Okay. Okay. So I know I’d said we couldn’t possibly keep drinking and staying out late like we were in college where weekends started on Thursday, but here we were. I’d somehow made it back to the villa, stumbling the entire way. It had to be at least two in the morning, and I should’ve just asked if I could crash on the floor of Sam or Aamar’s rooms, but their SOs probably wouldn’t want to be stumbling over me. Knowing April, the girls had probably gotten a bit wild, too.
The villa was dark when I arrived, except for the corner of the living room, near the TV, where a lamp had been left on a dim setting. I went straight for the couch, looking forward to passing out and putting up a fight next time the guys wanted to drink their weight in alcohol.
Upon closer inspection, there appeared to be another body asleep on the couch. It wasn’t Bane or her sister, but a man. He had his face against the back of the couch, no shirt on, and a blanket to his waist.
Hmm. What was I supposed to do now?
Maybe sleep outside on a lounge chair?
I turned toward a noise behind me. In the dark kitchen, Bane had opened the fridge and stared into its depth like she was either trying to cool off or was maybe sleepwalking.
The next thing I knew, I was standing behind Bane, my body going slack as icy air hit me. I groaned. What relief.
“What the hell!” Bane yelped, turned around, and was practically in my chest.
I flinched, my hand racing to my temple. “Shhh. Please?”
She let out a rough breath and took a step back toward the still-open fridge as we both absorbed the frigid chill. “What are you doing?”
“It’s hot.”
“You scared me.”
“Who else would be here? Also, who’s on the couch?”
She looked past me. “Oh. One of my lovers. There’s another one in my room.”
“What?” I was suddenly a little less tipsy and more awake.
“Kidding. That’s Kimo’s brother—Kimo is my sister’s boyfriend. He had too many drinks, so he just crashed here.” She rummaged through the fridge and pulled out a plate.
I was leaning toward the pleasant call of the fridge, practically bent over her.
“We saved you food. Because, one, despite your false observations, I’m nice. Two, Kimo’s mom’s cooking is bomb. Three, you’re never going to get authentic food like this. But the hard seltzers and beers are gone.”
“Please don’t mention alcohol.”
She straightened up, turning toward me with an enclosed container in her hands, and nearly jumped. In my near-drunken state, it took seconds too long to realize that my nose was practically in her chest. Because I’d been bent over her, and now, she was standing upright and had turned around. Yes. That was how movement worked.
I hadn’t moved. But Bane had moved, shifting so that her breasts aligned with my face. Hmm. She was wearing a thin tank top. Not as low as the one she’d had on earlier, but I, unwillingly, had noticed some fine curves that maybe I sort of wanted to run my tongue over.
“You gonna do something while you’re down there, or…”
I grunted and stood upright, towering over her, and then catching myself on the counter behind me when the motion made me dizzy.
Bane grabbed for my waist and snatched my shirt in her fist. “Whoa!”
She dropped the container onto the counter with a soft thud, her other hand at my waist to steady me. I found enough composure to steady myself between her and the counter. I had to get myself together. She couldn’t see me drunk. She would hold this over my head for years.
Oh, remember that time you were drunk in Hawaii and I saved you from hitting your head on the floor and dying?
Bane would absolutely exaggerate.
I explained, “I had one too many. My friends think we’re still twenty-one.”
“Clearly. Do you want to eat to slow down that alcoholic descent?” She hadn’t stepped back, hadn’t removed her hands. She was so close to me that I could smell every fragrance on her. Soap, shampoo, lotion, and something spicy. Maybe remnants of dinner?
Hmm. Smelled like I’d missed something really good.
She gave a half laugh. “Are you sniffing my neck?”
“You do smell edible, pumpkin.”
“Well, we had very tasty food.”
Every time she breathed, her chest grazed mine. Damn. I must’ve had way too many if Bane was turning me on. Very dangerous territory if my brain cells could misfire this horrifically.
“Do you want to eat this or not?” she asked softly.
“Eat what exactly?” To be clear.
