Relieved that he was okay but pissed that I’d been woken up to pick up his sorry ass, I sighed loudly. “He’s not my boyfriend, and can’t you just put him in a cab?” I was amazed that the bartender was actually calling me to pick him up—surely they just kicked out the drunks and lockedup.
“Sweetheart, no cab is going to take him anywhere. He can barely walk,” he replied, beginning to sound annoyed. “Look, can you pick him up ornot?”
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. “Yes, okay, I’ll be there soon.” I hung up then quickly called Brody’s phone—Josh was Brody’s friend, so he could deal with him. I listened as the call went straight to voicemail and I groaned. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I pulled on some yoga pants and a sweatshirt. I was furious, but what choice did I have? I could have called Mason to get him, but that was hardly fair to Mason. I was going to have to do itmyself.
The ride into Marble Falls was quick, and the roads were empty, thankfully. I pulled up outside the Brass Hall just before 2am. Slamming the door, I marched up to the entrance, watching as the bouncer looked me up and down, taking in my disheveledappearance.
“We’re closed sweetheart,” he said, his voice deep andgravelly.
“Ben from behind the bar called me to pick up my drunk friend.” I stressed the word ‘friend’ and waited as he moved aside and opened the door for me. I walked in, heading straight for the bar. I could see Josh sitting on a stool, his body slumped on thecounter.
“You must be Savannah,” said a voice from behind me. Turning, I saw a tall guy collecting glasses from the empty tables. “I’m Ben,” he said with a smile. “Thanks for coming to get him. Normally I wouldn’t call and we’d just kick him out, but he sat at my bar all night talking about you and getting drunk. I figured you’d had an argument and he was drowning his sorrows.” He raised his eyebrows as if waiting for me torespond.
“What’s he been saying?” I asked, surprise to hear that he was talking aboutme.
He held his hands up and laughed. “A good bartender nevertells.”
I rolled my eyes and made my way over to Josh. “Josh, wake up, time to go.” I shook him gently on the shoulder, and he lifted his head off the bar then turned to look atme.
“Savannah!” he exclaimed, climbing off the bar stool and wrapping his arms around me. “What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice slurring. “You lookbeautiful.”
Rolling my eyes again, I ignored him. Pushing out of his embrace, I took a step back. “Picking up your drunk ass!” I exclaimed. “Your new best friend over there called me to be your cab.” I gestured behind me to where Ben was still clearing tables. Turning back to Josh, I saw the confused look on hisface.
“What?” he slurred as he sat back downheavily.
“Never mind,” I snapped. There was nothing worse than being around someone who was drunk when you weren’t. “Can we just go? I’d like to get back tobed.”
He attempted to nod before turning on his seat. Reaching for me, he pulled me so I was standing in between his legs. “Thank you for coming to get me,” he mumbled in my ear, the alcohol on his breath making merecoil.
“Come on,” I told him, squirming out of his hold. I wasn’t going to stand there and tell him I didn’t mind being dragged out of my bed in the middle of the night. I was pissed, but there would be no point in yelling at him now—he wouldn’t remember a thing. I’d yell at him the next day. I walked toward the exit, and I could hear Josh stumbling behind me. Outside, I shivered as I hurried to the car. I should probably have been helping him, but I was too mad. Reaching the car, I held open the passenger door and waited for Josh, watching him slowly make his way toward me. Finally reaching me, he stumbled into the seat, his head dropping back against the headrest as his eyes closed. Sighing, I closed the door with a bang. If he threw up in my car, I was going to killhim.
Josh lived about a 15-minute drive from the center of town, and I drove in silence as he snored loudly in the passenger seat. Anger bubbled inside me as I turned off the main highway and onto the private road where his house was situated. Coming to a stop on the gravel drive, I glanced around, noticing there were no cars there and all the lights wereout.
“Josh,” I said loudly, pushing on his shoulder. I was met with a grunt. “Josh, do you have your key?” He grunted again, his eyes neveropening.
