Wasted (4 page)

“
Lexi?”

I didn’t know whether I was more surprised
that he said my name or that he actually remembered it. I turned
back to him. “Yes?”

He opened his eyes and smiled, a flash of
dimples in his cheeks. “You remember how to make a Devil’s
Handshake?”

I hoped he wasn’t about to order one. I
didn’t know how much he had drunk while he was out, but the last
thing he needed was more alcohol. “I think so.”

“
Good. Tomorrow, you can
look forward to a Sloe Comfortable Screw.”

I assumed that was the name of another
drink. As I watched the roguish grin spread across his handsome
face, I realized that I’d shaken hands with the devil today, but it
had nothing to do with an alcoholic beverage.

Chapter
3

Sloe Comfortable Screw

Mason

I heard men’s voices in the hallway. What
the hell?

Lifting my head so that I could hone in on
what was being said, I groaned when I realized I had a hell of a
hangover. My feet dangled off the side of the bed, and I was still
fully clothed. Little snippets of last night’s events flitted
through my head.

Why did I remember Lexi’s pouty lips mere
inches from mine? Shit. I fell in the hallway and pulled her down
with me. Not the best way to break in a new roommate.

The men’s voices were louder. Did she have
company over, or were some of my friends here?

I glanced at the time on my cell phone.
Ten-thirty in the morning. Definitely not my friends. They would
either still be unconscious or know there was no way in hell I’d be
up that early.

After kicking off my shoes, I crawled up in
the bed, laying my head on a pillow and maneuvering my feet under
the covers. I grabbed the comforter and yanked it over my head in
an effort to block out the noise and the sunlight that was
filtering through the blinds. For the millionth time, I thought
about getting blackout curtains.

I closed my eyes and drifted back into the
land of the dead and the seriously hung over.

***

It was almost noon when I woke again. I
pulled the covers off my head and squinted against the sunlight. My
head pounded. In an effort to get some relief, I took a hot shower,
letting the steaming water beat against my back as I washed my
hair. While I slowly came back around to a more acceptable level of
consciousness, I blow-dried my hair and pulled on a pair of jeans.
In desperate need of aspirin, I moseyed to the kitchen and downed a
couple with a glass of water.

“
Been spending your morning
bowing over a porcelain bowl?”

“
Lucky for me, I’m not much
of a vomiter.” I refilled my glass with water and downed it. “How
about you?” I set my glass in the sink and turned to face Lexi. She
sat at the bar, her hair pulled into a sleek ponytail, her dark
eyes watching me.

“
Only when I have a stomach
virus.”

“
Sorry about last night.
I’m usually in bed before I lose my ability to stand. I’ll try to
be a better roommate.”

“
Apology accepted.” She
slid off the bar stool. “You should come see my new bedroom
suite.”

I pushed myself off the counter and followed
her to her room. She lifted her hand in the air, motioning to her
furniture like it was a prize on a game show. Trying to ignore the
throbbing behind my eyes, I grinned at the image and ran my palm
along the footboard. “I could’ve saved you money.”

“
Why? You know the owner of
the furniture store?”

“
No, but I would’ve shared
my bed with you.”

Her lips thinned, and I wasn’t sure whether
she was thinking about my offer or I had offended her. “Relax,” I
whispered, pretty sure she was pissed. “I’s just messing with
ya.”

“
Do you always offer to
share your bed with your roommates?”

“
No, but then my roommates
aren’t usually sexy women.”

“
Well, I’ll save you some
trouble. I don’t do flings.”

I couldn’t help my eruption of laughter. She
was so damn sexy and so damn prim.

She cocked her eyebrows at me.

“
I’m sorry,” I
laughed.

“
What’s so
funny?”

“
Nothing. You’re just…you
sure you want to be a bartender? You know buzzed guys will be
trying to get in your panties, don’t you?”

“
You know it’ll do them no
good, don’t you?”

