Page 25 of Drunk Girl

“If you change your mind, just tell me. My treat,” I tell her as I pull her into my arms.

“I’m good, really. I can get some at home. My mom never runs out of coffee.” She squeezes me back, then lifts up on her toes and kisses me.

We break apart and I grab her hand, linking our fingers as I lead her out of my house, stopping briefly to lock the front door. I escort her down to my truck, opening the passenger door, and help her up before I round the front and climb in myself.

“Do you remember the way?” she asks as I start up the truck.

“I remember.” I reach over and link our fingers back together. “What time do you want to do dinner?”

“I’m flexible.”

“I know you are,” I say, winking at her.

“Stop it!” she says, smacking my shoulder with her free hand as she laughs. “I don’t care. Five? Six? Later? What time were you thinking?”

“I’ll be done at the bar by mid-afternoon, so whenever. How late do you think you’ll be out applying for jobs?”

“Who knows. Probably until late afternoon. I need to call this temp agency I found on a sign in the mall, see if they have any jobs I could possibly do.”

“How about you call me once you’re done for the day and we can make plans from there. Or you could just head over to my place once you’re all done. I should be home. I might even head straight home from the bar and start grouting the tile.”

“That I can do. Text me when you head home, I might call it quits early and come help you.”

“Okay,” I tell her as I pull into the parking lot of the apartment building. “Want me to walk you in?”

“You don’t have to. I know you need to get to the bar. Just don’t forget to text me.” She leans over and kisses me before she opens the door and jumps down.

“See you later,” I call from my open window as I watch her walk away from me.Damn, this girl has turned my world upside down in less than a week. I wait until she’s in the building before I back out and head for the bar.

* * *

“About timeyou dragged your ass in here,” Kaiden says as I take a seat in our office.

“It’s not that late,” I say, as I drain the water bottle I grabbed from the bar before I came upstairs.

“You’re usually here by ten. It’s a quarter past eleven.” He looks me dead in the eye. “Oh shit,” he says, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Someone got laid, finally.”

I just shrug my shoulder at him, as I do my best to keep from breaking out in a smile.

“That girl from the other night?” he asks.

“I don’t ‘kiss and tell’, brother, you should know that.”

“I’m not asking for the dirty details, just who the lucky lady was,” he says pointedly.

“Yes, the girl from the other night. Her name is Ashley and we hit it off. I’m seeing her again tonight. We had lunch together yesterday and ended up spending the rest of the day and night together. She’s like no other woman I’ve met. Sweet. Feisty. Smart. Has had a shitty hand dealt to her but has made the best from her circumstances, and is trying to better her life, even with being knocked down, time and time again.”

“That sucks that she’s had such a rough life.”

“Yep, it does. She told me about some of the shit she’s been through and I wanted to kick multiple people’s asses for her.”

“Fuck, you’re that serious about her already?”

“I can’t explain it, Kaiden. She just pulls me to her. Has since the first night I met her and she was crying in one of the booths.”

“I get it, man. I felt the same way when I first met Katie. Sometimes, when you meet the one, you just have to go with it. You can’t always explain it, but don’t fight it like I did.”

“I’m obviously not, since all I want to do is be with her. I don’t even care what we’re doing. Hell, yesterday, she helped me tile the entire shower in the master bathroom, and had fun doing it.”

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