Be Rude but Love Me | ✔

CHAPTER 17

"Oh, Tracy," Ellie says as she looks at me. She doesn't look too steady on her feet and I know she's had some drinks too. Just not as much as I have.

"I'm fine," I hiccup. "Fine," I repeat.

Behind her, Will appears, his white t-shirt bright under the moonlight. He looks like an angel and I tell him so. "She's wasted," he says, eyes down on me.

He jumps into the driver's seat, keys jingling from his hands. When the car rumbles to life, I recognize Will's truck. Of course, what other truck on this Earth sounds like that? Like a dying whale that swallowed a motor.

"Drive safely," Will recommends before pulling away.

During the car ride, I don't talk much. I make incoherent sounds with my throat I guess but no words actually come out. It sounds like moans and grunts, but I'm not sure. At some point, Yann even asks me if I'm in pain. I am in pain but I don't tell him that. I feel like someone is using a hammer in my brain and it feels awful.

After what feels like an eternity, Yann pulls up in front of Ellie's house. I start to unbuckle my seat belt and open the door at the same time. I lose my grip on the handle and without the seatbelt to hold me back, start dropping towards the ground. I don't have the energy to try and pull back and just let myself fall. And fall I do.

Before I can kiss the gravel however, I feel arms catching me just before I hit the ground. Yann curses as he pulls me back up to my feet. I sway a little before he wraps his arms around me, steadying me. Sliding his arms under my knees, he picks me up again and carries me inside the house. I hear the door kick shut behind us as he starts to make his way upstairs.

All the while, my head and arms are dangling off. My eyes find the ceiling above me and I smile. "Do you see the stars, Yann?"

He doesn't answer. I think he's realized that all I am going to say tonight is incoherent so he just doesn't bother. I won't have it. "Do you see them?" I ask more urgently.

I feel his chest go up and down as he sighs. "Yes, I do."

I smile wider. "They're beautiful, aren't they?" No answer. "Yann," I whine, "they're beautiful, right?"

Another sigh. "Yes, they're gorgeous," he says.

I frown. "I didn't say gorgeous, I said beautiful."

"Beautiful, yes." I am about to say something else, I'm not sure what it is but Yann speaks before I can. "Graham," he says, "can we play a little game?"

I nod eagerly as I try to lift my head but it falls back. "Yes, yes, yes! What game?"

"Who's gonna stay quiet longer."

All my excitement dies. "That's not a fun game," I pout.

Yann enters my bedroom just then and he looks down at me for a moment. "It's fun, I promise you."

He starts moving again and as he carefully lays me down on the bed, I say. "OK, let's do it."

"Great."

As I'm lying down on the bed, I feel as Yann pulls off my sneakers first. Once he's done that, he grabs my feet and turn my body so I am fully on the bed. Then, he comes over me and starts removing my jacket. I gaze up at him as his hair falls around his face. He uses his hands to tuck them back behind his ears but still a few strands dangle temptingly over my face.

He's removing my left arm from the jacket when I do it. I grab his hair. I wanted to just touch it, feel it in my hands again, but in my drunken state, I end up grabbing more than just a few strands and yanking him down.