"Alright," he said, wrapping a tattooed arm around my shoulders, "I think it's time we go home," he said, motioning to the mostly empty club around us.
"Agreed," I mumbled, sliding off of the bar stool and wobbling slightly when he suddenly turned and pulled me towards the door.
"Are you drunk?" he asked with a laugh.
"Aren't you?"
"Yeah, a little bit," he said, a goofy grin on his handsome face.
"Me too," I mumbled, giggling when he missed the door handle.
"Well, that means it's an Uber kind of night," he advised, tapping a finger to the side of his nose.
"Agreed," said once again, enjoying being close to him.
Granted I had only met him a few hours before, but he instantly made me feel calm aside from me stumbling over my words; when he sat beside me, my anxieties and nervousness washed away... then again, we had been drinking quite a bit, too, but that was my doing, not his.
"There is no way that you can out drink me!" he had insisted.
"Well, I guess we'll have to see..."
I had never been one to turn down a challenge; I guess it was in my blood.
We hadn't planned on getting wasted, and we didn't, deciding to save the competition for some other night. Tonight was about new beginnings and friendships, not out-drinking a basic stranger.
"Where are we going?" he asked no one in particular, shaking his head as he looked around.
"Depends," I said with a hiccup. "Do you want to go home, or do you want to have a sleepover?" I asked in complete seriousness.
"Sleepover, eh?" he asked with a chuckle. "Sure. We can do that if you want."
"Okay, then lead the way," I slurred, grateful that his warm arm was still around my bare shoulders on this cold February night.
"Oh, let me get an Ub- wait, no, it's close. We can walk if you're up to it," he suggested, looking into my eyes.
"That's fine with me. Wait! Let me get these evil things off," I said with a laugh, reaching down to pull off my platform heels. When I stood up straight again (well, as straight as I could) I couldn't stop laughing at how much taller Archie seemed; Now, I barely reached his eyes, rather than almost being almost the same height as him like I was earlier.
"You're so small," he managed to say between laughs, once again putting his arm around me as we began to walk to his hotel.
°°°°°°
"So, what do you want to do?" he asked, sitting beside me on the couch.
"I don't know... What do you want to do?"
"I don't know either. We can find a movie or something... Talk?" he suggested with a shrug.
"Okay. Oh, if I'm staying, can I have something to sleep in?" I asked, gesturing to my shirt.
"Oh, of course," he said, wobbling when he stood up.
"Careful!" I warned with a giggle.
"It's okay, I got this," he assured with a laugh, walking over to his suitcase. "Okay, here's the bad news," he mumbled as he dug through his clothes, "there are no pants in here that will fit you, but," he straightened up, "There are plenty of shirts."
"Works for me," I said with a shrug, marveling at the extremely attractive man in front of me.
"Let's see, do you want black... black... black... or... oh! White?"
"Hmm... what about," I giggled again, "maybe black."
"That's a good choice," he said, pulling out a random shirt and walking over to me with it in his hand. "I don't know what's on it, so don't hold me responsible," he disclaimed with a laugh, kneeling on the floor in front of me.
"Mm, thank you," I said slowly, my head still swimming from the alcohol. "What are you doing on the floor?"
"Enjoying the view," he mumbled happily.
"Is that so, Mr. Cruz?" I asked teasingly.
"Indeed, Miss Lucy."
"Well, that's fair. I've been doing that all night," I said, covering my blushing face with one of my hands, his shirt in the other.
"Aww," he teased. "You know, I'm glad we met; you're really fun to talk to. Smart and beautiful," he said softly.
"Wait until you really get to know me," I said with a hiccup. "Most people only find sarcasm and they don't seem to like it," I mumbled.
"I think sarcasm is fun, though. It's like it's for smart people because most people don't get it," he said with a laugh.
"Yeah, but after a while, people seem to get tired of it. Everyone seems to leave me after a while," I said sadly, debating whether or not to change.
"I won't leave you," he said, shockingly sober in the moment.
"You won't?"
"No. I promise, I won't."
"Good, because I like you being around."
"Good, because I like being around... what do you say we get some more drinks?" he asked, reading my expression.
"Fine with me."
"Alright," he said, slowly standing up and walking over to the phone. "Do you think room service is open?"
"Probably," I replied, moving to take off my pants. "Never mind, I'm too tired right now," I mumbled to myself.
"For what?" he asked, watching me from the corner of his eye.
"Taking my pants off," I said, a tired laugh leaving my lips.
"Well, hey, maybe later I can help you with that," he joked, still smiling.
"Maybe you can," I said, fully hoping that he would.
With a knowing wink, he directed his attention back to whoever had answered the phone, mumbling what he wanted.
"The mini bar doesn't really have much," he whispered to me, covering the mouthpiece of the phone.
"Got it."
°°°°°°
One bottle of wine later, we were both sitting on the couch together, telling stories and laughing at each other's stupid jokes.
"Well, one time our bass player, Middy, shit himself," he said between laughs. "I wasn't there but Johnny- the other guitarist in Cruz, he told me all about it."
"I'm sure Middy loves when you tell that story," I mumbled sarcastically, wiping the tears of laughter from my cheeks.
"Nah, he doesn't mind so much," he said, patting a random beat on my legs, which were across his lap.
