Page 41 of The Expiration Date

When he finally pulls back, I whisper, trying to ground myself in reality, “Necessity?”

Aidan pulls his eyebrows together, then smiles and whispers in my ear, “Absolutely not, Hales. I wanted to kiss you.”

My heart leaps, but I can’t admit that to Aidan. I don’t want to scare him with the fact that I am, despite my best efforts, falling for him.

23

Call me biased, but Haley is the cutest drunk person I’ve ever been around. It’s refreshing to be around someone who is a happy drunk. I grew up around an angry and violent drunk. After we kissed at the bar, she said that she wanted to go home, and I didn’t hesitate to grant her request. She’s already too far gone for my liking. Not because she’s not her own woman and can’t take care of herself or do whatever she wants to do. But because, even though she is a happy drunk, she isn’t really the Haley that I’ve grown to know. Yeah her inhibitions are temporarily gone, but I think I know Haley well enough to know that she doesn’t like to feel out of control.

I call an Uber as soon as she tells me she wants to go back to the beach house. The whole drive home, she rests her head on my shoulder and closes her eyes. At some point, she kicks off her shoes, which she claims are killing her feet and she’s going to murder Anna for making her wear them tonight.

“I didn’t want to say no to my best friend. She’s the bride and I just wanted to make her happy. I was going to be a bride once. Did I tell you that? I feel like I’ve told you that.” She nestles her nose into my neck, causing my body to vibrate from the sudden, foreign touch. And I don’t mind it. I graze her bare shoulder and feel goosebumps appear.

“Yes you did, Hales,” I respond.

The brakes of the Uber squeak slightly as we come to a stop in front of the beach house. It’s completely dark except for the porch light that was left on–Haley’s mom must’ve turned it on before she went upstairs for the night.

“Thanks man,” I say to the driver as I pull Haley out of the car with me.

Once I shut the door, I scoop her up into my arms and carry her like she is a real damsel in distress–which to me, she is tonight–and who I have no problem rescuing. I can’t imagine being in such close proximity to Natasha and Isaac for an extended weekend, watching them kiss and be all up on each other. I may have played a superhero in the movies, but Haley is truly the one with superpowers to withstand that type of company.

“Okay, beautiful, I have to put you down for a second so I can open the door.” I carefully place Haley down next to me. But once I do, she starts to sway to one side and I immediately strap an arm around her torso to prevent her from face-planting into the ground. I pull out the key from my pocket, unlock the door, and find a light switch so I don’t trip over something and fall with precious cargo in my hands. I lift Haley into my arms again and she lets out a little squeal.

“Shhh, Hales, we’re going to wake up your mom,” I say, half-laughing.

“Oh my God, it’s like I’m back in high school, trying to sneak back into the house after going out with Anna to a party. Do you think we’ll get grounded if we get caught?”

I let out another laugh and whisper, “We just might, that’s why you have to be quiet.”

“Okay.” She lets out a goofy smile and puts a finger to her lips in a shushing manner.

We make it up to our room and I shut the door quietly. I place Haley on the bed and instead of the overhead light, I find the small black switch of the bedside lamp. Much more forgiving to someone who is intoxicated. Haley throws her shoes toward her suitcase and they plop right into the open compartment.

Then, she does the thing I am dreading the most. And it’s not because I won’t like what I am going to see. It’s because I know that I’ll like it so much that I will never, ever see Haley the same again.

She unzips her little black dress, a dress that is dangerously sexy. So sexy, in fact, that I noticed every straight man in that damn bar had his eyes transfixed on Haley. Even that prick, Robert, had his eyes glued to his ex-fiancée. This whole night has been torture not being able to throw an afghan blanket over this total babe of a woman and tell the rest of the world to back off–she is all mine. No one else should look at her like I am looking at her, even though she deserves every single one of those stares. She deserves to be unmistakingly wanted.

Against my carnal instinct, I rummage through her suitcase to find her matching pajamas as quickly as I can. Even though I’ve seen her in a bathing suit and I already knew that she has a rocking body, this just seems more intimate somehow. I don’t want her to feel disrespected or awkward around me. I want her to feel the opposite. She kicks her dress playfully toward me and I catch it as it hits me square in my chest. I suddenly am very aware that Haley is in fact almost naked again in front of me and for some reason, this time it has much more weight than the other times. I place her dress in her suitcase as Haley clumsily falls onto the bed, groaning as if she is in pain.

I rush over to her. “Hales, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Is the bed on one of those thingies–you know like at a playground and they go around and around?”

Like I said, the cutest. “Um, you mean a merry-go-round? No, Hales the bed is not on a merry-go-round. I think you might have the spins. Let’s go to the bathroom just in case.” I lift her up from the bed so that she is level with my eyes. I brush her tousled hair away from her face. Even in her drunk state, she is still Haley. She has the same kind eyes I have come to know these past three years.

“Aidan don’t be silly, I don’t need…” There it is, that dreadful pause that occurs every time a drunk person realizes that, in fact, they are not as okay as they thought.

“Okay, bathroom. Let’s go babe.”

We barely make it to the toilet before Haley starts throwing up. I grab her hair just in time and hold it up for her and rub her back. I can feel her body convulse each time she lets out all the alcohol she consumed tonight. I was worried this was going to happen, but I also didn’t want to tell Haley what to do. She was finally letting loose and I wanted that for her. I felt comfortable with her doing it tonight because she had me looking after her, and I sure as hell was going to make sure she got home safe and that she was taken care of. And now I don’t care if my night is going to consist of me holding a beautiful woman’s hair back as she expels half her body weight in fluids – I would do it a thousand times over for Hales. I spot a black hair-tie on the counter, grab it, and put Haley’s hair in a ponytail to free up my other hand for anything else she needs.

“I think I’m okay,” Haley says as she flushes the toilet. She grabs some toilet paper from the roll next to her and wipes her mouth. “I need to brush my teeth. Ugh, Aidan, go away.” She unsuccessfully starts pushing me out of the bathroom. I can tell she is putting in all the strength she has left. “My god are you legitimately Iron Man? Or Captain Underpants? Or whatever your character’s name is. How much do you have to work out to get this body?” Now she starts to caress my abs and I tighten up and not because I don’t like it–I definitely do. She is just tickling me and her hands are like ice.

She makes a face. “Ugh, seriously though, get out. You are probably super grossed-out. I seriously can’t talk with you until I brush my teeth.”

“Fine. I’ll be right out here if you need me.”

She shuts the door in my face and I start taking off my own shirt. I throw on another old UConn shirt from college and pull on some sweatpants. I am in for a long night. I need to get comfortable.

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