Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
“But—”
I raised the beer so she could see it clearly. “That wasn’t yours.”
Her mouth opened. She was going to argue, but she stopped. A gasping sound came next before she slumped, her forehead falling to my arm. It was raised right in front of her. She moaned. “Oh, no. I’m so sorry. I’m a mess.”
If two shots of vodka already had her wasted, that beer was going to finish her off.
I glanced back to the country club, but she’d be a mess there. I didn’t think Ava would want people seeing her like this.
Taking her arm, I began to walk to the parking lot.
“Wha—where are we going?”
“You need some food.”
She started to put on the brakes.
Nope. I wasn’t having this.
And I wasn’t questioning myself why I was doing any of this as I let her go, put both caps on the alcohol, and stuffed them into my pockets. I had large pockets. Then I turned, bent down, and picked her up. She was slung over my shoulders.
“Wha— Zeke! Put me down!”
I kept going. “You need food, Ava, or you are going to regret that beer. Trust me.”
Being slung over my shoulder probably wasn’t the best idea, but I didn’t want to waste time fighting with her.
She tried to raise herself up, so maybe she was thinking the same thing. “How do you know?”
“Huh?”
“How do you know I need food?”
Right. She never drank before.
“Of the two of us, I’m thinking we should go with my knowledge of drinking.”
“Oh.” She got quiet. “That’s a good idea.”
Food it was.
6
AVA
This was what being drunk felt like. Huh.
I was sitting in Zeke’s kitchen, in a chair, by the table, in the corner, in his kitchen—I already said that— and whoa. Wowee. I moved my head upside down, or as much as I could, and the kitchen looked amazing this way too. We should all look at the world this way.
Wait.
I twisted around, laying my head down with my feet up, and oh yeah. This was so much better.
We could walk on the ceilings. The shelves could be benches. It made so much sense now.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Huh?” I swung my head around and WHOA! Zeke was like a god. Standing. Defying gravity. Staring down at me.
This was amazing.
I was having a spiritual event.
“You’re going to get sick if you don’t sit upright.”
I started to tell him that would defeat the whole point, but I felt a rush of nausea coming on and he was a god. He totally knew what was going to happen before it happened.
Then I let go and fell. I crumpled to the floor, and oomph. That hurt.
Hands touched under my arm, and I was being lifted. I moved, not thinking, just reacting, and when I blinked, I was clinging to Zeke like a monkey. Legs around his waist. Arms around his shoulders and he was holding me in place with a hand under my ass.
I almost wiggled because that felt kinda good.
I’d not done anything with a guy in so long. It was embarrassing. Made me feel pathetic at times, but then I remembered why, and oh yeah. That was real-world shit. I didn’t want to deal with real-world shit.
“Hey.” Zeke’s voice was all soft. He was watching me, his head angled back so he could see me better, and the concern in his gaze was undoing me. He frowned a little. “Why were you drinking today, Ava?”
I didn’t want to look in those eyes anymore.
I turned, my throat closing up. I blinked away a few tears, but dammit. One got free, sliding down my face.
Zeke walked us over to a counter. He shifted, putting me there, but he didn’t move back. Reaching up, he cupped the side of my face with such tenderness.
Still undoing. A second tear got out.
He wiped both away with his thumb, but he was still holding my face. “Talk to me. I’ve known you for a long time, but I’ve never seen you like this.”
He was right. I worked. I was strong.
I never broke, ever.
Not when my grandfather was finally arrested and we were safe.
Not when my father left us.
Not when my mom lost her legs.
But today—I was losing everything.
“My grandmum is going on hospice.”
I felt Zeke tense, and I closed my eyes, waiting for him to pull away.
I didn’t really know Zeke. It was a weird budship that started with us because he was just as lonely as me. He, who had the world at his feet. He could go anywhere in Fallen Crest and people wanted to talk to him, be seen with him, but he’d begun changing.
I knew he was fierce about some of his friends, one of his best friends, but that best friend was in Europe. Was that it? He was missing that friend?
“You changed when your best friend came to town.”