Page 29 of Can't Take My Eyes Off You

‘Will.’ I say his name, touching his chest. He groans something, rolling his head across the back of the lounger but never opening his eyes.

‘William.’ I say his full name louder. Shaking his chest.

He opens his eyes slowly, smiling when he sees me. ‘Berx.’ He slurs the word, reaching up and resting his hand on mine.

‘Hi,’ I say, giving him a shy smile. ‘What, uh… What’s going on?’

He sits up, dropping the whiskey bottle, his hand now on the side of my neck as he leans his forehead against mine. He smells like a distillery. Yuck. Jack Daniel’s mixed with his usual cologne. Not a good mix.

‘I miss you so much.’ He slurs every s. ‘I’m sorry I…’ He bumbles through some words that make no sense then presses his lips to mine.

For a second, I close my eyes, wishing this was the Will I used to know. It’s not. Even so, my heart skips a beat to feel his lips on mine. Is it a love spell, or is it a curse? I can’t tell anymore.

‘Do you want to maybe sleep it off?’ I ask, pulling away from him, my hands now on his shoulders.

‘Stay with me?’

‘Um…’ I shouldn’t. Iknowthis. But the bit of tequila lingering within disagrees. ‘Sure,’ I say, standing from the chair and offering my hands to help him up. Will and I need to have a serious talk tonight, and the only way I can do that is by being in the man’s presence.

He doesn’t hesitate to take my hands, letting me pull him off the lounge chair, leaving the booze where it landed when he dropped it. Thankfully on its bottom.

I steady him, which isn’t easy considering he’s got about eighty pounds over my hundred and six.

Cole pushes the door open, holding it as I steer Will through it.

‘We should really start paying her for babysitting,’ Mike says to his friends with a laugh.

‘Fuck you, Mike,’ I yell. ‘Why don’tyougo jump off the roof?’

‘You sure do tell me to die a lot,’ Mike says.

‘May the odds be ever in your favor.’

‘Yeah, fuck you, Mikey.’ Will repeats my words on a ten-second delay, flipping him the bird with both hands as we slowly walk through the living room.

‘I’ll kill him for you, baby. You want me to kill him?’ The way he slurs it makes me laugh to myself. Even hardly able to think, he’s standing up for me, threatening his brother’s life.

‘Not yet,’ I tell him, patting his chest. ‘We don’t need murder on your record. Plus, if I ever want to get rid of Mikey, I’d rather torment him a while, demand a ransom even your parents probably wouldn’t pay, then end him with my bare hands.’ I glare at Mike as we walk past him.

My eyes dart to Felicity, her ruffled skirt so short I can see her bright blue panties as she sits on the couch next to Mike, her legs resting over his lap.

‘I thought you were hot for Will?’ I ask her.

‘He’s still not over you, and I don’t do seconds.’

I burst out a laugh. ‘You don’t do seconds? Newsflash, bimbo: he wasalwaysmy boyfriend first,’ I remind her. ‘But ya know, math is hard, I get it.’

She rolls her eyes slowly like speaking to me physically pains her. The feeling is incredibly mutual, sweetheart. Please, gods of the universe, let that bitch get hers. Break a heel on camera, fall headfirst into a well, drown in a mud puddle: whatever works, I support.

When we get to Will’s room, I kick the door closed behind us.

‘First stop, bathroom,’ I tell him. ‘If you gotta puke, puke. But you’re brushing your teeth either way.’

‘Why?’ He stumbles into his bathroom, turning towards me as I lean against the door frame, watching him.

He rests his hands against the bathroom counter, glancing at the toilet, then back at me. His hair falls over his forehead as he stares at me.

‘I don’t need to puke,’ he slurs. ‘Yet.’ He laughs like he’s just told a joke. ‘But I do need to kiss you, and you don’t like the taste of Jack, so I’ll brush my teeth for you.’ He’s wagging his finger my way as he opens every door on the medicine cabinet, not finding what he’s looking for.

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