Page 54 of SnowBound

“Not my intention,” I said, my knuckles sliding the length of her face. “See you later.”

Joe draped his arm over my shoulder and smirked at me seconds after Bethany returned to her group of friends. “Andy, my man. You did it. You broke the curse. Any action in there?” He pointed to the room Bethany and I had just vacated with his thumb while stabbing his tongue into his cheek over and over.

“What are you? Six?”

He tapped my upper arm. “Twelve. Because that’s the age when I turned into a horny little shit.”

“Man…”

“So, did Bethany reward you for going out tonight?”

I motioned a finger over my mouth. “My lips are sealed. Sorry.”

“Come on, man. I’m your best friend. And the one you should thank for getting you back in the game.”

He turned, grabbed two beers, and pushed one into my hand.

I scoffed. “Want me to send you flowers?”

He bobbed his head, and I punched his shoulder. “In your dreams. We talked. Made peace. And we’ll see how things go. No pressure.”

We both opened the cans, and my friend clinked his with mine. “Glad I have you back. Now let’s get wasted because we won’t be seeing each other for five weeks, and I wanna make sure you have the best time before I go to Nebraska for that internship.”

The rest of the night passed in a blur. And it felt good to just be for a couple of hours and enjoy myself for a change. To let my brain rest and not overthink everything. Yeah, I could go back to being responsible in the morning.

Joe came to me around two in the morning, a girl wrapped under his arm, her hands all over him as she busied herself licking his neck and giggling. “Going home. Wanna share a ride?” he asked, stealing a kiss as the girl moaned against his lips.

“Nah. I promised Beth I’d find her before leaving.” I blinked, my vision blurry. Fuck, I had no idea when the last time I’d been this drunk was. “Don’t wait for me. I might stay here a little bit longer or grab a bite before coming home so I don’t have to hear you guys screaming for hours. I can do without the trauma.”

My friend shook his head, a smirk fully on. “Suit yourself. Or we can share. Your call.”

I wasn’t drunk enough to forget he said that. “Not my style. Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass.”

“Your loss. Hey, before I forget. Brunch at Jameson’s place tomorrow at ten. Don’t be late.” He spun to leave but hesitated and turned to face me. “Have fun. You deserve it.”

The sorority house was half-empty. I had to thread through slumped bodies far too drunk to be coherent to reach Bethany on the back deck, chatting with the same group of people as earlier.

“You leaving?” she asked, moving to her feet to meet me.

“Soon. Do you have a ride? I can walk you to your place.”

“Oh, that’d be fantastic. Camille was supposed to go back with me, but she left with a water polo player an hour ago.”

“Well, I know how you hate to walk by yourself at night after what happened last year to those girls.”

A chill traversed her as she scooted closer and snaked her arm through mine. “No need to remind me of that rapist. I hope he rots in jail.”

“Me too. Let’s get out of here.”

I exchanged handshakes and half-hugs with the three guys I knew before we finally landed on the sidewalk, welcomed by the thick humid spring air. I tilted my head back, taking pleasure in the breeze brushing my skin.

Looking upward, I squinted. The light from the city made it impossible to see the stars above.

“You good?” Bethany asked.

I sighed. “Yes.” I grabbed her hand and led her forward.

We remained silent for most of the mile-long stroll, her head pressed against my shoulder and her hand nestled in mine.