Game of Love Ch. 03

"And you!" Eric was now staring at the woman, eyeing her in disgust. "You have the nerves to talk about ugliness? Have you taken a very good at yourself in the mirror? If your husband is cheating on you, would you blame him? In fact, he is wrong for cheating on you. He should have left you for another woman instead."

The woman felt like someone had just poured anger on her. She furiously rose and backhanded Eric so hard that he took a step behind. It hurt like hell.

"How dare you, you bastard!" The woman snapped, breathing like she was in labor. "How dare you talk to me like that, you illegitimate child! Don't you have manners for your elders anymore?"

She was shouting at the top of her voice that everyone was now on their feet, watching the drama going on.

"Didn't this bitch ever teach you any manners?"

"Did you just..." Eric paused and laughed as he looked at the woman. "...did you just lay your hand on me?"

"And I will do it all over again if you don't learn to talk to me with manners."

Eric chuckled bitterly. Then he did something even more stupid. He took a bowl of soup that was on the table and threw it on her. She gasped in shock but luckily for her, the soup wasn't hot enough to burn her. Her eyes widened and when she raised her head to look at him, he pushed her angrily but lucky for her, Giada who was equally shocked was right there to hold her before she could fall. Everyone had their hands covering their mouths.

"Eric, please, let's go." Laurel pleaded.

"No, mom!" Eric shook his head. "Till when will you allow such women to humiliate you? If you can take it, I cannot. Don't these old hags have anything to..."

"Enough!" Came a roar.

Eric was about to turn when all of a sudden Brice came in front of him and man was he mad. He was with another man who went straight to the talkative woman and held her tightly. He seemed mad even as he looked at Eric. Eric figured that was the husband but he didn't care.

"That's enough, Eric!" Brice roared, pointing angrily at him.

He couldn't believe what he had just found. He had come dressed wonderfully with his friend, Harry to meet their wives for a special evening only to find that drama. He was mad.

"How many times have I warned not to create a scene in public places?" He snarled. "What do you get by defaming my family in public?"

Eric chuckled bitterly, smiling angrily. "Please come, Mr. Sandoval." He gestured, slowly bowing. "You were sorely missed during this discussion. Actually, your favorite topic is going on." He smiled teasingly. "Cheating!"

Brice clenched his fists, starting to breathe heavily. He was instantly swept by anger and he felt adrenalin preying on him.

"Fair, you've earned so many degrees, you even have a Ph.D. and you're highly respected in society. So you think that you're all high and..."

"Shut up!" Brice snapped. "Have you forgotten the way to speak to your father?"

"Oh!" Eric gasped in mock astonishment. "I am so sorry..." He paused and eyed the man in disgust from head to toe. "...father! What do I do? You started all this. All the peace and the decency in my family has been destroyed by you and your... wife!" He grimaced. "Till when will you hide that you are not a perfect man? Till when will you hide your affairs?"

Brice felt really cold and embarrassed by the words of his son. Giada was dumbstruck and Laurel felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She dropped her eyes to the floor because she knew there was no stopping him. Her son was just as stubborn as his grandfather.

"You can give betrayal any name but it's always betrayal, Mr. Sandoval!"

"Eric!" Brice didn't know where he got all the anger but he furiously raised his hand and gave his son a really dirty slap that made him drop his neck. It had hurt a lot and that was the first time Eric had ever been slapped by his father.

Laurel covered her mouth as more tears flooded her face. Giada gave an evil grin because she was enjoying the drama. That was the first time that she witnessed Brice physically handling his son. She had waited for it for a long time.

Eric on the other hand felt like a vessel of anger when he raised his face. His eyes were blood red and there were veins popping up in his neck. He felt so much pressure in his head that he thought it was gonna explode. His fists were clenched and he started getting closer to his father. He'd never felt as much anger as he did at that time.

"Eric!" Laurel rushed to him and stood in between them. "Please..."

"Hit me! Why did you stop?" Eric glowered, trying to get closer but his mother was blocking him.

"Eric, please!" Laurel sobbed, putting her hands together. "I beg you, just stop! Let's go home and stop this."

"Why are you stopping him?" Giada yelled. "That bastard is disrespectful and he deserves this. But it's not like we expected anything better from a boy you raised."

