“I think it’s time to call it a night,” Zander suggests.
“Shit, did you drink all those?” Declan gasps.
My head swims as I turn to look over all the empty wine bottles. I can’t tell how many there are, and since my eyes are shifting from seeing double to triple of everything, I’m not sure I can be trusted.
“Up you get.” Harvey grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet.
“It’s not my fault,” I slur at him.
“Of course it isn’t.” He sounds placating and something else. Annoyed? Exasperated?
“They just … They kept talking … Baby this and … baby that … I had to drink to drown it out,” I slowly and possibly not all that coherently explain, suddenly terrified that Harvey is angry at me.
His many faces seem to soften as he moves his arm around to hold me up. It’s reassuring.
“Why do you keep screaming cock?” he asks carefully, moving me slowly toward the doorway, which is still moving.
Why would you have a doorway so crooked?
“Nix?” Harvey asks, and I realize he is waiting for something.
“What?”
“Why do you keep screaming the word cock?”
“Oh, that.” I swallow and close my eyes, wishing the room would stop spinning. “They said they would …” Nope, eyes need to be open, spinning in the dark feels worse. “… drink if I spoke about your cock. It’s beautiful, you know?” I tell him honestly, hoping any leftover anger directed at me will dissipate at such a nice compliment.
Instead, all the guys break out in chuckles.
“Good to know. Come on.” He helps me stumble along.
I pull back so I can see the three Zanders standing by Ava. “I know too much about you,” I say, swinging around a little too fast. Harvey has to grip my arm tighter to keep me on my feet as I face the double Declan. “And I definitely know too much about you.”
I think they are smiling at me, or maybe they are wincing.
Finding the Joeys, I point at them and smile. “You, I know nothing about.” That brings more chuckles, and I think Joey gives Teagan a kiss. I also think I black out for a second since I’m suddenly pulled up short, my face slamming into Harvey’s chest.
I take a long inhale, wondering if Harvey has always smelled this good. Why do I have the sudden and very strong need to eat him all up? Like, lick over every inch of his body?
Like. Right. This. Second.
“Come on, hotshot; this way.” Harvey steers me toward the door.
I lean away from him again, not falling headfirst into the floor again, thanks to Harvey. I point back to Zander and Declan, figuring pointing at one of them is the same at pointing at all of them. “I don’t think we should make eye contact for the next …” I scratch my head, not sure there exists a length of time I need before I can look at them without remembering the oversharing from the girls.
I lose my train of thought, smiling when Harvey comes back into my view.
“Hey!” I happily shout, hugging him tightly to me. “I was telling the girls you have a nice cock.”
He drags me forward again. “Fantastic. We’re leaving.”
I can barely stay upright as he pulls me out of the still bent doorway and toward the elevator.
“You’re not mad, are you? I said nice things,” I promise, wishing my tongue would get with the program and move properly when I seem to trip all over it.
“I’m not mad. You’re drunk,” he states the obvious.
Why can’t his temperament be so obvious to me right now? Did I mess up?
“I know,” I finally utter, deciding the best course of action is to shift blame immediately. “Those girls are a horrible influence.”
Harvey rolls his eyes. “I’m sure it wasn’t only them.”
I gasp, offended that he doesn’t believe me. “It really was their fault. Why did you leave me with them? I had to listen to baby this and vagina that. It was awful,” I partially lie. I didn’t love that part of our talk, but I can’t deny I did have fun. Plus, they got my mind completely off the shit show that happened earlier. That in and of itself is a massive accomplishment.
“I didn’t intend to leave you, but we had to follow O’Neal,” he explains.
I sigh again when I find myself wrapped in both his arms, my head shoved into his neck as I take another deep inhale.
“How wrong would it be to blow you right now?” I murmur, poking my tongue out to lick the stubble over his jaw.
“Incredibly wrong,” a new voice growls.
I look over Harvey’s shoulder to find we aren’t alone. Several Declans and Sashas have followed us into the elevator.
“I don’t know … I think it would be hot to—”
Declan slaps his hand over Sasha’s mouth, glaring daggers at her.
“No one is watching or doing anything,” Harvey snaps, his hold over my hips strengthening while he pushes me away from him so my body is no longer plastered against his. It also makes it impossible for me to crouch down or even touch him when he pushes me against the cool surface of the elevator.
In the reflection of the wall, I see Sasha slapping Declan’s hand away. “I was only joking.”
“You made a promise to me,” he hisses at her, not that his voice doesn’t carry easily around the confined space. “No heavy drinking while we’re—”
“What’s the point?” Sasha shrieks, not at all caring to be quiet. “It’s not working!”
“It will,” he assures her. Even in my drunken state, I know we are overhearing an incredibly personal conversation and not at all something that should be for our ears.
My body sags, no longer feeling the urge to lick Harvey all over. He must feel my defeat because his grip loosens a little and he faces me again.
“Whatever. I just want to go home,” she sighs, the defeat in her voice sounding strange. I only met Sasha a handful of times, but not once did she seem like the type of person to give in to anything.
What the hell are they talking about?
A loud ding sounds, and then the doors open.
