Kincaid’s smile dipped. “She’s okay. Confused, I think. She told me she didn’t think you two knew each other. At least not like that.”
“We don’t.”
Kincaid gave her a look. “Sure you don’t.”
“I—”
Kincaid held up a hand, bangle bracelets clinking. “Hey, you don’t need to explain anything to me. But, honey, I know the difference between a let’s-get-to-know-each-other kiss and a reunion. Either way, it’s not my business. My only business is following the girlfriend rules.”
“The girlfriend rules?”
“Yes. Friends don’t let friends bang drunk,” she said sagely.
Liv snorted, mainly because debutante Kincaid had said bang. “Sounds wise.”
“It is. It’s bad for regrets and all that crap. But also, if you’re going to bed a guy that hot, believe me, you’ll want to be sober enough to remember it. Because damn. That boy grew up nice.”
Kincaid gave her a you know what I’m saying look, and Liv laughed. “I think I’m not the only one who’s a little drunk.”
“You’re telling me.” Kincaid put her arm around Liv and used her for balance as she took off her heels. “Which is exactly why we’re going to walk up to our rooms together. I’ll keep you safe from Mr. Dark and Broody, and you keep me away from that adorable bartender who keeps calling me ma’am and making it sound dirty.”
Liv glanced over her shoulder at the college-aged guy behind the counter, and he gave them a wink. She choked down her laugh. “Come on. I think that one’s out past curfew. We both need to get some sleep.”
They walked toward the lobby as Kincaid declared, “Yes. Sleep. Great idea.”
“I’m full of great ideas tonight,” Liv muttered.
“Oh, don’t be like that.” Kincaid gave Liv’s shoulder a bump. “Your idea wasn’t terrible. I mean, even though we’re both ending our night like this—drunk and alone,” she said with a dramatic flourish, “gold star for being the first to take the plunge. I didn’t expect it from you.”
“The plunge?”
Kincaid glanced over at her as they made their way through the small lobby. “We read those letters, and you went immediately into action. Bam.” She opened her fist like a firework exploding. “No hesitation.”
“No I didn’t. I went outside and drunkenly made out with a guy.” Liv pressed the button for the elevator, and the doors slid opened. “It’s an old bad habit of mine. Not a plan of action.”
Kincaid gave her a sly look as she stepped inside and turned to Liv. “That’s not what I saw. You said you wanted to date passionate guys. I think that was a helluva good start. That’s why I invited him to breakfast. You should try it sober with him.”
Liv cringed. A good start? With Finn? Yeah, right. She got in the elevator and hit the button for the third floor. “I appreciate the gesture. But there are no starts with Finn. What you saw—that was just wrapping up unfinished business. The period on the end of a run-on sentence.”
Kincaid was quiet until the elevator dinged and the doors whirred open. She stepped out, her shoes dangling from her fingertips and a knowing smirk on her face. “Hmm, I don’t know, sweetie. That didn’t look like a period to me. That looked like a big ol’ dot-dot-dot.”
“A what?”
But Kincaid was already strolling down the hallway and wiggling her fingers in a backward goodbye. “’Night, Peaches.”
Liv stared after her. A dot-dot-dot. A to be continued.
“An ellipsis,” Liv said finally, but Kincaid’s door was already closing. “It’s called an ellipsis.”
But it didn’t matter what the hell it was called because Kincaid was wrong. Finn wasn’t going to come to breakfast. There was no start. Tomorrow, Liv would go back home to her job and apartment in Austin. He’d go wherever he lived now. And this would just be another memory filed away. Closure.
Tonight had been her falling into her old, dangerous ways. Feel sad, stressed, anxious? Find a lot of alcohol and a cute guy to forget with. But Finn wasn’t just any cute guy, and sleeping with him would risk a lot more than an awkward goodbye in the morning. They weren’t strangers. They were worse than that. They had guilt between them, and regrets. Ugly stuff. You could hook up with a stranger and walk away with a dose of shame but not much further thought. Something like this could inflict wounds. She didn’t need any more of those.
She grabbed her key card out of her pocket and headed to her room, trying to push away the knowledge that one of these doors she was passing was Finn’s, that soon he’d be inside, undressing for the night, sliding beneath the covers. Pent-up. Alone.
Stop.
She let herself into her room and shut the door behind her, trying to block out the rogue thoughts. Even if things with Finn weren’t so complicated, she was in no place to be with anyone tonight. Alcohol and stress were stirring up all these crazy urges. Her brain was seeking oblivion, no matter the type. She’d been down that road before. No más.