Eric smiled through his pain. "What else can I hope from you?" He looked at his father. "You know what your problem is? Your life sucks. It consists of only one mode, destruction!"

Brice felt so much anger and disgust.

"I am sorry, mom!" He apologized. "I am not like you. I am not spineless."

With one angry look at his father, Eric furiously turned and stormed out of there. His mother felt really weak. All eyes were on them and he could already see that everyone was blaming her. She looked at Brice, slowly turned, picked up her stuff and rushed after her son.

Brice felt like if he didn't step out of there, he was gonna lose it. With a groan, he stormed out of there. Giada felt like murdering Eric. She felt really mad that the idiot had ruined all her plans. Now she was sure that Eric was truly gonna be a big problem in her life.

'You'll pay dearly for this Eric!' She vowed, clenching her fists. 'You'll pay for this in the most painful way and that's for sure. Just give me some time to find a way to destroy your life for good. You'll wish for death. I swear!'

She stormed out of there together with her friend and her husband.

***

Brice furiously threw his jacket on the couch, breathing like a monster. He was looking red and his mood was just off.

"Did you see that? Did you see your son's behavior?" He yelled. "He humiliated me." He said with clenched fists. "I have never been humiliated so much in my entire life. My son, someone that is supposed to be respecting me as his father just gave me the biggest humiliation of my life. And you just stood there watching him insult me and my wife! Do you know how hard I have worked to be respected in society?" He yelled.

Laurel was in tears and she didn't want any drama coming from Brice. As it was, she was already worried about Eric. He had refused to pick up any of her calls and Brice following her home wasn't helping matters at all.

"This is your entire fault! You have pampered that boy too much! He has stooped so low that I am ashamed to call him my son now."

Laurel raised her face, staring at the man who was acting up. She furiously rubbed her tears. "So you do feel shamed?" She asked, making him turn in surprise. "You're ashamed to call him your son? Since when have you made him feel like he's your son, huh? Tell me!"

"What do you mean?" He muttered.

"This is something new to me. So tell me, what is really troubling you?" She folded her arms on her chest. "Eric proved in front of everyone today that whatever you portray in public is actually a sham. However hard you may try, whatever you did 18 years ago and your affairs, you can't hide them forever." She was tearing up.

"What's wrong is wrong. You not only ruined my life but you ruined my son's life as well. Every day that passes, I get to be insulted by your wife and the people around me. My son gets to suffer simply because of your sins. Is it fair? He's just a young man but the burden that he carries is just too much!"

Brice had tears in his eyes too because he regretted what he had done. Laurel didn't deserve the kind of life that she lived. He kept on staring at her like he just wanted to hug her and kiss her and tell her how sorry he was.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" She asked. "What do you feel? Just because I allow you in here every time you come doesn't mean that I have forgiven you for what you did. I only allowed you in here because I just wanted my son to know his father and be with him. I was just trying to make my son grow up with his father. But today made me realize that he actually doesn't need you."

Brice's heart started racing and torturing him. "I never had this misunderstanding, Laurel." He said softly. "That's because for the last seven years since we parted ways, I have seen you in pain and it hurts me every day. I thought you had forgiven me years ago?"

"No!" laurel shook her head. "I haven't forgiven you. I was forced to forgive you." She yelled. "That's because for me, even after finding out about your betrayal 16 years ago, what was more important was for my son to grow up in a complete family filled with love. I just wanted to mend my shattered family. What can I say about you?" She chuckled bitterly.

"You just woke up one day and said you were gonna go to Laurel, lie to her and use her. We were so much in love. But you used that love against me and turned me into a fool. You cheated me on me with another woman when you went to study abroad, got her pregnant and married her abroad. When problems arose there, you still came back to me and got me pregnant. You married me in court with some stupid crazy excuse."

Brice felt a tear go down his cheek and he didn't even bother rubbing it.

"My son feels that I am weak. But he doesn't know that to accept all this, a person needs tremendous strength. Despite everything you did and finding out, I supported you in everything. My only regret is not throwing you out of my life when I eventually found out that you had betrayed me. I would have gotten married again and my son wouldn't have had to suffer."

Brice started getting closer. "Laurel..."

"But my son made me realize today that we don't need you. So please, get the fuck out of my house and never return." She yelled, gesturing towards the door. "As far as I am concerned, you're dead to me."

