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I like drunk Bennett so much more than sober Bennett.
“I win!” I yelled, throwing my hands up in the air, letting the cards scatter onto the floor.
Bennett just laughed, the movement of his chest mesmerizing as it showed through his unbuttoned shirt. “The student becomes the master.”
Bottles were scattered across the floor, along with Bennett’s jacket and tie, and my shoes and hair pins. It hadn’t taken long before I started to feel the effects of the wine. We had played cards for the past two hours, starting with blackjack—which I also won—and then progressing to a variety of different poker games that Bennett tried to teach me.
“How are you so good at cards?” he asked in disbelief. “It’s impossible to beat you, and I was even cheating sometimes.”
I laughed because I had cheated too, he just didn’t know it. “Probably because I’m a regular at The Ossium.”
Bennett’s jaw dropped. “What the hell are you doing at a gambling den?” He smiled, lifting a hand to dismiss the question. “Actually, I don’t think I want to know.”
I laughed again like I had for the past couple hours. My abs physically hurt from the constant contractions, and my cheeks were numb from smiling. I didn’t think I’d ever laughed for this long in my life.
I tightened my hands around my stomach. “Stop saying funny things, it hurts.”
Bennett threw his hands up in exasperation, a big smile plastered on his face. “I’m not even saying anything funny, you just laugh at everything I say!”
I tried. I really did, but one look at each other and the two of us went spiraling into another laughing fit that lasted for minutes. When my eyes stopped watering, I rested my head on the armrest of the settee and let myself relax.
“Hey, Bennett?” I asked, suddenly coming up with the greatest of all the questions I never got ask when I was a kid.
“Yes, Rhia?”
My vision blurred as I looked at him, “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.” I swallowed, my cheeks heating, and I shifted in the settee as I began to get warm.
The alcohol caused me to have a new sense of boldness as I asked, “Did you miss me?”
I couldn’t control the words that left my lips, and for some reason, I didn’t care. Some part of me knew that I shouldn’t be bringing this up, but I couldn’t remember why. Whatever filter I had before I drank this magical liquid was no longer intact, and it felt great. I felt great.
It was quiet for a while, and for a moment, I thought Bennett may have knocked himself out with all of the liquor.
“No.”
My stomach twisted a bit at the response.
“Did you miss me?” he asked seconds later.
I hesitated. “No.” I mean, that was partially false, I guess, but he didn’t need to know that.
We both looked at the ceiling in silence, my body relaxing, and my eyelids started to become heavy.
“Hey, Rhia?”
“Yeah?” I said, my eyelids refusing to stay open.
“Did you forget about me? When I—” He paused, searching for the words, then said, “—left?”
I was unsure how I should answer this question, so I opted for the truth, not caring what he thought as the alcohol kept me calm. “No. Did you forget about me?”
“I tried to, but I was never able to.”
My drunk mind didn’t know what to think of that comment.
“Do you hate me?” I asked, drunk Rhia getting the better of me once again. I turned my head to look at Bennett and found him smiling, his hands under his head as he laid across the settee.
