“Well, yeah,” I shrugged. “You’re hot. Who wouldn’t?”
He laughed and grabbed the blankets, trying to tuck me beneath the covers. My stomach rolled and I grabbed his wrist.
“I’m going to be sick¸” I warned.
“Shit,” he cursed. In a lightning fast move he grabbed the small trashcan and held it over for me. He held my hair back with his free hand as my body heaved.
I panted heavily, sweat breaking out across my skin. “Yep, I’m never drinking again,” I vowed.
He set the trashcan aside and looked me over. “Are you okay?”
“I think so.” I replied, my eyes growing heavy.
“Don’t go to sleep yet,” he warned. “I’ll be right back.”
He eased out of my room and flicked the light on in the hallway. I heard him fumbling in the bathroom and the sink running.
A minute later his shadow darkened the doorway and he strolled forward with two cloths in his hand. He crouched down beside me, his dark eyes full of worry.
Ever so gently he cleaned my mouth and then laid the clean cloth across my forehead.
“I’m not done yet.” He warned with a pointed look.
“I’ll try not to fall asleep, but no promises.”
He left me again and the stairs creaked as he went back downstairs.
I rolled onto my side, forcing my heavy lids to stay open.
Sleep. I needed sleep, and maybe some duct tape for my mouth before any more truths slipped past my lips.
When Ezra returned he had a glass of water and two pills.
“Here, take this.” He thrust the pills out to me.
I took them and the water. I set the glass on the table and he glared at me.
“What?”
“You need to drink all of the water.”
“Ezra.” His name sounded like a whine.
He crossed his arms over his lean chest and stared down at me. God, he was fucking relentless.
With a groan I picked up the glass once more and downed it.
“Happy?” I asked him, thrusting the empty glass into his outstretched hand.
“Immensely.”
He turned to leave and I grabbed his wrist. His steps halted and he looked down at me, his eyes shielded by his shaggy hair.
“Stay with me,” I begged. “I don’t want to be alone.”
Indecision warred on his face.
“Please?” My hand wrapped around his, tugging with as much force as I could muster, which admittedly wasn’t much in my current state.
“Why can I never say no to you?” He mumbled, looking up at the ceiling as if it held all the answers in the world.
“Because I’m irresistible?” I supplied.
He chuckled, his shoulders shaking. “Yeah. That must be it.”
He tugged his hand from my hold and started to leave. I let out a small sound of protest and he glanced back at me.
“I have to turn the hall light off.” He pointed.
“Oh.”
He did just that and darkness blanketed the space. I blinked my eyes, trying to get them to adjust to the now darkened room.
He left my bedroom door open and kicked off his boots before removing his shirt. Sadly, his jeans stayed on. I might’ve pouted. I really hoped it was too dark for him to see that.
He padded over to the other side of the bed and climbed in behind me, pulling the covers up and over us both.
I rolled over onto my other side to face him. He lay on his back and turned his head to look at me.
“Go to sleep,” he warned, his voice a low gravel.
“I don’t want to sleep,” I sulked.
“You need to.”
“You’re such a buzz kill.” I proceeded to poke his face.
He pushed my hand away. “And you’re drunk.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
He shook his head and put his hand over his mouth to hide his laugh. I sat up a bit, propping my body weight on my elbow.
“How come you’ve never made a move on me?” I asked, the words tumbling out of my mouth. “Why don’t you like me as more than a friend? I admitted to having a crush on you, but you’ve always been indifferent.”
He reached up and grasped my cheek. I startled at the gesture and my small gasp echoed through the room.
“I’m far from indifferent,” he growled lowly. “Trust me, there have been plenty of times where I wanted to make a move, as you put it, but I never did because your friendship is far more important to me than a quick fuck.”
I reached out with my other hand, laying it flat on his chest over his heart. “So, that’s all you thought we’d be if we moved past the friend stage? A quick fuck?”
I didn’t know why I felt so hurt by his words.
He put his hand over mine and swallowed thickly. “We were both young and the chances of us making it as a couple seemed slim to me. I wasn’t going to throw our friendship away to test the waters, so to speak. And then you started dating Braden. But if you really must know, I am insanely attracted to you.” His voice lowered to a husky whisper.
My breath came out in small little pants. I wanted desperately to lean down and kiss him, but something told me that he didn’t want that, and also I’d yet to brush my teeth after vomiting so that was a kiss no one wanted.
“You are?” I asked stupidly, blinking my eyes rapidly like he was a mirage that might disappear at any second.
“I don’t lie.”
I continued to stare down at him, not sure what to do with this information.
Ezra made the decision for me. He pushed me down lightly and pulled me against his chest.
“Sleep, pretty girl,” he commanded.
I didn’t know how he could possibly expect me to sleep after he told me he was attracted to me. The man was lucky I hadn’t thrown my panties across the room and mauled him with my vagina.
His fingertips brushed lightly against my neck as he pushed away my hair. My skin prickled with Goosebumps when his lips replaced his fingers in the barest of touches. My eyes fluttered closed and a happy sigh fell from my lips. Ezra was never so bold, and I wondered if he was only being this way because he believed I’d be too drunk to remember in the morning.
I would remember though. There was no way I could forget this.
DAYLIGHT SPILLED ACROSS my body and I groaned as it penetrated my closed eyelids.
“It’s time to get up.” A hand smacked my foot. “It’s noon already.”
“Go away,” I groaned, burying my face in my pillow.
“No.”
“You’re killing my buzz.”
“Your buzz wore off hours ago, now you’re just hung over. Get up, we have to go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” I hugged the pillow tighter to my body and slowly peeled open my eyes. I was supposed to do paperwork at the store today since I put it off last night, but there was no way I was doing that now. “Gah!” I quickly covered my eyes with a hand. “Turn the fucking ceiling light off,” I spat.
“No,” he said again. I really hated that word. “Get out of bed and then maybe I will.”
“You’re evil.”
“Get out of bed, Sadie. Seriously, we have to go in…” He looked down at the shiny watch on his wrist. “Thirty minutes.”
“Where are we going?” I whined, still not making a move to get out of bed.
“Mathias called, he and Remy are moving into their new house today and he needs me to help.”
I reached out and poked his chest. “You said he needs your help, not mine.”
He captured my hand in his. “And I want you to come. Everyone will be there. Come on.”
I pried my hand away from his hold. “Fine, but I’m going to need more Advil.”
“I can get that,” he chuckled. “Anything else?”
“My sunglasses.”
He grabbed them off the dresser and handed them to me. I slipped them on and sighed in relief. “Much better.”
“Shower and get dressed.”