Melody’s laughter floated from the living room as she walked back to the kitchen. I looked down at myself. I still had my shirt on from the night before, and my socks and undies, but my jeans and shoes were on my bedroom floor.
I didn’t remember taking them off. It wasn’t often in my life that I’d gotten drunk enough to black out. I vaguely remembered Rico driving me home.
As I sat sullenly at the kitchen table and watched Melody dance around the kitchen like she’d had her hangover professionally removed, more memories from the night before flooded my brain.
Starting with what Tye did. Oh, shit. I gasped and stared at Melody with my jaw loose. “Rico kicked Tye’s ass,” I whispered.
She nodded smugly. “He sure did. I didn’t see it, but the aftermath was glorious.”
“I saw it.” Horror and delight filled me in equal measure. “Rico knocked the absolute shit out of Tye.” The memories flooded back. Watching Rico destroy Tye’s confidence and beat him a little had been the highlight of my week, and I’d almost forgotten it.
“So, what’s going on between you and Rico, hm?” Melody asked as she slid sausages off the skillet and onto my plate. She waggled her eyebrows at me and grinned.
“Nothing,” I said with absolute certainty. But then a flash of Rico tucking me into bed crossed my mind and suddenly I was less sure. More and more memories pushed through the brain fog. He’d made sure I drank water and took a pain reliever. My hangover would’ve surely been much worse if he hadn’t.
It wasn’t like he’d been on the clock. He could’ve shoved me in the door and took off for home. Hell, it hadn’t been his responsibility to defend me at all. It wasn’t like I’d hired him to be my white knight at a bar on the weekend. He hadn’t had to do any of it.
But he’d defended me, taken me home, then made sure I got safely in bed. And there was even a garbage can beside my bed. Try as I might, I couldn’t think of a single second he’d been inappropriate. My memories were a bit fuzzy, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t missing any time. He’d been a gentleman right up to the end.
I shook my head and took a bite of the sausage. It didn’t matter how nice he’d been, because believing he cared about me would be setting myself up for disappointment. I wouldn’t fall for that again.
“I don’t buy it.” As usual, Melody seemed to read my thoughts. “That boy seemed like a man on a mission.” She put the eggs down and joined me. “The way he took care of you and was so protective of you?” I followed her fork as she waved it at me. “It was freaking hot.”
Butterflies filled my stomach, but still. I ignored them. He was my employee, and we’d been friendly with each other. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Melody was like a dog with a damn bone. “No. You should test the waters and see what’s there. You can always find another assistant, but how often is a gorgeous, eligible Kingston going to fall in your lap? Despite how it may seem sometimes, I’m sure there’s only a limited supply of them.”
She ate with an air of superiority as though she had the answers if only I’d listen.
I wasn’t so confident. “He needs the job,” I said around my eggs. “If we try something and it goes wrong, it means a big disappointment for him.” It wasn’t my place to say any more than that about Rico’s business.
“Kara, you might be surprised about how many men are interested in you if you’d stop blowing them off before you give them a chance.”
She might’ve been partly right, but no way I was about to admit it to her. High school, and mainly Tye, had done something to me. I’d dated a few times, but only if the guy had made an exceptional effort, and it had never ended well.
It had also never really ended badly, not since high school. I never let myself get close enough for it to end badly. It was too risky.
Melody tossed another sausage onto my plate. “Invite Rico to my birthday dinner. That way, he’ll already be there when you get wasted.” She winked and forked up a big mouthful.
I was already mostly full after a few bites. My stomach rumbled, and I knew I’d spend half the morning in the bathroom.
And I had absolutely zero intention of drinking a single drop of alcohol tonight at Melody’s dinner. Not after feeling this way.
“I’m not drinking. But I’m happy to be DD,” I offered. “I guess a little assistance wouldn’t go amiss.”
I wouldn’t have wanted Rico to think I was using him, or that I was interested in him, even though my feelings had shifted. But maybe he wouldn’t mind a free dinner and watching some women act like fools. My sister and her friends could be pretty amusing when drunk.
After breakfast, I loaded the dishwasher and went back to bed for a while. After a nap, I stayed in bed and watched old reruns of TV shows I’d loved as a kid. That was my one escape. Almost every foster home had a television. And none of them had cared if I stayed up and watched as long as I kept out of their hair.
When I couldn’t put it off any longer, I dragged my ass out of bed and showered, pulling my hair up in a ponytail. Tonight, I didn’t even bother with the lip gloss. Who cared?
Last night it had just been me, Melody, and Stormy. Tonight, more girls ended up at our table than I knew Melody had friends.
And these girls knew how to knock them back.
