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I turn around to go the other way, but I feel disoriented. Lost. My body feels heavy.
How much alcohol was in that drink?
I feel a hand on me, but I am slow to react as I try to shake it off. Gruff McGee stands in front of me again.
“Hey, can you not hold your liquor? Maybe I should take you back to my place. Let you sleep it off.” His breath smells likepepperoni and cigarettes. I want to curl away from him, and I may be doing that, but I can’t tell.
My vision is tunneling, I feel dizzy. I need to get some fresh air. What was I doing? I was doing something. Why am I so tired?
My legs move. I’m not sure if I am doing that, or maybe I am floating. Why am I floating?
A sudden burst of cool air hits my face, and I feel myself take a deep breath. The sound around me… I can’t make out which direction it’s coming from or what it is. Is it cars? I think I hear people. Where am I going?
“Ronnie,” I think I say. It sounds like me, but I can barely hear my voice.
My eyes are getting heavy. My head feels tired.
“Shit,” I hear a voice say.
And then the darkness comes.
Chapter Twelve
TRISTAN
“Shit.”My arms reach out to the beautiful woman with whom I locked eyes the moment she walked into this bar. And now she is passed out in them.
Where the hell is the girl she was with?
Pulling out my phone, I send a quick text to my driver to take me back to our suite at the Encore. I place my arm under her legs and lift her up. I look around for a purse or something that she would carry with her, but the seats are empty. My phone buzzes in my back pocket, and I know that’s my driver.
I walk out to a Black Escalade parked right out front of the bar, and Kenneth, my driver, gets out and opens the back door for me.
“Everything okay, Evans?” He narrows his eyes at the woman in my arms.
“No. Either she had a shit load of pre-gaming elsewhere, or her drink was drugged.” I gently slide her in and buckle her before running to the other side and sitting next to her.
Kenneth jumps in the front seat and looks up at me in the rearview. “Was she with anyone? Do we need to wait?”
“She was with a friend, but that friend disappeared. Let’s just get her back to the room, and we can call Doc. Are the others back yet?” I ask as I look over at her. I pull her toward me, her head leaning on my shoulder.
Her lips make a pouty shape, and I can see a couple of light freckles on her nose as we pass under the streetlights. Anger flares inside me for whoever did this and for that friend who was supposed to watch out for her.
I shouldn’t have taken my eyes off her. But I didn’t want to seem like a stalker.
I guess stalker was the least of her worries and would have kept her from this fucking issue.
Running a hand down my face, I let out a sigh. I watch the strip start to come into view as we get closer to the Encore. Once we pull up to the valet and drop-off area, I jump out of the Escalade and run over to her side before Kenneth can even throw the car in park. I swing the door open and quickly unbuckle her, sliding my arms under her neck and legs.
Kenneth shows up beside me as I slide her out. “What do you need me to do, Evans?”
“Call Doc and have him meet me up in the suite, like now,” I yell back at him as I waste no time getting her up to the room.
Thankfully, the doors are being held open as people see me carrying her toward them. I rush her inside and to the penthouse and suite elevators, setting her down as I reach for my wallet and hold it in front of the sensor. The doors immediately open. Picking her up, I carry her into the elevator.
When the doors open to the suite several floors up, I take her straight back to my room. I softly lay her in the bed and pull out my phone. There’s a text from Kenneth letting me know that Dr. Asher Nichols is on his way over and that he will bring him up when he gets here.
I throw my phone back in my pocket and head out into the rest of the suite, looking to see if the guys have come back from celebrating yet. Walking past the living room and heading into the media room, I see it’s empty.