Page 43 of Drunk Girl

“I told you this would all work out. You just had to have faith that it would.”

“I know, and your support has helped tremendously. I couldn’t have done all this without you.” He comes around the bar, then pulls me into his arms and drops his lips to mine.

“You could have, and you would have, even if our paths hadn’t crossed. None of your success has had anything to do with me being here.”

“You might not have been in the brewery, helping me physically, but the support and encouragement you give me when I’m stressed or trying to figure something out is just as important.”

“You do the same for me, putting up with my scatterbrain, between my work and school stress. If anyone in this relationship is thankful for the other, it’s me who’s thankful for you. You helped me pick my life up when I needed it the most, and I love you for that,” I tell him, pushing up on my toes to press my lips against his.

“Food’s up.” Katie places our plates down on the bar.

“Thanks,” we tell her at the same time.

“Let’s go upstairs where it’s a little more quiet,” Nick suggests, then grabs two bottles of water from behind the bar, handing them over to me before he picks up the two plates. I head down the hall and up the stairs to the office, with him on my heels.

“Did you finish your papers?” he asks as we dig in to our food.

“I finished the first one and have the second one pretty much done. Just need to make one final pass over it to see if I need to add anything to it.”

“So, tomorrow is finals study time, then?”

“Pretty much. I might meet a few classmates at the library for a few hours to study together, just waiting to see if that pans out. So, if I’m not home when you get up tomorrow, that’s probably where I am.”

“Okay. You could always have them over to the house if you wanted. It won’t bother me.”

“That’s okay, I wouldn’t want to wake you if we were to get loud.”

“You know I sleep like the dead. I don’t think that y’all could wake me up just from studying.”

“You do sleep like the dead,” I say on a laugh. “Maybe I’ll offer it up as an option and see what they say.”

“I’d say I could bring home a couple of growlers of beer, but then I don’t think much studying would get done,” he jokes.

“Yes, do that. We can enjoy itafterwe finish studying. By then, we’ll all need it. I’m sure if I promise free beer, that will get them all to commit.”

“Okay, I’ll bring some home, then. One growler of each kind work?”

“That should be plenty. We don’t need to get hammered,” I tell him, looking at him over the rim of my glasses.

“Hey, watch it,” he warns. “Looking at me like that will get you into trouble.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I retort. I know he loves it when I wear my glasses, not sure exactly why. I usually only wear them at home, or when my eyes are tired. I left them on since I was so engrossed in my homework today, and didn’t see the need to put my contacts in before I left the house.

“Sure, you don’t.” He smirks. “You going to be awake when I get home tonight?”

I shrug my shoulders. “Don’t know. Depends on how late you’ll be.”

“I’ll probably be out of here by midnight.”

“I’ll probably be asleep by then, but feel free to wake me up. Especially if it’s for some sexy time.”

“Oh, I’ll be waking you up, you can bet your ass on that.” He reaches over to grab the edge of the chair I’m on, and pulls it closer to him. “Maybe I should just take you homenow,”he says, before he wraps his hand around the back of my neck, bringing me in for a demanding kiss.

“I’d be okay with that,” I tell him once we finally break our kiss. I was all for christening every room in his house, but I drew a line at having sex in the bar or the office.

“Then let’s go,” he says, standing and pulling me up. “I’ll take care of our plates, then check in with Katie and Zane, who’s in charge behind the bar tonight, to let them know I’m leaving.”

“Sounds good. I’ll meet you at home, then,” I say with a wink before I head down the stairs and out to the parking lot.

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