“There are reasons.”
“What reasons?”
He only looked at her. His smile was more of a frown now. She hated that he didn’t want her.
“Let me up,” she said, pushing away from him. “You’re being a jerk and I have to pee.”
He lifted her and set her on unsteady feet. “I’ll get you a flashlight.”
“No, it’s okay. I can use my phone.”
He sighed. “Let me rephrase. I’ll get you a flashlight so you don’t drop your phone in my toilet. You remember where the bathroom is?”
While he got a flashlight from the kitchen, she steeled herself to walk straight because she really wasn’t drunk, just buzzed. Also horny. What did he mean, there were reasons he couldn’t fuck her? People should fuck when they wanted to fuck. She’d have to talk to him about that, but first, she had to pee like a racehorse.
By the time she came back from the bathroom, he was standing at the window again, looking out at the thick, powdery snow still coming down.
“It’s so pretty,” she said. “Can we go play in it?”
He turned and smiled at her. “No, your pajamas will get wet, and you’d have to sleep naked, and you’re already a little too wrought up for me to handle. Why don’t you lie down and let me find a blanket for you? It’s getting cold now. I hope the power’s back on soon.”
“What if it isn’t?”
“I’m sure it will be.” He went into his bedroom and came back with a well-worn Chicago Bulls blanket. “Here, I’ll lie down next to you and keep you warm until then.”
Ruby started to protest, but as soon as Steve guided her down on the couch cushions, she gave up the fight and curled up beside him. She rested her head against his shoulder and tucked her feet under his legs as he arranged the blanket over them.
“This feels so nice,” she murmured. “Oh, so nice. Your couch is so comfy and you’re so warm and strong, and so great to cuddle with. And wow, you’re still so…” She squirmed against his pelvis. “You’re still really hard. Why don’t you just sleep with me?”
“Not tonight, kid. Maybe another time.”
“Dang it.” She could feel his heart beating hard under her fingers. She wished he’d take off his shirt. “I bet you’re really good in bed, huh? And really fun?”
“Good, yes. Fun? Depends what you like.”
“I bet sleeping with you would be kind of like a carnival ride.”
He chuckled. “Only in the worst way. Go to sleep now, okay? We can talk about it tomorrow, if you still remember any of this, which you hopefully won’t.”
“I will remember.” She remembered him kissing her, that was for sure. She could still remember the force of his lips, and the way he’d nipped her at the end of it, making her pussy flare. “My pussy is alive right now,” she said. “And I’m telling you, I’m barely drunk.”
“You’re just going to have to trust me on this, Ruby. Do you trust me?”
She did trust Steve. He was a great guy. Maybe the hard cider had hit her a little harder than she expected. “Hard cider is hard,” she said aloud, just because the words came into her brain. She was saying everything that came into her brain, like cider was fucking truth serum.
Steve was hard too, but he was also playing hard to get. Everything was hard, hard, hard right now, and she felt so warm and safe in his arms that she started to drift, even though she probably could have broken him down eventually.
“I should go home,” she said, cuddling closer to him.
“Tomorrow. Too much snow tonight.”
“Mmm.” It was so quiet, so dark, it was almost like she could hear the snow falling outside. “I like you, Steve.”
“I like you too, Ruby. We’re good friends, aren’t we?”
Of course they were. After years of collaboration, they were way more than friends, but she was too tired to explain all the things she felt for him. “Your hair is so spiky,” she said in a soft voice, just before she fell asleep.
3.
Ruby woke in a tangle of blanket and pillows, her face mashed into a suede sofa cushion. She wasn’t home in her own bed. A glance around the room reminded her she was at Steve’s place. The snow. The hard cider.
The cheese balls.
She rolled onto her back, wincing at the ache in her temples. She’d never handled alcohol very well. There was a glass of water and a couple of ibuprofen capsules on the coffee table across from her. She downed the two pills gratefully and drank all the water. The room was light, even with the blinds mostly drawn. It had to be late morning at least, perhaps early afternoon.
Where was Steve? Why had she slept here? Had she gotten that drunk?