Page 39 of In For a Penny
“Oh,just shut up,” Oliver says into his pillow.
At first, I think he’s sleep-talking, so I stay silent, hoping he doesn’t wake. I don’t want to face him at the moment. I honestly don’t think that I can!
“I can almost hear you overthinking this like crazy.” He sighs. I’m in shock. How long has he been awake? He doesn’t open his eyes but pulls the comforter up over himself. “It wasn’t your fault. I had just drunk a lot. It is more embarrassing for me than it is for you. Can we just never talk about it again?” he mutters.
I’m so confused.
“Additionally…” He sits up and turns to me. The comforter slides off again, and I can’t help myself. I might look down to check his chest and shoulders out.Damn.“We were way too drunk for it to have been smart to do anyways. When I finally do get to have sex with you, I want both of us to remember every second of it.”
I look into his eyes, searching for any sort of insight into whatever the hell he’s saying. He sighs.
“Listen, please don’t take it personally. I think you’re fucking gorgeous. It was all me. All my embarrassing fault, okay?” Oliver scratches his head.
I tilt my head at him and gasp, suddenly understanding what he’s talking about.
“Oh my God!” My hand flies to my mouth. “I remember!”
And I explode into a fit of laughter. I’m having trouble breathing, and it takes me a couple of minutes to notice the hurt in Oliver's eyes.
“Oh,” I say stupidly. “I wasn’t laughing at your inability to...uh...rise to the occasion.”
He winces. “Can you not?” He stands up, his back to me, and stretches.
Jesus Christ, his back, his shoulders. His ass.
I horrify myself slightly at the thought of how nice it would feel to have his body on top of me. I mean, this is Oliver we’re talking about! But then I realize that’s precisely what happened last night. And I vaguely remember it feeling really,reallygood.
“No, seriously,” I say quickly. I start to get up until I realize I’m basically naked, so I wrap myself in the comforter, trying to keep myself covered. Oliver, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be very self-conscious as he walks around his bedroom stark naked—and really, he has nothing to feel self-conscious about. “I wasn’t laughing at that. I was laughing because, for the past ten minutes, I’ve been internally freaking out, thinking we slept together. And I must admit, I’m glad we didn’t.”
He quietly turns around and glares at me.
“You swear?”
“Yes,” I say seriously. “I would never make fun of you for that, especially now that I rememberwhyyou took me home. You were just trying to take care of me.”
I was wasted last night, it’s true. We made out, it’s true. But that was cut short by my inability to stand on my own two feet without any help. I remember Oliver freaking out, his concern for me genuine.
“We need to get her home. Does anyone remember where she lives?” he had asked.
I remember someone giving me water before while I was dancing. Was it Josh?
“Someone should take her home. Make sure she doesn’t choke on her own vomit,” Eloise had said cattily. What a bitch. As if she’d never gotten drunk. I wasn’t even to that point yet. They had all made an embarrassingly big deal out of it.
“Someone get me water right now,” he had demanded.
I remember them making me drink it, but honestly, we were all wasted. It was like the blind leading the blind.
“I’m taking you home,” he declared.
I remember Josh’s face. He did not look happy. “Um, are you sure, buddy? I’m a little more sober than you.”
“I live two blocks away.” Upon seeing his reaction, Oliver raised an eyebrow at Josh, and his voice became sharper as he asked, “Are you saying you think I’d hurt her?”
I had sighed and said, “I’m fine, guys. I just need to get a cab.”
“No cab. Not like that. You’re coming with me.”
And you know what, I had been conscious enough to know that he wouldn’t do anything weird. I trusted him. The only reason he had ended up naked and I was in my underwear is because I woke up a couple of hours after making it to his place, and I may or may not have launched myself at him.
