Casey flopped back on the bed and pulled the covers over his head. “Just kill me now.”
“Why would I want to kill my cute boyfriend who sends me such sweet texts?” When I’d first gotten the odd text from Casey, I wasn’t sure what to think. Casey didn’t seem like the type to text me asking me if we were boyfriends or not.
“That’s it. I’m never drinking again. I told him I had no tolerance. That damned juice slushie thing.” He just kept rambling as he buried his head under the blanket.
“But I like my chatty, handsy, drunk boyfriend.” He’d certainly been…enlightening.
Casey groaned but sat up and let the covers fall to his lap. He gave me a pitiful look and sighed as he reached for the coffee. “We can just pretend this never happened?”
As he took his first sip and sighed, I smiled. “No, but I found you entertaining and sweet. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“But you know…” His voice trailed off as he gave up forcing the words out and just took another sip of his coffee.
“Yes, I do.” I knew all kinds of things at this point. “But they were all things you would tell me eventually, so this just pushed the timeline up a bit.”
He couldn’t seem to decide how to respond to that, so he just drank more of his coffee before finally giving me a shy smile. “Thank you for picking me up.”
“You’re welcome.” Then I grinned. “Eli realized there was no way he would be able to safely get both of you home. Especially when Lane started dancing around the outside of the bar as we waited for Wilder.”
That just had Casey blushing. “Does Wilder think I’m insane?”
I was assuming that was in reference to the spanking commentary. “No, he probably thought you were very sweet, trying to speak up for your friend.”
Casey reached over and grabbed the painkillers off the table before swallowing them down with a gulp of coffee. As he set the cup on the nightstand, he paused for a moment before curling into my arms. “If you’re my boyfriend then I shouldn’t feel weird about wanting a hug, right?”
“Right.” Wrapping my arms around him, I kissed the top of his head and felt a rush of relief flood through me.
I’d been up half the night going through his possible reactions. I hadn’t expected him to be angry at me for what had happened, but people’s reactions weren’t always rational. There was also the matter of him being so shy that his sneaking out and trying to hide from me could have been a real option.
“Eli didn’t mean for you to get that drunk. I think he was just trying to get you to relax.” I started rubbing a hand over his back as Casey snuggled closer. “He seemed upset with how things turned out. I wouldn’t be surprised if he messaged you today to see if you were mad at him.”
Casey sighed softly and the stress in his muscles started to ease. “I’m not mad, just embarrassed.”
I smiled but kept up the slow strokes. “There’s no reason to be. It’s not like Lane or Eli were shocked by anything you said, and neither was I.”
He grumbled low. “That’s not the point.”
The warmth from his body brought back the fantasies and sexy comments that had escaped last night. My sweet boy wanted to be spanked. He was also a virgin.
But he wasn’t ready to talk about either of those things.
“Coffee, cutie. Then I’ll take you home. I know you don’t want to be late.” He groaned but nodded as he sat up.
“Oh, it feels like a train ran over me.” He reached for the coffee and took another long sip. “This is going to be a long day. I’ve got one meeting after another.”
He was so cute when he pouted. I ran my hand over his face. “You can always call in sick.”
Casey shook his head. “Then I’d just have to figure out an excuse, and I’m no good at lying.”
Or hiding things when he was drunk.
“Do you want some food?” The grimace and shudder that ran through his body answered that question before he could speak.
“Oh, don’t say food.”
I chuckled, then pointed to the door on the other side of the room. “There’s a bathroom through there. I’ll loan you some clothes if you want a shower now, or I’ll just take you home. It’s up to you.”
He gave the bathroom a longing look. “I’ll shower when I get home. Maybe the painkillers will have kicked in by then.”
“All right, once you’re ready, come on out and I’ll take you home. Maybe now you know where you live.” At his curious look, I laughed. “All you could tell me last night was that your house was yellow. You and Lane couldn’t even agree on which direction it was in.”
He groaned and heat started rising on his cheeks again. I leaned close and gave him a short, sweet kiss on the lips. “No blushing. I find you absolutely perfect and there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. No matter what.”
Casey smiled at me and nodded. Then he leaned in and rested his head on my shoulder. “Thank you for taking care of me.”
“Always, cutie. Always.”
This is a bad idea. That’s all I have to say.
Five months, three weeks until first date