“Ooof!” Shaking my pounding head to clear it, I crawled backwards a few feet on the floor as Brick Wall opened his eyes, propped himself up with one elbow, and looked down at me. The sheet covered up his lower half, so I couldn’t tell what he was wearing, if anything.
Holding himself up with one arm made the muscles in his arm bulge. His biceps were enormous and decorated with…well, I wasn’t even sure what. I could make out words, a face, some stars, and maybe a few flowers. There was hardly any skin showing anywhere on his upper body. He was covered from his neck all the way to where the sheet was pulled up around his hips. Even the backs of his hands were covered.
He had enough words and pictures on his body to open both an art gallery and a library.
Tattoos weren’t my thing. I wasn’t into guys like that. I liked nice, straight-edged guys who had office jobs and drove Toyotas. Regardless, I still thought he was kind of beautiful. Though I couldn’t make out the details of the designs on his flesh, they still left the impression of telling a story—an intricate and beautiful story.
I shook my head again to clear it. I’d had my leg wrapped around him, asleep in his bed, and I didn’t remember a damn thing after leaving the bar.
I felt my face heating up. This was definitely at the top of the list of situations my mother always told me to avoid. I didn’t know where I was, how I got here, or even the name of the man I was sleeping with.
Oh, God, I slept with him!
Brick Wall smirked as I backed away on my hands and feet until I hit something on the floor—my own jacket. I grabbed it and wrapped it around my chest as I tried to catch my breath.
“You okay?” Brick Wall asked.
“No!” I shook my head vehemently. “No, I am not okay! This is not okay! Holy shit—I don’t do this! I never do this!”
“Do what?” he asked with narrowed eyes.
“This!” I yelled as I waved one hand in the air between us. The other hand kept a firm grip on the jacket against my skin.
He wiggled his eyebrows at me as the panic I felt in my chest increased. I covered my mouth with my hand to keep myself from actually screaming.
“Relax,” he said softly. “We didn’t do anything. You passed out thirty seconds after we got here.”
I processed his words, felt a moment of relief and then doubt.
“Why was I in bed with you then?” I demanded.
Brick Wall sat up and looked pointedly around the living space, which I hadn’t actually done yet. As I did, I realized the whole place consisted of one room—a combination of a l
iving room and bedroom area along with an eat-in kitchen. There was a small, closed door off to one side, which was presumably a bathroom.
“Where else would you fit?” he asked.
Aside from the pull-out couch, there was only one other chair, and it wasn’t nearly big enough to sleep on. There was a card table with two chairs closer to the kitchen and a small stand with a television on top of it but no other furniture—only a suitcase with a pile of clothing in it.
“Why am I here at all?” Somehow, I still felt wronged and needed to prove that he had done something inappropriate. Anything that would keep this from being entirely my fault would have been a blessing, but I wasn’t coming up with much. I tightened my hands into tiny fists against my chest even as I asked myself exactly what I thought I might do with them. It wasn’t as if he’d feel it if I tried to hit him.
“Because you were trying to drive yourself home,” Brick Wall said. “I was going to call you a cab or just drive you home myself, but you couldn’t seem to remember where you lived. So, here we are.”
I glared, trying to decide if I believed him or not. I did remember him taking my keys from me, so that part fit. Everything after that was a blur. Still, his explanation sounded reasonable, and I didn’t see any motive for him to be lying to me.
You don’t know this guy! You have no idea if he’s telling the truth!
“Would you have preferred it if I had left you in the parking lot to fend for yourself?”
So much for blaming him.
“You’re quite the cuddler,” Brick Wall said with a lopsided grin. He reached up to put his hand behind his head and leaned back. “I kept pushing you off but finally gave up.”
Though my face heated at his words, I couldn’t deny what he was saying. I hadn’t been with anyone for nearly a year, but Zach, my ex, often accused me of trying to smother him in his sleep. Nowadays, my giant, overstuffed pillow got the same treatment.
“Crap,” I muttered.
“I’m just glad you didn’t puke in the apartment,” Brick Wall remarked. “I’m out in a few days, and I don’t want to forfeit the deposit, you know?”