Page 49 of Obsession on Repeat
I burst out laughing at the coyness on her face, the alcohol beginning to take effect and make me feel a hundred percent better. "Good, I’ll repay you in kind the next time your birthday rolls around." I took the bottle from her and sipped, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "I swear, does everyone know about my birthday in this place or what?"
"Not everyone. There’s me, Asher, Vanessa, a few other bartenders…" She laughed when I groaned. "Hey, if you don’t want news to spread, it won't spread."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Yeah, I’m totally lying."
I found myself laughing, the two of us passing the bottle back and forth until neither of us made any sense.
An hour later, Asher and Vanessa found us hysterically laughing. The empty bottle sat haphazardly on the edge ofthe table. He shot Vanessa a look of amusement, a similar expression on her face.
"You know, it’s impossible for the cleaning crew to get in here with you two drunkards refusing to leave."
"Wow," Gina giggled. "We should get out of here and hit up a bar."
Laughing, I leaned sideways to hit her on the arm. "We are in a bar!"
"You’re both totally wasted. How nice." He shook his head and stepped forward to stop the bottle from sliding off the table.
In a surprise move, I was faster. I grabbed it, slamming it to my chest. "I’m not done with it!"
"Darlin’, I think you are. It’s empty."
"Aw!" Gina sighed. "He called you darlin’ in that cute little accent of his!"
I wrapped my arms around the bottle, lightly kicking the side of her leg with my foot. "Shut up, you are so drunk!"
"Am not!"
"You’re both drunk," Vanessa interrupted. Despite my protests, she snatched the bottle easily from my hands. "Gina, you rode with me, and you’re leaving the same way. Rory, Asher’s going to take your keys, so you don’t get any bright ideas, and he’ll take you home. I expect you to be here on time tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" I whined. "But it’s Wednesday!"
"You said you wanted to work."
"But I’m drunk, you said so!" I sputtered.
Vanessa chuckled. "In that case, she can come in bright and early tomorrow, and Rory, you can enjoy your headache."
With a groan, Gina flopped against the couch.
I tripped for the second time on the way to his car, and once again, he reached out to steady me before I fell. I giggled as he propped me against the car and fished his keys from his pocket. "I am so drunk!"
"I’ve noticed." He opened the passenger door. "Inside you go, hopefully in one piece, please."
"You’re so sweet." I tapped his cheek with my hand. "So sweet."
"My mother raised me right." I slipped, Asher grabbing my elbow and directing me into the passenger seat. "Whoa. Thanks. You know who else says that? Keanu Reeves. He says whoa a lot."
Shaking his head, he shut the door and walked around to the other side of his black Toyota Tundra. He climbedinto the driver’s seat, lowering the volume on the radio, and started the engine. He pulled into traffic with one hand on the wheel, his right arm leaning on the center console. "What’s your address?"
Grunting, I struggled with my seat belt. "You don’t already know?" I yanked on the strap. "Isn’t that in my paperwork, too?"
"I looked over your information. I didn’t say I memorized it."
"Well, you certainly memorized my birthday! What the hell is going on with this fucking seat belt?"
"I remembered your birthday because it’s this month. There was nothing sinister about it." He hit the brake as we were stopped by a red light. Undoing his belt, he reached out to grab the lock at my hip. "Sit back, Rory." I didn’t move. He shot me an exasperated look before reaching across to grab the strap.