I laughed harder. “It’s going to be
interesting to see what kind of tips you make.”

“
Why’s that?”

“
No reason,” I answered,
amused. “Let’s call a truce. I’ll never try to get you in my bed
again. Deal?” I held out my hand.

She shook it somewhat reluctantly.
“Deal.”

“
Of course, I never said
anything about
your
bed.” She smacked me in the arm, and I held my hands up in
surrender. “Kidding.”

***

The drink special of the day was Sloe
Comfortable Screw. Since I hadn’t driven my car home the previous
evening, I’d ridden to work with Lexi. Before our shift officially
started, I’d shown her how to make one at our apartment, and like
we’d done previously, we split it.

I helped her make a few for our customers
until I was sure she’d gotten the hang of it. Then, I turned her
loose, letting her take care of making the daily special, along
with her other duties.

Hawk came in to grab a beer after his shift
at the fire hall, along with another guy we’d both gone to school
with. I tossed coasters in their direction and pointed at them.
“Guys, be with you in a sec.”

After catching up on a few drinks for the
servers, I walked back over to them. “Hawk, the usual?”

“
Yep.”

“
How ‘bout you,
Cade?”

“
I’ll have the
same.”

I grabbed two beers, twisted the tops off,
and set them down on the coasters.

“
Have you met Lexi yet?” I
asked Cade.

He shook his head and took a swig of
beer.

I turned around and spotted her rinsing
glasses. “Lexi, come here for a sec.”

She finished what she was doing and walked
over to me, looking at me expectantly.

“
You remember
Hawk?”

She nodded, smiling broadly. “Hawk, the guy
who saved your butt from the explosive grease fire, right?”

The corners of my mouth twitched into a
half-smile. “Yeah, something like that.” I pointed to the mass of
muscles beside him. “This is Cade Mayfield. He owns the gym here in
town, along with his brothers.”

Lexi held her hand out. “Nice to meet you,
Cade.”

“
The pleasure is all mine.”
He shook her hand, and I didn’t miss his eyes raking her
over.

“
We all went to high school
together,” I said.

“
So was Mason as much of a
troublemaker then as he is now?” she asked, turning to look at me
as if she already knew the answer.

“
Hell, yeah.” Cade nodded
vehemently.

I threw a bottle cap at him. “The word of
the day is discretion.”

Cade barked out a laugh. “Has Hawk told you
what Mason did to Mrs. Parker?”

“
Discretion,” I repeated as
I walked away to see what a server needed.

Hawk and Cade’s laughter followed me to the
opposite side of the bar, and I knew Lexi’s impression of me wasn’t
likely to get any better after they finished filling her ear with
stories from my past.

“
What do you need, Stormy?”
I asked the server who was tapping her fingers on the bar as she
waited impatiently. A dark braid hung in front of either shoulder,
and she peered at me through a pair of black-framed
glasses.

“
Two Apple
Martinis.”

I made them as quickly as I could, not only
because it was a busy Saturday night, but also because I wanted to
get back to the conversation. I placed the two martinis on her
tray. “There you go, love.”

Lexi was giggling like a schoolgirl when I
walked back over, and I had to admit that I was a little jealous
that they were doing such a great job of entertaining her. To make
matters worse, it was probably at my expense.

“
You slept with your
teacher?” She gaped at me as I approached.

“
After
I graduated,” I clarified.

“
Still…that’s just…wrong.”
She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“
Well, in his defense,”
Cade said, “she was kinda pretty.”

I snorted. “Kinda pretty? She was freaking
hot.”

“
Oh,” Lexi interrupted.
“Then that makes it perfectly okay. Yeah, not weird at
all.”

“
Hey, if they’d gotten the
chance, they would’ve done it, too.” I motioned toward Hawk and
Cade.

“
Whoa!” Hawk held his hands
up. “Leave me out of your debauchery.” He addressed Lexi. “Believe
it or not, some of us are gentlemen.”

