AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I chuckle. “I know you’re awake.”
She hums. “No. I’m sleeping. Very drunk. Very, very drunk.”
“NowthatI believe.” As I get to the top, I don’t even think before walking into the master bedroom and placing her on the bed we used to share. “Do you want to get undressed?”
She thrashes her head from side to side in an overdramatic no, but then realizes what a bad idea that was and grips the covers like they’ll stop the room from spinning. “I mean, unless youwantme to get undressed.”
Still a horny drunk.Got it. “You know, surprisingly, I’m not really in the mood for getting thrown up on.”
She forces her eyes open and narrows them at me. “I would never throw—” A hiccup forces its way through, but she finishes her sentence anyway. “…up.”
“Sure,” I joke. “But I think what you need most right now is some sleep.”
“Not tired,” she tells me, but her eyes droop closed anyway.
I cross my arms over my chest. “Or you know, we could talk about how you got drunk at a bar thatisn’tmine.”
“Because you”—she drunkenly flings her hand around to blindly point at me—“don’t let me drink at your bar.”
“You’re not twenty-one yet. I could lose my liquor license.”
“Or you just don’t want me to have any fun,” she argues.
I should leave. Go back downstairs and let her sleep this off. But I’m too interested in her drunken mumblings.
“That’s not true,” I murmur. “I thought we had a lot of fun last night.”
She inhales for a second and holds it before letting it out shakily. “Yeah. That was fun. Until you left me there.”
Okay, this wasn’t the right thing to bring up. “I did.”
“…Left me like I left you.”
How the fuck did we go from something light and humorous to this?
There’s nothing I hate more than when she brings up when she left. Every time she talks about it, her voice is filled with regret. It’s there, laced into each word. And I do believe she regrets it. But that doesn’t mean I can trust her not to do it again.
I sigh, sitting on the bed beside her and letting my hand run through her hair to help her fall asleep. I take the time to admire all the little things about her, and how she looks the exact same as I remember, but also, different. She’s a little older. A little more beautiful. And a lot more traumatized.
We both are.
Her breathing starts to even out, and for a minute, I think she’s asleep, but as I pull my hand away, she lets out a heavy exhale.
“Please don’t hate me.”
The sound of her voice stabs me right in the chest. I’ve known that’s something she’s afraid of, especially after I told her that a part of mewantsto hate her. But the truth is, no matter how much I want to, I could never hate her. It’s not possible for me.
“I don’t hate you, baby,” I whisper. “I just hate that I wasn’t enough.”
But she doesn’t hear any of that because she’s sound asleep.
I carefully stand up and pull the blanket over her, pressing a kiss to her forehead and letting my lips linger there for a second.
When I get back downstairs, I realize I totally forgot about her friend. She’s standing by the door, looking uncomfortable and intrigued all at once.
“Shit,” I grumble. “You probably need somewhere to sleep, too, don’t you?”
She nods and I gesture for her to follow me. I lead her to the guest room, where I planned on sleeping tonight, but it’s fine. I’ve been sleeping on the couch for the last few nights while Devin was here. One more night won’t kill me.
