“I do not!” I protested adamantly. Maybe a little too adamantly.
“Sweetie, you just did.”
I watched as Zoe shook her head slowly. What a bitch! She might have been right, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be reminded. I didn’t need to be.
“Where’s he gone, anyway?”
“He said he had some stuff to take care of.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, he was kinda vague, but then again he’s been acting really weird over the last couple of days. Who knows, really.”
I couldn’t help but be curious. “So, what time tonight? And more importantly, what do I bring?”
Zoe smiled the widest, cheesiest grin I’d ever seen. She knew she’d won. “About seven? You bring the ice cream, I’ll get the wine.”
“Sounds perfect.”
I didn’t realize how much I wanted to do it until the words left my mouth. It really did sound fun. Just what I needed. A night of laughs, good company, good wine, and hopefully a few hot men on TV.
A moment later I stepped out into the sunshine feeling lighter than I had in weeks and headed for the tram stop. I wanted to get home and cleaned up, maybe even have a nana nap before I headed to Zoe’s. It’d been a confusing few weeks, and it felt like my head was in the clouds most of the time. Like I was caught in a fog and I couldn’t fight my way out. It was annoying as hell. Between Derek’s vague messages and Josie hiding from me, I wasn’t having a good run. Right now though, I was determined to push all the negativity aside and deal with one thing at a time. Tonight was all about having fun and laughing. My problems would still be there tomorrow, I’d deal with them then.
It was almost midnight. We’d polished off half a carton of ice cream and two bottles of wine. I’ll admit I was more than a little tipsy. We’d drooled over Channing Tatum’s G-string clad booty and giggled our way through dating horror stories. It was perfect, really. Exactly what the doctor ordered.
“Zoe! Zoe! Hey Zoe!” I snapped my fingers in front of her glazed over eyes. She was having more than a little trouble focusing.
“Yeah?”
“Come on. Let me help you get in bed, then I’ll get out of here.”
Zoe didn’t say a word. Instead she wobbled to her feet, her shin connecting with the corner of the glass coffee table. As quick as I could manage on my unstable feet, I dashed to her side and wrapped my arm around her waist, half carrying, half dragging her towards her room. We made it. Just. With our arms draped around each other, we made it to her bed and both fell with a squeal onto the soft mattress.
“Ugh!”
“You all right now?”
Her answer was muffled and incoherent. Yanking the blankets over her, I fell back against the wall and heard a loud, unladylike snore echo through the room. She was out for the count. Knocking my elbow against the door frame, I stumbled out the door. I dug my phone from its hidey hole in my bra.
“Whatta ya doing?”
“Tinkerbell?”
“Heya sexy.”
“Sexy, huh? You been drinking, Mia?”
“Maybe!”
“Maybe? Where you at, pretty girl?”
I looked around the room. It took a minute for me to figure out where I was, and then I felt the smile tug at my lips. “Standing in your bedroom.”
I heard the coughing fit down the phone. “Shit, Mia! You can’t say stuff like that to me,” he groaned.
Moving aimlessly around Derek’s room, I could smell him everywhere. I trailed my fingers over his shirts where they hung in his closet. It was wrong. I knew that. I shouldn’t have gone in there without him. Uninvited. I was intruding on his personal space.
“Well, I gotta go. Just rang to say hey.’
