Total pages in book: 204
Estimated words: 193115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 966(@200wpm)___ 772(@250wpm)___ 644(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 193115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 966(@200wpm)___ 772(@250wpm)___ 644(@300wpm)
“You should have just said.”
“I’m saying now. So, do you want the stool over your head?” I tilt my head in question, wondering what the fucking hell has gotten into me.
“Take the stool.”
“Thought so.”
I make it back to the table and set it down. “Sit,” I order, physically placing Ava on the seat. I scan her, up and down, dying to declare our departure. At this rate, there will be no reminding her of anything. She looks fit to drop. Fucking alcohol. It’s robbed me of so much, and now it’s robbing me of Ava. “Drinks?” I’ll get a round in, and then we’re leaving. I’m hit with a splurge of requests that knocks me back a few paces.
“I’ll give you a hand,” Sam says as I head to the bar, him following hastily.
I smile to myself. “If I’d said I was going to take a piss, would you have come there too?” I ask. We’ve broken the girlie scale today. Coffee. Congregating to discuss women. What next? I muscle my way to the bar and throw my order at the barman.
“Shut up,” Sam spits, just as Drew joins us. “I take it the talk went well.”
There wasn’t exactly much talking. “Yeah,” I say, throwing a couple of notes down and turning into him. “What’s the deal with you and Kate?”
Sam frowns. Opens his mouth. Shuts it. Then he turns to Drew. “What’s the deal with you and Victoria?”
Drew frowns. Opens his mouth. Shuts it.
I laugh and slide some drinks over to Sam when they land on the bar. “Just remember one thing,” I say, trying my hardest not to sound too serious, even though I am very serious.
“What?” they say in unison.
“Ava doesn’t know about The Manor, which means Kate doesn’t know, which means Victoria doesn’t know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Sam sighs tiredly. “And when do you plan on telling Ava about your seedy little sex club?”
“Seedy?” I ask, insulted. “Little?”
“Okay, classy and fucking massive.”
I look between my mates, both of their interested attention on me. “I don’t know,” I admit. The Manor has taken a backseat to the other shit I’m having to deal with. Like winning her back.
“Well, let us know, won’t you?” Drew says, knocking back his beer. “Wouldn’t want to drop you in it.”
My hackles rise. “Only you can make sure that doesn’t happen,” I hiss threateningly, and he smiles around the rim of his bottle.
“So laid-back,” he murmurs, mocking the hell out of me.
I throw him a scowl and return my attention to the barman while they claim the drinks and join the others. The Manor. I should start by telling her about The Manor. I look up to the ceiling of the bar, exhaling. “This is your fault, Carmichael,” I say quietly.
I take the remaining drinks and head back to the table, arriving to find everyone laughing. Yes, my situation is quite hilarious, I agree. “What’s so funny?” I ask, placing Ava’s small wine on the table and her large water next to it. She’s falling apart on her stool, laughing uncontrollably.
“We’ve just found Tom’s Achilles heel,” Kate says, and I frown.
“Sam,” Ava splutters.
“Sam?”
“Tom fancies Sam!” Ava’s blonde work friend—Victoria, I assume—sings, and it falls into place. I take Ava’s water and unscrew the cap, having a quick swig before thrusting it at her. “Here, have some.” She accepts without argument, lucky for her, but no sooner has she swallowed it down, she claims the wine and necks it. All of it. I should shove my fingers down her throat and make her throw it all back up. This is getting ridiculous, and it doesn’t bode well for our future together. If she thinks I’m going to let her out with friends after what I’ve seen tonight, she can think again. She’s plastered. It doesn’t suit her.
I lean on the table, watching her, while the rest all chat, Drew getting interestingly close to that Victoria woman. What’s his game? She’s so far away from his type, she may as well be a bloke. And Sam with Kate? I like her, and I can only imagine the headache I’ll get from Ava if my free-spirited mate messes her around. I shake my head to myself. Yes, because you haven’t got enough problems of your own to deal with, huh?
I return my attention to Ava. My Ava. My very drunk Ava. For the love of God, she’s going to fall off that stool soon. I round the table and place myself behind her, holding the base of her neck. “What’s your plan?” I ask Sam, my eyebrow arched.
His smirk is filthy. “I might take a leaf out of your book and woo her. Take her for dinner or something, since I can’t take her to The Manor.”
I give him wide eyes, looking down at Ava. I’ve nothing to worry about. She’s barely awake. Enough is enough—I’ve been more than reasonable. I claim her bag and crouch in front of her, waiting for her to open her eyes. It takes forever, and when she does, she’s forced to close one in order to focus on me. What a state. “Come on, lady. I’m taking you home.” I lift her off the stool and walk her to everyone in turn to say goodbye. “Can you get home okay?” I ask Kate, just as Sam swoops into her side and throws an arm around her shoulder.