by Jaci Burton
“You should wear that to work,” Tina, one of their friends, said.
“You think? It would look great with my suit.”
“I might have to snatch one of those for Carl,” Jess said. “He’d look so cute wearing that when he changes someone’s oil or puts in a new engine.”
Everyone laughed.
Veronica bent over to kiss her husband and daughter.
“You’re a good daddy,” Veronica said. “I love you.”
“Love you, too, babe,” he said. “Have fun tonight.”
Hannah felt a well of emotion. There was nothing like seeing two people so obviously in love. She was happy for her friend.
“Bye, Mama,” Shay said.
“Bye, my love.”
They ordered a car so they could all drink, which sounded perfect to Hannah. She might regret it during her long day at the salon tomorrow, but screw it. She was having a cocktail or two tonight with her girls. She hadn’t made time to see them since the reunion, and they had a lot to catch up on.
They went to YOT Bar and Kitchen and got a seat with a view of the water. Hannah took a sip of the mojito she ordered. It was sweet and minty and hit all her relaxation buttons.
“So, Hannah,” Veronica asked. “Tell us everything.”
She blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I mean your job, Oliver, what you’ve been doing. Who you’ve been doing?”
Jess laughed. “Yes, especially the who you’ve been doing.”
“Oh.” She stirred her drink. “Oliver broke his wrist this week.”
“Oh no,” Tina said. “What happened?”
She filled them in on Oliver’s accident, then they all started talking about their kids, and then about their friend Mary’s new baby girl, which gave her a reprieve from discussing her dating life—at least through another cocktail.
“Are you dating anyone, Hannah?” Jess asked.
She inwardly winced, but she knew she was going to have to talk about Kal. These were her high school friends. Plus they all knew Kal.
“I’m sort of seeing Kal Donovan.”
Veronica’s eyes widened. She laid her palm flat on the table and leaned forward. “Wait. What? You’re dating Kal again?”
“Seriously?” Tina asked.
“Tell us everything,” Jess said, signaling their server for another round of drinks.
By the time she’d finished her third mojito, she’d spilled the entire story of her and Kal. And her face was numb. She was pretty sure her toes were numb, too.
“Wow,” Jess said. “You and Kal Donovan. Who would have ever thought the two of you would hook up again after all these years.”
Tina nodded. “It’s like you were meant to be. Like Romeo and Juliet.”
“Who both ended up dead, Tina,” Veronica said.
“Okay, maybe not those two. Like . . . like . . . I don’t know. Give me a romantic couple.”
“Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley,” Hannah said, laying her chin in her hand.
They all looked at her. Hannah shrugged. “Oliver and I are reading Harry Potter. And I’ve seen the movies. They’re perfect together. Friends first, and they both stand up for and protect the other through everything.”
“Okay, maybe,” Veronica said.
“I could definitely see it,” Jess said. “You and Kal were always so tight in high school. And now he’s back in your life.”
“It’s like it’s meant to be,” Tina repeated, a dreamy look on her face. “It’s so romantic.”
Hannah waved her hand. “We’re just having some fun. It’s . . . familiar, ya know?”
“Is that all it is, though?” Veronica asked. “Familiar?”
“I . . . I don’t know. I feel a lot of things for Kal. I always have. But I don’t know if I have the time right now for that kind of relationship. I’m not sure I ever want to have another deep relationship again.”
Veronica laid her hand on Hannah’s arm. “Of course you don’t. You got hurt by someone who was supposed to be your partner in life. No wonder you’re anxious about falling in love again.”
She wasn’t about to tell her friends she had never loved Landon. Not the way she loved . . .
She wasn’t going to think about that. She was pretty sure she couldn’t put together a coherent thought at all right now.
“I don’t know. We’re having a good time together. We include Oliver in a lot of the things we do. It’s good right now, you know?”
Jess nodded. “And that’s enough.”
“Exactly,” Tina said. “You shouldn’t be in a rush. Take things slow. Whatever happens between the two of you will . . . happen. On its own. Organically.”
“Right. Organically.” Whatever that meant. Her brain went fuzzy again. The conversation was deep, more than she’d wanted to have tonight. “We should order some food.”
“That sounds good,” Tina said.
They grabbed their menus, and Hannah tried to focus on the dishes listed. What was in those mojitos anyway? When their server came over, she decided to switch to water. Because she was definitely getting shit-faced, and that hadn’t been her intention.
They ordered their food.
“And another round of drinks, too,” Veronica said.
Hannah cringed. She hoped she remembered the right address when it was time to go home.
* * *
• • •
Kal was playing a video game, completely destroying the enemy, when the doorbell rang.
“Dammit.” He frowned, paused the game and went to answer the door, surprised to see not only Hannah, but Veronica, Tina and Jess as well.
“Hi, Kal,” Veronica said. “Your girlfriend is toasted, but she wanted to come see you. She’s all yours now.”
