Dissonance (27 page)

“Alright, missy, time to dish,” Alex stated, slurring very slightly. “You held back the dirty details about Logan long enough. The boys might be content to hear all about what dates he’s taken you on, but I want more.”

Yeah, saw that one coming. All through dinner, while Justin asked about each and every date Logan and I had been on, Alex’s anticipation for her chance to ask the questions she actually cared about had shown through. “I’d rather not.”

“Oh, come on,” she pleaded. “I bet he’s great in the sack. He seems like the type to take control. Eli is always super attentive but when he–”

“Please stop talking!” A shiver of disgust ran through me. “I do not want to hear about my brother’s sex life.”

“Then you better start talking, or I’ll tell you all about this thing your brother does with his–”

“Alright, alright! I’ll talk!” God, she was infuriating. Tossing back the last shot, I asked, “What do you want to know?”

“Everything!” she gushed. Her dopy expression and the increased strength of the alcohol surging through me had a giggle bubbling out. “Is he totally hung? He seems like it.”

I couldn’t contain the blush or the giggles that elicited. “I don’t have much to compare it to,” I answered evasively.

“Ugh, your lack of experience is not helpful.” She seemed to think through her next question, though her expression was comically blank. “What’s it like with him? Is he totally in control the whole time?”

“We haven’t gotten that far, yet.”

I didn’t want to say more than that. Logan and I had been teetering closer and closer to actually having sex. I knew it would be soon. Since the first time in the bath, Logan seemed to want to make me come as often as he could. If he was as good as everything else as he was with his fingers, I figured we would not have any problems. When he realized how easily he could push me over the edge, he’d started trying to get me to blow more than once before I could return the favor. He succeeded every time.

“Holy Hell!”

Oh, shit.
I hadn’t realized I’d been voicing all of that aloud.

“That is so frickin’ hot!” Alex fanned herself dramatically.

Alcohol really did loosen my lips. Oh, well. At least it also dealt with the pesky embarrassment.

By the time we both agreed that we should get home, things were a bit… fuzzy. Somewhere along the way, I’m pretty sure I finally confessed to all of the details Alex had been looking for. Not that it mattered; the whole night was probably just going to be a black hole in our memories.

“Do we have to–” She hiccupped. “–go home?” Alex whined.

I was giggling uncontrollably again. Alex sounded like a yipping Yorkshire Terrier when she hiccupped.

“Mmhmm,” I nodded. “We’re drunk. Time to go home.”

“You just want to get back–” Hiccup. “–to your sexy man-candy.”

“Mmhmm.” Oh yeah, I couldn’t wait to get back to Logan. He was so damn hot. My drunken mind dissolved to picturing him half-naked. Or fully naked.

“Hey–” Hiccup. “–you!” Alex barked. “Call our ride, wouldya?”

Right. I started searching for my phone. The thing sure could hide in my purse. I had to start unpacking my bag on the table to find it. When I finally found it, half my purse’s contents were piled on the table.
What the hell is all this crap?

The ringing as I waited for Logan to answer was like the shrill voice of a banshee in my ear. I pulled the torture device away from my head to ease the pounding it caused.

“Charlotte? Babe?” I heard a tiny voice calling.

The phone. Right.

“Hello?”

“Are you okay?” he sounded worried. Why was he worried?

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You weren’t answering at first.”

“Sorry. The phone was so loud.”

There was a small chuckle that tightened my lower body. “You’re drunk, aren’t you?”

“Mmhmm.” I was hoping he’d just keep talking. Listening to him was wonderful.

“Should I come get you?” Mmm, he sounded so yummy. Wait he was asking me…

“Yes!” Boy, did I want him to get me.

And, cue that heat-inducing chuckle.

“Alright, baby. I’ll be there soon. Pay your tab. I’ll call when I’m there.”

The tab! Good thing he remembered that. They had my I.D. I flagged down our waitress to pay that.

“You two aren’t driving home, are you?” she asked.

“Oh–” Hiccup. “–no,” Alex answered. “Her super hot boy-toy is getting us.”

“Boyfriend,” I corrected. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“Potato, tomato,” Alex dismissed me.

With our bill payed and I.D.s back in hand, I watched my phone for word from Logan. Of course when it went off, it scared the crap out of me.

“Hello?”

“I’m out front,” Logan answered. God, he should market that voice. Oh, wait, he did.

I stowed my phone. “Time to go.”

The minute the two of them came stumbling out to the car, I knew I was in for an interesting ride. Both of them were torn up. I strongly suspected that I would be carrying a very unconscious Charlotte up to our apartment. I called Eli on speaker phone as I drove off. As soon as his voice came through, Alex let loose a sound like someone strangled a piglet.

“Hi baby!” she shrieked.

He laughed. “Logan got you guys then?”

“Yupp,” she popped the ‘P’ before releasing a high-pitched hiccup. It was like the bark of one of those little dogs girls love.

