Page 6 of Whiskey & Honey
“Pipe, let me in.”
“No. Go away, Ash, please.”
I can’t do it. I cannot look at Ashton and see the disappointment in her eyes. I just made out with her brother. With Bentley Sullivan. That’s not even the problem. The problem is that I’m not sorry. I’ve waited my entire life for that moment. Blame the whiskey, blame the fact that my boyfriend has been cheating on me, blame it on the fucking rain. I don’t care. It was fantastic, and lord help me but I want to do it again.
The moment he started flirting with me I knew he had no idea who I was. That stung a little, but when I realized this was my only opportunity for a moment as someone other than his little sister’s best friend, I took it. And fuck me if it wasn’t worth every minute I’m going to spend lying to my best friend telling her it was awful.
His lips are like soft caramels I felt myself melting into. The moment his tongue touched mine I could feel it all the way to my toes. Of course, it took an excellent detour in my panties along the way. I feel something on my foot and look down.
“What are you doing, Ashton?”
“Well, if you aren’t going to let me in, I’m going to just crawl on this disgusting bathroom floor and under the stall door to get to you. It’s really gross down here, I’m going to need to talk to Taylor about this. Eww, is that pee?”
I open the stall door and laugh at the ridiculousness of this moment.
“I don’t think its pee; this is the women’s restroom. Get up, that’s gross,” I say as I tug at her hands to pull her up. I see the sympathy in her eyes and realize I maybe had one too many shots tonight as I burst into tears.
Ash gathers me in her arms and is rubbing my back as she tries to reassure me that she’ll deal with her asshole brother and make sure he never pulls a stunt like that again. For some reason this sets me off even more. Of course, she thinks it is because I’m upset about Tony, upset Ben just gave me the best kiss of my life, and I’m drunk. She’s got one thing right – I’m drunk.
“Ash, I need to go home. I’m sorry. I’ll get a cab and I’ll call you in the morning.”
“I understand. Let me walk you out and make sure you’re okay.”
We stop by the bar to grab my phone and Taylor lets us know he already called a cab for me. I attempt to open the compartment on my phone case that holds my debit card when Taylor waves me off from paying. I let Ash guide me out of the bar and say a little prayer I won’t see Ben along the way. The wait for my cab is minimal and once I’m inside Ashton heads back in to work and I head home.
Bentley Sullivan. Even thinking his name makes me touch my lips. I cannot believe the direction this night took. I went to Country Road because Tony was, is, a cheating bastard and I needed my best friend and booze. I never expected to have one of my teenage fantasies come true. Then real life resurfaced and now I find myself drunk in the back of a cab driven by the man who used to be the crosswalk attendant when we were kids regaling me with stories of his own drunken nights. Fabulous.
Mr. Denning pulls up to my apartment and argues with me over the fare before I agree to keep the money and take my mom for coffee instead. I wave goodbye and make my way up the stairs, sobering up a little with each step. I unlock my door and feel my phone vibrate in my hand. Once I make it in the door, lock the door behind me, and toss off my shoes I allow myself to look at the phone. It’s a text from Tony. Apparently I’m a glutton for punishment because I open the text.
Tony: What the fuck Piper!
As soon as my eyes finish reading his text I glance up to see what he’s talking about. Someone sent him the picture of Ben and me kissing with a comment. Oh shit, that’s funny. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge before I head to my bed and throw myself down on it. I can’t stop laughing. The idea of Tony receiving that text is more than I can handle. Imagining his face when he opened the picture throws me into a bigger fit of giggles.
I click on the picture so that it fills my screen and my heart flutters. Seeing the kiss sends my lips tingling at the memory. I’ve kissed my share of guys, not a boat load or anything but enough, and thought they were good kisses. But, I was wrong. Those kisses, in fact all the kisses before Bentley Sullivan, were mediocre at best.
This time in response to Tony’s text I power off my phone and crawl under the covers, not even bothering to change my clothes. I fall asleep to the memories of Ben’s voice, his hands on my face, and his soft lips. I’ll deal with the repercussions tomorrow.
Tomorrow is minutes after I fall asleep, or so it seems. I am jarred awake by a banging on my door. I glance at the clock to see it’s eight in the morning. Shit, I missed boot camp. This can’t have come as a surprise to Ash considering my state when she put me in the cab. I throw back the covers and slowly make my way to the front door. I open the door to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and a greasy bag of goodness.
“You are a goddess,” I say to Ash as she pushes past me and straight to my small living space. I live in a small apartment so I have very little furniture, but have managed to make it homey and mine.
“Yes, well that is always the case, but today I have to say I’m in agreement. You look like death and smell like you slept in a bed of whiskey.” Offering me a smirk, she hands me a coffee and a bag that is already sporting grease stains from the piece of heaven I know waits for me. A breakfast burrito from Rosa’s.
“Please tell me this is the meat lover’s,” I mutter as I stuff my face with the deliciousness.
“Of course. I know you and what you need after whiskey. I’ll give you a minute to devour that burrito and maybe shower before we talk about my brother’s attack on your poor mouth.”
I guess it was wishful thinking to assume Ash would let this go. I take another bite of my burrito before rolling it back up and putting it in the bag. I set the bag in the fridge and head toward the bathroom. I recognize I haven’t responded and I’m sure Ash will think it is because I’m upset about the kiss. The reality of it all is that I need to get my game face on. There is no way I can tell her it wasn’t an attack. That I welcomed it and wouldn’t turn down an opportunity for it to happen again. Ash is a lot of things, but I know for a fact she wouldn’t be okay with me having a thing for her brother.
I turn on the water and strip off last night’s clothes. As soon as the water hits my skin I feel the tingles everywhere. I stand under the hotter-than-normal water for a few minutes before slipping in my shower routine. Once I am sufficiently free of last night’s ick and the lingering smell of whiskey I towel off and wipe the mirror of the steam.
Looking back at me is a tired girl who is losing herself in these loser guys she’s been dating. I shake off the pitiful thoughts as quickly as I let them surface. I brush my teeth – twice. And manage to feel more human by the time I put on some lounge wear and grab my phone off my nightstand. I make my way out to the living room and plug my phone in before powering it up.
Ash is in the kitchenette washing my dishes. That girl cannot go a day without cleaning something. It’s almost compulsive but beneficial to those she loves. My phone is just powered up when she flops herself on the couch next to me and my phone starts going off with every type of alert available. Text messages, voicemail, e-mail notification, and private messages. I groan as I start with text messages. Three more from Tony, two from Ash this morning, and one from an unknown number.
I delete all of Tony’s without reading them. I laugh at Ash’s texts and hit her with the pillow.
“Really? I’m the asswipe for missing boot camp? You are the bartender that got me drunk!”