Judging by the look on her face, she was
buying it. Unfortunately, he wasn’t bullshitting her, and as much
as I wanted to destroy his credibility, I couldn’t. Hawk was one of
those eternally good guys.

“
Great. She’ll call you
when she wants to take someone home to meet Momma. When she wants
to have fun, she’ll call me.”

Lexi turned those dark, expressive eyes on
me. “So you’re not the kind of guy a girl could take home to
Momma?”

I opened my mouth to respond. Realizing I
hadn’t been introduced to a girl’s parents in a very long time, I
snapped my mouth shut. Apparently not.

“
That’s pretty much what I
figured. I wouldn’t brag about that if I were you.” Lexi pushed
herself off the counter and went back to work.

“
How ‘bout helping a guy
out?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at Hawk and Cade.

They both smirked.

“
Why do you care what she
thinks?” Cade asked. He drained the last of his beer.

Good question. Why did I care?

I didn’t dwell on the answer. “Y’all want
another beer?”

“
One more,” Hawk
said.

“
Me, too.” Cade
agreed.

I brought them each another beer and busied
myself with the customers.

But the question kept nagging at the back of
my mind.

Why did I care what Lexi thought?

To prove to myself that I didn’t, I caught a
ride home with one of my regulars—a pretty little thing with a
penchant for hot sex.

Chapter
4

Naked Lady

Lexi

I woke up early, which was surprising
considering Mason and his company had kept me up with all of their
moaning and giggling. I’d wound up putting in my earbuds and
listening to music so that I could fall asleep without feeling like
I was eavesdropping.

Changing into a pair of blue jean shorts and
a tank top, I strolled down the hall with the intention of heading
to the kitchen and fixing a bowl of oatmeal. I heard someone
bustling around in the cabinets, and I wondered if Mason was
cooking breakfast for his guest.

Considering this was only our third day as
roommates and the first time he’d had an overnight guest, I’d
already deemed our impending conversation a little awkward.

As I reached the end of the hall and rounded
the corner toward the kitchen, I froze. Mason wasn’t in the
kitchen, but his stark naked girlfriend was, along with the
colorful butterfly tattooed on her right butt cheek. Overwhelmed by
shock, I gaped. Thankfully, I gathered enough wits to flee the
scene before she turned around, and I returned to my bedroom with
my hunger intact.

I sat on the edge of my bed, unwanted images
scorching my brain. When my cell phone rang, I was relieved to have
a distraction. It was Lisa from the apartment complex, and she let
me know that I’d been approved. Considering my current living
arrangements, it was a huge relief.

A couple of hours later, I heard movement
outside my door, which I hoped meant they were leaving. Checking in
the mirror to see if my face was still red from witnessing the
naked lady’s backside, I took a deep breath and left my bedroom.
The first thing I noticed was Mason’s partially opened door.

Tiptoeing down the hall, I peeked around the
corner, the image of the naked lady in the kitchen burned into my
retinas.

“
What the hell are you
doing?”

I jumped, Mason’s loud voice nearly scaring
me half to death as it carried over my shoulder.

I clasped my palm to my chest and turned
around, my mouth going dry when I realized that I was staring at
his bare chest.

“
You startled me,” I gasped
in a breathy voice.

“
Why are you sneaking
around?”

I stared at the movement of his muscles as
he crossed his arms over his chest, his amber eyes studying my
face. “I’m not sneaking.”

He grunted a sound of disbelief.

“
I’m not! I was just trying
to make sure the coast was clear because I have no desire to see
butterfly butt running naked around our apartment
again.”

A lopsided grin woke up one of his dimples.
“You’ve got to admit that it’s a nice tattoo.”

I groaned. “You’re missing the point.”

“
Which is?”

“
I live here, too, now,
remember?”

Was he staring at my lips? Heat crawled up
my neck, and he took a step closer. “It’s kind of hard to forget,”
he whispered.