Oh. Shit. What did I do?
“Rip?”
I drag my attention back to the phone call, knowing I need to get Hope off the line ASAP or she’s going to see through my bullshit in record time.
“Thanks for worrying about me, babe. I don’t feel so great. I gotta go.”
“Did you get roofied? Because if you did—”
“No, of course not. Just hung over. I’ll call you in a bit, okay?”
I don’t wait for a response before lowering my phone and ending the call. I drop to my knees and grab the condom wrappers like they’re crumpled dollar bills tossed across the bar.
Maybe it was someone else. Maybe it wasn’t Boone Thrasher I spent last night with. Maybe my mind overlaid Boone’s face on top of some random one-night stand who was too ugly to remember.
Which would mean I’m apparently now into taking stupid risks with my safety.
One word on the condom wrapper gives my memory a jump-start.Magnum.
Boone’s voice drawls in my head.“Don’t know if I should be worried or impressed that you’ve got a box of magnums in there.”
Holy. Freaking. Hell.
I didn’t.
I wouldn’t.
But the condom wrappers in my hand are irrefutable proof.
I did.
Unbalanced from the realization, I fall backward onto my ass on my bedroom floor and immediately start rationalizing what happened.
It didn’t mean anything. It was a mistake. It was a one-time thing. I was drunk. Shit happens.
This doesn’t make me like my mama.
I’ve held on to my no-celebrity rule for so long, the fact that I broke it is too much to grasp in my hung-over state. Then righteous indignation fills me.
I can sleep with whoever I want. I don’t have to apologize for it or feel bad about it. It’s not like I was cheating on someone—and neither was he.
But what did I do?
Everything’s okay. Everything’s fine.
Seriously, I’m never drinking again.
I didn’t do anything wrong.
It was the alcohol. I was just a stupid, horny drunk girl. Acting my damn age for once instead of twenty years older.
All rationalizations aside, it doesn’t matter. I’ll never see him again anyway. It’s not like I’m getting involved.
24
Boone
It’s beena long time since I’ve sneaked out of a woman’s bed in the early hours of the morning. What surprises me even more was that I didn’t want to leave.