Chapter 31

Daniel

T he room spun.

I couldn’t focus on anything except for the feel of the cold glass in my hand. Shit, maybe Shawn had been right about taking it easy on this stuff. But fuck, I needed to not think about Art and Tilly any more today. First, I had Chase drilling me about it, and then to have Shawn asking me about therapy? What a damn joke. I didn’t need a stranger to listen to my problems. I’d been doing just peachy on my own, thank you very much.

When I tried to stand and immediately ass-planted back onto the stool, doubts crept in that maybe I didn’t have things together as much as I thought. Someone showing concern shouldn’t have me burying my problems in a bottle of expensive booze.

Yeah, I knew this stuff. There were several bottles of it in the back room at Margaret’s. There was always one on Mr. Stevens’ desk, and it was what he used for entertaining special guests. If I had to guess, it was a favorite of his. Maybe I should have felt a little more guilty shooting back so much of my boss’s favorite liquor, but I was too drunk to care at the moment.

Not when I was feeling nice and numb.

Numb.

I didn’t want to be numb.

I lifted my head from the counter, trying to remember when I’d put the bottle down. My friends were scattered around the living room. Chase was in Nathan’s lap and they were making out like no one else was around. Andrew and Brandon were talking to Aiden while Joe stood in the corner with his arms crossed, watching them while he visited with Shawn.

My heart did this weird fluttery thing. God, I shouldn’t feel so fucked up over the guy. I’d hated his guts before we got here. Maybe I still did, but now I knew what it was like to have him fuck me. That didn’t mean we had a developing love story. Did it? I had told him more than I’d told anyone else. There wasn’t a need to if I wanted to get dicked down and nothing more.

Cool fingers landed on my neck. There I was, spacing out again. Except, my head was back on the counter again.

“Are you okay?”

I wanted to turn and melt into Shawn, and clutch at the clean-smelling t-shirt he wore.

When I didn’t answer, I wasn’t given a choice. Shawn hauled me into his chest before lifting me into a princess carry. Prince carry? Shit. Why did it even fucking matter? The whole fucking room was spinning, anyway.

My stomach rolled, the little I’d eaten during the day threatening to make a reappearance, as he carried me across the room and laid me on the couch. Chase and Nathan moved out of the way, finally realizing they weren’t the only two people in the room.

“Can someone get me some water?” Shawn sounded panicked. I couldn’t see his face. Were my eyes closed? The couch was soft, and I wanted to roll over and sleep, but the hands on my shoulders prevented me.

“You smell... good,” I said, feeling like my mouth was full of cotton, and the next thing I knew, someone shifted me into a sitting position. A glass was pressed to my lips and tipped back. I nearly choked when the cool water hit my tongue, but I swallowed instinctually. Drink or drown and I wasn’t going to die from a cup of ice water. That would be the stupidest way to go.

Those strong hands pushed me onto my back again and then rolled me onto my side. Shawn crawled onto the couch behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist. I was delightfully floaty. And warm. So fucking warm. He felt good wrapped around me like this. But I also felt sick.

I groaned.

“Shhh. I don’t want to be the ass who tells you that you should have slowed down, but I did try to warn you.”

As much as I wanted to get angry all over again, I was too floaty and warm.

“Is he going to be okay?”

Shawn’s arm around me tightened, and it sucked not to be able to participate in a discussion that was about me, but I lacked the capacity.

“He will be. He just needs to sleep this off a bit.”

Right. Sleep. That sounded like a great idea.

T he room was dark, but I could hear voices down the hall. I shivered as cool air hit my skin when I sat up. There was no one in the room with me. Everything still spun a little, but things weren’t blinking in and out like they had been earlier. I’d never gotten that bad. Not once. The hell was wrong with me?

My legs were shaky as I stood and looked around the room. It was only a little after ten at night if the clock under the television was correct. At least I hadn’t completely fucked up New Year’s Eve for everyone, though I felt like shit for making them all worry like that.

