up…”

What the fuck is her name? Stacy? Mary? Blair? Fuck it, who cared.

“Hey,” I said louder. “Get the fuck up.”

The only response I got was a few sleepily mumbled words.

Huffing out a sigh, I pressed my palm on her shoulder and shoved her off the mattress.

She let out a yip and tumbled off the side of the bed as Ravi strutted in.

His brow lifted at the muttered, “Oof,” and “What the fuck,” that came from the floor.

“Did I interrupt something?”

Yeah, my sleep.

“Got yourself a little treat, did you?”

I sneered at the smirk lifting the corner of his mouth. “Go fuck yourself.”

Two hours was enough time to kill him and hide the body.

“That hurt,” the girl groaned and pushed herself up. “Did you push me off the bed?”

Correction, two hours was enough time to hide two bodies.

When I ignored her and sat up, she slapped her hand on the mattress. “I’m talking to you.”

“Why are you in my room?” I sighed.

She stared at me for a second before tipping her head, causing a lock of her hair to brush over the top of her exposed breasts.

Ravi’s gaze immediately locked onto her nipples.

“Don’t tell me you don’t remember what we did last night?” she reached out to touch my arm. “You weren’t that drunk.”

I wasn’t drunk at all. I looked down at the manicured fingers on my arm, then shifted my stare over to her. “Why are you still here?”

Her hand was off me in a flash. “What?”

Was she deaf or stupid? “Get the fuck out of my room.”

Her bright eyes narrowed. “You’re kicking me out?”

“I didn’t ask you to stay.”

“If you want another bed to crawl in, mine’s open,” Ravi offered.

She ignored Ravi and kept her glare fixed on me. “Are you always this much of an asshole?”

“The door is that way,” I said while flinging the blankets back and getting out of bed.

Morning wood was a pain in the ass, but not enough to make me cover up. Modesty was overrated. I strutted over to my dresser, letting my dick bob as I went. I opened a drawer and pulled on a pair of sweats while Ravi and the girl continued to stare at me in very different ways.

The girl’s brows pulled together in a glare of hatred or anger. I didn’t care which. If she were closer, there was no doubt in my mind that she would slap me. Or at least attempt to.