“Damn straight.” I tap my glass to hers and slam it back as Beth does the same.
Chapter 10
Beth and I are laughing and burning cookies when Josh wanders in and starts yelling at us. I have no idea why he’s mad. “Kerry! What the hell did you guys drink?”
Beth shows him the half-full bottle on the counter, and giggles as she rests her head on the table. “I’m sleepy.”
“My eyelids feel like concrete. What was that?” My words start to slur, and it’s getting harder to sit up in the kitchen chair.
Josh rushes to look at the bottle. He holds it up, sniffs it, and then rushes out of the room. There’s yelling, a lot of it, and then he comes back in with Justin and Jace.
I smile at them. “You look like paper dolls, all the same, side by side.” That’s what it sounds like in my head, but what comes out of my mouth is mostly drool. Why am I wasted? I didn’t drink that much.
My head dips forward, and Josh catches me before it hits the table. “Shit! I can’t believe this is happening.”
“You were the one who kept the extra liquor!” One of the clones yells back.
“Check the rest, get Beth to bed, and get Kerry out of here. Now.”
A handsome blonde man is pointing at me. I take his finger and kiss the tip gently. “You're pretty.”
“Oh, shit.” The guy next to him closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose before looking at me again. “She thinks you’re me.”
“Because she’s licking me?”
“No. Because she said, ‘you’re pretty.’ It was a conversation we had earlier. Forget it. I’ll take her home.” Josh loops my arm around his neck and gets me to my feet. The room spins and I can’t focus.
I lean into him, “Dance with me.”
“Not right now, Kerry. Come on. I’ll take you back to the dorm.”
When we’re outside the cold night air hits me hard. The events of the day that hurt me most spin like Beth’s electric beaters. I can't pull my thoughts away from them for fear crap will go flying everywhere.
I’m half-asleep in the passenger seat of Josh’s car. We’re going so fast it feels like we’re flying. He’s talking to me, asking me about stuff I can’t remember.
“Did Beth mix your drinks? That bottle was from the study group. Did she add something else?”
I shrug, not understanding what he’s asking me. I tilt sideways and rest my head against the window.
“Kerry, stay awake. Talk to me.”
I swallow hard, noticing my mouth is abruptly dry. “I’m awake.” The words run together more. If I said anything to him, I doubt he’d understand me.
“Okay, keep talking. What’d you do last night?”
“Nate. I wanted Nathan, but he said no.”
His eyes are on the side of my face and, for a moment, I think the harshness that is Josh fades. But I’m totally smashed, so, who knows? I’m probably imagining it. My eyes start to close again, and I feel his hands on my shoulders.
“Kerry, stay with me. I need you to walk.”
“We’re here?” I lost some time—either that or Josh is secretly Harry Potter, and we apparated to my casa. “That was so cool. I can’t believe I missed it.”
“Okay...” He draws out the word, and his inflection rises at the end like he’s asking a question. His hands remain on my shoulders, and when I manage to open my eyes, he’s so close. His breath is sweet, like mints.
The remorse and guilt inside my chest surface in a wave of remorse that nearly crushes me. I lean forward to rest my head against his shoulder. “I messed everything up. All of it.”
“This isn’t your fault. It shouldn’t have happened, and, believe me, when I find out—”