Sasha basically runs out of there, Declan’s fast pace easily keeping up with her. Harvey and I just hang back.
“What was that about?”
“Nothing that concerns us,” he bites out, seeming conflicted.
“I’ve never seen Sasha like that,” I push, taking small steps out of the elevator when the doors begin to close on us.
“Me neither,” he quietly admits.
Silence envelops us as we make our way outside. Sasha and Declan are long gone, and the cold air does little to sober me up.
“Did tonight go okay?” I finally ask, wondering if we already talked about this and maybe I forgot.
“How about I tell you about it when you’re a little more sober?” he offers.
I sigh heavily at having to wait, feeling annoyed that I’m not being trusted, even if I can’t remember if Harvey has already spilled on how it went and I just can’t remember.
Alcohol isn’t known for helping people make logical decisions.
“I’m very good at keeping secrets, even when I’m drunk. Did you know I never once told anyone that I was fucked by my business school teacher the night before our first class? He was in the closet and did not want that getting out. I have never told a soul,” I say proudly.
“You just told me.”
I slap my hands over my mouth. “Shit, you forced that out of me! That one isn’t my fault,” I quickly deny, which makes Harvey laugh.
I don’t entirely remember getting into his car, and I certainly don’t recall the drive to Harvey’s. However, I am able to stand myself when he takes me into his building.
As soon as we step through the doorway, I rip off my jacket. Harvey leaves me to struggle with that as he enters the kitchen. Next, I pull my shirt and wife-beater off together, knocking into a chair when they get stuck over my head. I then stumble forward a little to pull off my shoes and fall onto the couch when I attem
pt to take off my socks. With them off, I unbutton my pants and shove them down, getting them tangled in my legs when I try to keep moving.
When did clothes get so complicated?
Finally, as I make it to Harvey’s bedroom, I pull down my underwear and climb up on the bed, naked and ready to slip into a coma.
Wasn’t there something I was going to do first?
“Shit, are you for real?” Harvey grumbles.
I look over my shoulder, realizing I’m lying on his bed with my ass up.
“That’s what I was going to do!” I exclaim, sitting up and waving him over.
He seems to come toward me hesitantly, and when he arrives, I notice his hands are full.
“What do you have?” I ask, reaching out for his belt and struggling to get it loose from the hook.
“You need to take this pill, and then drink all of this,” Harvey says, pulling his hips out of my reach.
“But I want to blow you.” I pout.
I think Harvey looks as disappointed as I am that this doesn’t seem likely to happen now.
“I don’t think you’re going to feel up to that anytime soon,” he says gravely, passing me a pill then the drink to help it down.
I don’t think to ask what he’s giving me, entirely trusting Harvey as I pop the pill into my mouth and take a gulp of what looks like a smoothie. I soon realize it isn’t.
“What is this crap?” I try to shove the drink away, but he pushes it back toward my lips.
“Just drink it all.”
“No,” I grumble, but when the glass touches my lips, I swallow the rest in a few gulps. “That was awful,” I complain, wiping my lips with the back of my hand.
“You’ll thank me later.”
I nod, hoping that’s true.
Before I can even ask what it does, I fall back against the soft covers and pass out.
***
I wake up, immediately noticing something is wrong.
I fly out of bed, uncaring how much I jolt the mattress or that Harvey is sleeping soundly next to me, and charge into the bathroom. I barely make it to the toilet in time before I’m hurling.
Long moments later, I realize I’m not alone.
Harvey is behind me, stroking my hair as I lean against the wall beside the toilet. The cool tiles feel nice against my overheated body.
“Drink this,” he says, holding a glass out to me.
I try to push him away. No way do I want another gross smoothie.
“It’s just water,” Harvey assures me.
I open one eye to glance at the glass before deciding it looks like water. But before I grab it, my stomach clenches again and I lurch for the toilet, bringing up more liquid.
Harvey rubs my back, and by the time I’m finished, I am spent.
I lean my arm along the bowl and rest my head on it, prepared to sleep right here.
“You gotta be better than this, Nix. This was only one night with the girls. They are going to eat you alive if you can’t handle it,” he threatens, his voice echoing around me and entirely too loud. Where does he think we are, a rock concert?
“Shut up,” I grumble. “Next time, don’t leave me alone. When they start talking about babies, you can kiss me so I won’t have to drink to get away from them.”
“Deal.”
“Your friends are awful,” I whine, my stomach roiling again.
“They’re your friends now, too,” he tells me, which causes me to groan.
“You want to come back to bed?” he asks gently.
I shake my head, which hurts so much I’m gagging again in seconds.
I feel like it’s days before I’m able to remove myself from the toilet. I feel instantly better when Harvey sits me in the shower and lets the warm water wash away how grimy I feel.
I have no memory of leaving the shower, just a sudden awareness that I’m in Harvey’s bed, dry, with him wrapped around me.
For the first time in a long time, I feel taken care of, secure.
Considering all the drama that has happened over the past week, Harvey has managed quite the feat.
Chapter 17
Harvey leaves to pick us up some lunch since his fridge and pantry are woefully empty. I almost offer to take him to the restaurant to pick something up, but then I remember I no longer have a restaurant.
