Ready to pass out, I was heading to my bedroom when a sharp pain hit my back.
“Oww! What the fuck?”
The lights turned on, blinding me as I crumpled to the floor in pain.
“Good God!” Red yelped, covering her eyes. “You’re naked!”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I yelled, shooting her a murderous look. She was gripping my baseball bat, her eyes wild and round as saucers.
I knew it. She was a murderer, an assassin hired by some psycho to kill me.
“I’m so sorry! I thought you were a thief!” she yelled back.
A thief. In my own home?
She’d only hit my back, but everything hurt. My head, back, arms, legs. Moaning, I lay on my stomach on the cold floor.
“You better put that baseball bat down, or I swear I will paddle your ass black and blue,” I threatened.
She must not have taken my threat seriously because I heard her move around. A moment later, a cloth landed on my bare ass. I was sure I’d find the humor in this once my body stopped hurting.
I felt her kneel beside me, her breath on my neck. “I’m sorry, Caleb. I really thought… Hey, are you okay?”
When she placed her hand on my shoulder, I flinched—not because her touch repelled me, but because it felt so damn good. She quickly withdrew her hand.
“Do I look okay?” My voice sounded harsher than I meant it to. “Why don’t you just shoot me and get it over with?”
I could feel her glare drilling a hole in my head. “If you’d turned the lights on like a normal person, I wouldn’t have hit you.”
I had enough strength to lift my head and frown at her, but when I saw what she was wearing, I forgot my mad. She had on an oversize white T-shirt with a picture of a fat, orange cat drinking a margarita.
“Where’d you get the fat cat?” I couldn’t help but grin.
She blinked. “What?”
“I don’t think I own that shirt.” I paused. “Do I?”
“You’d probably gain some respect from me if you did, but no. I stowed my stuff in my campus locker and went there to get it while you were out today.”
Something must have been wrong with me because Sandra hadn’t turned me on in her lingerie, but Red’s shapeless shirt did. Or maybe it was just Red. I’d had to make up a lame excuse so I could leave Sandra and ended up spending the night drinking with Cameron instead.
“Why are you smiling now?” she demanded. “I swear there’s something wrong with your head.”
Was I smiling? I didn’t even notice. Resting my cheek on the floor, I closed my eyes and breathed in her scent. I could smell the strawberry shampoo she’d used.
I decided strawberries were my favorite fruit from now on. Yeah, I was drunk. So what?
She was still kneeling beside me, close enough for me to touch. I wanted to flip over and pull her on top of me. Something told me that would get me a kick in the balls, so I stayed where I was, content to just breathe in her scent.
“I’m sorry, Caleb,” she murmured after a while.
My God. This girl would be the death of me. One moment she was snarling like a wounded tiger, and the next she was as soft and sweet as a kitten.
“It’s okay, Red. I think I have a few more limbs left for you to abuse. But just no more tonight, all right?”
I wiggled my fingers and feet for effect, but she didn’t react.
Pulling her legs to her chest, she rested her cheek on top of her knees, and a lock of dark hair fell across her face. I had the strongest urge to tuck it behind her ear.