“I’d like that, Garrett.”
We turned the corner and were walking down the hall leading to my apartment when I heard a sound.
“Christ…really?”
Those words came from a voice I recognized.
My head snapped up to see him sitting on the floor, half asleep against the door of my apartment.
“Is that who I think it is?” Garrett asked.
“Yeah,” I mumbled. I made my way to the slumped body on the floor. “Chase, what are you doing here?”
As I bent down to help him up, I was overcome by the smell of alcohol coming from him. Garrett went to his other side to help as well.
“Get your fucking hands off me, asshole,” Chase said, pushing Garrett away. His words slurred as he stumbled from our hold, and he fell against the wall. “I don’t need your help.”
Yet he did because he couldn’t stand on his own.
I was at a loss as to what to do with him, especially since his brother was out of town.
“I was waiting for you, babe,” he said, still slurring his words. “We need to talk, remember?”
Garrett didn’t flinch at Chase’s comment, but I knew there would be questions. Instead, he helped me get him inside my apartment. Once we had him settled on the couch, he stepped back to assess the situation.
“Let me go pay the Uber,” Garrett said. “I’ll be right back.”
As soon as he walked out the door, Chase pulled me onto his lap. His hands groped me, and I could tell he was extremely intoxicated.
“I thought he’d never leave. I’ve been waiting for you for hours, where the hell have you been? Out withhimthis whole time?Garrett?”
I pushed myself from his hold, which wasn’t hard to do in his state. My mind was reeling from his words. And his actions.
What the hell?
When I looked back at him, his eyes were closed as if he’d fallen asleep.
“Chase, why do you do this all the time?” I asked, almost rhetorically. I didn’t think he was even conscious.
But he heard me. His voice was quiet. “Do what, Mare?”
I turned to him, and his eyes were sad behind all the bloodshot-ness.
“You always find a way to ruin what’s working in our lives,” I said before peeling myself from his hold.
Before he had a chance to respond, if he was even planning to, Garrett barged back into the apartment.
“So, what’s the plan? Do we have a way of getting him home?” he asked.
That was the big question. The problem was, I didn’t have an answer. I began scrolling through my phone, hoping a namewould pop up that would give me inspiration, but bottom line, Chase and I didn’t run in the same circles. The only name that kept coming to mind was Mitch, but I didn’t have his personal number.
But Chase did.
I reached for his phone in the pocket of his jeans, but of course, it was locked.
“Chase.” I was prodding him, trying to wake him up. “Chase, look at your phone.”
“Huh?” he said, and his eyes opened just enough for his phone to unlock.
