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“If the point of tonight was to prove it wouldn’t be dangerous for us to be around each other, I think it might’ve had the opposite effect on me.”
“We’ve both been drinking,” I said.
“Just because you’re spinning a little doesn’t mean I can’t see how cute you are inside that gruff exterior.”
I fought the urge to smile. That was all this was. She was drunk. She didn’t know what she was saying. “Let’s get you home. You can crash at my place tonight if you want.”
Nola slumped against my arm, letting me support her as we walked. “You going to spill a vanilla milkshake on your lap when we get home and ask me to clean it off, Mr. Kerrigan? But with my tongue, this time?”
I stared ahead as we walked. Drunk. She was just drunk.
Mistakes. All I could see were the hundreds of little mistakes I’d made since I met Nola circling in my mind. Why had I thought it was safe to test the line with her? Why had I been so damn confident I could resist something I wanted so badly?
Most importantly, when had I become such an idiot?19NolaI woke up, once again, at Jack Kerrigan’s apartment. The sweet elderly woman from down his hall who’d been watching the boys during our date was kind enough to stay the night while Jack and I slept off the wine. But Jack apparently woke bright eyed and alert, even after a night of drinking. Then again, I guessed the wine hit my small frame a lot harder than his massive, chiseled, currently dressed in my favorite guy-attire of t-shirt and gray sweatpants…
What was I thinking about again?
I slid and shuffled to the kitchen counter. I pushed a tangled web of red hair from my eyes, which gave me a better view of the sweatpants bulge Jack was rocking as he reached up for something in a cabinet over the stove.
“Good morning,” Jack said.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
He shot me a look. “How are you feeling? You crashed pretty hard last night.”
I looked down at the button-down of his I was wearing. I shimmied my legs a little to confirm that yep, I was once again pantsless. Then again, I’d come back here in a dress, so I guess I could be forgiven. A sudden spike of panic ran through me. “Last thing I remember was collapsing on the couch. In my dress. Did you change me?”
“You don’t remember?” Jack pushed a cup of coffee toward me. “You came into my room at three in the morning and started stripping off your clothes in my closet. I tried to make as much noise as I could, so you’d know you weren’t alone, but you told me to keep it down because your head felt like it was going to explode.
I put my hands around the coffee mug and stared into the steaming brown liquid. Coffee cup, coffee cup, tell me… Am I really as insane as it sounds like I am right now? “Interesting,” I muttered before taking a sip. “You’re sure that was me?”
“You’re the only red-haired midget who has made a habit of sleeping over at my apartment.”
“How much did you see, exactly?”
“Considering you turned on all my lights first? I saw that it was apparently lacy pink thong and bra day. Then I averted my eyes.”
“Because you didn’t like what you saw?” I asked.
“Because you were drunk. I didn’t want to take advantage.”
I ran my fingertip along the rim of my mug, slowly letting my eyes drift up to meet his. “So you liked what you saw, but you felt guilty about looking?”
I had just enough time to see Jack’s face stiffen and wonder what he was going to say before Ben and Griff emerged into the living room.
“What’s drunk?” Ben asked.
Griff elbowed him in the side. Both boys were messy haired with swollen, sleepy eyes.
“Dude. Drunk is what happens to apple juice when you’re done with it.”
Ben’s mouth formed a silent “O” of understanding.
Jack was quickly moving toward the bedroom. Almost too quickly.
“You never answered my question,” I said, stopping him just before he fled.
“Because I think we’d both know I was lying if I tried. And I don’t think the truth would be wise to put out in the open.” And just like that, he pulled the bedroom door closed behind himself.
I rested my chin on my hands as the boys took seats next to me at the counter.
Ben put a small hand on my arm and gave me a wise look beyond his years. “Give him time. He’ll come around.”
I tilted my head. “What did you just say?”
Griff was grinning ear to ear. “I taught him that.”
Ben nodded, but his little hand was still on me. “Sometimes a hoe just gotta be a hoe.”
