*

“So what’s your problem?” I asked Melanie, digging into our calamari.

Our first pit-stop was at a restaurant, and we were having only appetizers. It was wise not to get overloaded on food right before we went out drinking.

Like I predicted, Melanie had dolled up. She was in skinny jeans too, but her top was lacy and cut up in places that made it look like it’d been through a shredder – but in a good way – and left very little to the imagination. The girl had some serious cleavage.

She made a face at me. “What do you mean?”

“You look like you desperately needed a night out too. I want to know what your problem is. Does it have something to do with the boys? You know I’m perceptive, right? I’ve seen you staring at Rome every now and then.”

Mel was shocked to say the least. Her mouth dropped. “You seriously noticed that?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely.”

“I’ve been looking like you this entire time?”

I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you stand there sometimes and just stare at Carter with this hateful look on your face. I didn’t think I was doing it too.”

Holy shit. Did I seriously do that? “Why didn’t you tell me I was doing that?” I demanded, offended.

“I’d be telling you about it ten thousand times a day!”

I groaned. That was embarrassing. “Okay, well, you know my reasons. What are yours?”

She shrugged absently. “I just think Rome is a man-whore with zero self-respect.”

I laughed. “Yep, he certainly is.”

She threw her calamari down, getting fired up about it. “What kind of guy doesn’t care who he’s putting his dick into? As far as I know, he’s probably a walking STD and I have no fucking interest in touching that, so fuck him and his advances.”

I stilled and my eyebrows shot up. “He’s been hitting on you?”

She avoided looking directly into my eyes, and her cheeks reddened. “We made out a month ago –”

“WHAT? Where was I?”

“You had school and you were cranky as hell. I didn’t want to unload my dramas on you. You looked like you were having enough of them as it was.”

“I don’t care what kind of drama I’m facing, when it comes to Rome and you, I’m there! That guy can’t commit, Melanie. He’s another Carter, with the difference being Rome just wants to have as much fun as possible before settling down.”

“And Carter?”

“Carter will never commit, ever. That’s just the way it is with him. Which is why I’ve given up.”

She shook her head angrily. “Well, anyway, we got a bit tipsy at Jared’s house party, and he kissed me. When I didn’t want more, he got all shitty and walked off. Since then, I might as well be a ghost.”

“It’s not like Rome to get so shitty,” I replied thoughtfully. “He really wanted you, I guess.”

She just shrugged, looking down at her glass of water. “Doesn’t matter. His pride probably got hurt because the asshole never heard a rejection before.”

“Well, look, we don’t need that shit.”

“If they’re cocky now, imagine what they’ll be like when they’re famous.”

I shuddered to think. “God help the female population.”

We finished our meals and went out, looking forward to clouding our minds and forgetting.

*

I was drunk.

My head was swimming and I loved it. I felt giddy when I drank. It was like a temporary break from the world, and add that with dancing, and I had a damn good time. This was night out number one, and I was already looking forward to another one.

“Do you need help inside?” Mel asked, equally as drunk as me.

I turned to her and shook my head. It felt like shaking a bowling ball. “Nah, am good. I’ll see you yesterday night for work, yeah?”

“Tomorrow, babe. Not yesterday.”

I nodded. “That too.”

I threw the money at the taxi driver and stepped out of the car. She waved bye to me and the car took off down the street. I opened my clutch on the way to the door and withdrew my key. I stumbled a little over the uneven path.

Stupid uneven path.

By the time I was at the front door, I had to bend down and stare hard at the knob in the dark. Putting the key in was going to be a mission, especially if the world continued spinning like it was.

I raised the key and it hit the knob before it disappeared in front of me.

What the…

“Where the fuck have you been?”

I blinked and looked up. The door had magically opened in the blink of an eye, and Carter was standing there, fuming.

I took a step in and nearly fell over an imaginary step that had mysteriously formed in front of the door. He caught me and stood me upright, pulling me into the apartment before slamming the door shut.

Then I smelled him.

No, really, I put my nose against his chest and inhaled long and hard. Then I realized I’d just sniffed at him like a dog, and I rapidly pulled away from him. He was glowering at me. The fuck was his problem?

“What happened to a few drinks?” he demanded. “You’ve been out for hours, Leah. It’s two in the fucking morning.”

“I didn’t realize I had a curfew,” I retorted.

He shook his head, and his spinning face looked frustrated. “You wouldn’t answer your phone, and neither did Melanie.”

“We turned our phones off.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because it’s this thing called property, and when someone has a piece of property that’s theirs, they can do what they want with it.”

“Stop being a smart-ass, Leah.”

“I’m not. I’m actually tired and going to bed right now. G’night.”

I went to pass him, moving in the direction of the wall when he stood in front of me. And to a drunk person, he might as well have been a giant.

“Move, Carter,” I told him.

“What did you do tonight?”

“That’s my own business!”

“You seriously want to play this game?”

I put a hand to my head and shut my eyes, trying to stop the dizziness. I was getting angrier by the second.

“You know,” I said pointedly, “you don’t see me waiting by the door demanding to know where you’ve been every goddamn time you’ve went out, doing who knows what! There’s something called privacy. You taught me that once, remember?”