Holding my breath, I inch forwards until a pair of very large feet hanging over the end of my couch comes into view. It’s amazing how fast terror can clear your head.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
“I’m on the phone with the police. Stand where I can see you!” I yell before ducking back into my room to panic. Maybe I can lock myself in the bathroom. I’d have water at least, right?
A man laughs, not a mean sound, but not a worried one either. “I’ve got your phone, Q.”
“Priest?” Cautiously, I slink back out, ready to dash away again if I have to. “What are you doing in my apartment?”
It’s not just him. Sinner is on my balcony drinking a cup of coffee from the cafe down the street, Colt is sitting at the counter, and Priest is stretched out on the couch holding my phone. I tug down the hem of my shirt. It comes halfway to my knees, but suddenly that doesn’t feel as modest as it should. Neither does the fact that I’m not wearing a bra and my damp hair is slowly turning the top of my shirt see through. I let go of the hem and cross my arms over my breasts.
Colt takes it all in, his eyes dragging their way up my body from the sparkly purple polish on my toes, to my makeup free face. “What do you remember about last night?”
The way he says it spikes my heartrate. “Wh—what do you mean?”
Priest stands, expression serious. “We should talk about what happened.”
“You know what? This sounds like a conversation that needs clothes.” I spin on my heels and stomp back into my bedroom.
“Not on our account” Sinner yells after me.
I pull on a pair of soft sweatpants, a stretchy yoga bra that will at least hold things in place, and a T-shirt that doesn’t look slept in. I pull my hair up into a clip and briefly consider makeup, butthen they’d think I did it for them, which might be true, but is also annoying, so they get what they get.
“Alright, I’m going to need the short version of what happened last night, before I decide whether I’m supposed to thank you or call the police,” I announce when I rejoin the party.
My microwave dings, and Priest pulls a takeaway coffee cup out of it, handing it over. “I had no idea how you like your coffee but you had normal yogurt in the fridge so we went with a latte. There’s donuts on the counter.” He gestures to a box I missed sitting between the sink and the stovetop.
It’s hard to stay annoyed at people who bring breakfast. “Thank you.” I sit at the counter and take a sip of coffee. It’s overly hot from the microwave, but tastes like heaven. “Okay, start from the beginning. I remember meeting Colt and Sinner after the photos. We danced for a while, then… you showed up? We were talking about Axel, and then things got a little fuzzy.”
Sinner nods. “You started acting a little funny when we got a round of drinks and started talking.”
“Funny? What do you mean? Did I do anything—” I clap a hand over my mouth and try desperately to fill in the blanks. I didn’t realize how much time I was missing until I really start trying to think.
“Hey!” Priest taps the counter to get my attention. “Relax. We noticed something was wrong and got you out of there. You started acting like you were about to fall asleep, and you seemed to lose track of what you were saying.”
“But… why? I had maybe two drinks all night and I don’t think I finished either of them. It was hot in the outfit though, could that have done it?”
“Someone put something in your drink,” Colt says without even trying to sugarcoat it.
Priest nods. “Your friend Erika noticed us with you and came to check. She took the drink and was going to report it. You checked in with her after we got you back here, and she’s expecting a call this morning.” He slides my phone across the counter.
I pull it back towards me, half in shock. “How did I get back here?”
“On my bike,” Priest answers.
“Wait, I got to ride on a motorcycle and I don’t even remember?”
Sinner laughs. “That’s your takeaway from this whole shitshow?”
I scrunch my nose at him. “No, but it’s the one I can handle thinking about right now.”
“If a ride’s what you’re looking for, we can make it happen whenever you want, baby,” Colt says smoothly.
The way he’s watching me makes it hard not to take that comment the wrong way. Or maybe it was the right way? Our eyes lock, and there’s a challenge in his hazel gaze that I really can’t afford to think about right now.
I look down at my phone. The battery is almost out, but I have time to check the string of unread notifications. A few from Erika, the latest warning me that I have until noon to respond or she’ll start calling around.
I’m alive! Will call later,I text with a little heart emoji.