He rolls his eyes, dragging a hand through his hair, flexing his arm in the process. “It’s just a pet name. It doesn’t mean anything,” he says, seeming unfazed by their reactions.
Ellie stands up, opening her mouth, but quickly closes it as she sways, her face going white as a sheet.
“Oh shit,” Dylan swears, moving for her faster than I can. “Bathroom?” he asks, looking at me, and I point down the hall.
“She has her own bathroom in her room,” I say, and Dylan quickly ushers her that direction. I grimace as the door shutsbehind them, grabbing the blanket draped over the back of the couch to cover Macy with it. She’ll probably wake up in the middle of the night to move to her room, but I don’t want her to get cold.
I stand, waiting to see if the room starts spinning, but so far, there’s only the happy, warm feeling that comes with being drunk. “Do I need to worry about you getting sick?” Jack asks as I reach for my half-full glass of wine and Ellie’s empty one to put them in the sink.
“The room isn’t spinning,” I say, walking past him, but when I turn around to grab the empty bottles and Macy’s glass. Jack is right behind me, having already gotten them. “Thanks, you didn’t have to help.”
“C’mon, you look tired. Let’s get you to bed,” he says, and while it’s already what I was planning on doing, the fact that Jack is telling me to makes me not want to go to bed.
“What if I don’t want to?” I ask, staring up at him defiantly.
“Al.”
“Jack.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his pretty blue eyes. “You’re gonna give me a headache. Let’s go.”
“You’re not the boss of me,” I argue, but I don’t even know why I’m fighting with him.
“Are you going to throw up?”
I blink, confused why he’s asking again. “I already told you no, I’m not going to throw up.” I realize why when he bends down and lifts me over his shoulder as if I weigh nothing. “Oh my god. Jack!”
He laughs, his grip tightening on the back of my thighs. “What?”
“You can’t just pick me up and throw me over your shoulder like a freaking caveman,” I protest, and a part of me wishes I was on the verge of throwing up so I could vomit on him. I guessthe muscles in his arms serve a purpose beyond just making him look good.
“You know, you don’t have to argue with me all the time,” Jack says, opening the door to my room. “Is this going to be a regular thing? Me taking care of you when you’re drunk?”
I reach down, pinching his butt, and he barks out a laugh. “I didn’t ask you to come over and check on us.”
“No, but you should be thanking me because now Dylan is helping Ellie instead of you,” he says, setting me gently on the bed.
“What about Macy?” I ask, and Jack shrugs.
“I think she’s fine on the couch.”
I frown, crossing my arms over my chest. “That’s rude.”
“How is it rude?” he asks, reaching to turn on my lamp, filling the room with a soft glow.
“Because you’re in here taking care of me, Dylan’s taking care of Ellie, and no one is taking care of Macy. Why aren’t you taking care of Macy?”
The corners of Jack’s mouth tilt up in a smile. “If you’d stop finding reasons to fight with me, I’d tell you how I’m going to step out of the room to get you water and check on Macy who looked pretty damn peaceful on the couch, so you can get changed into pajamas.”
Goddamn, how is he so nice? “You were going to check on Macy?” I ask, reaching up to pull my hair out of the clip it’s in, my curls spilling down.
“Yeah,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“Do you like her?” I ask, my mouth apparently lacking a filter, and despite the fact I spent all night with Ellie and Macy on the hunt for a girlfriend for Jack, I don’t want him to like Macy. I don’t know why because Jack is once again proving to me what a nice guy he is, and Macy deserves a nice guy, but I don’t want it to be him.
“Al, I’m not interested in Macy,” he says, and I nod, adjusting to sit in a crisscross position.
“Right,” I drawl, mimicking his accent. “You’re not interested in anyone. Maybe you just haven’t found the yee to your haw.” I yawn again, and Jack laughs, shaking his head at me.
