Page 41 of Johnathan

Her jaw dropped. “Excuse me? I think I should be offended.”

“No! No, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I’m more of a homebody, so I was kind of in awe of you. But the attraction didn’t make sense to me. Now, I see why. I had categorized you wrong.”

Yup, handsome nerd indeed.

“Are you a pool shark? A sleeper agent who is going to pretend to be bad to make me not feel terrible about my lack of skills and then try to make a bet against me? Because I’m terrible and I don’t want you to feel like you have to hustle me.”

He laughed. “No, I’m not that good, either. And that’s not being modest. Video games are more my speed. Just thought it might be nice to get up and move around.”

“Sure, let’s do it.”

Abby stood and made her way towards the pool tables.

“Hey, you forgot your drink.” Luke handed her glass to her before taking a sip from his.

“Oh, thanks. Alright, how do we do this?”

“Something’s fucking wrong.” John watched Abby swaying as she stood, gathering her purse.

Jackson’s head turned to look in the same direction as John was facing. “What are you?—”

Shit. She wobbled again and he pushed away from the table so fast that his chair toppled to the ground behind him. He didn’t care. All that mattered was making sure she was okay.

“Abby, are you okay?” He slipped his hand around her waist, steadying her.

Her big blue eyes looked up at him. “John?”

“Hey, man. Back up. Who the hell are you?” The man she was with took a step closer to John, who tightened his hold on Abby’s arm.

“Who the hell am I? I’m her friend. Who the hell are you?”

“Her date, man. She’s fine. Apparently more of a lightweight than she thought, but I’m just about to bring her home.”

Abby moaned, bringing her hand to her head and winced.

“What’s wrong?” John lifted her chin to look into her eyes. They were glassy and unfocused.

“My head. I think that beer was strong.”

“Is it a migraine?”

She didn’t respond, instead grabbing onto his arm for support. Her head fell into his chest and she took a small breath in.

“You smell so nice. Like walking out of a forest towards the ocean. I saw you earlier and hoped you would come over.”

John smiled as he cupped the back of her head.

“How much have you had to drink tonight, beautiful?”

“Just one… I think.” She smiled as he lifted her face with his thumb tucked under her chin. “I feel like I might be drunk, though.”

“I think I should take you home.” John reached to take her purse off her arm.

Her head went back to laying on his chest and he couldn’t resist wrapping his arms around her in a hug. He felt her hands slide up his back, returning the embrace.

“That night, I remember being so scared, so numb, but somehow I could smell you, and it made me feel so safe,” she mumbled into his shirt.

“Abby? I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”

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