I flung the car door open and marched up to the porch steps, knocking loudly on the door. It may have been past 2 in the morning, but I didn’t care; his parents could deal with him. I waited impatiently on the doorstep, and when nothing happened, I knocked again. After a minute or two I groaned, realizing there was no one home. In desperation, I reached for the door handle in the hope that it would be unlocked; it wasn’t. Defeated, I turned and made my way back to the car, where Josh was still snoring in the passenger seat. I patted the pockets in his jeans but couldn’t feel any keys. I figured he’d lost them, or gone out without them; either way, it was pretty obvious that I wasn’t getting him home. As angry as I was with him, I couldn’t just kick him out of the car on his driveway. I’d have to bring him back to the cottage, and I didn’t have a spare bed so he would have to sleep on the sofa in the sitting room. Judging by the state of him, I was guessing he would sleep pretty muchanywhere.
Arriving back at the cottage about 15 minutes later, I managed to wake Josh after shaking his shoulder and pulling on his arm. Dazed, he climbed out of the car and staggered to the cottage door. Leaning with his back against the door, he watched as I locked the car and made my way towardhim.
“You’re gorgeous Savannah,” he slurred, his hands reaching for me as I came to stand in front ofhim.
“Enough of the bullshit Josh,” I told him as I pushed his hands away. “It’s bad enough I had to come pick you up, don’t make it anyworse.”
“I’m sorry Sav,” he mumbled, swaying on his feet before stepping aside for me to unlock thedoor.
“You’re on the sofa,” I said sternly as I walked through the sitting room, gesturing to it with myhead.
“I need to use thebathroom.”
“You know where it is. I’ll get you some water and Tylenol—you’re going to need it.” I made my way into the kitchen, and I could hear him stumbling up the stairs as I grabbed him a bottle of water and some tablets. I fixed myself a drink, and noticing that it had gone quiet, I expected to see him sprawled out on the sofa when I came out of the kitchen, but he wasn’t there. As I reached the top of the stairs, I could hear snoring coming from my bedroom. Rushing in, I found Josh wearing only his boxers, face down on top of mycomforter.
“Josh!” I shouted. Moving to the edge of the bed, I threw the bottle of water at him in an attempt to wake him up. “Josh! This isn’t funny! Wake up and get on the sofa,” I yelled, my anger bubbling over. He didn’t flinch at the shouting, or the water bottle that bounced off his back. I quickly realized he was sound asleep and there was no way I was going to be able to wake him. “Urghh!” I exclaimed, storming around to the opposite side of the bed and pulling off my yoga pants and sweatshirt. This was my house, and there was no way I was sleeping on the sofa while Josh snored in my bed. Slipping a t-shirt over my head, I threw the comforter back as far as I could with his body on top of it and climbedin.
Using my body, I pushed against him, forcing him to move over. As he did, he rolled onto his back, and unable to stop myself, I leaned up on my elbow, powerless to drag my eyes away from his almost naked body. His toned chest rose and fell steadily with his breathing, and my eyes tracked his sculpted abs, continuing down to his tight white boxers, the outline of his manhood clearly visible. I was pissed at him, but there was no denying the searing attraction I felt for him, especially when he was lying in my bed, barely clothed. Rolling away from him, I pulled my knees into my chest and wrapped my arms around the comforter. I sighed loudly, hoping I would be able to fall asleep knowing he was lying next tome.
Iwoke up suddenly,a hard body pressing against mine. Panic began to set in until I realized it belonged to Josh and the events of the night before coming flooding back. Josh’s arm was across my chest and his leg entwined with mine, pinning me beneath him. “Josh,” I whispered, trying to move out of his hold. “Josh,” I repeated when I was met with silence, though he must have been awake because he pulled me closer towardhim.
“Shhh, Sav,” he whispered into my neck, making me shiver. “Don’t ruinit.”