Page 98 of Not Your Little Girl Anymore

Thinking about what I had read in Alec’s file, it makes sense why her father doesn’t like him very much, without knowing his full story.

“It’s because of…” I start, but she cuts me off.

“The incident you read about, yes. And I am truly sorry you read that and never had a proper explanation.”

I shake my head. “There is no reason that you should be sorry. It was a long time ago, and I should have taken that into account.”

She gives me an upside-down smile. “You’re really something.”

My eyebrows pull together. “What do you mean?”

Samantha laughs that short but sweet laugh again. “You changed him.” She takes a swig of her drink. “He was always a stuck-up, arrogant asshole. You pulled something out of him that I haven’t seen from him in a very long time.”

For some reason, those words sit heavy in my chest. “Well, to be fair. He came to me first. Even if it wasn’t for the right reasons, he made me see things I wish I had seen long ago.”

Now, I’m reaching for my beer and taking a sip, and it’s not because this conversation is sweet and heartwarming but because this is exactly what I needed after everything I had gone through—I needed—just one night to enjoy the good things in life and celebrate.

We sit for a while longer, talking about all things and having a beer, just us girls. We talk about our favorite clothing shops, favorite bands, and even what type of yogurt we prefer.

James guzzles down the rest of the whiskey he took from Alec’s collection and hums. “Summer,” he says with a rather unnecessary loud voice.

“Oh, here we go. James is drunk.” Samantha pats me on the shoulder before standing up. “Good luck.”

Should I be worried?

I look over at Alec briefly, but James brings me back to him. “Tell us a little about yourself. We haven’t been formally introduced. All I know is you have some spitfire in those bones.”

My lip worries its way between my teeth, and I chew down a little harder than I normally would. My eyes meet with Alec’s, and he gives me a reassuring nod.

I clear my throat, shifting on the floor slightly. “Well, I’m a college dropout… My father is a lying, conniving murderer, and I’m sitting here getting wasted with a couple of freaks.” Shock slams into my gut as the words come out of my mouth before I have a chance to stop them.

Damn alcohol.

Another reason I don’t drink is because the emotions that fall off people’s tongues are uncontrollable.

The room grows deeply silent as everyone looks over at me. I bring my shaky hand with the bottle in it to my mouth and chug the remainder of my beer, mortified by the fact that I insulted them. I’m really winning at this friendship ordeal.

I look over at Alec and notice his hand in a fist over his mouth. His eyes tilt slightly as a smile peaks out from the sides of his fist. He approves of what I said, but not me. I don’t approve at all, not even a little bit.

Finally, James breaks the awkward silence deepening throughout the room and bursts into laughter. He elbows Alec in the arm. “I like her, man.”

I let out a nervous chuckle and attempted to drink more from the glass in my hand, only to forget that I had just finished it. “I… uh, I need another one.”

Pushing myself off the floor, I hurry into the kitchen and place the glass on the counter. I take a minute to breathe in slowly, ashamed of myself for what I had said.

“That was… inquisitive.”

I’m startled by Alec as he leans casually against the counter. His arms link over each other, and one foot rests over the other ankle. His chest tattoo peaks from the top of his white V-neck shirt. A tingle between my legs occurs, and I’m forced to squeeze them to ease the tension. I blow out a long breath, unable to remove my eyes from how attractive this man is.

“You just undressed me with your eyes, didn’t you?”

My mouth parts. “What? No. I did not.”

“Right.”

I inhale another deep breath, feeling a slight relaxation in my body as I inhale. Alec pushes off the counter and eats away at the distance between us, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“I called you all freaks,” I repeat my earlier statement.

---