"I remember one time I was at my best friend's house, and we were in her bathroom doing makeup when she decided that she needed to pee, so she walked over and opened the cupboard door so that I couldn't see her. After a minute she started to panic, and she was like, 'you should leave... yeah, you should go,' and I lost my shit because I was laughing so hard."
"Why did she kick you out?" he asked, then the realization hit him. "Oh... Well at least she warned you," he said as he ran his fingers over my leg.
"Yeah," I mumbled sadly, my smile fading. "We don't really talk anymore."
"Why not?"
"I don't really know... last time it was over someone I was talking to, but this time she just... let me down for the last time." I distracted myself by taking his hand and tracing his sparrow tattoo.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's okay. Sometimes things fall apart for better things to come together, y'know?"
"Yeah," he agreed, removing his feet from the coffee table. "What time is it?" he asked, rubbing his eyes before going back to holding my legs in his lap.
"Uh," I looked at the clock on the dresser, which seemed blurry from the last bit of alcohol in my system and the exhaustion of my eyes. "It's almost four, why?"
"Maybe we should go to sleep," he said tiredly. "Any plans for tomorrow? Well, today?" he corrected himself.
"I don't think so, but I think I agree with your idea anyway," I said, stretching.
"Do you still want help with your pants?" he asked with a laugh.
"Please." I could feel myself blush a little but I was too tired and still a little too tipsy to care.
"Okay." He stood up and with a chuckle, he awkwardly tried to figure out what to do.
"What are you doing?" I asked, doing my best to contain my laughter as he blankly stared at my legs.
"Well, I don't know if it's wrong for me to just take them off just like that," he said, snapping his fingers.
"How else would you do it?"
"I could show you," he said with a shrug.
"Okay. Go for it."
He smirked, leaning close to me, his hands on either side of me so that he could keep his balance. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," I said, my heart beating a little faster.
"Alright," he said before suddenly leaning and kissing me.
At first I was surprised, but after a second, the shock faded and I basically melted against his lips. He snaked one arm around my waist, the other rested against my cheek, and my hands instinctively came up to tangle in his blonde hair, which was even softer that it looked.
After a moment, we broke apart and he placed kisses along the side of my neck, his soft lips and silky hair lightly brushing against the sensitive skin. A soft sigh escaped my lips, as neck kisses were my ultimate weakness, and he was easily figuring that out; it almost felt like he was smiling as he trailed kisses down my neck and across my collarbones.
His kisses weren't aggressive or lustful, but sweet and gentle. It was like he was testing the waters rather than trying to dive in, so to speak. He seemed like he was genuinely enjoying being around me, even though we had just met. The thought of him using me didn't even cross my mind; he made me feel safe.
Without me even noticing, he had already slipped a few fingers into the waistband of my leather leggings and was pulling them down. Man, he was smooth! It didn't take long until my pants were off, and the shirt was next to go. He only stopped to marvel at my tattoos.
"Pretty, smart, and tattooed? Where have you been all my life?" he half-joked, softly running a finger down the cherry blossoms and tracing the little circles of smoke colored clouds that covered the upper part of my arm, raising goosebumps on my skin.
"You didn't even see the one on my leg," I said softly, a teasing smile on my face as he raised an eyebrow and looked at the neo-traditional style fox that was on my upper thigh area.
"Very nice," he said, also running his fingers over that tattoo.
"It feels nice when you do that," I said quietly. "It's soothing."
He looked up at me and smiled before softly saying, "I know; I was enjoying it when you were doing the same to me." Carefully, he slid me off of the couch and into his lap, reaching up to grab the shirt he was letting me borrow. "May I proceed, or do you want me to close my eyes?" he asked with an amused look on his face.
"Hey, whichever, man. I got this one if you don't," I said, surprising myself at my current bold, flirtatious manner. "It'll probably look better if you do it..."
"As you wish," he said with a soft chuckle as he reached to unclip my bra. "You have pierced nipples, too?" he asked, more surprised than he had been all night. "You're full of surprises... very rock and roll," he said with a cheesy grin.
"Well hey, I try," I joked. After saying that, I accidentally let out a yawn, and I knew that it was game over.
"Alright, come on," he said softly, pulling the shirt over my head. "Let's get some sleep, eh?" he said as he pulled me into his arms, just holding me close to him.
"Mm, but I don't want to; I want to keep talking to you."
"You can keep talking to me, but we should at least make it to the bed in case we fall asleep, don't you agree?"
"Yeah," I said tiredly. "You have a fair point," I mumbled as he scooped me into his arms and carried me to the bed, carefully setting me down when we reached it.
"Pick a side, any side," he said playfully as he took off his pants and shirt, most likely leaving them in a pile on the floor.
I settled where ever was closest and opened my eyes again when I heard him laugh.
"Or the middle, that works, too," he said as he slid into the bed beside me.
"Oh, sorry. I wasn't even paying attention," I said, attempting to scoot over.
"No, it's fine!," he said, pulling me close to him again.
"Okay... You have such pretty tattoos," I murmured as I observed the skull that was inked on his chest.
"Thank you," he mumbled with a smile. "You do, too."
"Thanks." I was surprised that he even heard me, as my voice barely above a whisper. A moment of silence went by before I spoke again. "Hey, Archie?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad we met."
"Me too, Lucy," he said quietly as he switched off the lamp beside us and pulled me closer to him, kissing my temple.