Page 35 of Restrictions

“Viv. What happened? Did he hurt you?”

She laughs again and waves me off, grabbing the bottle back and taking another drink. “God no. He didn’t care enough to hurt me.”

“What?” I turn to look at her, starting to get a little worried, and I’m rarely fucking worried.

“What the hell was I thinking, Asher?”

I stare into her eyes, needing more of an explanation. “About what?”

“You were right. He freaked out.” She takes another drink and then points a finger at me. “Although he was a lot nicer about it than you were.”

Fucker.

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, he kept saying that too.” I take the wine bottle and take a small drink just to keep her from taking another swig as she goes on. “What was I thinking? That I was going to find a guy around my age—you know, because I’m really not into the whole ‘daddy’ thing—” Wow, Viv. “That want to date me and my kid.”

“That’s fucking creepy, Viv.”

She rolls her eyes. “No. It’s true.” She places a hand between her very full tits that are still pushed up and on display in that fucking dress. “I’m a package deal. And guys our age, they want to go to parties on the weekend. And vacation in Europe or Cancun in the summer. Not go to Sea World or Legoland.”

I take another small drink, actually hating the taste, but she’s giving me a fucking headache. “Legoland is the shit.”

She laughs, and her hands drop to her side, looking too heavy for her at the moment. She’s had way too much fucking wine for her small body. “You know, maybe I should just get on Tinder.”

“Do you even know what that is? It’s an app solely to hook up.”

“Yes. Exactly. I mean, that’s what I do, right? My only sexual experience was just a hookup. Colt and I weren’t dating. We weren’t in love. He just used me and then left.” Great, now I want to punch my dead brother. “And you know what, Ash?” I don’t have to ask her to tell me. “I liked it. I mean, it hurt because I was a virgin. But the randomness of it, the lack of control and just letting myself go. I loved it.”

I stare at her, unsure if I’m actually hearing these words and try to shake them off. “Whew, okay. You’re telling me a lot of things. You a lightweight?”

“Well, I don’t drink often.”Yeah, she’s drunk.“But I really think I need that app. Just random hookups, that’s my future.”

“No, you don’t. You’re not a Tinder girl.”

Her eyes meet mine, and she huffs. “Do you have it?”

“Maybe.”Yeah. I do.

“See.” She pokes my chest with her finger. “You’re a Tinder boy. I can be a Tinder girl.”

“No, you can’t. Stop, okay? You’ll find someone. You don’t need a cheap, random hookup.”

She scoots closer to me and lays her head on my shoulder. “I do. Trust me, my body is craving to be touched.”

I swallow, leaning my head back against the kitchen cabinet, trying to get my brain to focus on anything else.

She. Is. Drunk.

She doesn’t know what the fuck she’s saying.

“Viv.”

“Seriously, it’s been what?” She lifts her head and looks into my eyes. “Like, four years since I’ve had sex or even kissed someone else?”

“Yeah. I can’t hear this.” I stand up, putting the wine bottle on the counter and reaching my hand down to Viv, pulling her up. “Let’s get you to bed.”

She braces herself by putting her hands on my shoulders. “You’ll go with me?”

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