Page 5 of The Naughty List

“Meh.” She shrugs. “I mean yes I am but there was an incident that kind of changed things.” She leans forward and whispers the last part, resting her hand on my thigh. I instantly flex against her warm touch. I’d give anything to have her keep going. She glances down, though, almost as soon as it happens and looks at her hand and then back up at me, her eyes dropping down to my lips. The moment feels charged, sexy even, but then she jerks her hand back.

“Tell me,” I say.

“My ex, Chad. He’s going to be there.”

“Well, first off, that’s the problem right there… Chad? That’s a frat boy douchebag name. Chad, Derek, Kyle—they’ll break your heart and leave you with an STD.” She snorts. “Wait, your ex will be at your family Christmas?” I wrinkle my nose at the thought.

“Yeah, we dated for three years and my family loved him. They had every right to; he’s great, really he is. He just ended things kind of abruptly last year right before Christmas and yeah, my family still loves him.”

“That’s fucked up, Kate. You know that, right? Do they know it bothers you?”

She waves her hand sloppily at me. “It’s fine. I’m not gonna make a big deal out of it. Should be fun to meet his new girlfriend.”

“He’s bringing his new girlfriend?” I know I sound like a gossipy middle schooler but who the hell does that to their daughter?

“Yeah. I think he might have cheated on me with her ’cause they were always just friends.” She uses dramatic air quotes while rolling her eyes. “Whatever, it’s fine.” She waves me off again but I’m seething. I know I have no right; she’s not mine and our relationship is a dumpster fire most of the time, but there’s still a protective feeling I have toward her.

“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to drive you home.”

“What?” She tumbles forward off her stool and I catch her.

“I’m taking you home to your family’s Christmas. Like you said, it’s my fault you don’t have a way to get there now so I’m going to fix this.”

“No, I can’t let you—” I hold my finger up to hush her lips; they’re soft and pillowy and I regret it as soon as our skin touches.

But instead of pulling away, I run my finger along her lip before pushing her hair behind her ear. Her big eyes are fixated on mine. I grip the tip of her chin with my thumb and pointer finger and pull her just a tad closer.

“I’m taking you home and that’s final, Miss Flowers.”

2

KATE

I wake to the sound of loud pounding.

“What the hell happened?” I can’t figure out if the pounding is in my head or coming from the front door. I lift my head off my pillow and my stomach rolls. I look down my body and see that I’m still in Marge’s outfit and there’s an awful taste in my mouth. I groan and drop my head back on my pillow just as the banging sounds again.

“Kate! Open the door, Kate!” The voice is muffled but I can still distinctly make out who it is.

Confused, I climb out of bed and stumble through my bedroom and toward the front door. I pull it open, greeted by an overly chipper Damon Wells.

“What are you doing here? How—how do you even know where I live?” He looks me up and down and laughs before pushing past me inside.

“I’m guessing you don’t remember anything about last night?”

“Oh God, what happened last night?” My hands shoot up to cover my face and my stomach rolls again.

“You okay?” he asks as he steps around me, toward my kitchen. He grabs a glass off the counter and fills it with water before handing it to me.

I take it from him, eyeing him suspiciously as I drink it. The coolness instantly helps to calm my stomach. I need something for this pounding headache.

“Sit, I’ll make you some toast so you can take Advil. Got any juice?” he asks as he shrugs out of his coat and places it on the back of one of my barstools.

“Again, while I appreciate all this,” I say, making a circling hand gesture, “what are you doing here?”

“You really don’t remember anything about last night?” he asks again through a laugh as he pours me some orange juice and hands it to me. “I found you at Franklin Tap after work; you were already a few cocktails deep and after some pleasantries exchanged between us, you started ordering double shots of tequila. But not before you explained everything about your car to me and that because of me you had no way home to spend Christmas with your family so I said I was taking you home and you agreed.”

I spit the orange juice out of my mouth which simultaneously comes out my nose in the process. I grab a paper towel and bury my face in it, trying to minimize my embarrassment.

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