Until Forever (ROYAL RIDERS SERIES BOOK #1)

7| Mistake

His eyes shot open and he took a look around. "Where am I?" he mumbled, his voice hoarse. 

I rolled my eyes, standing up and stumbling. "Let's go. You finished that glass a long time ago." 

He whined, grabbing my waist and resting his head on my stomach. 

I froze, watching him as my stomach flipped. Again. Then again. I grabbed his shoulders, throwing him off and he fell back on the couch, half-asleep again. 

He's just drunk, it's okay. He doesn't know what he's doing. 

The last time he got wasted, luckily it was back home in Boston. I dropped him home and he was drinking on his own and then at two in the morning, my phone rang. It was him, of course. Crying. Sobbing. To the point where he couldn't breathe or talk. I still don't know what happened that night. He kept saying someone was hurting him, he kept asking me to save him, and I ended up driving to his apartment, finding him sitting on the floor by his bed, crying, still holding the phone with a bottle of whiskey. He doesn't know he did that and I don't plan to tell him. 

It was the first and only time he was vulnerable with me and he was too drunk to know what he was doing. He doesn't need to know. 

"Vince," I whined, kicking his leg. "Come on, let's go!" 

He groaned but stood up slowly, stumbling. I grabbed his shoulders, steadying him while he grabbed my waist, falling into me. I blinked, staring at him. He looked down at me with a lazy gaze. It did things to me. 

Bad things. 

I watched as his brows furrowed in confusion while his eyes traveled across my face. "What?" I mumbled, steadying him again. 

"They all say you're pretty," he slurred. 

"Am I?" I chuckled softly, taking a look around at all the empty glasses. This is going to be one big bill tomorrow morning. 

"Hmm," he nodded, leaning in closer, his nose brushing against mine before his lips grazed my cheek as he pulled me into a hug. "You are." 

I fell back, almost falling on the table, barely managing to catch myself. "Vince," I sighed, pulling him away. "Let's go, please." He huffed as I grabbed his arm, pulling him with me to the elevator. I pressed the button to our floor and then staggered to our room. "Where are your keys?" I stuttered, tripping over my own feet, struggling to maintain my balance. I'm drunk. 

He fished it out of his pocket, handing it to me. 

I unlocked the door, closed it behind us, and rushed to the bed, letting him fall face-first. I sighed, catching my breath as I put my purse on the table and kicked my heels off. Now, tucking him in is the real task. 

He rolled onto his back, scooting up on the bed on his own, making the job easier. 

I emptied his pockets, leaving everything on the nightstand. Then pulled off his shoes. I can't do anything about the clothes, it's supposed to be inappropriate. I sat on the side of the bed, groaning loudly in exhaustion, thinking he was knocked out. 

Then he grabbed me. His arm went around my torso as he pulled me back to lay down. 

I fell back, mumbling, "Ah," as my head landed on his abs.