Hannah, who was leaning against the doorjamb, gave him a sloppy smile. “I wanted to see you.”
“Hi there. Who’s driving?”
“Jeff, our friendly Lyft driver. He’s taking us all home tonight.”
“Okay. Hang on a sec.” He walked Hannah over to the sofa and sat her down, then leaned over to whisper to her. “Don’t go anywhere, okay?”
She smiled up at him, then tried to pat his face and missed. “You are so hot.”
He grinned. “Thanks. Stay here, okay? I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
He walked outside where the Lyft driver, Jeff, was sitting in the car. Jeff rolled down the window.
“Handling them all right?”
“They’re fine. Tipsy, but they seem to be having a good time. They sang to me. I’ll make sure they all get home okay.”
“Good. Thanks. I’ll call their husbands and let them know you’re in the process of safely delivering them.”
“You got it.”
Kal smiled. Jeff seemed like a good guy, but he wanted to make sure no one was going to take advantage of a group of drunk women.
He held the door open for the women, who slid inside. Veronica grasped his arm.
“Take care of my girl,” she said.
“I will. Say hi to Eddie for me.”
She kissed his cheek. “I’ll do that. Come by and see us sometime.”
“I’ll definitely do that.”
He closed the door and watched as Jeff slowly backed down the driveway, then went inside.
He texted Eddie, Carl and Ray and let them know to expect delivery of their inebriated wives, then went back inside, only to find a path of discarded clothes instead of Hannah.
Like a trail of bread crumbs, he picked up one red high heel in the living room, another one in the kitchen, a blouse at the entrance to the stairs, a bracelet on the landing, a bra hanging over the bannister, a skirt at the top of the stairs and a pair of panties at the entrance to his bedroom.
At least she
’d managed to find the right bedroom, so maybe she wasn’t as drunk as he’d thought.
He was also thankful that Jackson and Becks were out tonight. Surely, Hannah wouldn’t have done her striptease in front of them.
Then again, he’d done some weird shit when he’d been drunk. In front of more people than that.
He opened the door to the bedroom to find Hannah lying on her back on his bed. He laid her clothes on the chair, then approached the bed. Even without the light on he heard her deep, even breathing, and could tell she was asleep.
He shook his head and smiled, then pulled the covers back to tuck the blanket up to her chin. He kissed her forehead.
“I wanted to tell you something,” she whispered.
He sat on the side of the bed and smoothed her hair back. “Sure. What is it?”
“Something . . . portant. ’Bout you and me. And stuff.”
He waited, but she snuggled into the pillow and that was it. She was out.
He wondered what she’d wanted to talk about. It seemed important enough to have the driver bring her here.
Then again, she was drunk. And who knew what had been in her head?
Either way, he wasn’t going to get any answers tonight.
He got up and closed the bedroom door, went downstairs and grabbed his phone and called Paige to let her know where Hannah was, and what condition she was in.
Paige laughed. “How drunk?”
“Pretty drunk, from what I can tell. We only had a short conversation before she went upstairs and passed out cold in my bed.”
He heard Paige’s sigh. “Poor Hannah. She’s been so stressed this week. I told her to relax. I guess she really did.”
Kal laughed. “Apparently.”
“Her car is at Veronica’s, and I think she mentioned she had a ten a.m. hair appointment tomorrow.”
“Not a problem. I’m on shift tomorrow anyway, so I have to be up early. I’ll drive her to Veronica’s to pick up her car.”
“Thanks, Kal. I appreciate you taking care of her.”
“Sure. I’ll talk to you soon, Paige.”
He clicked off and laid his phone down, then went into the living room to turn off the game he’d been playing. He headed to the kitchen to fix himself a glass of water, glancing upstairs to his bedroom.
What he really wanted to do was go upstairs, strip off his clothes and wrap his body around the woman in his bed. The woman who was passed out naked in his bed.
Instead, he grabbed his glass, went into the living room and turned on the TV, figuring he’d watch sports for a while until he got tired.
He already knew he wasn’t going to get tired for a very long time.
CHAPTER 21
Hannah woke up to the feel of a warm body surrounding her. That was nice.
She also had a dry mouth and a pounding headache.
Last night came back to her in a rush. All that drinking, and then getting into the car, and then . . .
And then . . .
Her eyes shot open. Where the hell was she? She tried to get up, but those arms around her held her still.
“It’s okay, Hannah. You’re with me.”
Her pounding heart settled at the smooth sound of Kal’s raspy voice. She relaxed against him.
“I came here last night.”
“Yeah.”
“And then what happened?”
“You stripped naked, climbed in my bed and passed out.”
She did not remember that part at all. “Really? That was it?”
“That was it.”
“Huh.” How disappointing. “I need to pee.”
He let go of her, and she slid out of bed and went into the bathroom. It was still dark outside, which was a good thing, because she had work today. She used the bathroom, washed her hands, found Kal’s toothpaste and rubbed it around her teeth, which helped a little. She went back into the bedroom and sat on the side of the bed.