“Leftovers from dinner.”
Ah. Right. “You ever seen babies fall asleep in their food?”
“Did you eat at all while you were clubbing it up with your boys?”
“This place has no clubs,” I muttered into her hair. Did she taste as good as she smelled?
“Were you expecting a stripper for the bachelor party or something?”
“Nah. We’re not those kind of guys.”
She pulled away and patted my chest. “Okay, Drunky. Sit down before you fall. And eat to soak up some of that alcohol.”
I did as she commanded. “Oh, man. This is good.”
She watched me from a kitty-corner chair at the dining table as she drank water, pushing a glass on me every other bite, and nodding. “At least you get leftovers. They taste much better heated up.”
“Microwaves cause cancer.”
“Says the guy who gave his liver a hefty shot of overtime.”
I scowled. “I don’t usually drink, and definitely not like this.”
“Mmm.”
“Think what you will, but the circumstances allow it.”
“Sure.”
I let out a huge sigh. “Ugh. So. Question.”
“Okay.”
“Where should I sleep? Outside?”
She gave a soft chuckle. “Where there are mosquitos, giant moths the size of bats, red ants that will leave you in pain for weeks, and probably scorpions? At least it’s too hot for the centipedes. I think…”
I cringed. Hell. No one was man enough to sleep in that death zone. “I’ll take the floor.”
“With your messed-up back?”
“How do you know about that?”
“You complain often when you think no one is listening.”
“Ah.”
She groaned and looked me dead in the eye. “Can you handle sleeping in the same bed as me?”
I barked out a laugh. “You think so much of yourself.”
Bane dramatically rolled her eyes, and I wondered if that ever hurt. “It’s a king-size bed and large enough for the two of us with plenty of space. There will be a pillow barrier that, if crossed, you will get knocked the hell out.”
I laughed. “I would not risk crossing pillows.”
“It’s me you should be worried about crossing.”
“Thanks. Do I get the couch back tomorrow?”
“Yes. Sorry about the intrusion.”
“He’s like family, right? Besides, can’t turn someone away when they’ve had too many.”
She shook her head and took another sip of water, pushing my glass into my hand. “I don’t know why so many people are getting drunk on a Wednesday.”
I finished my last bite and drank the entire second glass of water.
“You’ve got something on your…” she started, tapping at her lips.
I rubbed the corner of my mouth.
“The other side,” Bane corrected, reaching up to rub something off the corner of my mouth right as my tongue darted for the spot, hitting the tip of her finger instead. She sucked in a breath, drawing back.
My gut clenched just from that minuscule, fleeting touch, from that sexy little gasp. Damn, it must’ve been a while since I’d gotten some because no way. Not Bane.
I stared at her, like an idiot, my eyelids hooded, heavy.
She smirked. And here it came…“Did you just lick me?”
“You’re imagining things,” I muttered.
“I’d almost believe you if I wasn’t here when it happened.”
I shook my head.
She teased a smile. “It’s okay, you know?”
“What?” I grumbled.
“That you want to lick me.”
I sucked in a breath, my jaw hardening among…shit…other things. “Don’t joke about things you’re not ready for.”
Her smile slipped. “So confident, huh?”
I leaned toward Bane. She boldly did not back away. She was frozen, immobile. And not because she was being her typical smart-ass baiting me. Nah. Because the sarcasm in her expression had wilted into something else. Her lips parted and she swallowed. I watched it all. I watched her nerves come undone as I inched toward her. I watched the skin on her arm pucker with goose bumps when I swiped my finger across the back of her hand, the hand on the table that had been trying to drown me with drinking water.
I held her gaze so intensely that it left her speechless. For once. My eyes dipped to her mouth. “Bane,” I said, my voice thick, guttural, sleepy. “How are you going to handle me licking you when you can’t even handle me looking at you?”
At that, Bane audibly gasped, and I wondered what else made her breath hitch. What else made her speechless? What else made her look at me this way, with heat burning in her eyes?
And why, for the love of god and all that was holy, was I so interested in finding out?