Space (Laws of Physics #2)(51)

Glaring at my drummer—promising, I’ll take care of you later—I moved my eyes around the gathered circle.

“Where is everyone?”

“They went to bed after the shots.” Bruce held his chin propped up with his palm. His chin kept falling off of it. “Armatures.” Drunk.

“You mean amateurs?” I asked, incredulous, taking several more steps into the room. I’d only known Bruce for a short while, but I’d never seen him drink past his limit.

“That’s what I said. Armchairs.” He nodded at himself.

Exhaling a short, disbelieving breath, I studied Mona. She was looking at me, swallowing, a glimmer of nerves in the reflexive movement.

But she’d also lifted her chin to squint at me. “You want to play? Bruce is about to lose his shorts, and then he’s out.”

I flinched, because every word with an s sound had been slurred. Gaping, I looked at her, really looked at her and not the skin she’d exposed. She was drunk. Maybe not as gone as the others, but she was close. Sitting upright, she swayed. And the eye squint? She wasn’t giving me back my glare, she was trying to keep her eyes focused and open.

“Holy shit,” I said, shocked. Shook.

“No, we’re playing five card stud.” Mona shook her head, but then kept shaking it, like she couldn’t stop once she’d started.

Closing the rest of the distance and kneeling in front of her, I hesitated for a second, and then I placed my hands on either side of her face to stop the motion. “Stop shaking your head. Where is your shirt?” Not waiting for her to answer, I dropped my hands to the cushion on either side of her thighs and glanced around the room. I didn’t see it.

“Where is your shirt?” Allyn asked, also searching, yawning. “Didn’t you throw it outside?”

“That’s right. I did.”

I looked back at Mona. Her eyes were on me, hazy but hot, moving over my face.

Lifting her fingers, she smoothed them over my beard, up to my temples, tugging lightly at my hair, sending arcing waves of sensation down my spine. Just as unexpectedly, she leaned closer, her lips inches from mine, and whispered, “I want to lick you like an ice cream and eat the fuck out of your cookie cone.”

I started, staring, feeling like I’d just been shocked. A throb of energy pressed against my skin, electrifying. Mona’s hair was down, pulled out of its braid, and slipped over her shoulders as she straightened, brushing the tops of her breasts. Gorgeous.

But then, holding my eyes, her fingers still tugging at my hair, she wobbled inelegantly. And I remembered.

She.

Is.

Drunk.

Clearing my throat, I ripped my eyes from hers, catching her wrists and removing her hands. I gulped air, released an unsteady breath, and made up my mind.

“Come on.” I stood, not looking at her because doing so would’ve been unwise. Very unwise. Extremely unwise. “Let’s get you all to bed.” Then, before Mona could react or protest, I turned to Jenny Vee. “Do you know where your clothes are?”





12





Oscillatory Motion and Waves





*Abram*





After figuring out just how drunk everyone was—very, but not dangerously—I woke up Melvin and Lila. We put Jenny, Bruce, and Charlie to bed first since they were on the main level.

I asked Melvin to help me get Allyn and Mona upstairs, and Lila to put bottles of water and pain relievers next to each drunk person’s bed. I also wanted her to double-check on the ladies, make sure they were all still sleeping alone, and lock everyone’s doors—whether they’d been drunk or not—just to be safe.

They were both nice about it, which I appreciated.

Giving up on finding anyone’s clothes, we wrapped Mona and Allyn in blankets. Melvin carried Allyn up under Lila’s supervision, and then they both came downstairs to clean the living room.

“Take Mona up.” Melvin pushed me away from the coffee table, where I was stacking shot glasses.

“I can take myself up,” she said from where she was crawling around on the ground, trying to pick up playing cards. I had to tear my eyes away from the image of Mona on all fours in just yoga pants and a bra, the blanket we’d wrapped around her forgotten somewhere on the floor.

“Sorry about the mess, Melvin.” Mona stretched, her back arching as she reached for a king of hearts.

Kill me now.

“It’s fine, sweetie.” But then to me, in a quieter voice, he said, “Take her upstairs and we’ll clean this.”

I gritted my teeth, shook my head, working to sweep away my frustrations and focus. It wasn’t just the state of the living room, it was the drunk people who’d made the mess. Mona bending over to reach for playing cards under the table, ass in the air, wasn’t helping either.

“Let me get the glasses.” My voice was rough. I cleared my throat.

“Don’t worry about it.” Lila gave me a warm smile as she walked in. “This is honestly no big deal. You should see this place after Kimberly and Troy’s parties.”

“Who?”

“Exotica and DJ Tang,” Melvin answered. “One time we had to replace all the carpets after they left.” He amazed me by chuckling, like it was a fond memory. “That was disgusting. This is nothing.”