Page 4 of The Holiday Fail

I slowly peeled my eyes open and tried to lift my arms, but they felt like they were being tied down by something hard…and warm?

No matter how hungover I was, there was no way I was imagining the very hot touch that I now noticed enveloped my entire body.

I lifted my head as much as I could, trying to ignore the throbbing at my temples, and almost screamed at the strange man who had me in an octopus hold. He had all his limbswrapped around me like I was his personal body pillow or something.

Who the fuck is this guy?

Racking my brains to place the man, I tried to remember how I’d ended up bringing him home, but I came up blank.

He was handsome, with strong eyebrows, a prominent nose, and pouty lips I was sure some men would go crazy over. But he was not nearly silver fox enough for my tastes. He looked around my age, which I typically didn’t go for, so imagine how surprised I was to find him in my bed now.

It took me another second, my mental processing working slowly, to realize that I was, in fact,notin my bed. Hell, this wasn’t even my room, though I wasn’t unfamiliar with it. It was one of the rooms at the B&B my family ran.

Shit.

Had I slept with a guest?

That would be so fucking unprofessional. What would our guests think if they found out I was sleeping around with the people who stayed here?

I had to get the hell out of dodge before the dude woke up and this thing became a whole situation.

Fuck, how the hell had I gotten myself into this?

I knew I could do stupid shit when I was drunk, and sure, I was a little flirty, but I wasn’t the type of drunk to fall into bed with randos. It was usually my mouth that ran off and got me into trouble, but it looked like my mouth bit off more than I could chew this time.

Fuck.

This wasn’t the time to contemplate past-Levi’s choices. Getting out of here took priority, but how the hell was I supposed to do that when this man had arms like steel bands?

I wasn’t small by any means. Growing up at the B&B, therewas always work to be done, and helping my dads when I was younger had kept me in shape.

But this man above me? He had the arms of fuckingHulkif my trying to get him off me—and failing—was anything to go by. No matter how much I struggled to push his limbs off, they were like lead and fell back onto my body.

I blamed it on the alcohol sucking away all my morning strength and the awkward position I was in, with both arms bound underneath his. It didn’t help that my legs were wrapped between his as well.

Who the fuck slept while holding someone in a death grip anyway?

As if he knew I was thinking about him, the stranger groaned in his sleep and rubbed his cold nose against my skin, burying his head deeper into my neck.

I stared up at the ceiling, head throbbing like a thousand drums going off at the same time, and…fuck, now I had to use the bathroom too. It was like after I gave up struggling, all the alcohol I had last night decided it needed to come out right this very fucking second.

Just great.

Fuck, I was never drinking again.

This was already embarrassing enough, and Iwould notlet it get worse by being locked up by this hellishly strong man until…motherfucking hell, I didn’t even want to think about what would happen if I couldn’t escape from here soon.

As if a second surge of energy passed through me at the thought of making an even bigger fool of myself, I managed to slip under his arms to sit up, then pulled my legs out from under him, and I was home free. I’d never been so happy in my life, and I raised my hands over my head in a silent cheer.

Soft chuckling had me pulling my arms back and swinging my head around to find the stranger watching me withamusement. He was propped up on his elbow, his longish hair flopped over his ears, casting a shadow over his eyes.

I narrowed my gaze at him. “Were you awake this entire time?” I accused.

It was no wonder he seemed freakishly strong for someone who was sleeping. The fucker only smiled, and I had my answer.

“Did you think it was funny or something? Seeing me struggle like that?” I hissed, trying to turn my body toward him.

As if the morning couldn’t have started out even worse, the action caused my center of gravity to tip over, and suddenly, I was falling off the bed for the first time in my entire life.

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