Brice sniveled. "Laurel..."

"I only kept you around because I felt my son needed his father. But I have realized that he doesn't so get the fuck out! Now!"

Brice's face got wet with tears.

"Laurel..."

Laurel picked up his jacket from the chair, gripped his arm angrily and took him to the door. She opened the door and threw him out followed by his jacket. Brice remained standing there, staring at her with tears in her eyes. But she banged the door on his face and locked it.

She leaned towards the door and cried silently, falling to her knees. She was done being foolish and hoping that her family was ever gonna be complete again. Now all she was gonna focus on was her son and his happiness. She was gonna work really hard to make him happy. That was a promise.

***

The entire house was filled with loud music, students shouting and just talking. It wasn't really a big house. It was a house that had only two floors but it was cool. The party was held at the back where there was a large swimming pool. There were some people swimming, others dancing and others drinking beer and others eating food. There were expensive decors and a lot of gifts.

And there they were, Eric and Riya. They'd just arrived and they were looking sexy as hell. Eric was dressed in a sexy gray see-through tight shirt and a black tight trouser that was see-through from the ankle downwards. He was wearing black snickers. His hair was made into a one sided braid which added to his sexiness.

Riya was dressed in a sexy off the shoulder black minidress with white heels and her hair was made in a messy side bun, making her look beautiful and attractive. But she was not really in the mood for a party that night. In fact, Eric had forced her to come to the party. She was supposed to be with her boyfriend.

"Hi Eric!"

"Steph!" Eric said happily, giving her a peck. She was dressed in a red mini dress and her makeup was on point. She was the birthday girl and she looked really happy upon seeing him. "You look really beautiful!"

She was holding a glass of cocktail and she was with another girl who was her best friend. They both looked happy.

"Thanks a lot!" She blushed. "I am so glad you are here. Riya told me you guys weren't gonna come but seeing you here, my party has just gotten better."

"Well, I just changed my mind at the last minute. Happy birthday!"

"Thanks!" Steph smiled. "Anyway, why don't you two get seated and Jane here will get you some drinks and food."

"Sure!"

Riya and Eric were taken to a beautiful table where they sat near the pool. It didn't take long before Jane came with two glasses of what seemed to be brown juice. But the moment that Eric smelt it, he knew that there was beer there.

He looked at it, took the glass and smiled brightly. He was so depressed that day that he didn't even care about anything. The slaps, the insults and everything that had happened had pissed him off. He just wanted to be wild and happy in order to forget that.

As he was about to take a sip, Riya quickly took the glass from him.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" She quickly gave both glasses back to Steph. "Take them away. When we need something to drink, we'll get it ourselves."

Steph raised her hands like she was surrendering. "Alright! Enjoy!"

Then she left together with her friend.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Riya said harshly. "What were you about to do?"

"Riya, please!" He sighed in frustration. "Please, I just wanna have fun today. I don't want any lectures."

Riya shook her head angrily, trying to understand what was going on. He was acting really strange and she didn't like it. She was a party girl and she would have been enjoying that party but she was very worried. She didn't wanna Eric to get into trouble.

As the two friends were busy seated there, two good looking men came. They were all dressed decently in shirts and jeans and they had smiles on their faces.

"Hi! I am Ken!" The tall cute blonde one said. "And this is my friend, Teddy!"

"Hi!" Eric smiled brightly. "My name is Eric and this is my friend, Riya."

"Nice!" The guy literally leaned on Eric's chair. "But why aren't you guys drinking?"

"Well, we don't take alcohol or anything that has alcohol in it."

"What?" Teddy chuckled nervously. "Everybody here is having fun and you two look a bit bored. Come on, have a drink."

"Yeah!" Ken agreed, handing a glass of what seemed to be orange juice to Eric. "Here! You can have this. Or maybe you wanna have some food instead."

"No!" Riya chuckled nervously. "We're not eating or drinking anything right now. We are okay, right Eric?"

"Riya!" Eric muttered, signaling her with his eyes.

"Or maybe we can dance?" Teddy suggested. "Let's dance!"

Eric nodded, getting ahold of Ken's hand. "That would be lovely. Come on, Riya!" He hollered as he went together with the guy. "Let's have some fun!"

"Alright!" Riya said with a sigh.

