Wrong for You (Before You #3)(36)

“Yeah, right,” Annette said with her eyebrows raised. “I don’t think that makes any sense.”

“You’d have to see him to understand it.”

Annette exhaled loudly. “So, no going home right now. Any ideas where you want to go?”

“A bar,” she said, jumping out of her seat, clapping her hands excitedly. She needed a bar. What better way to forget her idiocy than to douse the burning flames of regret in her chest with a truckload of alcohol? “Remember when we graduated from college and we danced on tables at that bar near campus? Let’s go there.”

Annette shook her head, looking a little apprehensive. “I don’t know, Vi, that doesn’t sound so smart. Maybe we could hang out at my house and make those margaritas.”

“Can we invite some people to come over? We could have a party.” With a bunch of people around, she didn’t think she’d fall back into a state of deep emotional self-pity and margaritas sounded really delicious right now.

Annette wrapped her arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the parking lot. “I have some new cute neighbors. If they’re home, I’ll ask them to join us.”

“Okay. Let’s do it. I’m all for cute neighbors and I haven’t been to a party in so long,” she said, swinging her arm out in front of her to emphasize how long it had been.

Annette barked out a laugh and shook her head. “Yes, I know exactly how much you like cute neighbors.”

“I stepped right into that, didn’t I?” Violet said, swatting Annette’s arm. Acid burned her stomach as reality crashed into her slice of drunken happiness. She groaned. “Don’t remind me of him. I was having so much fun.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Annette said, squeezing her shoulder. “I’m just glad we’re spending the day together. We can deal with the rest later. Today we’re going to have fun…lot’s of it.”

“Yes, fun,” Violet said with a touch of whimsy. Fun was the perfect antidote to a one-night stand that had gone badly, really badly. Well, not all bad. The sex part was nice. Better than nice. It rocked. It was the stuff afterwards that sucked.





Chapter Fifteen




Alec had been sitting on Violet’s front porch for the last two hours. As far as he could tell, she hadn’t been home all day. Now, it was nearly nine o’clock at night and he was worried something had happened to her after she ran out of his apartment this morning. When she left, she was upset, but he convinced himself that she’d be fine in a couple days and it’d be better if he let her go thinking the worst about him instead of entangling her in his life, especially when he lived in another state. As the hours ticked by without any sign of her, remorse seized hold of him and refused to let go.

He didn’t know what he’d say to her when she finally returned home, but he needed to say something. Yesterday, he had several chances to send her away and do the right thing, but in a moment of weakness, he couldn’t stop himself from touching her and taking what he wanted. Asshole, he chided himself.

Headlights lit up Violet’s street, and he stood up, staying in the shadows of the front porch, trying to get a better look. When he noticed it wasn’t Violet’s car, he started to sit back down, but the car stopped in front of her house and he froze in place.

The driver’s side door opened and he heard laughter.

“You’re home,” a woman he didn’t know said as she walked toward the passenger door.

The passenger door flew open, springing back so hard it almost slammed shut again. “And you said I was a bad driver. We nearly hit that lamp post and you were driving so fast I could barely see.” It was Violet’s voice and she sounded like she fell inside a bottle of booze for the better part of the day.

“That’s because your head is spinning.”

Violet cradled her head with both hands. “Annette, you’re lying. I think you’re the one who had too much to drink. My head is just fine, see?”

Shaking her head, Annette leaned against the open door, one hand on her hip. “Do you need help?”

“I’m perfectly wonderful,” Violet shouted. “Stop asking me if I need help. I’m more than capable of walking, talking, and driving by myself.”

“Riiight says the girl who hasn’t stopped drinking since this morning.”

“You’re no fun,” Violet said, standing up. “Ouch. Crap that hurt,” she yelled, rubbing her head. “I hit my head.”

“I can’t imagine why.” Annette wrapped her arm around Violet’s waist. “You need to get in bed and sleep this off. You’re trashed.”

“But I had fun,” Violet said in a singsong voice, or at least he thought that’s what she said because fun came out as a hiccup.

“And you’ll probably be kicking yourself when you wake up tomorrow.”

“Nah, I didn’t drink that much. One or two at the most,” Violet said, tripping over a raised lip on the sidewalk in front of her.

Before Alec could consider his actions, he stalked forward and grabbed Violet by her shoulders and pulled her toward him. “I can get her inside.”

Annette yanked Violet by her waist, boomeranging her backwards, but Alec refused to let go, tightening his grip on Violet’s shoulders.