Page 39 of Peaches and Cream


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She paid her bill and slid off the stool. Not completely trashed, but very, very tipsy. Too tipsy to drive, which was fine because she knew where Sabrina lived and she could walk there. Too tipsy to make rational choices regarding life, and she knew that, too, but didn’t give a crap.

So she walked. Muttered a little bit as she did. In less than a few minutes, she was away from the bustle of Jefferson Square on a Saturday night and turning the corner onto Sabrina’s street. And then she was in front of her house without a whole lot of recollection of actually walking down the street. Okay, maybe she was a little drunker than she’d thought. And now she was up the front steps and standing at the door with her hand up, fist closed, ready to knock, and all right, maybe this wasn’t the best idea. Like, maybe Sabrina wasn’t even home. Sure, her car was in the driveway, but that didn’t mean she was here. Then another thought hit her. Hit her hard, like a Mack track coming out of nowhere at full speed. What if Sabrina had company? What if there was somebody else in there with her?

Her brain screamed at her that this was a terrible idea and she should turn around and go. And she was just about to do that because oh God, what if Sabrina had somebody else in there with her, when thedoor opened, surprising her so much that her entire body flinched. She let out a tiny squeak and blurted, “But what if you have somebody else in there with you?”

Sabrina stood there, one hand on the doorknob, blinking in obvious confusion for just a second or two before her entire expression softened, and was that a smile? A gentle turning up of the corners of her mouth? “There’s nobody else in here with me,” she said quietly. “It’s just me and Sprinkles.” As if hearing his name gave him permission, the puppy started to bark, a tiny, high-pitched sound that made Adley grin. But only for a second. Then she remembered why she was here.

“I am here to tell you what I think of you.” She made sure to furrow her brow so she looked angry and intimidating. She also shook a finger in Sabrina’s direction.

“Again?Okay,” Sabrina said, drawing the word out.

And wait—Sabrina was smiling at her, wasn’t she?

“No. No smiling. There is to be…no smiling. Stop it.”

Sabrina rolled her lips in and bit down on them for a minute before saying, “Oh, okay. No smiling. Sorry. Are you drunk?”

“I…” The world tilted a bit, and Adley grabbed the doorframe for balance. “I have had some wine. That’s all you need to know.” She pointed again. “’Cause I’m so mad at you.”

Sabrina nodded, and the shadow of a smile was back, and it made Adley growl in her throat. Sabrina held out a hand. “How about you come in? Okay? You can say hi to Sprinkles so he’ll stop making so much noise, and I’ll get you some water, and you can tell me how mad you are at me. Yeah?”

“Fine,” Adley said, because a glass of water actually sounded really good right about now.

Sabrina stuck her head out and looked up and down the street. “You didn’t drive like this, did you?”

Adley snorted her insult. “I’m drunk. I’m not a fool.”

“Well, thank God for that. Come in.” She ushered Adley inside with a warm hand on her elbow. Adley wanted to shake it off, but it felt so nice. Warm. Solid. Once inside, the door shut behind her, and Sabrina held up a finger. “Let me get Sprinkles out of his crate. I put him in there when I saw a shadow on the front porch. Didn’t want him scooting out.”

Adley followed Sabrina into the living room and watched as sheopened the door to the small crate in the corner. Sprinkles shot out of it like he was launched, running headlong into Adley’s legs, then jumping, jumping, jumping, until she really had no choice but to sit on the floor with him. He jumped right into her lap and began to kiss her face off, clearly so excited to see her. “Well, hello there, handsome,” she said. “Hello. Hello. Hello. How are you?” The puppy answered her by continuing to jump and lick and bounce and wiggle and waggle and do all the things that made puppies irresistible. Plus, sitting on the floor felt a lot safer than standing. Less precarious.

A glass of water appeared in front of her face, and she realized she hadn’t even noticed Sabrina leave the room and come back. She took the water from Sabrina’s hand, when the other appeared and handed her four small, orange tablets. She looked up into those gorgeous blue eyes.

“Motrin. You’re gonna need it, trust me.” Sabrina pointed at the glass. “Drink all of that, and I’ll get you some more.”

She did as she was told, popped the Motrin into her mouth, and downed the entire glass in one go. She handed it back to Sabrina and went back to her puppy lovin’.

“I’ll set this right here.” Sabrina put a second glass of water on the coffee table, then sat on the couch and simply watched as Adley and Sprinkles played and played.

The puppy made everything better. It was true and she hadn’t expected it. It was like he bounced in and stole all the angry wind from her pissed-off sails. Now she was just floating, still sad, but not nearly as furious as before. Still a little inebriated, though. She sighed loudly.

“I’m sorry I showed up out of the blue like this.”

“I’m not.” Sabrina’s gaze was intense. She sat on the couch, her legs crossed, just watching. For the first time since she got there, Adley took stock of what she looked like tonight. Blond hair in a messy bun, escapee strands brushing her face. Denim blue joggers, a white V-neck T-shirt that looked like it was loved—worn and soft and stretched out. Nearly see-through, which was probably why there was a tank on underneath it. No bra. Adley could see that easily, Sabrina’s nipples greeting her happily.

Fuck.

Adley hadn’t accounted for how good Casual-at-Home Sabrina would look. How tempting. Her throat went dry in a split second, and she reached for the water glass, nearly spilling it before she manageda good grip. She drank half of it, forcing herself to look anywhere but at Sabrina. Oh God, what was she doing there? Her head still swam a bit, and she knew she was moving through the stages of being drunk. She was about to leave the bravado stage, where things that are terrible ideas seem to be fantastic ideas, and on to the stage where you regret everything you’ve done so far.

“I shouldn’t be here,” she said, only realizing belatedly that she’d actually said it out loud. Okay, maybe she was a little drunker than she’d thought. “I should go.” Sabrina stood and was next to her in what seemed like a flash. Was she The Flash? “How’d you get next to me so quick?”

Sabrina’s grin was back as she held a hand down to her. “These things called feet. You have them, too.”

“Ha ha. Hilarious. You shouldn’t be joking with me.” She poked Sabrina in the shin. “I’m mad at you.”

“So you keep saying.” Sabrina wiggled her fingers. “Come on, let’s get you settled.”

“I can settle myself, thank you very much.” She put her hand in Sabrina’s and needed three tries before she was able to stand up.