I made my way back in to find Hannah, when Raylon stopped me in the small hallway leading to the common room. "Are you okay?" He sounded truly concerned, but I just didn"t have the patience to deal with this kind of situation tonight.
"I"m fine, but I need to find Hannah. I"m sorry."
I moved around him and Hannah was standing waiting for me by the first bedroom on the right. "You ready to go Calamity Jane?" She was joking, but I couldn"t help but swallow back the lump starting to form in my throat.
"Just get me out of here, please?" She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pushed our way to the front door. I didn"t look back to see if Raylon was looking my way. Honestly, I didn"t care.
The car ride was eerily silent. I couldn"t process what had happened through my drunken haze to have a coherent thought. Hannah knew not to push it; she just kept the radio up enough for some background noise. A little bit later we pulled into my driveway and I couldn"t help but notice that Gray"s truck wasn"t in the drive.
A part of me was almost hoping he would be waiting for me. I should"ve known better. When Gray was upset or mad, home was not the first place he went.
I waved good-bye to Hannah. My wobbly knees carried me to the side gate leading to "our" backyard. I wanted to go straight to the tree house. That was where I felt the safest, and right now I was feeling anything but. My vision was still blurry making me stumble across the gra.s.s in search of the ladder. I could barely make out the shadowy figure, when my knee slammed right into the edge of it.
"Ouch!" I cursed under my breath. I reached out and grabbed hold of one of the metal slats. I pulled up my leg to go climb, but fell again. This time I fell onto the gra.s.s.
"Son of a b.i.t.c.h!" This seemed impossible. I reached out one more time determined to at least get half way up. I made it to the second step before slipping again and falling flat on my back onto the wet ground. The sprinklers must have just gone off before I got home because my a.s.s was slowly getting wet. I gave up and decided just to lay there in my drunken haze, not caring about anything.
I heard a laugh and immediately sat up looking around. When I heard it again I searched the dark backyard, stopping when I saw his face through the doorway of the tree house. He was here. Wait, what was he doing here? And who did he think he was laughing at me?
"Oh you think this is funny, huh?" I couldn"t help but laugh along with him. It was kind of funny.
"If the roles were reversed, you know you would be laughing your a.s.s off." He extended his arm out for me to take his hand. I tried more than once, but failed miserably and fell back onto the gra.s.s laughing hysterically. After Gray stopped laughing at me, he finally came out to help. I reached my hand out for him to take it, but in a second he had me in his arms and he was walking up the ladder.
Once we were inside he sat me down on the couch and went to the mini fridge, coming back with a bottle of water for me. I nodded in appreciation and gulped down half of the bottle before taking a breath. As I leaned forward to set the bottle down on the small coffee table, I felt his strong arms wrap around my waist. He pulled me back onto his chest and kept his arms where they were. I rested my head back against him wrapping my fingers through his.
"I like this." I mumbled.
"So how much did you drink tonight there, lil miss?" It came across like a joke, but I knew he was being serious.
"Not a whole lot." I lied.
"Uh huh, I bet. You seemed pretty tanked when I showed up."
"How would you know? You were busy with your paws all over that redheaded s.k.a.n.k." My hands flew over my mouth realizing what I had just said. "Sorry Gray."
"Trust me Bennett, I noticed you." I knew he was rolling his eyes.
Copyright 2012 By Amanda Bennett.
Check out the other books by Jennifer Foor.
Letting Go - A Mitch.e.l.l Family Series Book One (Contemporary Romance).
Folding Hearts A Mitch.e.l.l Family Series Book Two.
Hope"s Chance (Contemporary Romance) The Somnian Series (YA Paranormal).
Book One Ascension Book Two Absum.
Book Three Attero.
Book Four Aduro Book Five Abeo.
Coming Soon.
Tommy Ford Zombie Chronicles.