to accompany us home.”
“It means ‘Why you leavin’?’” she slurred from her seat at the bar.
Drew looked to Carter, who stood behind her like he was the Alpha and a member of his pack had gone astray. “How much did she have to drink?”
Carter shrugged but seemed more concerned than he’d been when we’d come over.
“I wasn’t counting,” he said. “I was busy trying to convince that blonde over there to be my plus one to Aamee’s party.”
I squeezed my forehead before running a hand down the side of my face in frustration. Fucking Carter. I wrapped an arm around Taylor’s chest and gave her a hug.
“Come on. Time to call it a night.”
“Bachsa orpham!” she snapped, pushing my hand off her but standing with some help from Drew. She was a mess, and I knew there was little chance she’d remember any of this tomorrow. I’d have to film it.
Since Taylor was in such rough shape, Drew called for an Uber to take us the few blocks home, and he helped her up the stairs and into bed.
“She’s sleeping,” he said when he came out of my room. “I took her shoes off, but you might wanna take her jacket or jeans off so she’s more comfortable.”
I nodded, unsure of whether to go deal with Taylor or stay with Drew. The latter definitely seemed more appealing, but the friend in me overruled that urge.
“I guess I’ll go make sure she’s okay and then get ready for bed,” I said.
We were standing a few feet apart, and I wanted to close the distance completely, wanted to be as close to him as possible. Even closer than when I’d been wrapped around him at the club. But things felt different back in the apartment. In the darkness of the club, we’d been honest. Vulnerable even. But in the apartment, the spell was broken, and I had no idea how to get it back.
The harsh lights in the living room shone around us, and I suddenly wished we could go back to the darkness of the club, where we were just two souls who could count on each other instead of two people who needed something from each other.
“You going to sleep soon?” I asked.
Drew looked at the couch for a second before turning his attention back to me. “I’m going to try, though I’m kind of wired.”
“Yeah. It was a crazy night.”
“That’s one way to describe it.”
We stood there awkwardly for a second, both of us fidgeting restlessly, before I decided to put us out of our misery. “I guess I’ll go check on Taylor.”
He nodded, and I flashed him a small smile before hightailing it to my room. Once I was inside the bedroom, I closed the door behind me and sank back against it. My brain was a jumble of emotions, and I wasn’t sure how I was ever going to parse through any of them.
The night had been intense. What I needed to do was go to bed and think about all this shit when I had a clearer head. Nothing good would come out of obsessing over things tonight.
I moved away from the door, did the best I could to make Taylor comfortable, and then got myself ready for bed. All that was left was to go into the bathroom so I could wash my face and brush my teeth.
When I reached the bedroom door, I leaned forward and rested my head against it. Closing the door had been like sealing Drew off—separating him from me figuratively as well as physically. Opening it felt…overwhelming.
This was ridiculous. I’d go out there, use the bathroom, and then go right to bed. I’d wake up tomorrow ready to move forward and forget all about tonight. My hand gripped the doorknob and turned.
As soon as I was out in the hall, my chest grew heavy, as if I were harboring thousands of butterflies in there. It was then that I wondered how I was supposed to move forward when every fiber of my being wanted to rewind to an hour ago when I’d been in Drew’s arms.
D R E W
When Sophia had gone into the bedroom, I’d plopped down on the couch with my head in my hands. The night had been draining, but it had somehow been energizing too. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to sleep for days or scale a building. It probably didn’t help that my body was used to being up late on Saturdays because of