Page 48 of The Affair
And then everything went dark.
* * *
I awoketo the sound of a radio playing a country song.
I hated country.Who was playing this garbage?
Cracking an eyelid, I turned my head to see Sawyer in the driver’s seat of my SUV, humming along to the crappy song.
“What …” my voice croaked. “Why are you driving my car?”
He gave me a quick glance before returning his attention to the road. “You passed out on the floor—you don’t remember? You’ve been in and out since.”
I looked down at my pajama pants, my hand floating up to the rat’s nest that was currently my hair. My head was hammering, and my body ached.
And then I remembered the kiss.
Or the not-kiss, as he’d called it.
“That doesn’t explain why we are in the car,” I said, my eyes closing on their own.
Was it always this bright outside?
“You needed to go home. I obviously wasn’t going to let you drive yourself,” he answered very assuredly.
“So you left the store unattended?!” My eyes popped right back open, a wave of panic taking over.
Was the store unlocked?
Were there random people roaming around?
What if someone wanted to buy something?
What if someone stole something?
I felt dizzy.
“Whoa there. Calm down,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I hadn’t realized I’d jolted forward in my seat. “I locked up and placed a sign on the door that we were closed for the day.”
“Closed?” My voice was barely above a whisper.
“I know it’s not ideal, but there was no one else to drive you, Elle.”
No one else…
I had no one else. That was a sobering thought.
“I can take care of myself,” I snapped back, leaning against the window, the cool glass feeling like heaven against my hot cheeks.
“Not today, you can’t.”
We didn’t say much after that. My eyes fell shut again, and I thought I’d drifted off because one second, I was plotting his demise, and the next, he was carrying me into the house.
“I can walk,” I said defiantly, feeling equal parts angry and turned on in his arms. Although it could just be that fever he’d kept saying I had.
It was hard to tell at this point.
“I tried to wake you. You wouldn’t budge,” he said, letting me down at the front door.
