No Perfect Hero(36)

Fuck.

That’s it. Game over.

Hay’s clearly had too much to drink. She’s too raw for this, for this playact of forgetting and pushing everything aside to be light, free, careless.

She doesn’t need to be wallowing in a hot tub, chewing on her feelings in front of a secretly naked guy she can’t even stand. She needs rest.

Carefully, I pry her beer bottle from lax fingers and set it aside, then shut the jacuzzi off.

While she’s still scrubbing at her eyes, I hoist myself out and steal her towel to wrap around my waist. Then I kneel at the edge next to her, catching her gently under the arms, lifting her.

“Here,” I coax. “C’mon. Let’s get you to bed.”

“I'm a big girl, Warren. I can walk. Let me –”

“Hay. I've got this. Got you.”

Then she just gives me a look that says okay, her lips tremble, and her body softens.

She doesn’t protest, even leaning into me as I lift her out and into my arms, hefting her up against my chest. I can’t even notice the slick skin, the exposed flesh, the plushness of her body right now.

Before she’d tempted me like a siren. Now she's tugging at my heartstrings.

I’m more worried about that forlorn sniffle and the redness in her eyes than I am about my own runaway dick.

Quietly, I slip through the door for her side of the duplex. Tara’s not there, she must’ve fallen asleep at Grandma’s. I carry a quiet Haley into the bedroom and set her down on the bed, still soaking wet and dripping.

“Wait here,” I say, holding up a finger.

Then I dart into the bathroom to retrieve another towel before raiding the bedroom drawer. There's an oversized Pittsburgh Steelers shirt – no time for good taste – and a fresh pair of panties.

Sinking to my knees in front of her, I wrap the towel around her shoulders, scrubbing it lightly over her body and hair, looking up at her with a small smile. “There you go. I’ll turn around for a minute so you can change.”

There's ten words I never wanted to say.

She looks at me miserably, clutching the edges of the towel in her fingers, trying clumsily to help me dry her off, though she’s getting in the way more than anything. I just maneuver around her hands, letting her do as she pleases. So long as she’s not hurting herself.

“What's gotten into you? Why are you being so nice to me?” she asks.

I arch both brows. “You’re drunk, Hay. And I’m not quite as huge an asshole as you think I am.”

“But you’re always meaner when you're trying to be...protective. Like you always say you’re trying to save me, but you won’t say from what.”

My jaw tightens. No, darlin', and I never will.

“Because not telling you is part of protecting you,” I tell her instead, nudging my knuckle under her jaw gently. “Right now, I’m just protecting you from waking up sick as a dog with a hangover. So get yourself changed, and I’ll grab you some water.”

She shakes her head. “Not thirsty.”

“Best way to prevent a hangover, sweetheart.”

Haley scowls at me. “Don’t call me sweetheart. Eddy called me sweetheart.”

Cringe. You know some people are colossal assholes when they can ruin entire words for life.

“Got it. No more of that shit, I promise.” It shouldn’t burn me to be compared to that scumbag, even when she’s out of sorts, but I’ll be damned if I’ll sound a thing like him. Standing, I squeeze her shoulder reassuringly. “Change. I’ll be right back.”

I head into the kitchen, keeping one ear perked up just in case Haley manages to nearly kill herself struggling with a t-shirt. She belts out a few frustrated grunts, but nothing life-threatening, so I fish a few cold water bottles from the fridge, taking my time to give her a chance to get herself decent before I duck back into the bedroom.

When I do, she’s sitting on the edge of the bed in a sulky bundle, her knees pulled up to her chest, safely away from the damp mark she’s left on the sheets.

I line two bottles up on the nightstand and offer her the third. “One for now, two for the morning. Drink it all.”

She wrinkles her nose up and pokes her tongue at me. “You’re so bossy.”

“I know.”

“And stupid.”

“Stupid is as stupid does.” I chuckle, folding my arms over my chest. “Anything else you want to call me?”

“A really bad liar,” she mumbles, then plugs her mouth with the water bottle and gulps it down.

Just a few drunk words chill me, leave me disquieted.

What the fuck does she think I’m lying about?

I’ve been trying to avoid dishonesty with careful diversions, but if I’ve left a trail a stranger like Hay can pick up, then it’s no wonder Bress figured me out. Enough to start sending misdirected threats.

Damn.

Sobering, I hunker down in front of her. “Think you can sleep?”

With a muffled grunt and a shrug, Haley flops over and buries her face in the pillow. “Nope.”

“You're a crappier liar than me.” Smiling faintly, I catch the rumpled covers and pull them up over her. “Sleep well, you little wildcat.”

She shoots up immediately, damp hair flying everywhere, eyes wide. “Wait. The cat!”