“That bad, huh?”
She nodded. “Afraid so, but, on a brighter note, it looks like someone kissed the ever loving crap out of you last night.”
My hand moved to my mouth. My lips were tender to the touch, and the skin around it felt numb. “Holy crap! Who did I kiss?”
“Hey, you could have just run into a tree or something,” Andi offered with a solid nod. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“That a freshman made out with a tree after getting drunk?”
“Sure, why not?”
I groaned and put the pillow over my face, willing my body to remember something — anything! — about the night before. Pike had asked me if I wanted to go to the bonfire, then he’d given me beer, that I remembered. I also remembered being pissed that Phoenix had hit on the one girl who I actually liked.
So I’d drunk.
And I thought I saw where things had gone south. I’d drunk, even though it tasted horrible, and when Pike had given me more — I’d taken it.
How did I get home?
I vaguely remembered almost falling off Pike’s lap and then Phoenix yelling at me, carrying me. My shame knew no bounds. I continued to cringe as small images started to trickle back into my brain.
I’d stumbled, poked him in the chest. He had yelled again.
Gorgeous, he’d called me.
I’d asked him if I was pretty. Kill me now.
And then… I gasped aloud and moaned.
“What?” Andi was at my side in a heartbeat. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, no.” I said into the pillow. “Oh, no, no, no!” I jumped out of bed, despite my headache, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and threw on a pair of clothes with a beanie.
“You gonna fill me in?” Andi asked from the door. She took in my outfit and winced. “Shabby chic?”
“Ah! I need to find Phoenix.”
“The hot bodyguard?”
“Yes, my hot bodyguard.” I added the my in there just in case she didn’t get the picture.
She held her hands up into the air. “Got it. He’s yours.”
I stomped from the room, louder than necessary, and turned just in time to collide with Phoenix’s chest.
“We’re sure chipper this morning,” he said in a monotone voice.
I reared back and stared into his eyes, my own narrowing in suspicion. “You, you, you…”
“Is she still drunk?” he asked over my head, apparently directing the question to Andi, even though the she to whom he was referring was standing right in front of him.
“Don’t think so, but she did just scream into a pillow three times.”
“Well, that explains it.” Phoenix sighed. “Andi, why don’t you go to breakfast, and I’ll take care of Bee.”
“I’m sure you will,” she said in a saucy voice.
I wasn’t sure how to act. Wasn’t sure if I should apologize for attacking him or thank him for not laughing in my face. Embarrassed and irritated that he was most likely going to ignore whatever it was between us even if it killed him, I stared hard at the cement floor.
“How are you feeling, little girl?”
“I’m not little.”
“You want me to call you fat?”
“No.” I lifted my head. “Call me gorgeous like you did last night.”
“Well, shit.” Phoenix ran his hands over his face then grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall into a darkened corner. “You remember?”
“You kissed me.”
“Prove it.”
“What’s wrong with you?” I pushed against his chest. “You like me! Admit it!”
Phoenix made a face. “You were drunk, launched yourself at me, and I caught you. Did we kiss?” His eyes went completely black. “Yeah, we did, but it meant nothing.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He hissed out a breath through his teeth.
“Prove it.”
“What?”
I pushed him against the wall. “Prove it meant nothing. Let me kiss you now, and if it meant nothing it will be like… what? Kissing your sister.”
“I’ve sworn off women.”
“So this should be an easy test then, right?”
“Bee…” Phoenix’s face was pained, as if I was holding a gun to his head rather than offering to kiss him. Was the idea so abhorrent? “Please…” His voice had a pleading tone I’d never heard before. “Don’t do this.”
“One. Little. Test.” I rose up on my tip toes and kissed him full on the mouth.
His lips refused to move against mine.
I wrapped my arms around his neck.
He stiffened even more.
Irritated, I bit his lower lip. He gasped, and I slid my tongue inside his mouth. He pushed me away with a curse then wiped his lips. “Done. Your little test is done. I didn’t respond. Happy now?”
His eyes were furious; the blue flashed like lightning against his skin. His fingertips shook as he made a fist.
“You like me.”
“Bee…” Phoenix pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingertips. “…find someone your own age, someone who’s interested in you in the way you deserve, alright?” His tone was gentle, and maybe that was what hurt the most.
It was like he was letting me down slowly, hoping I didn’t break.
But the joke was on him.