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I pull my arm free and walk away, not once meeting her gaze, and as soon as I’m in my office, I breathe. My arm burns from her touch, and I want to rip it off but at the same time, I welcome it.How does this woman still affect me so much? And why?
I pace the room, wearing a line on the carpet until the offensive coordinator arrives for our meeting, snapping me out of my mood. “Bennett’s here. Are you ready to make his year?”
“Yeah, let’s do it.” Anything to distract me from my beautiful nightmare.
For the next few days, I avoid Lucy like the plague. If I see her in the halls, I turn around. If I hear her name mentioned, I hum to block out the noise. Usually something like “Maneater” by Hall & Oates or “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden, because my brain clearly likes to fuck with me and those are the songs that pop into my head.Talk about issues.
On the odd occasion I can’t avoid her, she smiles and cheerfully says hello, to which she usually gets a nod in response, and once I even grunted.
I don’t want her in my space. I’m finally starting to feel like myself again after Gran died and my career ended. I don’t want something else fucking with me.Thank you, universe.
When the weekend finally rolls around, I’m out of there without looking back. Several people invite me to Friday night drinks, but I can’t do it. I need to separate myself from this place for the entire weekend. After all, it’s the last full weekend I’ll get off. The air in the building has been stifling, and I need a break. So from Friday evening until Sunday night I chill, I rest, and I drink myself stupid…alone.
I’m hungover as fuck when I wake Monday morning, but I have to suck it up and be at work in a little over an hour. Stumbling toward the kitchen, I do a double take when I pass by the living area.
Facedown on my couch is a very naked, very fit looking woman with her ass in the air. Her long blonde hair hides her face, but I’m pretty certain I’ve never seen her before.
She starts to stir and rolls onto her side, giving me a full view of her body. And while I’m sure she’s very nice to look at, I groan before turning away.
I do not need this right now.
I know I was plastered last night, but I don’t think I wasthatdrunk to forget going out and hooking up. Which can only mean one thing… “Alright, Gray, where the fuck are you?”
The toilet flushes, and I’m blessed with my second naked human for the day.Yay, me. He scratches his head as he walks, swaying with each step that he takes. I might be hungover but Grayson is still drunk…orsomething.Please don’t let it be something.
A million things run through my head, but there’s three that stand out… Why am I always the one they call? Why do his bandmates insist on dropping him at my door? And why the fuck did I give him my key?
I watch him move toward me—like he doesn’t even realize I’m here. And when he next stumbles, his eyes roll into the back of his head and he falls to the floor. My heart stops, but the rest of me springs into fight mode, running over to catch him before his head hits the tiles.
I lift him quickly, but almost drop him again when I hear a loud bang and the blonde cries out.This is too much.
Ignoring the naked woman now on my carpet, I try to rouse Gray. He’s the only one I care about in this scenario.
“Grayson. Grayson, wake up.” He doesn’t move. “Come on, fucker. You’re scaring me.”
I slap him a few times until he finally begins to murmur, and my heart starts beating again. This is so much worse than I thought. We are way past the point of me being able to help him.
“What’s wrong with him?” the blonde asks, now awake after her fall. Unfortunately for her that means she’s getting the brunt of my anger.
“What the fuck did you give him? What did he take?”
“Ha, if he’s taken anything, it never came from me. He’s the ringleader where that’s concerned.”
What? Jesus! I thought we were past this? How have I been so blind?
I instruct her to keep him awake while I quickly dress. I don’t even take the time to piss. I can’t afford it if I’m right and he’s taken something.
When I walk back into the living room, he’s sitting up unassisted, playing with the girl’s hair. My entire body deflates as the tension leaves me. He’s okay.Sort of.But he’s about to meet my wrath as my concern quickly morphs to anger now that he’s fine. “You’re going to rehab,” I demand.
We’ve been here before. He beat it last time; he can do it again.
Gray laughs as though I’m joking, and I want to pummel him. But of course I don’t, because then he’d never listen to me.
“I’m not kidding, Gray. You told me you were clean. I know you drink too much, but I’ve ignored it, thinking that’s better than the alternative. That’s on me. But I can’t ignorethis. You can have all the sex and rock ’n’ roll you please, but I draw the line at drugs. You need help.”
“It’s a one-off; it’s not like last time,” he tries to bullshit me.
My naked house guest laughs and shakes her head, confirming his lies. Never thought she’d be on my side against the famous rock star, but I’ll take it.
