“I did it,” she crooned as she stumbled into me. Literally.
I caught her around the middle, swung her around, and pressed her back against the wall. She gave a little hiccup, and then covered her mouth.
“I did it.”
“Did what?” I asked, suddenly conscious that I had her pressed against a wall.
My body leaned into her with an arm wrapped protectively around her waist. She was all soft and supple under me. And despite sending her off after other guys all night, I’d had a good night. Her coming back to me and recounting it all. Always back to me, doing her ridiculous little dance.
She held up her beer. It wasn’t Blood & Honey, which meant it was beer five. “Gave out my number.”
“Really? Who?”
She pushed my shoulder lightly and pointed out the guy. He was another frat bro, like the first, with a backward baseball cap and a popped collar. It was just practice, but I didn’t like the idea of that guy hitting on her.
“His name is Chip.”
“Of course it is.”
She giggled again. “Do I go out with him?”
“Nah. Just practice, Snickers.”
She tipped her head back. “This has actually been fun, West. Thanks for taking me out here.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help.”
Her bright blue eyes looked up at me. She wasn’t even trying to flirt with me. She had no idea what those eyes were doing to me, looking up at me under thick, dark lashes. A half-smile on her painted lips.
I swallowed and tried to focus on anything other than my cock twitching in my pants. I did not need to feel this right now. She’d had her heart broken, and the last thing she needed was for me to make any of this harder. Not to mention, Campbell and Hollin had made it clear that nothing was going to happen there. I wasn’t sure they’d ever forgive me if I touched her. I was pretty sure they’d kill me if I hurt her. I couldn’t take that chance.
So, I backed up.
Way up.
Put all the distance I needed between me and her. Told my cock to fucking sort its shit out. Nora Abbey wasn’t for me. She couldn’t be.
“We should get you home.”
“What?” she gasped. “It’s early. I should practice more.”
“You’re a little drunk.”
“Shouldn’t that make it easier?”
“Maybe. But we want to keep you safe. We can practice more later.”
She shrugged. “You’re the boss.” Then, she passed me her half-finished drink. “If I finish that, I’ll be wasted anyway.”
“Five is your limit?”
She winked at me. “That’s seven.”
I arched an eyebrow. “How did I miss two?”
“I drank them at the bar,” she said, pushing off the wall and teetering slightly.
Well, that explained a lot. I’d thought that she seemed a little drunk, but I didn’t know where her tolerance was. Mine had always been strong despite not drinking much before going to LA. Another thing I’d gotten from my dad. Great.
“Come on, you,” I told her. I wrapped an arm around her and steered her toward the door.
We were almost out when a guy reached for her. “Nora! You’re leaving already?”
It was the guy, Chip, who she’d given her number to.
“Yeah, Chip. Time for me to call it a night.”
Chip eyed me for a second and then dismissed me. “I can give you a ride home later if you want. I thought we were having a good time.”
“She said no,” I growled low, putting Nora between me and Chip.
I didn’t know what had come over me, but I didn’t want him anywhere near her. It was almost…possessiveness…or jealousy.
The guy held his hands up. “Hey, tough guy, I was talking to the lady.”
“West, it’s fine,” Nora said, putting her hand on my arm. “Let’s just go home.”
“This your boyfriend?” Chip asked in confusion.
Nora laughed. “No, no, no. Just a friend.”
I arched an eyebrow at him, and Chip backed off.
“Cool. Friend. Right,” he said. “I’ll call you.”
Nora waved at him and then strode out of the bar. “That was weird,” she said. “Why was he acting like that?”
Him and not me. Well, at least that was a relief.
“Pretty sure he bought you drinks, hoping to get you home,” I told her.
“Oh,” she said with a nod. “Right. I’m not really interested in that.”
I breathed out slowly. Although I was teaching her how to flirt and getting her out there to date, I wasn’t sure how much I could handle like having her bring guys home on the regular.
The thought sent a chill through me. Yeah, I didn’t like that idea at all.
I helped Nora into the passenger seat and then drove us back home. If possible, she was even drunker by the time we got there. As if that last drink had hit her hard on the drive. She kicked her shoes off and carried them inside as she stumbled through the garage.
“Oh my God,” she said with a giggle. “I haven’t been this drunk since college.”
“Careful,” I said as she pitched forward.
I wrapped an arm around her middle to keep her from face-planting into the living room. Once she was steady on her feet, I gently released her, and she went tumbling anyway.
She lay sprawled on the floor, laughing. “Fuck, I am so fucking drunk.”
“Can you get to bed?”
“Yep.”
Then, she began to crawl across the hardwood floor in her dress. My eyes landed on her ass. Luckily, the material was flowy enough to cover her, but every inch of creamy thigh was on display, and if I were anyone else, I could have gotten a completely free show as she crawled on her hands and knees toward the back bedroom.
“Fuck,” I growled under my breath.
“I’m going to have bruises,” she said, flopping back down and rolling onto her back. “Someone is going to think I’ve been sucking cock.”
I closed my eyes. Fuck, her filthy, drunk mouth was turning me on. And I needed to get that under control.
“Can I help you?”
“Suck cock?” she asked, her eyes wide and thoughtful.
I nearly choked. “To your bed.”
“You want to get in bed with me?”
“I…” Jesus fucking Christ.
“I thought my brothers said look, but don’t touch.” I gaped at her as she was sprawled out on the floor, her arms stretched over her head. “Did you get a good enough look?”
“Nora,” I groaned.
Where the hell had this come from? Thank fuck I’d gotten her out of the bar when I did. The shy girl who was awkward around guys turned into a sex kitten when drunk. I was never going to be able to scrub this image of her out of my mind.
“Please let me help you to bed.”
She nodded and held her hand out. I pulled her to her feet, and when she stumbled again, I gave up, scooping her in my arms. Her head lolled against my shoulder as I walked down the hallway.
“I think I had one too many,” she whispered.
“Yeah. Maybe so. I didn’t realize you had no tolerance.”
“Tamara tried to up my tolerance one summer in college, but all that meant was, I got drunk all summer long. It never did anything,” she admitted.