you? Because I do remember a lot of puking that night.”
“You didn’t puke over me. I managed to get you home without you tossing your cookies in my car, too—though it was a close thing.”
“You drove me home?”
He gave a self-deprecating shrug. “I couldn’t leave you giggling like a loon in the MacDonald’s parking lot. I put my sweatshirt on you to keep you warm, and I took you home. Made sure you were okay.”
“I don’t remember the ride home,” she said. “Or much of what happened after—except the vomiting marathon.” She shuddered. “That I remember.” She closed her eyes for a moment, struggling against the blurry memories. “You carried me inside.”
“Yeah.” He fisted a hand through his hair, dipping his chin. “You kept calling me Henry Higgins.”
Her bottom lip wobbled. “And held my hair back in the bathroom?”
“You would’ve ended up face-first in the toilet bowl.”
She held up a hand. “Don’t joke about it, Glen. What you did was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
He studied her intensely and shook his head. “Making sure you didn’t hurt yourself shouldn’t be on your list of sweetest things a man has done for you.”
“Yet it is.” The warmth in her belly flared upward to her face and squeezed her throat closed until it was almost impossible to swallow. “I don’t remember much about that night, but I remember how I felt with you. Cared for. Safe. And I kept your sweatshirt for years. It was my favorite.”
Tears prickled the corners of her eyes but she blinked them away. She covered the distance between them and laced her fingers behind his neck. Resting her forehead on his shoulder, she breathed him in—fresh male sweat and whatever addictive pheromones were added to his deodorant.
His hands smoothed her shirt against her upper back, the touch making her want to purr.
“You still are safe with me.” He sighed and encircled her in a huge bear hug, resting his chin against her temple. “I thought you were asking for Liam, once the feel-good-euphoria of alcohol wore off.”
Sav frowned. “You did?”
Stubble scraped her skin as he nodded. “Yeah. You kept saying, ‘Where is he? Why didn’t he come?’ The last thing you said to me after I poured you into your bed was, ‘I thought he loved me.’”
“I wasn’t talking about Liam. I would’ve meant my dad. Liam was out with his mates.”
“Figured that out now.” He kissed her hair. “But on that night, I was furious Liam hadn’t been looking after you.”
“How long did you stay with me?”
The muscles in his neck tensed beneath her fingers. “Long enough to leave a note to your mum that you’d been out drinking and you were sleeping it off. When I heard the garage door open, I left via the back door. You would be in enough trouble without her catching a boy in your bedroom.”
She snorted a laugh against his chest, tugging the short strands of hair at his nape. “So it was you who got me grounded for the next three months.”
“You deserved it.” He smacked her on the butt. “And I wanted to make sure she kept an eye on you for the rest of the night.”
“You signed the note a friend. She showed it to me the next day while lecturing on the evils of drinking and running around with boys. Normally, I would’ve given her the smartass teenage response of I can look after myself, but after I saw the bruises…” She looped her arms around his waist. “I realized how much trouble I could’ve been in if this friend hadn’t cared about me.”
Glen swallowed again, another dry click, and his hand stroked down her ponytail, tugging gently to tilt up her face. He kissed her, taking his sweet time about it, doing a fine job of turning her insides to hot mush. Her skin on fire as his tongue skimmed along hers, it was a wonder the few spots of rain falling on her bare arms didn’t sizzle.
Enjoy the sizzle while it lasts, a little voice hissed from a black corner of her brain. Your new life in L.A. starts soon, and Glen’s not part of the package.
All at once, the delicious warmth enveloping her felt like tiny, hot needles shoved into her eyes, and she stiffened, nasal passages thick and burning.
Glen pulled back, and they stared at each other in agonizing silence. Then he cast a thoughtful glance to the sky.
“We should make our way back. The rain’s getting