I followed the voices down the hall. Everyone was sitting in a large room that I hadn’t explored yet. It had large overstuffed sofas with a cushy rug in the middle. When I leaned against the doorframe, Shawn looked up from his phone screen. He shoved the device into his pocket and was across the room to wrap an arm around my shoulder before I could even blink.

“Hey, how’re you feeling?” He kept his voice low as he leaned in close.

There was still the part of me that wanted to be mad at him from earlier, but he’d risen above and taken care of me. The least I could do was not be a jerk. “I’m... shaky, but I’m okay.”

He nodded, pulling me into a hug. My arms snaked around his waist as I took a deep breath of his musky scent. My face heated. Jesus, had I said something about him smelling good?

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

Words escaped me as I nodded against his chest. I was more than aware of everyone’s eyes on me. That feeling of guilt settled in again. Everyone had been having fun until I decided to throw a fit earlier. Though it seemed like the party had gone on without me.

Instead of continuing to stand there in the doorway, I was pulled deeper into the room. The bottles of champagne that Chase and Nathan had brought were now sitting in buckets of ice with an array of glasses around them. I had no more desire to drink tonight, but if everyone wanted to toast in the new year, I could join them.

My eyes scanned the room. Aiden was sitting with Joe, the two discussing something while they leaned in closely. The two of them were the ‘ odd men out ’ as the rest of us had been weirdly coupled off.

God, I was part of a couple. That... was odd. I didn’t know if I liked it or not. Especially after the way I’d acted earlier. Who wanted to deal with someone who freaked out the second you offered them any type of help? But damn, I didn’t want to owe Shawn anything. Sure, this was fun while we were here at the cabin, but would it all change the second we went back to reality?

“I’m thinking that there needs to be some sort of game action here. We can’t just hang out for the next hour and a half talking. As much as I like you assholes, I need better entertainment.”

Shawn flipped Nathan off as he led me to a couch. My stomach still felt like it wanted to empty, but it wasn’t too unbearable.

“Games are dangerous,” Andrew sighed, looking over at his boyfriend and giving him a smile.

Brandon grinned before he shrugged. “I don’t know, playing games seemed to work out for us.”

There was a story there, but the way heat flashed between the two of them, maybe it was best if that remained a mystery.

“Games are for kids,” Chase whined, stretching out on the couch next to me. His head landed in Nathan’s lap and he nudged me with his toes. I gave my friend a smile before rolling and pressing my face into Shawn’s stomach. Things were still a little overwhelming, but it was good to be back around everyone else.

“I don’t know, we could do something like spin the bottle... or something...”

The room went silent, and I rolled back over to find everyone staring at Aiden. His face was splotchy and red as he chewed his bottom lip. He shrugged, but didn’t elaborate on where that idea had come from. His brother would kill anyone who tried to touch Chase, and Andrew and Brandon were no better lately. When his eyes kept shifting over to Joe, it was obvious what he was hinting at.

“No spin the bottle. Fuck no.” Nathan stood from the couch, dumping Chase on the cushions. He grabbed his brother by the arm and dragged him out of the room.

If anything, watching the two of them was more than enough entertainment. The protective older brother act would eventually get old, but for now, it was sort of sweet to see that Nathan cared so much about Aiden.

Joe was back to scowling, finding a spot in the corner, and sitting on the floor with a beer bottle dangling from his fingers. The only person who got the short end of the stick was him. He wasn’t a bad guy. Sure, he had a reputation I’d heard all about, but since he’d been spending more time with Aiden, I hadn’t witnessed it. He just seemed interested in Nathan’s brother.

The idea of Truth or Dare was quickly shot down, and instead, we all sat around in a circle to play Never Have I Ever. Everyone but me had a fresh bottle of beer to sip from when they hadn’t done something. They all seemed cool with me having a bottle of water. Hell, after earlier, it was for the best.