Enemies with Benefits

Chapter Five

- Rachel -

I woke up vaguely aware of two things. One, my head felt as though a two-ton behemoth was sitting on it. Two, I was in a bed ten times more comfortable than it should've been. Which only meant one thing—it wasn't my own.

With the curtains covering any light the windows would've allowed in, I tried to blink against the darkness and gain some sort of vision, but it was useless. Feeling around the silken sheets I didn't recognize, my hand landed on a warm chest beside me. A naked chest.

Well...There's no way that's Leah.

Curious, I let my hand skim lower, flinching when it was met with someone's erection and no clothing to cover it. I cursed myself, and the vodka, for letting me go home with a stranger.  Quick to pull my hand away from the unknown man still sound asleep beside me, I sat up and slid from the bed. Standing on uneasy legs, the cool air hit my skin and suddenly, I was viciously aware that I wore only a bra and thong.

Oh, dear god. I winced and brought a hand to my face, pressing it against the pounding in my brain as though it would magically help.

I fumbled around the unfamiliar room for something that may have clothes on it. When my shin smacked into a harsh corner, I yelped and grabbed my leg, flouncing around like an idiot.

"Mother fucker!" I groaned, jumping around until I lost my balance. My knee gave out and I crumbled to the floor like a sack of potatoes, bumping my back into what I assumed to be the doorframe. "Ow."

"Would you shut the hell up?"

My eyes bugged out of my skull at the irritated voice. When a soft glow of light beamed through the room from the far-side lamp, I panicked at my nakedness and reached for the closest article of clothing I could find. Thankfully, it was a button down that had been sitting on the chair that had just demolished my shin.

I shrugged it over my shoulders, but when I pulled my hair from underneath, the annoyingly familiar cologne that clung to the fabric hit my nose. And I froze.

"Caleb?" I whispered.

"Look at you, Einstein. Now, would you like to explain why the fuck you woke me up squealing like a dying bird?"

I rolled my eyes and used the chair at my side as a crutch to stand. Pulling the shirt down to cover my ass and hips, I fumbled with the buttons under the scrutinizing gaze I felt on me. I spun to face him, cocking a hip while my fingers worked slowly on the buttons, mainly just for something to play with so I didn't lose my edge.

"Whatever happened last night was a mistake. Just to be clear."

Caleb's face was unamused. "And what happened last night, Rachel? What part do you regret exactly? Just to be clear."

Probably all of it if I could remember. "Well, I definitely didn't mean to go home with you. So, I—"

"Right. It was supposed to be blondie that you went home with, yeah? Considering you probably would've fucked him on the dancefloor had I not intervened."

"I...What?"

He raised an eyebrow in mockery and pulled himself towards the headboard to sit more upright. In the soft yellow lighting from the lamp on his side table, his abs and chiseled face were glowing, and I'll be damned if my hands didn't betray me and freeze on the final button, wishing it was his warm skin under my fingertips instead.

"You were sloppy last night, Rachel."

My face heated in anger at his judgmental tone. "Right, so instead of me being a nice, sloppy fuck for a sweet guy who actually seems to like me, I woke up next to you. How fortunate." I gave up on the button that wouldn't slip into place and threw my hands up. "Why the fuck did you bring me here, Caleb? I don't care what drunk me said or did, we shouldn't have fucking had sex last night. I was too drunk for any—"