By the time I got to my third, though, I knew something was off.
I did not feel drunk.
I felt strange.
My head got light way too fast, and my limbs started feeling heavier than they should have. The music around me began sounding farther away, like it was coming from underwater. At first, I tried to tell myself maybe I had drunk too much without eating enough, but deep down I knew something about it did not feel right.
I blinked hard and tried to focus on the room, but everything looked like it was starting to blur around the edges.
That was when I noticed the man.
He had been standing too close to me for too long. He kept trying to talk to me, asking if I was okay, if I needed help, if I wanted him to walk me back to my villa. I remember telling him that I was fine. At least, I think I did. After that, everything started coming to me in broken pieces.
I remember his hand on my arm.
I remember my feet dragging.
I remember the sound of the waves.
I remember a voice that did not sound right.
Then I remember another voice.
One I knew.
Roman.
Even through the haze, I knew that voice. It was low, sharp, and angry in a way that cut through everything else around me.
“What the fuck you doing?”
After that, I didn’t remember much of anything.
There was shouting.
There was a loud thud.
There was cursing.
Then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes again, sunlight was cutting through the room so hard it made my head start throbbing instantly. I groaned and turned over, but even that little movement made my stomach roll. My mouth was dry as hell, and my head was pounding like somebody had beat on it all night.
“What the fuck…” I mumbled to myself.
I pushed myself up slowly and looked around the room, confused. I was in my bed. I was still dressed, just without my shoes, and that alone made my stomach tighten.
I looked around again, trying to piece together how I had gotten there, and that was when my eyes landed on the chair in the corner, where Roman was sitting.
He was sitting there with his head tilted back, one arm folded across his chest and the other hanging loosely at his side like he had fallen asleep while waiting on something.
For a second, I just stared at him.
Then irritation hit me before my brain even had time to catch up.
“Roman?” My voice came out rough from sleep and whatever the hell had been in my system. “What the fuck are you doing in here?”
His eyes opened slow, but he sat up as soon as he saw I was awake.
