“If memory serves, I told you several times to slow down, but you weren’t in the mood to listen. At one point, you called me a buzzkill.” Leave it to Mia to throw that in my face. When I fail to respond, she asks, “Exactly how many shots did you have?”
“I lost count after eight.” That thought is enough to make me nauseous. I shake my head to clear it before frantically waving a hand. “Please, I can’t even think about that. It’ll make me sick. Never mind, I’m already sick.” Getting up was a mistake. I point to my room. “I’m going back to bed. Wake me up tomorrow. Or maybe the day after that. Hopefully, I’ll have bounced back by then.”
I stagger a few steps when an image materializes in my brain, and I swing around. “Wait a minute. Were you busting a move on the dance floor with Beck, or was that a tequila-induced dream?”
Because at this point, anything is possible.
With a wince, she averts her eyes. But not before I catch the guilt that flickers in their dark depths. Instead of answering, she busies herself by shoving another spoonful of cereal into her mouth.
Well, isn’t this an interesting turn of events.
Seconds tick by without a response. My hangover dissipates as I take another step and jab a finger in her direction. I wrack my brain for anything more. The images are fleeting and blurred at the edges, but there’s no way they’re a figment of my drunken imagination. “Yeah,” I pipe up, instantly warming to the subject, “you two were definitely dancing. His hands were all over you. And you, ya little hussy, were totally enjoying it.”
Her face goes up in flames as she squirms on the couch. Her eyes turn a little hazy, and I’d give anything to know what’s running through her brain.
I wave a hand in front of my bestie’s face. “Hello? Earth to Mia. Come in, Mia.”
She blinks, snapping back to attention and our conversation. “Sorry.”
“Please tell me I wasn’t hallucinating. Because if that’s the case, I really am going to lay off the booze.”
Silence stretches between us before she begrudgingly admits, “No, we danced together.” As tempting as it is to give her the third degree, I’m in no frame of mind to do it. I’ll just tuck this bit of information away for safekeeping.
She raises a brow and attempts to turn the tables on me. “Is there anything you would like to tell me about?”
“Huh?”
Her gaze turns knowing. “I saw you at the bar with Colton.”
Instead of admitting the truth, I grumble, “Can you believe that guy had the audacity to show his face after I purposefully went out of my way not to invite him?”
“Umm, maybe?” She pauses. “Any interesting conversations?”
I wish it had only been conversations that had taken place between us. As far as I’m concerned, what happened was nothing more than a momentary lapse in judgment. My guess is that the shots didn’t help with that. If Colton thinks one orgasm has smoothed everything over, he’s woefully mistaken. I have zero interest in getting my heart annihilated for a second time.
I force my feet into movement before dropping onto the armchair and squeezing my eyes shut. “He wants to be friends,” I mutter, remembering the conversation from the bar. “Don’t worry, I was extremely clear about where he can shove his friendship.”
Although, let’s face it, spreading my legs wide for him probably didn’t do much to convey that point as firmly as I wanted.
Mia’s lips bow into a smile. “Maybe that was the closure you needed to move on. Feel any better about getting it out of your system?”
Guilt floods through me for misleading her as to what really transpired. “Surprisingly, no.”
“I’m proud of you for giving him a piece of your mind. That took balls.”
Clearly, she assumes that I gave him an encore performance of my psycho tirade. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.
That being said, I’m not going to set her straight. It’s best to forget the matter entirely. “As far as I’m concerned, he can shove those up his ass as well.”
“Sounds like his ass is a crowded place,” she says with a chuckle.
Unable to help myself, I crack open an eyelid. My shoulders shake before we both burst into laughter. “Yeah, it does.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Colton
The apartment door closes with an audible click as I hitch my backpack onto my shoulder. As I turn, ready to head to campus for the next couple of hours, my gaze collides with Alyssa’s as she steps into the hallway.
For a split second, time stands still as we both freeze in place. Memories from Saturday night crash through my brain at the speed of light. Alyssa in my arms, backed up against my BMW as my mouth feasted on hers. Her long legs splayed wide as I pushed her relentlessly toward orgasm in the parking lot of Bang Bang.