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Turns out Flip is a hot mess. Usually he has one beer and switches to water, so all those shots have hit him hard. I’m used to dealing with sober Flip and his entourage of women, but now he’s so drunk he’s barely making sense, and the women he’s been buying drinks for aren’t in much better shape. I remind him that he’s been buying them drinks all night, and he can’t take them home. They’re too out of it to be able to consent to anything but a glass of water and some painkillers for the inevitable headache.
I haven’t missed my wingman role the past few weeks—entertaining women in my house, performing, doing what’s expected of me instead of what I want. And she’s already on her way home with Hemi. I call the women an Uber, and Flip and I get into one of our own. He doesn’t seem to realize they’re not coming to our place.
I get texts from both Hemi and Bea to let me know she made it home to her bed. And that’s good because Flip insists we stop for pizza. If I feed him, maybe I won’t have to carry him down the hall. We sit on the bench outside our building while we demolish most of the pizza, but I convince him to leave two slices for Bea.
“Shit. I left my sister at the bar,” he slurs as we pass the doorman.
“Hemi took her home.” I take his elbow to keep him from walking into a window.
“Oh. That’s good. Hemi’s good people even though she rides my ass a lot.” He stumbles into the elevator. “I can’t believe I left my sister at the bar.”
“She can take care of herself.”
“I fed her a lot of shots. I’m not the best brother.” He leans against the wall. “What happened to those girls I was dancing with?”
“They went home.”
“You could’ve taken care of them for me.”
“Then who would make sure your drunk ass got fed?”
“You’re a good friend, Tris. The best. Thanks for making sure I didn’t do something to totally fuck up my career tonight.”
I don’t feel like a good friend, especially since my plan had been to leave him at the bar so I could take his sister home and get her into my bed. And I would have if Hemi hadn’t intervened. I swallow the guilt and pat him on the shoulder. “No problem.”
I don’t know what it means that I’d rather continue lying to him than stop this thing with Bea—other than Roman is probably more right than I want him to be.
The elevator doors open, and Flip weaves down the hall.
He’s still too hammered to function, so I let us into the condo. He almost face plants into the floor. “Rix, we brought you pizza!” he shouts.
“I’ll eat it for breakfast,” she mumbles. “Do I need to wear headphones tonight?”
“No,” I call back.
“Why would she need to wear headphones?” Flip asks as he weaves toward the bathroom.
“To drown out the sound of your one-night stands.”
“Ha. Good one.” He disappears into the bathroom.
I pull out my phone and message Bea.
Tristan
The bathroom will probably be a mess tomorrow. Sry in advance.
#1
Me too.
Tristan
I’ll clean it up and make sure you don’t sit/step in pee. Did you eat something before you went to bed?
#1
A cucumber
And I’m instantly hard.
Tristan
(?.?(?~??)?.?)
#1
JK. We stopped for ramen. Carbs for the win.
Tristan
Good.
Flip stumbles out of the bathroom and into his bedroom. I clean off the toilet seat, then follow to make sure he sleeps on his side, and I put a puke bowl beside his bed, just in case. He passes out cold when his head hits the pillow. Bea is sitting at the kitchen island with her cheek resting on her crossed arms when I come out of the bathroom. I incline my head to my bedroom, and she slips off the stool and pads quickly after me, checking over her shoulder twice on the way.
“I’m so sorry about tonight. I wasn’t thinking. Hammer won’t say anything, though. I trust her.”
“Neither will Roman.”
“How can you be sure?” She bites her fingernail.
“He’s known for a while. I mean, not the part about me tying you to my bed or the—” I make a fist and shake my head. “I still can’t believe I did that.” Not up to the wrist or anything, but Bea is small compared to me, and my hands are definitely not.
“I meant it when I said you could do it again,” she whispers. Then her eyes widen. “What do you mean he’s known for a while?”
“He, uh… He figured it out somehow. Said he could tell by the way I was looking at you or whatever.” My gaze roves over her. She’s wearing the tiny sleep shorts and a tank. I can see her nipples through it. “But he’s kept his mouth shut so far, so we’re safe.” I take her face in my hands and cover her mouth with mine. “And tonight I just want to make you feel good, if that’s okay with you.”
