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I’m still spinning, processing. The last thing I remember was drinking, then this guy… I search my brain for his name and almost smile when I find it. Riley was talking to me at the bar and… wait, did I throw up on him? How did I get here, and why am I only dressed in what I assume is one of his shirts?
The only answer I can think of, and one I don't want to admit, hits me like a bus, and I instantly put my face in my hands. “Oh no!” I exclaim into my palms, not needing this right now. Does he expect this to be exclusive, or was this a onetime thing? Which answer do I want? I don't have time for a relationship and I can only imagine what my parents would do if they thought I was dating a bartender. As I let the panic overtake me, I feel him move from the doorway, but I quickly hold out my hand to stop him before he gets too close to the bed. “No! Stop and get back with your sexy alluring ways!”
He stops, blinking before furrowing his brow. “My what? Mia, what is wrong?”
I put my free hand to my forehead and run it through my tangled hair. “Oh, I don’t need this right now. I’ve got enough to worry about. Now I have to add having drunken sex with some random stranger, and God, I hope we used protection-“
“Whoa whoa, Mia!” Riley calls to me through the panicked haze I'm in, and I look up at him. He watches me with a twinkle of amusement dancing in his eyes. “We didn’t have sex last night.”
I let the silence fill the space between us as I feel my panic subside. “We didn’t?”
He shakes his head, and I try to ignore the tingle of disappointment lingering in my belly when I ask, “Then why am I in your bed, dressed in your shirt?”
He tightens his lips to keep from laughing, amusement still in his eyes as he tells me, “Last night, you got pretty drunk, and your phone was dead so I couldn’t call someone. I’d call an Uber, but I honestly don’t trust them to make sure you get in your place okay. Then you threw up on me.” I cringe at the little memory as he continues, “I just thought it would be easier to take you to my place as I live in the apartment above the bar, so there wasn’t that much of a walk. But when we got you in the place, you threw up on yourself, then started undressing.”
My eyes widen. “I did what?”
He nods, still amused. “Yeah, I tried to stop you, but you were undressed pretty quickly. Quite skilled there, but that was when you chose to jump me.”
“No!” My cheeks burn red, and I put my face back in my hands to hide from the humiliation of the night, but Riley continues.
“Don’t worry, I was a gentleman, but I had to wrestle you into one of my shirts as you continued to try and grab my, and I quote, ‘cute bubble butt of muscle.’ It took some restraining to stop you from trying to jump me, but I eventually got you into bed. Only, that is when you latched onto my head with both arms and held me to your boobs and asked if they were too small?”
I almost want to ask what his answer was, but there's still a more pressing issue. “So I mauled you?”
Riley smiles and nods, and it catches me off guard at first.
I throw my body back until I am lying flat on the bed. “I can’t believe this.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got breakfast waiting in the kitchen if you’re hungry.” He turns to leave, and I should just let him, but a question is burning so hot inside me I might turn to ash if I don’t get it out.
Without sitting up, I ask him, “Why didn’t you? I was trying to have sex with you, so why didn’t you?”
There is no response, and the silence lingers so long that I make myself look up to meet his eyes, which are serious and thoughtful as he answers, “First of all, you had just vomited all over yourself and you were drunk out of your mind. I like my women sober and at least aware of their decisions.”
I ask another pesky question, “So if I wasn’t drunk…?” I leave the question hanging and watch his jaw tense before he grumbles before leaving the room, “Get dressed. Breakfast is ready out here.”
And just like that, I am left in Riley’s room, surrounded by the smell of him in nothing but his shirt. I look around the room, thinkingwhere are my clothes, when I see a pile of familiar clothing in the corner. I let out a relieved breath as I cast another look around the room. But as I do, my eyes catch a flash of red from an old school alarm clock. I didn’t know people had those anymore, and it's only the numbers that blink up at me that make me spring out of bed as if I’m on fire. “Fuck!”
9:15am
Oh no oh no oh no!
Why did I think having a drink on a Sunday night was a good idea? Why did Mom make me go out on that stupid date on a fucking Sunday night?! How could this happen? I knew I had a test the next morning and now I am so late, and my dad is going to kill me because my grades have not been the best. I cannot afford another bad grade!
His angry face flashes in my mind as I finish getting dressed in the clothes from last night, gratefully freshly cleaned, but certainly not what I would normally wear to class. It will have to do. I sprint out the door to the living room with a wild look in my eye, which makes Riley frown when he sees me.
The smell of eggs hits my nostrils and makes my stomach grumble, but I don’t have time for that either, as I say, sounding panicked when I reach the front door, “Shit! I have test and I am so late!”
“Um, did you want breakfast to go or-“ I don’t stay around for the offer. I throw the front door open, now shouldering my purse, and sprint outside like a bat outta hell, but with the memory of what I can remember from last night stays tucked away for me to think about later.
Riley probably thinks I’m a crazy person now.
He’s not wrong if he doesn’t think that, but luckily, I will merely become a story he tells his friends about later, never to be seen again.
CHAPTER 5
MIA