“There’s a glass of water and some acetaminophen on the nightstand.”
“Bless you,” she said, feeling around in the dark for the glass. She found the tablets and took them, then slid back in bed, positioning her body back against his for warmth. “What time is it?”
“Five thirty.”
“Are you on shift today?”
“Yeah. But I’ve got plenty of time. I called your mom last night and let her know you were with me. She told me she’d take Oliver to school.”
“Thank you for doing that. I’m sorry about barging in on you last night.”
“You didn’t. You know I never mind having you around.”
“I can’t believe I just popped in like that.”
He smoothed his hand down her arm and over her hip. Her body responded with a flash of goose bumps. “You don’t need an invitation, Hannah. You’re welcome over here anytime.”
“I don’t want to assume.”
His hand stilled. “Assume what?”
“That you’re available all the time. You could have had someone else here.”
He laughed and nuzzled the back of her neck. “There’s no one else but you.”
“You mean last night.”
“I mean at all.”
Her belly fluttered at his words. So powerful and important, making her want to roll over and have a serious conversation with him about where they were in their relationship and what it all meant. But that was a conversation meant for later, when they both had the time to really talk it out.
“And if you hadn’t been passed-out drunk, I would have come up here and gotten naked with you.”
His erection brushed against her thighs. She was damn sorry she’d missed that. “You’re naked now.”
He cupped her breast, his thumb teasing lazy circles around her nipple. “Yeah, I am.”
He played with her breasts and nipples until her body throbbed, slid his cock between her thighs, stroking back and forth, making her rock back toward him. “I like that.”
“You’ll like it even more when I’m inside you.”
He slipped away long enough to put on a condom, then he was back. He grasped her hip and slid inside of her, making her gasp at the electric contact.
He rolled her over onto her knees. She braced herself on her elbows as he drove deep. The pleasure was so intense, so fiery-hot that she thought she might die from the sensations of his body pressed so intimately to hers. She reached down to rub her clit, to get herself there as he continued to thrust until she was right on the verge of orgasm.
“Oh, fuck yeah, do it,” he said, his voice deep and guttural as he dug his fingers into her hips and drove his cock deeply into her. She couldn’t take these intense sensations, the way he moved against her, the way her body was so connected to his.
She splintered, feeling as if a thousand stars had exploded within her when she came. Kal pistoned against her and groaned as he climaxed, only enhancing the waves of her own orgasm.
He rolled them to their sides and kissed her shoulder while they both came down from that incredible high. He stroked her all over, and Hannah had to admit she liked the feel of his hands roaming her body. She wished they could stay like this all day.
“Okay, so I meant for that to be a slow and lazy morning lovemaking session,” he said.
Her lips curved. “Do you hear me complaining?”
“I heard . . . something. Screaming, maybe?”
She laughed and rolled over to face him. “I did not scream.”
He swept her hair away from her face and kissed her. “I definitely heard yelling.”
“Okay, stud. Whatever makes you feel good.”
“You make me feel good.” He rubbed her bottom lip with his thumb, then kissed her again, this time more deeply, until she got lost in the taste of his lips, the feel of his tongue licking along h
ers.
He rolled on top of her, and their limbs tangled, and this time when he put the condom on, he made love to her slowly, his hand entwined with hers as he rocked in and out of her with deliberate strokes until she broke in a cry that he absorbed with his lips on hers. He released with her, the two of them shuddering together in one epic climax that left her shaken.
Something about the way Kal made love to her shattered her. The way he looked at her when he was inside of her was so much more than sex. It was unnerving. Monumental.
Their legs were still entwined, his heart beating against hers. And she hated that she had to leave him today, when all she wanted to do was explore her feelings, to feel his skin against hers. To do this all day long until these feelings made sense to her.
“I have to go,” he said.
“I know. Me, too.”
They got up and went into the bathroom to clean up. Hannah got dressed and paused in the middle of putting on her blouse. “Where did I strip last night?”
“You started in the living room, and left me clothing bread crumbs all the way across the house toward my room.”
She tilted her head back to stare up at the ceiling in mortification. “Tell me Jackson and Becks weren’t home when I did this.”
He laughed. “They were out.”
“Thank. God. I kind of hope I wouldn’t have put on such a public display if they’d been here.”
“You wouldn’t have.”
She shimmied into her skirt. “How do you know?”
He shrugged. “Because I know you.”
He had such faith in her.
They got dressed, and after having a quick cup of coffee, he drove her back to Veronica’s house, and she fished her keys out of her purse. He walked with her to her car, and she couldn’t help but admire how fine he looked in his jeans and T-shirt. Thick clouds were playing with the sun this morning, bathing the sky in a soft orange glow. She wished they had all the time in the world today, to talk, to take a walk, to just be together.
But that wasn’t her reality. Or his, either.
“Thank you for taking care of me last night. And this morning.”
He leaned into her and laid his hand on her hip. “My pleasure. Twice.”