Page 32 of East

He’s looking at me, disappointed in me.

Well, Aus, if you’d been around, I wouldn’t have had to drink so much, wouldn’t have gone home with⁠—

Wait.

I drank a lot.

Two drinks is usually my limit. I had three, and that martini was super strong.

I… I shouldn’t be doing this.

I’m still insatiably horny, but I shouldn’t be sleeping with a man I don’t even know when my mind is so clouded.

I break my lips from Wick’s.

“Everything okay, pretty thing?” he asks.

“First of all, my name’s Thea,” I say. “I appreciate the compliments, but you haven’t addressed me by my name since we met.” I sigh. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I just… I don’t think I should be doing this.”

Wick cocks his head. “Why?”

“I… I had a lot to drink, I guess. I don’t think my judgment is great right now. I don’t want to hook up with a guy when I’m not in the right mind. I’ll get too in my own head about it. It won’t be any fun for you, either.”

He narrows his eyes. “I assure you it will be.”

“Well, either way. I’m sorry, but I’m not comfortable sleeping with you tonight. I don’t think it’s the right move, for me or for you.”

Wick starts to roll his eyes but then stops. He sighs. “All right. I won’t say I’m thrilled, but it’s fine.” He checks his watch. “It’s getting pretty late. You can crash here if you want tonight.”

“I can just get an Uber.” I grab my phone out of my purse, try to turn it on. “Fuck. Battery’s dead. Do you have a charger?”

“Yeah, let me get one.” He gets up off the couch and starts riffling through a drawer in a nearby side table.

My phone is old, though. When its battery dies, it takes a solid half hour of charging before I can even turn it on. I should have replaced it a year ago, but I never got around to it. “Tell you what. If the offer is still good, I’ll hang here until my phone has got some battery, and then I’ll head home.”

Wick nods, handing me a charging cord. “Cool. If you’d like, you can hang in my bedroom. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“I don’t want to kick you out of your own bed.”

“Please.” He gestures toward his bedroom. “Once you’re gone, I’ll go back in. But to be honest, I don’t really want to hang out in the same room as you if we’re not hooking up.”

Hmm. Hardly a white knight.

As I come more to my senses, I’m realizing that Wick’s aura is a little…off. I’m not saying he’s a serial killer or anything, but I don’t know him at all. He could be an axe murderer. “Okay. Fair enough. Maybe we could hang out some other time.”

He offers a half smile. “Sure thing, gor— I mean, Thea.”

“Thank you.” I give him a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry for spoiling your evening.”

“Whatever.” He flops onto the couch, turns on the TV. “Night.”

“Good night, Wick.” I walk into his bedroom, strip off my dress, slip into one of the T-shirts Wick offered, and collapse onto the bed, quickly plugging my phone into a power strip under the nightstand.

My gaze falls on an old Nintendo controller. I pick it up, take in the bulbous shape of the handgrips.

I’m still horny.

God, I wish I had my vibrator.