Breaking Even (Sterling Shore 5)
Page 32
I laugh when he tells the Tinker Bell story and how Tag still taunts him. And for a little while, the rest of the world gets shut out. It’s... nice. And a guy who looks like Rye Clanton should not be so easy to talk to. It just isn’t fair that he’s so damn perfect.
***
BRIN
“You’re such a horrible drinker,” Rye says through a laugh, helping me out of the cab as soon as he finishes paying.
I just giggle, because right now, everything is spinning and it’s all hilarious. He laughs, too, finding the world just as amusing as I do.
When I start to fall, he bends and scoops me up as though I’m weightless and carries me the rest of the way to the house.
“You’re right,” I murmur while resting my head against his chest.
He smells so terrible. I wish I hadn’t bombed him because he’d probably smell so good right now.
“About?” he asks while fumbling with my doorknob.
“You’re a terrible excuse for a bad boy.”
He laughs again as the door swings open, and I squint against the lights inside to see a grinning Maggie.
“Hey!” I exclaim, half singing the word, and she starts snickering.
She must be drunk, too.
“Liquor?” she asks as Rye steps in, carrying me toward my bedroom.
“Lots and lots of liquor,” I answer, beating him to the words.
He navigates my house too well, and gently places me on the bed. “Might want to get her some water,” he says while grinning.
“On it.” Maggie disappears as Rye slides my shoes off and pulls down my covers on the other side of the bed.
He moves me to be there once he finishes, and then he moves my hair from my face as I nestle in.
“I take it you had fun with Wren?” Maggie asks, fishing for information.
Rye takes the water from her and forces me to sit up enough to drink it against my silent protest.
“Wren was completely uninterested in me. We’re supposed to have a date tomorrow, but I’m pretty sure he’s planning to cancel,” I say flippantly.
Maggie frowns, as does Rye.
“Why do you say that?” he asks, forcing me to take another sip.
As my glass comes back away from my lips, I answer, “Call it women’s intuition. Can I go to sleep now?”
He chuckles quietly and leans down to tuck me in while setting my glass of water on the nightstand.
“This war resumes tomorrow,” I mumble, earning another snicker from him.
“Your ass is mine,” he teases.
I just grin as my eyes grow too heavy to hold open another moment.
Chapter 5
BRIN