“I just picked them up,” I explained. “We’ll be there in a few if you want to come help her up the stairs.”

“Sure thing, man. Thanks for getting them.”

“No problem.”

It was quiet for a minute of two after I hung up. I thought maybe they had both passed out on me already. That was until the giggling started.

“I’m gonna get me some of that tonight,” Alex proclaimed. Yeah, sure she would. I doubted she’d make it to bed on her own, let alone stay awake long enough to do anything with Eli.

“Ew!” Charlotte squealed. “Stop it!”

“What?” Alex asked, indignant. “You wanna get some, too!”

Oh did she? Had innocent Charlotte been talking about me?

“You think she wants me, Alex?”

“Oh, yeah! She told me how hot you make her. Particularly when you do that thing with your fingers where you–”

“Shut up!” Charlotte yelled.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Even in the dark of the car, I knew Charlotte was blushing. I may have awakened her sexual appetite, but she still couldn’t talk about it openly. Even in bed, she wouldn’t come out and say what she wanted. I didn’t push her much about it, just tried to make her comfortable. That would have to change, though. If we were going to take things to the next level, I would need her to be open with me about what she was feeling.

“Don’t worry, handsome,” Alex continued, “she likes all your moves so far. Not a complaint all night. Except, I think she wants more.”

Oh, did she?

“You are a terrible best friend!”

“What? He’s gotta know that he’s doing it right. Remember that when you guys finally do it. You have to tell him what you like.”

Charlotte hid her face in her hands and didn’t reemerge until we pulled up to Alex and Eli’s place. Eli went right to the backseat, offering Alex his hand to get out.

“Take me to bed,” she slurred at him.

He laughed and rolled his eyes. He’d be taking her to bed, alright, but neither of them would be getting anything but sleep there.

Charlotte was quiet on the way back. I was guessing quiet meant asleep, so I let her be. When we parked at home, I realized I was right. She was snoozing; her head leaned back against the headrest at an angle that looked anything but comfortable. Lifting her bridal-style, I made my way to the elevator. I had to get her upstairs and ready for bed before she was too far gone.

I wrestled my way into the apartment and all the way to my en suit without too much trouble. Charlotte had woken up during my battle with the front door.

I lowered her onto the counter-top. “Can you stay awake for me, baby?”

“’m up,” she mumbled back.

Figuring the faster I got her to bed, the better, I left her there for a moment and hoped she’d be alright. I went down the hall to the kitchen for a water bottle, and stopped in her room to find the package I knew contained her face wipes.

Admittedly, I was a little shocked to find her awake when I got back. Her eyes were open, despite the heavy lids and the distinct glassy glaze over them. Fishing out some Advil, I handed her the pills and opened the water bottle for her.

“Thank you.” She smiled lopsidedly as she took the bottle. She swallowed both pills and most of the water without complaint. Maybe she’d been right when she told me once before that she was a sweet drunk. So far, she was pretty adorable.

I capped the bottle and moved in front of her. “I’m going to clean off your make-up, okay?”

Instead of exercising the independent attitude she was famous for, Charlotte simply closed both eyes and tilted her face towards me. She was also highly agreeable when drunk.

Swiftly, but carefully, I wiped at the dark lines until they disappeared. Charlotte stayed still the whole time, only her feet moved, swinging around in tiny circles. It was an odd experience to take care of her that way. I was a good judge of how far gone someone was while drinking, so I’d never mistakenly brought home a girl that needed to be cared for like this before. Getting Charlotte ready for bed felt natural, though. It was as if caring for her was hard-wired into me.

“Do you need anything else before bed?”

She nodded. “I gotta pee.”

I sniggered, but tried to smother it. God, she was cute.

I helped her down from the counter, and she walked over to the toilet on steadier feet than I expected.

“Okay, go away,” she said, shaking her heels off in the middle of the room.

“I’ll stay here.” I didn’t trust that she wouldn’t pass out and hurt herself.

“Ew! No. Go away so I can pee,” she insisted. “I can make it to the bedroom alone.”

At least she was conscious enough to know why I was concerned. That gave me the confidence to leave her to her business.

While she was busy, I stripped down to my boxers. I wanted her, badly, but I knew that wasn’t happening, not while she was drunk. We had been skirting closer and closer to the real thing, and I was afraid, based on Alex’s comment earlier, that Charlotte might try to take things too far. I mentally braced myself for any sensual onslaught she might subject me to. It’d kill me to turn her away, but I’d do it before I’d let her do anything with me that she might regret later.

She emerged from the bathroom with an adorably dozy look on her face. Maybe she’d be too tired to try anything. I watched her approach, fighting the urge to go to her. There was a slight wobble in her step, but she was steady enough to get to me on her own. In that moment, every spank-bank fantasy that’d been engrained into my head of scantily-clad women walking towards me slowly was rendered a joke. Even with that dopey little smile lifting the corners of her lips, she was still sexier than any of that artificial crap. None of it could hold a candle to the woman I loved.