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“Thanks,” she says, pulling it on before holding out a hand. “Can I have my pants, now?”
I hand them to her and she bends over to tug them on over her legs. I look away, but not before I get a flash of what might be the most perfect ass I’ve ever seen.
“Home?” Rob laughs, folding his arms across his chest so he can look down his nose at her. “You live forty-five minutes away, Cari.”
“So?” she says defiantly.
“So, I’m not driving you,” he says, like she’s being petty and childish for even suggesting it. “So, have fun walking.”
Dressed, she turns to look at me. “Do you have a car?”
I stifle a sigh. “Yes.”
She gathers her mass of thick, wavy hair and pulls it back into a ponytail. “Will you drive me home?”
I have class in less than four hours. This girl lives forty-five minutes away. Ninety-minutes round trip, minimum. I should be sleeping. I have a test I can’t afford to miss. The last thing I should be doing is getting in the middle of this shit but then I make a mistake. I look at her. Really look at her. She’s beautiful, yeah—but she’s also desperate and drunk. If I say no, she’ll ask every guy in this house to take her home. As much as I’d like to believe that she’d get home safely, I wouldn’t bet on it.
“Please,” she says, “I can’t stay here.”
Fuck.
“Cari, if you leave with him, it’s over,” Rob fumes from the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. “I won’t take you back.”
She doesn’t answer him. She just stands there, her wide, blue gaze fixed on my face, waiting for my answer.
If I do this, it won’t just be back-handed insults and passive-aggressive shit-talk anymore. It’ll be all-out war between us. Not because Rob’s an asshole and we don’t like each other. Because, after what he saw in the kitchen, he’s intimidated by me. Doesn’t want his girl anywhere near me or my sidekick, no matter how much of a pussy he thinks I am.
I’d be lying if I say I didn’t like the way that feels.
I pass a rough hand over my face while ignoring the daggers Rob is staring at me. “Alright—let me get dressed.