At First Hate (Coastal Chronicles)

“What? You wouldn’t want Ash and Amelia together?”

“I wouldn’t care if they were together. But I would beat the shit out of him if he tried a single fucking thing with my sister when his mind was still stuck on Lila.”

“That seems… fair.”

I didn’t think Amelia was interested in a dejected Ash Talmadge anyway. She was too smart, beautiful, and successful to settle for second best to anyone.

I finished my water and relented when Ash ordered us more drinks. Amelia and Derek decided against anything more. I thought Ash was going to reject Amelia’s idea to pop into Lulu’s next door for her delectable chocolate desserts, but he just shrugged, and we all stepped inside.

“Chocolate martinis?” I asked Ash.

He laughed. “That’s not exactly my style.”

“Who cares? It’s your birthday. I’ll drink one too,” I said, my Southern drawl coming out the drunker I got.

Ash shook his head at me and then held two fingers up to the waiter. “Two chocolate martinis, two chocolate chip cheesecakes, and a strawberry suspension cake.”

“Derek, you must get pictures of me and Ash drinking chocolate martinis.”

“Whoa,” Ash said. “Not that far, Mars.”

Amelia laughed. “It’s your birthday!”

When the drinks came, Ash posed with me, pinkies out and all. The drinks were to die for. Maybe better than the cake, which was two layers of chocolate cake sandwiching a layer of strawberries and cream, but never better than their cheesecake. We ate every last scrap of dessert to celebrate Ash getting another year older. And by the end of it, we were both too drunk to do much more than stumble around.

“I’ll get an Uber.” I pulled my phone out and immediately dropped it. I giggled and bent to pick it up. I nearly fell over, but Derek got an arm around me just in time. He picked up my phone, which was miraculously not cracked, and slid it back into my purse.

“I’ll drive you,” he said.

Amelia nodded. “Good idea. I’m going to walk Ash. It’s not far.”

“No way. I’ll drop you off too.”

“I’m a hundred percent fine.” She did a twirl to prove it. “I’ll catch an Uber from his place.”

“Text me when you’re home,” he said like the protective older brother he was.

She laughed. “Will do, Dad.”

Derek hadn’t released me, and I was pretty sure I’d fall over if he did. That last martini must have been potent.

“Derek,” I said as we headed toward the parking garage.

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m drunk.”

He laughed. “You’ve been drunk for a while.”

“How’d you know?”

“Your Southern accent came out.”

I glared at him. “I don’t have an accent.”

“Yeah, and I don’t like UNC.”

“I got rid of it,” I said. I’d purposely spent a lot of time getting rid of the accent that defined me as other. By the time I’d left Duke, no one would have even guessed I’d grown up in the South.

“Well, when you’re drunk, it always comes back out.” His gaze shifted to me. “I love your accent.”

I flushed. “Oh.”

He stopped in front of a sleek, brand-new black BMW. “This is me.”

“Of course it is,” I said, drawling the words and proving his point.

He popped open the passenger side with a laugh and helped me into the seat. Then, he got into the driver’s seat, pulled out onto MLK, and headed toward Gran’s house. I tipped my head in his direction, leaning my elbow onto the console between us.

“Why are you driving me home?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Because you’re drunk. I don’t trust an Uber to get you home.”

I dropped my head on my hand and fluttered my eyelashes at him. “That is very gentlemanly of you.”

“You know tonight was as much about you as Ash.”

I blinked, trying to clear my fuzzy head. “What do you mean?”

“He’s not the only one who is going through something. I know you’re sad about Gran.”

I swallowed and tried not to let memories crush me. Gran would have liked this car. She’d always loved Lulu’s chocolate chip cheesecake. She would want me to be happy. Not here and sad and dealing with all of this.

“Yeah,” I finally whispered and sat back in my seat.

“So, I’m glad we got you out. You looked like you had a good time.” He peeked over at me. “Did you have a good time?”

“The best. I liked watching UNC lose.”

He barely suppressed a smile. “Of course you did.”

A few minutes later, he pulled over in front of Gran’s house. I looked up at the big, empty house and sighed. Maddox’s Wrangler wasn’t here, which meant he’d gone home. So, that meant I had to go inside all alone.

I put my hand on Derek’s arm. “Thanks for driving me.”

“Of course.”

My eyes traveled from his hazel eyes and down to his lips. I was drunk, and this was a bad idea. And my brain couldn’t quite put the two together all at the same time.