Page 59 of The Billionaire's Commitment

“Yeah. Sure. I want to stick around in case Eric needs anything and convince him to go home. Take care of Zoey. We’ll talk in the morning,” Logan said.

“Thanks, man,” I said and gave him a quick one-arm hug. We held each other a little longer and tighter than we normally did. We didn’t look each other in the eye when we stepped away. I looked over at Amber who gave me a slight nod. She would take care of Logan and anything else that might come up.

“Come on, Zoey. I’ll get you home,” I said.

“Okay,” she said sleepily and walked with me out of the bar.

Chapter 28

Zoey

The sun was shining on me when I woke up. I lifted my head up, and it felt like it was being pushed down with lead, so I dropped it back down. I rolled over onto my back and put my hands over my eyes. The night slowly started to come back to me but only in bits and pieces. The one thing I didn’t remember was how I got home.

I sat up, and my head spun but not as bad as I would have thought. I had only gotten drunk one other time in my life, which was why I never did it again. I had spent the day in the bathroom and had vowed never to let that happen again. I had been successful until last night.

Looking around, I didn’t see anyone with me, but I had a vague recollection of Brody being in my room the night before. Had I imagined him? Concurred him up in my mind? I looked down to see that I was still wearing the same clothes from the night before, but I had the mind to take off my shoes.

Slowly, I moved over to my chest of drawers and found my phone. I hated thinking that I was going to be late to work, but as I tried to focus on sending a message to my boss, I knew I wasn’t going to make it at all. I sent a message saying I wasn’t feeling well and put the phone down.

After taking a shower and letting the cold water rain on my face, I walked out of my bedroom feeling a bit better but not one hundred percent. I tried to think about what I had in my kitchen so I could make myself something to eat when I saw a figure on my couch, and I stopped in my tracks.

Brody was sound asleep on the couch with a blanket pulled over his shoulder. He was lying on his side with his mouth partially open. He wasn’t snoring, but then I had never known him to snore. I walked up to him slowly, enjoying the chance to look at him without him knowing. He was always an early riser, and I had never been able to watch him sleep.

There was a peacefulness, a calm about him that was so true to the man he was. He had seen so much in his life, but he didn’t let it affect him. He was a good friend, a smart businessman, and one of the best people I had ever met. I would be a fool to not be in love with him and want to do whatever I could to spend the rest of my life with him.

I quietly sat down on the coffee table next to the couch and touched his shoulder. He woke up immediately. He didn’t sit up, but his eyes were alert, and he looked around as he took in his surroundings. He relaxed and gave me a slow smile as he looked at me.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“My head is a little fuzzy, but I’m doing okay. I’m strangely hungry,” I admitted.

“That’s a good sign. Can I make you something?” he asked and made to get up.

I put my hand to stop him and shook my head. “It’s my place. I should make you something.”

“You’re in no condition to do it. I don’t mind,” he said.

“It’s okay. I have questions that are more pressing than my stomach.”

“Shoot,” he said and sat up on the couch. As he did, the blanket fell to his waist, and I saw he wasn’t wearing a shirt. I took a deep breath and looked into his eyes to see him smiling at me.

“How did I get home last night? I assume you brought me?”

“You fell asleep in the cab after we left Sally’s,” he said.

At the mention of Sally’s, I remembered going there the night before and what we had found out. I reached over and gripped his hand, and he squeezed it back.

“It was a rather eventful evening,” he said.

“How are you handling it?” I asked.

He squeezed my hand again but didn’t answer me right away. I didn’t push but waited for him to formulate his thoughts and words. It was a lot for me to take in and I hadn’t been nearly as involved with it as he had.

“It’s good. It’s a relief, but it doesn’t seem real. We have been living with and dealing with this for so long, and I had begun to accept that we were never going to catch him. He had avoided arrest for so long that I honestly thought he would get away with everything. To know that he isn’t, that he’s going away for the rest of his life, there’s a lot to take in. I keep thinking and worrying about Eric and Grace. How they must be feeling.”

“Did you check on them?” I asked.

“I talked to Eric briefly last night. He was more taking care of Grace, and her sisters were coming over to be with her. He and Grace are going to go up to Boston to tell his parents and are going to spend a few days up there.”

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