Page 45 of Dirty Rock

“Where?” I smirked.

“Do not fuck with the one person who has always been there for us.”

“Why not?” I laughed.

“Mate, if you fuck this up, it could ruin everyth—”

“Shit, gotta go. I have a… thing. Night, Pres. I love you, brother.”

I ended the call with a smile on my face, and I tried to focus on finding Julia’s number in my contacts. Every name blurred together to look like hers, but when I was certain I’d found the right one, I opened up a text to her and typed out everything in my muddled heart. All nine words of it.

Let me have you. One night. You and me.

Satisfied, I turned my phone off, tossed it in the grass, and I closed my eyes.

Sometimes you just had to do what you had to do; consequences be damned.

* * *

I woke up to cold water being thrown in my face, the harsh shock of it making me sit bolt upright in bed, and my face to scrunch tight as I gasped for air.

“What in the fresh hell?”

“Wakey, wakey, lover boy.”

That voice had me wiping the water away from my face and blinking up to look at the woman above me—my vision blurry, and my nausea gurgling in warning.

“Jules?”

She was standing there, smug as shit, wearing a little khaki coloured bomber jacket, a black T-shirt, and a pair of arse-hugging jeans that did nothing to ease my morning glory. Even half-asleep, I appreciated what I saw, and that lack of basic control irritated me. Her hair was growing at the front, sheltering her left eye. She was all pretty, plump pink lips, long, dark lashes, and rosy cheeks I wanted to pinch for days. Julia dropped her empty glass down to the side table by my bed before she stood tall again and folded her arms over her chest.

“The hell are you doing here?” I croaked, tasting tequila in my throat and feeling the fur on my tongue. I glanced around before I looked down and peeked under my bedsheet. “How did I get home and who got me naked?” Wait. My head shot up. “Did you do this?”

“You wish.” She smirked. “Apparently your mum found you in the middle of a park with one of your friends. You’d passed out.”

“Please tell me Ma didn’t undress me.”

Julia raised a sharp brow, her amusement clear.

“Fuck,” I hissed, dropping my sheet down and throwing my head back onto the pillow. My head didn’t appreciate that, and I pushed the heels of my fists into my eyes and held my forehead for a moment, releasing a groan. “What time is it?”

“Three.”

“In the afternoon?”

“Uh-huh.”

I lifted a hand and peeked an eye open at Julia. Damn, she looked good. If I thought her little blazers were sexy, they had nothing on this dressed-down, do not fuck with me, Top Gun vibe she had going on.

“What areyoudoing here?” I croaked quietly.

“You mean you don’t remember?” Jules rolled her eyes. “Let me have you. One night. You and me.” Her voice mimicked mine, and she shook her head.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She sighed. “Let’s just say that when your mum turned your phone back on and checked to see who the last person you contacted was, she saw my name and called me.”

“Why would she do that?”

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