hapter 43


    Harper


    I woke up on the living room couch and as I sat up, I spotted a bottle of whiskey on the floor.


    Despite the slight headache, I chuckled at how I had decided to celebrate an hour after Grayson had left. I didn’t care that I was already drunk.


    When I reached for my phone and looked at the time, my eyes widened. It was already 10 in the morning and I needed to get ready and meet Aunt Patricia.


    I came to the bathroom and hummed loudly to the music sting from my phone as I brushed my teeth, lightly bopping my head in front of the mirror. Not even the hangover could stop me.


    I was so proud of myself that I even sang for a few seconds with foam in my mouth while shaking my hips to the beat. I did it. Grayson had sat on the bed with me and the moment was perfect, but I’d chosen to resist all the urges that would lead to me smashing my lips on his.


    I’d once initiated an unforgettable night between Maddox and I when I’d told him straight to his face toe in for some hot sex, but that was different. I needed it so badly.


    While Grayson had looked like he wanted me too, I was also certain that despite the way he’d been so close, he would’ve rejected me had I moved my face closer.


    any


    For the first time, there’d been no one to save me. It was just me and the guy I still loved so much. I did it all on my own and there wasn’t even a phone call to get in the way.


    I spat in the sink, rinsed and checked the sides of my mouth in the mirror in case I’d missed a


    spot.


    Then, the music suddenly stopped when my phone buzzed and I frowned as I looked over at the edge of the bathtub where I’d put it.


    I even rolled my eyes, wondering who had decided to spoil the fun for me.


    As soon as I reached for my phone and saw Maddox’s name shing on the screen, I smiled a little. He and I had barely spoken the previous day, thest time being some timeter in the afternoon. I hadn’t even told him I’d be out with Grayson. There was no need for it.


    After swiping to answer, I put him on speaker. “You just had to ruin it. The song was just getting to the good part.”


    “Ever heard of reying a song? Yeah, you can do that,” he said bluntly. “You know, I actually got my hopes up that you’d call me again.”


    :


    “Again?” I furrowed my eyebrows, tossing the toothbrush back into its holder.


    <b>36 </b>


    EX 55 vouchers


    “Oh, yeah.” His voice was now rich with amusement. “After the way you were blowing up my phonest night with constant video chats, I thought you’d do the same after waking up.”


    1 frowned. “Wait, I called youst night?”


    He chuckled in azy way. “You did more than just call me.”


    “I…I don’t remember anything.”


    “Not even the part when you were showing off that bottle of whiskey while drinking it like it was just water?”


    “I…what did we talk about?” I asked.


    “We had a nice chat for several hours. You were very…expresssive. Don’t tell me you really don’t remember a thing?” He teasingly lowered his voice.


    I blinked rapidly. “You’re lying.”


    “Am I?” I could hear the smirk in his voice. “When you first called, that bottle was already half empty. You even mentioned you were celebrating something big.”


    Heat shot to my cheeks. “Did I say what it was?”


    “Don’t worry too much about that,” he teased, like he enjoyed leaving me in suspense. “All you need to know is that you were nasty in the best possible way. You don’t even realize just how much that turned me on.”


    I swallowed hard, my pulse now racing like he was actually doing something to me. “You know what? I think you’re making this up. You’re just messing with me because you know I can’t remember.”


    “I guess I should’ve recorded it,” he said without shame, his tone smug.


    I moved towards the mirror and stopped right in front of it, ring at my own reflection as if I could somehow re straight at him.


    cing a hand on my forehead, I said, “Okay, fine, just give me one detail, please?”


    A low chuckle came through the speaker. “If I tell you, you’ll just hang up on me and never show your face again.”


    I dropped my hand, holding my head high. “Try me.”


    He went silent but I could hear him breathing and I couldn’t take it anymore.


    Chapter <b>43 </b>


    “Please…”


    55 vouchers


    “Mm, you sound almost exactly the same as you didst night – hungry and desperate, like you’d do anything if I just told you. I don’t even think you realized how badly you wanted


    me.”


    I smacked my lips. “You’re making it sound like I was pathetic.”


    “No. Irresistible. You don’t even know how much I wanted to get on my private jet and show you exactly what you were begging for.”


    Fuck. I closed my eyes, trying to keep myself together and act like he wasn’t getting under my skin.


    “You still haven’t told me what I said,” I managed to say.


    “And I’m not telling you shit. Not until you’re sober enough to say it right in front of me.”


    I sighed with frustration. “But how will I know?”


    “That’s not my problem.”


    And with that, he hung up on me. I spent the next few seconds just staring at the screen with my jaw dropped like I could see him.


    Then, I scrolled to my call history and my eyes widened. I’d called him four times between 1 AM and 4 AM, the shortest call being around thirty minutes. What the hell did I say?


    Grayson had taken real good care of me when I was drunk and I would’ve thought that he’d be the first to call that morning, but for as long as I didn’t call or text him, neither did he and I wondered what was going on with him.


    I used the bus as my car wasn’t in the best shape and was on my way to meet up with Aunt Patricia when I sent him a text.


    “Don’t tell me you’re working on a Saturday,” my message said.


    I expected the usualte replies, but it came as a surprise when I spotted the bubbles floating only a few seconds after I’d sent that message.


    “I’m not.”


    His reply felt cold, but I told myself I was just imagining it.


    “Guess what?<b>” </b>


    :


    <b>36 </b>


    55 vouchers


    I waited, constantly watching the message thread in the hopes of seeing his reply. But a few seconds turned into a few minutes and he hadn’t even read my message.


    Aunt Patricia lived an hour away from my ce and even when I got off the bus, I still hadn’t received a reply from him.


    I figured he might’ve gotten too busy and would text me back soon.


    I was supposed to meet up with Aunt Patricia at the hotel she worked at and just as I was about to take my first step up the stairs, my phone buzzed, the message from Maddox making me clutch my purse.