Page 63

“Next time you miss, you take a shot.” She rolled her bottom lip and nodded.

Naturally, Alyssa missed.

“I’m determined to get this,” she huffed as Ben poured more tequila. She brought it to her lips and paused. “This isn’t fair. You never miss!”

He smirked. “I’ll take one with you each time.”

“Good,” she said and downed the shot. Three shots and they were hitting her all at once. Maybe she should have eaten, but she hadn’t had much of an appetite since everything happened, so it didn’t cross her mind.

Over the next hour, each time Ben helped Alyssa, he touched her somewhere. Her body was warming up and she felt herself leaning into him more. Instead of taking shots each time she missed, they turned it into a game and whoever lost had to drink. She’d finally won one game but then lost two other. Tequila infused her blood stream and she didn’t have a care in the world. Ben made her laugh with his comments and she was having a blast. It was just what she needed.

Alyssa could feel Ben’s gaze on her many times and even though she shouldn’t like it, she found herself becoming more aroused. The tequila made her giggly and turned on.

“Okay. No more darts. Let’s arm wrestle,” she slurred. “I’m just getting worse by the second.”

Ben gave her a droll stare and pulled out a cigarette. “I’ll beat you in two seconds flat.”

“You know,” she propped her hands on her hips, “you’re supposed to let me win.”

“Because you’re a girl? That’s not how it works in the real world, baby. When you want something you gotta take it.”

She was pretty drunk and didn’t acknowledge his baby comment. Alyssa pulled out a chair and sat down with her arm poised and ready. Ben shrugged and sat down, placing his cigarette in the ashtray.

“You ready to lose?” she taunted. A slow smile spread across his face and she stared at his lip ring, again. That thing was sexy as hell. Her cheeks flushed when Ben cupped her hand with his tightly and met his eyes. Glossy, slightly pink with heavy eyelids. She probably had the same look going on.

“On the count of three.” She nodded.

“One … two … three.”

That’s all it took for Ben to win. Three seconds. “Hey! I wasn’t ready!” she lied, and he laughed. He took another puff of his cigarette and put it down. Alyssa swiped it and took a puff herself. She wasn’t a smoker, but she wasn’t a tequila drinker either. Inhaling, the smoke made her instantly light headed. She wasn’t expecting that. It heightened her drunk high and she became really intoxicated.

“Welllll …” she said. “I think I’m high. And really drunk.”

“From a cigarette?”

Alyssa didn’t know why, but she found his comment really funny and chuckled. “Okay. One more time, but I get to use two hands.”

His mouth dropped open. “That’s cheating!”

“You gotta give me something!”

“Fine. One game and you get two hands. If you don’t win, two more shots.”

They tasted like water at this point. “Oh! You are so bad,” she slurred.

“You have no idea, baby. Now let’s do this.” Ben put his hand up and she cupped it with both hands. Looking him dead in the eyes, she said, “On my count.” He nodded. “One … two … three …”

Alyssa put everything into winning, and she actually was. Ben’s other hand was gripping the table, his knuckles were turning white. She started slipping off the chair as she leaned to the side and tried to pull his hand down. Just when she was about to hit the table, he swung to the other side and pressed her hand down and won. She fell off the chair and came face to face with his carpet.

“Oh my Goddd,” she laughed from the ground.

“You’re a mess,” Ben said, bending down and hooking an arm around her waist.

“A hot mess is the correct term.” He lifted her up but she forgot to use her legs and fell back down. She was a hot mess for sure.

“Now I know what that saying means.”

“What saying?” he asked, picking her up and bringing her back to his chest. He turned and propped her up against the wall using his body to hold her up as he poured another shot on the table next to them. Ben’s body felt incredibly good against hers and she almost sighed as she pressed into him.