to wake up.”
What? Wake up? Why would Shane be telling me to wake up?
Shane shook my shoulder, “Come on Lex, you gotta get up.”
“Just one more kiss Shane.”
“Umm, what did you say Alexis?”
“Shane?” I blinked up at him sleepily, as he leaned over me
with his hand still on my shoulder. “What are you doing out of bed?”
He gave me a weird look before replying, “Come on Lex, the
party already started. Steph’s starting to get worried that she can’t reach
you.”
“Why did you let me sleep so long?” I asked grumpily hopping
out of bed and heading toward the stairs not waiting for his response.
“Don’t you want that kiss, Lex?” Shane called out as I
slipped my shoes on and quickly scurried up the stairs, deciding it was safer
not to answer him.
Chapter 2
The party was in full swing when I reached the kitchen. I
grabbed an open bottle of wine from the counter and then made my way into the
living room. The overhead lights were off, but Steph had turned lamps on in
each corner of the room, draping sheer scarves over them to give the room a
relaxed ambiance. Not bothering with a glass, I took a swig straight from the
bottle as I made my way over to a group of friends sitting in the back corner
laughing, probably gossiping.
My thoughts strayed to the scene in Shane’s room. What
the hell had that been about? I hadn’t dreamt about Shane in years, and then to
have him wake me in the middle of it, could this day get any worse? I took
another long drink and tuned into the conversation flowing around me. My plan
was to stay here for the night, catch up with my friends and get drunk, not
necessarily in that order. I plopped down in an empty spot on the sofa when
that nasty internal voice chimed in, you’re hiding...coward! I chose to
ignore it and focused instead, on my friend’s ribbing me about not using a
glass.
“I’m helping save the environment,” I declared with a stray
hiccup as I glanced toward the kitchen, my eyes automatically drawn to Shane as
he entered the room.
“Slow down there Captain America,” Steph said joining our
little group. “You’ve killed half a bottle in under five minutes.”
A quick look at the bottle in my hands confirmed her words, shit;
this night was not going as planned at all. I wondered briefly where my phone
was. I had been planning on texting Toby, the guy I had met on an online dating
site the previous week, and inviting him over, but it was probably best if he
didn’t meet me for the first time when I was chugging wine from a bottle.
“I’m good,” I told Steph after I took another long drink and
placed the now empty bottle on the table.
My drinking habit was soon forgotten as Marie asked Steph
about her man of the hour. I loved my best friend but I didn’t understand how
she changed men like I changed my sheets, weekly. Having already heard about
Brad I leaned back and let the sounds of the party wash over me. My fingers
felt slightly tingly and I knew it was from the wine, at least my lips weren’t
numb like they got when I was drunk. I could handle this relaxed state of
tipsiness.
A loud shout of laughter from the front of the room where
the guys had congregated drew my attention. I looked over to see Shane in the
middle of the group facing me. He was gesturing animatedly as he talked, probably
telling another work story. Shane had graduated from high school two years
before Steph and myself and had gone into the police academy three weeks after
receiving his diploma. After ten years on the force, he usually had an
entertaining story or two to regale friends and family with. I sometimes
suspected he spiced up some of his stories to impress his buddies.
Tuning back into the conversation going on around me I
discovered that they were now gossiping about people from work. We all worked
at the same hospital. Uninterested, I decide to hit up the
James Kakalios
Tara Fox Hall
K. Sterling
Jonathan Maberry
Mary Balogh
Elizabeth Moynihan
Jane Hunt
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Jacquie Rogers
Shiloh Walker