Eric, Riya and the two guys went to dance and Eric got really excited. He just wanted to party till dawn.

"Here!" Ken handed the full glass of the drink he was holding. "You can have this. It's just juice!"

Eric smiled brightly. "It's just juice?"

He then took the whole glass and emptied it into his mouth. It tasted funny, maybe he hadn't drank it before but it was amazing. He demanded for another glass and another until he found himself getting really excited. He began shouting at the top of his voice, coiling his arms around Ken as he danced and moved to the music.

Meanwhile, Riya who was getting excited with the party and dancing happily with Teddy got the shock of her life when she glanced towards her friend and found him dancing happily. She froze and that was when she realized that something was wrong. She quickly rushed to him, pulled him away from Teddy and gripped his arm. Shit! He leaked of alcohol.

"Eric!" She gasped.

"What?" Eric chuckled. "Leave me!"

"You know what, that's enough!" She took the glass from him and threw it on the floor. "You're drunk."

"No!" Eric laughed in a silly manner. "You're the one who's drunk."

"Eric, stop it!" She snapped. "Come here."

She took him to seat on a chair and he did, leaning on the table. Everything began spinning and he got really dizzy. He tried to get up but he couldn't do it. Riya got really scared and she thought of what to do. She only had one option and that was what she was gonna do. She quickly left the party area.

As soon as she left, Ken got his opportunity. He rushed to Eric, gripped his arm sweetly and looked at him.

"Are you okay?"

Eric nodded. "I am okay." He said, trying to get up. But he staggered and found himself in Ken's arms.

"It's okay. I will take you to rest in one of the rooms." He wrapped an arm around him and the both of them started going inside.

But as they were leaving, Ken took a glance behind and winked at his friend who raised his thumb, giving an evil grin. Their plan had worked.

***

'Hello!'

"Sergio, thank God I was able to get ahold of you." Riya breathed in harshly.

'What's going?' Sergio chuckled on the other end. 'It's kinda late.'

"I know but I am desperate here, Sergio." She sighed, combing her hair with her fingers. "It's Eric! He's really drunk and I feel that something bad might happen if we don't get out of here?"

"What?" Sergio gasped, feeling his heart pound in his chest. "Eric drunk? What happened? It's kinda long story but we came to a friend's birthday party and he got drunk. We didn't come with any car so I need you here, please."

'I am on my way.' Sergio said. 'Just send the address.'

Riya texted Sergio the address and she quickly rushed back to where she had left Eric. But when she got there, she got really scared when she couldn't see him. She looked all around but he was nowhere to be seen. Even Ken wasn't anywhere to be seen. Riya had never been as scared as she got at that time.

"Hey guys, have you seen Eric?"

But no one answered. Each of them was busy doing something. She just stood still and she began trembling in fear. She was really, really scared. She didn't know what to do next but fortunately, in just less than 5 minutes, she saw Sergio rushing towards her. He was just wearing a black shirt that was half way buttoned and a white trouser. He looked really worried.

"Sergio!"

"Where's he?"

"I don't know." Riya gasped, feeling sweaty all of a sudden. "He's missing. I left him here when I came to call you and I didn't find him. Sergio, I am so scared. What if something bad happened to him?"

Sergio gripped his hair, feeling a bit restless. He had no idea why he got really worried. But as he was looking around, he saw a guy with a girl kissing and going inside the house. He looked at Riya worried and held her hand.

"Come on, I think I know where he is."

Sergio and Riya ran inside the house like the hounds of hell where after them. Sergio was gonna burst those doors like he was going crazy. And if anything had happened to Eric, he was gonna kill someone and that was a promise.

***

"Come on," Ken said as he led the staggering Eric to the huge bed in front of them. "Come on, stay here."

He led him on the bed carefully and the both of them got there. Eric was in a really bad state and he could feel it. Everything around him was spinning and he knew that he was gonna be sick. But aside from that, he was very scared.

"Thank you!" He muttered as he got himself comfortable on the bed. "You're so kind."

"You're welcome!" Ken said as he got closer to the boy's face.

Kenny was horny as hell. It had been like ages since he'd wanted to just fuck the boy in front of him. He was a senior and he couldn't get out of school without getting a taste of the boy everything had been dying to have. He was so painfully hard and the member in his pants wanted to rip through his boxer.