Page 84 of Unrequited (Unrequited 1)

Maeve put her lips in the place mine had just been and took a shot of her own. “Oh, damn. That’s gross.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and shuddered. “I think I’ve drunk enough tequila to last a lifetime.”

I leaned against the dresser beside her as she mixed a drink. “You’ve had a lot of tequila hangovers?”

“Oh yeah.” She handed me a rum and Coke. “I’ve worked in a bar since I was eighteen. A few of them were dingy, shithole places where drinkin’ with my customers was the only thing that got me through my shift. Plus, you know, young, livin’ in L.A. without parental supervision...I went a little wild.”

“But you liked it? Liked living out there?”

“Yeah.” She held her glass to her lips. “I’ll never regret goin’. Some of it sucked, and I had some experiences that could have ruined me if I had let them, but overall, bein’ out there made me braver and broke me out of my gilded cage.”

My spine stiffened in alarm. “What happened to you, Maeve?”

She gave me a secretive smile. “You think you’re the only boy who ever broke my heart?” She spun on her toes and climbed on the bed, leaving me ready to murder whoever it was who hurt her.

I sat down next to her, drink in hand, back leaning against the headboard. “I’m sorry.” I hadn’t said that yet, even though I should’ve. Then again, we’d danced around the way our friendship had ended—the way I was the biggest dick alive to the sweetest girl.

“I know.” She opened her laptop, turning on Netflix and scrolling through movies. “What should we watch?”

Guess we still weren’t talking about it.

“Eh, nothing with dolls or evil children.” I downed my drink while she searched, then returned to the dresser to make another, and brought back one for Maeve too.

“Let’s watchHalloween. Can’t go wrong with a young Jamie Lee Curtis screamin’ her brains out.”

I settled on the bed, keeping as much space between us as I could—for her comfort, sure as hell not mine. The bed was maybe a full size, so space was at a premium.

By the time the first person was killed, I was three-quarters through my second drink and Maeve had just started hers.

“I can’t believe you watch this shit,” I said.

“I’m all about scary movies. When I’m home, I usually have one on as background murder...errr...noise.” She shot me a smug smile.

“Oh, you’re proud of your joke?”

“Mmhmm. I’ve been savin’ that one up for a while.”

Her cheeks were pink, and her hair was tousled wildly around her shoulders. Looking like a naughty, tipsy Snow White, I found myself leaning toward her.

“You look really fucking cute, Maeve.”

She pushed at my chest, a little bubble of a laugh spilling out. “How drunk are you?”

“Half.”

“I’m one third. I think you might be underestimating how tipsy you are, sir, with all your flirtiness.”

“Not flirting. Just calling it like I see it.” I reclaimed my spot right next to her as a teenager got her throat slit.

Maeve giggled. “That blood is so fake. It’s practically chunky. And callin’ a woman cute while you sit next to her in bed is flirting, especially when you keep inching closer.”

“I can’t believe you can laugh at someone being murdered.”

She rubbed her hands over her thighs and pulled her legs up. “It’s campy and ridiculous. If you can’t laugh at gratuitous violence and murder porn, what can you laugh at?”

I tossed back the rest of my drink, warmth flowing through my veins. “You have a point.”

“I need another shot before I drink this drink,” she said.

“At your service, miss.” I got up from the bed, grabbed a couple bottles from her makeshift bar, and brought them to her. “What’ll it be?”

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