“No chance,” I said, venturing to sit at the edge of the bed while Holden lay sprawled out.
Christ, what am I doing?
But I was tired of asking that question. Tired of the answer beingnothing.
“Let me try some of that vodka.”
He arched a brow. “Getting adventurous?”
“I feel like I’ve come this far, sitting in a stranger’s house, drinking their beer…”
“Spilling your guts to another, better-looking stranger?”
“You don’t feel like a stranger anymore.”
Holden’s knowing grin faltered. He offered me his flask. “Then don’t stop now.”
“Ah, shit. I have to drive.”
“I’ll call James to take you home. You can pick your truck up in the morning.”
My old walls and protections battled with the heated recklessness of the night. Of the secrets Holden and I had divulged and the private pain we shared.
It’s not real life. It’s a time-out. Tomorrow, I have to go back, but tonight…
I took the flask and tilted it back. The vodka burned a path down my throat, and I coughed, my eyes watering.
“Smooth,” I croaked, and Holden laughed.
The liquor warmed me from the inside out, loosening my rules and regulations. The part of me I kept shut down was waking up, coming back to life.
Holden Parish sat beside me on the bed, beautiful and dangerous, his green eyes glittering in the moonlight.
Be careful.
I drained the flask and handed it back.
Fuck being careful.
Holden tipped his empty flask upside down and arched a brow at me. “Do you have something to say for yourself, Whitmore?”
“Yeah,” I said, grinning. “Let’s get wasted.”
***
Laughing and stumbling into each other, we refilled the flask, this time with the Sridhars’ hundred-year-old whiskey. Holden said it was primo, but it burned just as badly going down as the vodka. Holden messed with the stereo again, and Prince’s “When Doves Cry” filtered through the warm night.
We went back to the patio where my discarded tux jacket lay in a heap on the ground. A strange exhilaration flooded me, making me warm all over. Though drunk as shit, I feltawake. More awake than I had in years.
I stood up and tore off my tie, then began unbuttoning my shirt. Holden watched me from his lounger, his eyes widening.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t know.” I took off my shirt and yanked off my pants. “No, fuck that, Idoknow. I’m going to swim.”
“Now?”
“Right now.”
