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The couple shared a look I couldn’t read, and RJ took a tentative step forward.
“Are you sure I can’t help?” she asked.
I knew I liked RJ, and her soft question put her firmly in favorite roommate territory. Unfortunately, Chloe shook her head. Why was she so determined to make me suffer?
Chloe caught her full lower lip between her teeth, and a bolt of heat shot down my spine. As if she could sense my reaction, her gaze skipped back to me. The last time I’d showed up to help her, when the hockey fuckboy had abandoned her drunk at a party, she’d spent the entire drive home explaining in vivid detail how I’d missed out on the best blowjob of my life.
Sweat gathered between my shoulder blades just thinking about it.
I wasn’t sure she remembered—we’d never discussed it—but I’d swear on Mac’s signed Wonder Woman poster she hadn’t been blackout drunk. Our gazes clashed and held, a battle of wills I was already losing.
Her fingers tangled together in front of her, and the image of drunk Chloe from months ago gleefully tossing her shirt at a hooting frat boy tightened the muscles in my back. How much worse could this situation possibly be if she was standing in front of me, barefoot and sober?
In the back of my mind, I knew it didn’t matter. I’d promised D I’d take care of her. Even without the promise, Chloe had always been a special case. If she needed me, I’d be there.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. Fuck. I was going to regret this. “Fine.”
A relieved smile flashed across Chloe’s face, there and gone so fast I might have imagined it. I shifted to give her space to pass me, and she didn’t spare the others another glance.
Parker’s door closed softly behind us, and I found myself alone in the dark with her once again. Better get this over with. Chloe waited while I grabbed my shoes and keys from the living room. Hopefully, sweats and a TU football shirt would be appropriate attire for whatever she needed me to do.
I dragged my gaze away from Chloe’s perfect ass as she led me out into the cold night. “Where are we going?”
She nodded at the apartment she shared with Eva. “I have a small problem in my bedroom.”
I frowned at her. “Chloe…”
She rolled her eyes. “This isn’t a come on. Eva’s staying the night elsewhere, and I can’t handle this on my own. I’d hoped the problem would be resolved by the time I finished cleaning, but…” She trailed off with a shrug.
Guilt pricked at the thought of her picking up the huge mess we’d left in their apartment. I’d assumed Eva would hire a cleaning crew like she usually did.
I couldn’t imagine Chloe picking up trash in the tiny dress she was still wearing. Why wouldn’t she change? Her massive wardrobe had to include something more comfortable than sequins. I didn’t understand Chloe on the best of days, so I had no hope of keeping up while sleep-deprived and horny.
Goosebumps raised on my arms as the cold night air hit my skin. I was a furnace most of the time, so if I was cold, Chloe had to be freezing. Despite the frigid January temps, she hesitated outside her door.
“What’s going on, Chloe?”
She huffed out a breath. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
The guilt solidified into a hard knot in my stomach. My life would be a lot easier if I could write her off as a silly party girl, but I’d seen the parts of her she only let out when she thought no one was looking. When it came to Chloe, I was always looking.
“You came to me for help,” I reminded her.
The edge of her lips quirked up, and she tilted her head in assent.
She led me through the dark apartment to her room. I expected a spider or broken furniture, but when she flipped on the light, my brows rose. Fury ignited, hot and fast.
A lanky guy with an unfortunate target tattoo on his back lay face down in Chloe’s bed. Naked.
I almost turned around and went right back home. “You want me to get rid of your hookup?”
She groaned. “He’s not my hookup.”
I didn’t want the details. The football season may be over, but I was pretty sure Coach would still make me run until I puked if I beat the shit out of a random dude in Eva’s apartment. Don’t ask me how, but Coach had a soft spot for Eva. Her influence was everywhere.
Despite my irrational rage at the guy, I tempered my voice for Chloe. “Need me to move him over so you have space?”
“Dammit, Noah. It’s not like that. I don’t know this guy, and I definitely didn’t invite him into my bed. All I want to do is sleep, but I’m not about to lock myself in the apartment with a random drunk dude who may or may not murder me before morning.”
