AllFreeNovel
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“You came to a party for the sole purpose of drinking and hooking up. And you were probably already drunk when you walked across campus with your friends wearing—” I nod vaguely at the dress hugging her curves. “—this.”
“Don’t be dramatic. I wasn’t drunk, and we didn’t walk.” Her chin lifts defiantly. “My roommate drove us. She’s the designated driver for the night.”
Knowing she wasn’t walking around the dark campus in this dress makes it a little better, but she still came to the party, drank like a fish, and lost track of the only people she knew there, one of which was her ride home.
“This the same roommate who ditched you after she found the guy she was looking for?”
She rolls her eyes. “Yes, but I also left her to come find you.”
“And what if we hadn’t met? How were you planning on getting home?”
I can’t even stomach the possibility of any other guy being the one to walk her home tonight. Someone who wouldn’t care she was drunk and would have taken her mile-long legs, golden skin, and full lips as an open invitation regardless of what she said.
Sloane taps on the thin strap of the cross-body bag she’s been carrying all night that’s now sitting in her lap. It’s a small rectangle that’s barely big enough to hold a tube of lip gloss, but she manages to pull a phone out of it.
“See this? It’s called a cell phone. You can use them to get in touch with people who aren’t in the same place as you. Ever heard of one?” Her nose wrinkles as she waves the phone around in my face, letting me see that the device she hinged her entire rescue plan on is dead.
“Do you happen to have a charger in that Ziploc bag you call a purse?”
She frowns. “No. Why?”
“Your phone is dead.”
“No, it’s not.”
I balance her weight on one arm just so I can pluck the phone out of her hand and flip it around to let her see the screen is black. She curses and snatches it out of my hand, which makes me laugh.
“It’s okay, angel. You must have forgotten to charge it when you were downing wine coolers.”
Sloane slaps me on my arm. “Shut up! They weren’t wine coolers.”
There’s no heat in her eyes when the blow lands, only playful annoyance and a slight glassiness that reminds me of her current condition. A happy silence stretches between us as we approach the door to her building. I stop outside the doors to set Sloane on her feet.
She pulls a set of keys out of her purse and sways a bit as she uses her student ID to let us into the building. I reach out to steady her.
“Thanks.”
Her smile is all perfect teeth and full pink lips, so tempting I have to look away or else I’m not going to be able to do what I need to do, which is see her to her door, maybe kiss her goodnight, give her my number and leave.
Luckily, she’s staying on the first floor, and I’m treated to a prime-time view of her hips swinging as I follow her to her room. As soon as she unlocks the door, I release a long breath.
Sloane pushes the door open and glances back at me. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Looking at you is just making it hard for me to do what I need to do.”
A knowing smile tugs at the corner of her lips. She leans against the partially open door. The room is dark, except for a sliver of light coming from somewhere inside. The beam spills out into the hallway and illuminates Sloane’s silhouette. I stare at her, so caught up in her beauty, I almost forget she’s drunk.
That is until the door swings out from behind her and sends her stumbling into the room.
I reach for her, but I’m too late. Her body hits the floor with a dull thud, and then she’s flat on her back laughing at the ceiling. The sound reminds me of just how far gone she is.
“Well, that should make this next part a lot easier on you.”
All at once, I’m shocked by how gracefully she managed to land and charmed by her sense of humor in what has got to be an extremely embarrassing moment for someone as confident and self-possessed as Sloane.
I step into the room, bend over her prone form and extend a hand. “Actually, it makes it harder since now I have to consider whether it’s safe to leave you when you might have a concussion.”
I pull her up and as soon as her feet touch the ground, I scoop her up into my arms again. Our faces are mere inches apart, and I brush my nose over hers, leaving her eyelids fluttering when I pull back and stare at her some more.
