Page 10 of Wrecked Rose

My eyelids flutter open and then shut as soon as I establish my whereabouts. Beau and Griff’s theater room. I have no clue whether it’s two in the morning or nine. It’s entirely possible I’m dying, though, so maybe it doesn’t matter.

“Holy crap,” I murmur, my voice coming out low and scratchy. Sure enough, the delicious-smelling guy is also still clothed… in a waffle-knit shirt and jeans.

Okay, so at least I didn’t get involved in anythingtoocrazy last night.

But… I’ve been sleeping on Griff’s chest for I have no idea how long, so maybe that’s insane enough.

There’s a gentle sigh as whoever is behind me shifts a bit, gripping my waist, and our legs tangle. Ignoring the thrumming in my head, I cautiously lift it, so as to not awaken Griff.

The first person I see when I glance over my shoulder is actually Micah, which throws me for a loop until I realize Daphne is tucked between us. She’s the one radiating heat into my back.

Apparently, we’d all crashed out in a pile on the floor, with the exception of Scarlett and Xander, who are curled up on one of those monster-size, cushiony bean bags, and Beau and Lyla, who are nowhere to be found. That doesn’t surprise me. Their relationship is still so new those two are always off somewhere, fucking like bunnies. I thank God they hadn’t stayed down here to do it in front of us.

As I’m looking around, I slowly turn back to Griff, only to realize his eyes are open and he’s staring at me like a deer in headlights. I push myself up to sitting beside him.

“What the fuck?” His voice is early-morning raspy and oh so sexy. He closes his eyes, rubbing with his thumb and forefinger.

“I know. I have no idea how we got involved in a fucking cuddle puddle.”

He laughs loudly, making us both wince at the volume of it. Daphne moans a little behind me.

“Cuddle puddle. That’s fucking funny.” Griff slowly sits up. “Ugh. My head. We should not have pounded the rest of that bottle of whiskey.”

I blink. “Is that what we did?”

“Yeah. After midnight. After…” He chews on his lip but doesn’t finish his sentence.

Obviously, he remembers me forcing my lips on his.How fucking embarrassing.Now that I’m on my way to sober, I’ll admit to myself what a stupid idea that had been.

“Oh, God. I feel like my head is threatening to explode and my brain is going to leak out.” I groan and move one hand to my head, trying to hold it in place on my neck.

Griff grumbles as he stands up. “Yep. Definitely going to be ugly today. I had several more shots with a friend before I joined you guys down here. I don’t remember how we ended up like this either.” He gestures to the group of us. “Do you need some ibuprofen or something? I’ll go get it.”

“Yeah. Better bring down the whole bottle and some water. I have a feeling everyone is in bad shape. Do you want some help?”

He shakes his head. “Nah. I got it.”

While Griff goes for meds and water, I carefully get up off the floor, noting that Daphne has rolled over and looped her octopus arms and legs around Micah without even waking up. My stomach pitches and rolls as I cross the room to sit on a couch away from where everyone is still sleeping. I seriously hope I’m not going to be sick.

A few minutes later, Griff is back, water bottles in one hand and a supersize bottle of pain meds in the other. He stops in front of me, shakes out a few pills into my palm, and hands me one of the bottles he brought down.

Washing the pills down, I groan out, “Thank you.”

“Sure.” He drops onto the couch next to me, breathing in and out carefully.

“You feeling okay?” I study him. Still hot as ever, despite the obvious hangover.

He holds up a hand giving me a so-so gesture. “I always feel a little better if I breathe slow and deep.”

We’re quiet for a few seconds, and I drop my head back onto the cushion of the couch, closing my eyes. “Can I ask you a question?” I mumble.

“Fire away. Just keep in mind I don’t have my full wits about me yet.”

“You didn’t seem all that drunk when you were dancing with us last night.” I side-eye him, wondering what he’ll say. “Me and Daph, I mean.” When I pry my eyes open again, his gaze is locked on me.

He shrugs, his jaw tensing ever so slightly. “I wasn’t. That didn’t happen until later.”

“Oh.”

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