I want to cry in my hungover state as pity and exhaustion weigh down me.
How did my life get so messy? So fucked up? And with Harvey, so fucking great?
A while after Harvey leaves, his buzzer sounds.
I worry my lip as I approach it, not sure who it could be, or that it ringing is likely to be good news.
Harvey said to not leave the apartment, but what if he locked himself out? Obviously listening to see who is buzzing his apartment isn’t dangerous.
“Hello?” I say through the speaker and listen as a muffled voice answers back.
“It’s Zander; can I come up?”
This isn’t great. Zander is Harvey’s boss, and if things are going to keep moving forward with us, he is someone I’m going to be around a lot. Pissing him off isn’t something I should do, but buzzing up based on a voice I don’t recognize is stupid, too.
“The connection isn’t great; can you tell me what happened last night?” I ask, hoping he doesn’t think I’m an idiot for doing this if it is in fact him.
“You mean, when you and the girls drank enough alcohol to all be accepted with open arms into any rehab facility in Chicago?” he quips in a crackly voice.
Okay, definitely him.
I buzz him in then wait nervously by the door. He’s probably here to see Harvey, who I hope will be back soon.
What if he’s not? I doubt I have much to say to Zander, or much in common with him.
He knocks on the door a minute later.
I take a deep breath, wincing that I didn’t spend my time more wisely by changing out of the baggie sweatpants and wrinkled T-shirt. I haven’t even looked in the mirror. I avoided seeing myself when I finally woke up and brushed my teeth.
At least Harvey helped me shower last night so I don’t smell like a winery.
“Wow, you look like death,” Zander says on a snort when he passes me.
I quickly close and lock the door behind him.
“I feel like it. Don’t let Harvey mix you a smoothie,” I tell him. Then again, I probably would have been in the same position without the evil smoothie.
Zander laughs as he sits down on the couch.
I reluctantly follow suit after he declines a drink. It would be weird to stand around while he’s seated. At the same time, this feels too informal for a man I don’t know well, yet I have heard about his penis enough to feel like maybe I do know him too well.
“How’s Ava?” I finally ask, fidgeting under Zander’s clear scrutiny.
“Let me put it this way, she told me my breathing was too loud.” He raises his eyebrow at me.
I laugh. “So, you decided to leave the house and bring your too loud breathing over here?”
“It was either that or stop breathing.”
I tap my chin thoughtfully. “I think you made the right choice. Harvey should be back any minute.”
“I actually came to see you,” he tells me, his careful gaze still locked on mine.
I’m not sure what he’s expecting to see, or maybe he’s concerned I’m about to chuck my guts up at any second. Harvey’s evil drink already moved that along.
“If you’re here to blame me for your wife’s hangover, then you’re probably right. But she is definitely the main instigator of baby talk, so I mainly blame her for my almost dying.”
“That sounds fair.” He chuckles. “Sorry about that. Since Kiera, we’ve both had baby brain. Trust me when I say it’s not just interfering when it comes to talking points with friends. It affects every aspect of our lives.”
“I heard all about that last night.” I wince, already knowing he means Ava’s vagina entry ban. “You would think I
wouldn’t remember a thing, and I mostly don’t, but of course what I do remember is Ava telling us everything.”
Zander shifts in his seat and has the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry about that, too. She used to be pretty tight-lipped about that kind of thing, and then Sasha came along …” He trails off, not needing to say more.
“I admit, Sasha is a little scary,” I concede, recalling something that happened in the elevator. What was that?
“She is a lot scary. You’re in the honeymoon phase with her. She’s being extra nice. Once she knows you and Harvey are settled, she’ll fully come out.”
“That is … a terrifying thought,” I mumble, forgetting about trying to remember what happened last night, thinking instead that maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to turn down going to New Zealand. It might not be just my dad and Donny I need to get away from. “So, you came over here to scare me?”
Zander laughs and shakes his head. “No, I came over here to assure you there are no hard feelings about what happened with our office. I know you probably feel bad, or maybe even responsible. I just want you to know that no one blames you.”
“Thanks,” I reply, hearing the sincerity in his voice, touched he went out of his way to tell me. I mean, yes, he was kicked out of his own home today, but he could have gone anywhere and chose to come here to make sure I knew this.
I may be trying to ignore all the inappropriate information I know about him, but I also forgot that everything else I heard proves he is a good guy. All the men Harvey works with are. And just knowing Harvey works with such good people makes me happier.
“Actually, the girls seemed a little disappointed with the office destruction. They were each telling me their own contributions for destroying them. They said I get points for originality, but since the building is still standing, I don’t get a hundred percent,” I tell him. I finally believed their stories after they told me so much information to back them up. No one, even drunk, can think that quickly on their feet or talk that smoothly.
Zander laughs again. “Well, I appreciate the fact that the building is still standing.”
“Glad I could accommodate.” I give him a small smile. “I am sorry, though, about everything. I never thought this would happen. And I know my mom never thought it would come to this, either. We never wanted anyone to get hurt.”
I Broke Into His Office (Love at First Crime Book 4) Page 22