Don’t give me that look. I might be a borderline junkie alcoholic, but I don’t drive when I’m wasted. I value my car—and my motorcycle—too much.
“I was sober, jackass. You’re the one who drinks the bar and snorts his way into the stratosphere. I had two drinks all night.”
“Whatever.”
Another voice—a female voice—murmurs in the background. “Shhh. Go back to sleep,” Thad tells her. “If that’s all, I want a little more sleep before I have to go to work.”
“Yeah, that’s it. I’ll see you later.”
He doesn’t say anything else before he hangs up.Dick.
Wincing with every tap of my boots on the tile floor, I make my way to the front door. I jerk my wallet out of my pocket, dig out a few bills, and toss them into the bowl sitting on the console table by the door.
It might be a dick move, but it ensures these girls don’t bother approaching me if our paths cross again—most of the time. It keeps everything impersonal—almost transactional. The way I prefer it.
Cold metal presses into my hand as I grasp the door handle. The knob turns with a click that feels like it fucking echoes,making me cringe. I step out into a well-lit corridor, turning to pull the door shut as noiselessly as possible, when someone crashes into me.
Reflexes take over, and I’m reaching out to grab the culprit. I look down, meeting eyes wide with surprise.
What are the fucking odds?
Poppy blinks a few times before she rights herself, pulling away from my hold. She looks at me, then at the white metal door. A slow smirk pulls her lips until a dimple pops in her cheek. “Someone had fun.”
I look for the slightest sign that finding me stumbling out of some random girl’s apartment days after I was trying to get in her pants upsets her, but find none. I brace for the flicker in her eyes. Disgust. Disappointment. But she just smirks, unbothered. My head ducks as I run my hand over my hair with a chuckle. “Someone had something.”
“Trying to make your getaway?”
“Yeah.” I look behind her, wondering if she’s doing the same, and feeling an irrational flip in my stomach at the thought. “You?”
“Nope. I live here.”
Seriously? I look around and finally recognize it’s the same hallway I followed Poppy down. My one-night stand brought me to her building.
The shit is getting bizarre.
Her lips tuck between her teeth. She finds my predicament humorous. I suppose I would too in her shoes. “Come on, pretty boy.” She tilts her chin behind me. “This way.”
She walks past me, leading me down the corridor. Her hips sway with each step, and my eyes are drawn to her toned ass in those tight as fuck leggings that show just what phenomenal shape she is in. And whatever happened last night didn’t satisfy me because my dick is getting hard watching her.
When we get to the elevator, she spins on a sneakered foot, a single brow arched high.Busted.“Didn’t you get your fill last night?”
I chuckle, stepping into the elevator with her. “I believe in honoring the classics.”
“That is a lame pickup line.”
“You’re right,” I laugh again. “It is.”
Her eyes, full of greens and golds today, scan me from head to toe as she chews on her cheek. I already know she likes what she sees. She’s proven that more than once, and it seems my current walk of shame—though of all the things I’m ashamed of, a one-night stand isn’t one of them—doesn’t change that.
The elevator doors slide open, snapping me out of my thoughts. We step out, and she slips that thick coat on while I shrug my arms into my jacket. The lobby of the building is quiet, unnervingly so, as we walk wordlessly to the door.
When we step out, the biting winter chill cuts through me. From the corner of my eye, I see Poppy shiver. The heavy coat doesn’t help much when all she has beneath is a thin pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. “Would you like my jacket too?”
She bites her lip, and I wish I were her teeth. Contemplation dances in her eyes. She wants the jacket but doesn’t want to admit it. “How would you get it back?”
“You can give it to Casey.”
“Because that wouldn’t raise a million questions,” she grumbles before shaking her head. “I’ll be fine. I just need to get to the subway.”
