As I worked on the stain, I felt Natalie staring at me. “Hey, can I ask you a question?” she said out of nowhere. Wary, I lifted my eyes to her.
“Sure.”
She studied me for a moment. “Do I have a shot with Liam?”
I flashed my eyebrows, and my pulse picked right up. My gaze floating away, I tried to think of an answer. “Um… I don’t know, Nat. Maybe.”
“I mean you live with him,” Natalie said, her eyes locked on me. “You spend a lot of time with him. Probably more than any other girl gets. And it’s that time when you’re at home, when you’re comfortable and real. I mean let’s be honest here, you see him at very intimate points in his life, Sasha.” She tilted her head. “Don’t you?”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining the accusation in her tone. “I guess,” I finally said.
“Then, yeah. I feel like you should know if I have a chance with him. I mean I’ve tried to be your girl with the whole you and Tuck situation, so I’m just hoping you’ll give me an honest answer.”
I returned my attention to the stain on my dress. I told myself that I was paranoid and imagining whatever suspicion I heard in her voice. “I mean… yeah, Nat. I’ve seen him bring home girls who look like you. I don’t think he has a type, really. As long as they’re pretty. Which you are.”
Natalie smiled. “Thank you.” She heaved a sigh. In half a second, her entire demeanor shifted, and she let her shoulders relax. “I’m so lame. Sorry I dragged you away just to ask that. I was like, planning to ask Ril
ey, but it feels like she’s secretly in love with Liam, so I wasn’t sure if she’d give me an honest answer.”
Oh. I breathed out and let myself crack a half smile. “I see. So you spilled a drink on my dress just to get me alone and ask that?”
“Bitch, I didn’t do that on purpose!” Natalie feigned umbrage as she opened the door. “Anyway, thank you for entertaining my silliness. I’ll be back with club soda.”
“Alright.”
When she left, I locked the door and savored the quiet for a moment. Staring at myself in the mirror, I almost laughed at the massive stain down my front. I barely cared to get rid of it. It was a great representation of what a long and messy night it had been. It started with Liam piquing Riley’s suspicion at home, and it was followed by Riley’s tantrum, Dwyer’s slip of the tongue, another public quickie interrupted, and then Tuck’s surprise appearance. The fact that booze was soaking through the threads of my dress and drying sticky on my skin really felt like a metaphor.
Heaving a sigh, I peeled my dress off and used a paper towel to wipe the remnants of cocktail that had trickled into my bra. I was about to resume the dabbing of my dress when I heard Natalie’s voice outside.
“Hey, girl. I’m back.”
“Hey.” I reached for the door. “I’m gonna open the door a crack for you to just hand it – ”
“Sorry – change of plans!” Natalie shrieked with giggles as she shoved someone in. My heart jumped as the weight of a man crashed onto me and I stumbled back, losing my balance and falling halfway onto the chaise.
“It was Riley’s idea!”
I heard Natalie’s voice again before her heels ran off. My jaw dropped wide open, and I tried to process the juvenile shit that just happened, but I was more focused on the pain of having fallen with two hundred pounds of Tuck Mathis landing on top of me.
“Shit – are you okay?” Tuck still looked confused and shaken as he climbed off of me and found his footing. Stumbling, he helped me onto the chaise, and I saw the exact moment he realized I was undressed because it lit up his eyes like Christmas lights. “Fuck,” he breathed out, staring down at me for a moment, his gaze lingering on my pushed up breasts. “I’m sorry.” He turned away quickly, facing the wall as he asked his question. “Are you hurt at all? Are you cut? I weigh like, one-ninety, so that had to – ”
“I’m fine.” I winced as I sat up. My head spun a little, and I couldn’t decide if I was more exhausted or pissed, or just in plain disbelief. “My dress is on the floor, Tuck. You’re stepping on it,” I said blankly, the energy sucked out of my voice. Tuck cursed and jumped off my dress like it was on fire. He picked it up and cursed again.
“Fuck. My footprints are all over it.”
“It’s fine, I’ll wear it,” I said, deciding I was in fact more tired than anything. All I wanted was to go home as soon as possible, and I didn’t care if that meant pulling on a vodka-stained sweater dress that had just been trampled by wet shoes in a public bathroom.
“No… Sasha, you can’t wear this,” Tuck muttered, flustered. He thrust his hand in his hair and turned to me, but with a flinch, he looked away again. “Shit. Sorry. I forgot I can’t look.”
“It’s fine, Tuck. Just give me the dress.”
“No.”
I lifted my brows as he started unbuttoning his shirt. “Tuck, you don’t have to…”
“I want to.”
“I don’t want you to.”