She moved closer, and he saw the soft pout of her lower lip.
“I-I always thought you were the m-most hanshome of them all.”
He almost felt sorry for her then. Sorry that she was giving him plenty of ammunition for when she sobered up and annoyed him again. Because that was how things worked between him and Hope Lawrence.
“You think I’m hot, Hope?”
She closed the distance between them, and he smelled the alcohol.
“Ssssseriously hot. Thash why I always annoyed you.”
“What’s my best feature?” he said, enjoying himself way too much, even though his eye throbbed like a bitch.
“Ffface is good, but your b-body….” She made a humming noise that went straight through Newman and settled in his groin. Weird. He’d never, not once felt a spark of interest for this woman.
“I-I shometimes wanted to messss you up.”
“Pardon?”
“Neat,” Hope said, squinting at him. “Wwway too neat and matching.”
“You wanted to mess me up because my clothes are coordinated?”
She nodded.
“Not everyone has your flair for 1980s punk, Hope.”
Her eyes crossed as she looked at his nose.
“I can’t believe you only had a few drinks. You’re a lightweight.”
“I-I can h-handle it.”
“Sure you can. A real trooper is what you are,” Newman said as she slumped forward into his lap.
When the cab stopped he paid the driver, hauled Hope out, and stood her upright.
“D-don’t f-feel good.”
“You being such a hardened drinker and all,” Neman muttered, swinging her up and into his arms.
He walked through the lobby to the elevator, ignoring the curious looks. Juggling her weight, he freed a hand and slapped the elevator buttons.
“F-feel sick.”
“No you don’t,” Newman said seconds later as he stepped out of the elevator. “You throw up on me and we’re going to have trouble.” Finding his key, he let himself into his room and kicked the door shut behind him.
Lowering Hope to the bed, he looked down at her. She did have a green tinge, and was sweating. “Bathroom,” he said, reaching for her. As the word left his mouth, she threw up… all over him.
“Well fuck.” Newman walked them into his bathroom and stripped down to his shorts. Then he stripped her, as she smelled no better. Turning the shower on, he marched her inside.
“Just as well you didn’t get down to those, you’d have incited a frenzy of lust in those guys then,” Newman muttered. She wore men’s stretchy white boxer shorts and a shabby gray bra with a strap just hanging on by a couple of threads.
“Stay still,” Newman ordered as she started to wriggle.
He washed them both, then shut off the water and wrapped her in a towel. Lifting her into his arms, he took her back to the bed and laid her on it. Then got himself dressed into shorts and a T-shirt.
“I-I ssh-should have known h-he did-n’t want me. He ruined my l-life!”
