Page 30 of Courting Danger

We reached my room and Ghita propped me against the wall so she could open the door. “I know. You just wanted to get him into bed.”

“No.” I shook my head so hard it hit the wall. “I wanted... He was mine.”

The door swung open, but Ghita didn’t pull me into the room. “What do you mean, he was yours?”

“I mean he was mine,” I repeated again, louder this time. “Not employed by my family. Not provided by someone else. Just mine.”

“Ah.” Ghita nodded, and wrapped her arms around my waist. Propping her shoulder into my armpit, she guided me inside. “I think I see.”

Well, at least one of us did, because I still felt clueless.

She helped me stumble over to the bed and pushed me down until I sat unsteadily on the mattress.

“Can you handle it from here? As much as I love you, I’m not undressing you.”

I waved her off, assuring her that I could take care of myself. Although the words were more of a slurred mess than actual syllables.

She ran a hand over my hair. “Good. Get some rest. We’ll talk about this more in the morning once you sober up.”

As she left, I waved the bottle at her. “I only had one.”

The door clicked shut and I was alone.

I sat motionless on the edge of the bed. The whole room spun. Even the slightest twitch of my muscles sent me reeling.

Without moving my head, my vision blurry, I stared in confusion down at the bottle in my hand.

I’d only had one.

A feeling of dread descended on me like a curtain drawing across my vision.

Something was wrong. I knew my own alcohol tolerance. I shouldn’t be this drunk from only one bottle.

I tried to stand up and go after Ghita, but my feet wouldn’t hold my weight and I fell to the floor. My vision was really going dark.

The carpet pressed against my cheek as I lay on the floor, unable to move or even call out. My fingers went limp and the empty bottle rolled out of my hand.

Just before I passed out, I heard the door open again.

Then everything went black.

CHAPTER 11

Garrison

Three days after the argument with Alex, I ran down a familiar path. I’d started the run an hour earlier than usual and my breath fogged in the frosty morning air. What little sun peeked over the horizon was mostly blocked by the trunks of the surrounding trees. The time could barely be called dawn when I stopped and sat on a park bench along the side of the trail.

Moments later, familiar uneven footsteps approached. Caden struggled over the gravel path. With his one good arm, he held the cane that kept him upright, while he tried to balance a container of coffee cups with his other arm in a sling.

“Why the hell did you want to meet out here?” Caden collapsed onto the bench, tossing his cane aside and shoving the coffee at me. “It’s too damn early to walk all the way out here. Makes me feel like an old man hobbling around like this. Fuck, I’m not even forty yet. So, what’s up? You better have a good reason for asking me to meet you here.”

I hadn’t asked Caden to bring coffee, but I appreciated it nonetheless. We divided up the cups, then both of us simultaneously leaned back against the bench with a groan.

Minutes passed, each of us taking sips of our drinks in silence before I started the conversation.

“You knew.”

Caden didn’t bother to respond, just gave an inquisitive hum around the paper rim of his cup and waited for me to continue.

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