Free The Manga Girl by Lorenzo Marks

Intellectually, he knew that Lucy hadn’t really done anything wrong. She had never claimed to be his exclusive property, and after all, it was just a dance. But the sight of them together was biting into him harder than he could ever have imagined.
          Standing with his hands on the balcony railing, he knew that Sid and the others were watching him, and without saying goodbye, Nick turned and pushed through the crowd towards the exit.
     
    ***
           
          He slammed his front door with such violence that Lucy’s bicycle toppled over in the hallway. Stepping over it, he went into the living room and turned over the coffee table. He went into the kitchen and opened the door, stared out into the darkness, then went upstairs, avoided looking at her bedroom door, and went into his room.
          He lay down, face buried in the pillows, inhaling her sensual fragrance as tears stung his eyes.
          Damn the bitch! he thought. What was she trying to do to him? Hadn’t he made his feelings plain enough? And Jason, of all people! A terrible image forced its way into his head - Lucy’s naked body, tied to a bed and writhing in ecstasy as Jason brought a leather whip down onto her breasts. Maybe one of your friends would like to punish me…
          Nick had to physically shake his head to remove the thought. After a while, he gained a degree of composure and backtracked over the course of the evening, trying to figure out if he had done something wrong. Should he have joined in when they were playing pool? Didn’t he show her enough attention at the night club? He had deliberately held back because he hadn’t wanted to appear too possessive. Yeah, that strategy really worked out, didn’t it?
          His head was in a whirl. He couldn’t carry on like this. He needed to have Lucy completely or not at all - but the thought of the latter filled him with dread. The guys were right. You didn’t take a girl like Lucy for granted - she was a full-time occupation.
          He rolled over and picked up his cell phone to see if she had called. There were two missed calls from Sid, nothing else. He put the phone down on the bedside table, and then, almost hyperventilating, picked it up again and dialed Lucy’s number. He let it ring until her voice mail kicked in and then he hung up. He lay on top of the covers, unable to sleep, torturing himself over where and who she might be with. Had Jason seen Nick’s call come in while he was fucking her? Did they both laugh? Or was she just pissed at him for walking out?
          Twice, he thought he heard the front door opening, but it was only his frantic imagination. Dawn broke, filling the room with brilliant sunshine. Nick went down to the hallway, stood Lucy’s bike up, and then set the coffee table right-side-up.
          He slumped into the sofa and finally sleep embraced him. When he woke, it was nearly midday and he felt better. Then he remembered Lucy and the cold churning in his stomach came back. He brooded in front of the silent television, wondering what to do. If it was over with Lucy - did it really ever start? - he wanted her out of the house. The idea of Jason coming over to pick her up was more than he could handle. He was going over the possible legal ramifications when his cell rang. It was Lucy.
          His first emotion was unbridled joy, which was then followed by deep apprehension - this might be the call telling him she was moving out.
          Nervously, Nick touched the receive icon.
          “Hey,” she said, “what happened to you last night?”
          Her casual, friendly demeanor caught him off guard.
          “I… I was feeling pretty sick.”
          “You could have said goodbye.”
          “It came on suddenly. I didn’t want to throw up in the club. Didn’t Sid tell you?”
          “No.”
          Nick could tell from her voice that she didn’t believe