Page 34 of Coty

“What are we watching?” I sit next to her and look around for the remote.

“Nothing, silly.” She falls back and giggles. “The TV’s not on.”

No, it’s not. She’s clearly forgotten that she mentioned watching a movie. This is going to be a long night.

“Okay. We can just talk.” Well, no, we shouldn’t. She’s not in any state of mind to carry on a conversation.

“No talk. Talk hurts,” she pouts and wiggles against my side.

I catch the bottle of beer and set it on the coffee table with mine before she drops it. She’s closer to passing out than I thought.

“We can just sit.”

“No sit. Couch hurts. I wanna go to bed.” She struggles to get up.

I lift us off the couch and guide her to her room. It’s a one-bedroom apartment, making finding her room easy. I’ve had a few friends who lived in this apartment complex over the years. The floor plans are nothing fancy.

She walks to the side of the bed and pulls her shirt over her head. For someone so drunk, she has no problem stripping out of her clothes. I groan and close my eyes. Why? Why did she have to do this while she’s drunk? I want to appreciate every curve of her body, but not like this. Oh, the universe totally hates me.

“Help me,” she cries.

I open my eyes to find her struggling to pull the covers back. She’s beyond drunk. The covers should be the easy part.

“Hold on. I got it.”

I quickly pull the sheet and comforter back. She slips under them without any more problems.

“Thank you.” She blinks up at me. “Why you standing there?”

“What?”

She pats the spot next to her. “Sleep, Coty.”

“But..” I can’t do this. “I’ll go to the couch.”

“Please.”

My head falls back. Yes, the universe hates me. I’m going to regret this in the morning. I slide my boots off and hang my cut on one of the bed posts. I lay down, fully clothed.

She grabs the hem of my t-shirt and lifts it up. “Off.”

Okay. The shirt is all I’m taking off, though. I pull it over my head and drop it on the floor.

“Better,” she whispers and snuggles against my side with her head on my chest.

Any other night, this would be Heaven. Tonight, it’s pure torture. The wordwrongrepeats over and over in my head. Maybe now she’ll be satisfied enough to relax and fall asleep. It’s not my luck, though. I wrap my hand around hers to keep her fingers from moving across my chest.

“Go to sleep, Sparky,” I whisper.

Her lips lightly press against my skin. Nope. She’s not listening. I have to call on strength I didn’t know I had. Staying still is so hard. I want to wrap my arms around her and pull her to me. More strength is needed as her lips trail light kisses up my chest, my neck, and to my cheek.

“Kayla, we shouldn’t.”

“That’s exactly why we should.”

My protests are lost when she presses her lips to mine. I’m a jerk, a big one. I don’t force her to stop. I gently wrap my arms around her and let her have control of the kiss. My lips move with hers until she slows. With a light moan, she stops. Her head slips to my chest, and her breathing evens out. Finally, she’s asleep. My struggle isn’t over. Every part of my body is fully aware and awake. And I can’t move.

Chapter 17

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