Page 18 of Forever After Never

“If you think I am leaving you alone somewhere in the middle of the night with a virtually unconscious woman, you are sadly mistaken. You may not know me well at all, but one thing you should know is that I will always make sure that women are safe.” He slides out of the driver’s seat and escorts us on the walk back to Alice’s door. He keeps a distance behind us as Alice isnow conscious enough to walk and talk, even though she still has jelly legs.

I am scared to be alone with him, so I wanted him to leave me here. Not because he genuinelyscaresme but becauseIdon’t think I can trust myself aroundhim.

Although Alice is still pretty out of it, she is miraculously awake enough to spark up a conversation - much to my horror.

“Hey, it’s Mr. Hatefuck, himself. Why’re you here? Don’t you take the hint when people don’t call you?” She laughs.

“Mr. Hatefuck? What?” Sawyer asks, a confused look on his face. I elbow Alice in the side.

“Nice one, you dick,” I whisper.

“Yep!” She pops the P. “Autumn had lots and lots of sex dreams about you after you tried to kill her.” She hiccups through her words like a drunk teenager.

“I told her that a bit of hate fucking never hurt anybody.” Alice unsuccessfully tries to hump the air. Oh man, am I going to make her pay for this tomorrow.

“You might as well get it out of your systems. You can cut through the tension between you with a knife.” She makes slashing movements through the air to hammer home her point.

“It’s pathetic really. You’re two consenting adults. Get yourself a one-way ride to pound town,” she slurs.

“Hmmm, she has dreams about me, does she? That’s some good advice, Alice!” He says with a laugh.

I stay silent now. My best friend is an asshole, but honestly, it might as well be out there in the universe, and there is no point in telling him that she’s lying, and in my drunk state, I am not embarrassed. I would be usually, but it’s all coming out now, and the alcohol gives me the courage I so sorely lack otherwise. Drunk people always tell the truth. We all know that. I glanced his way, and his dark eyes bore into my soul. My entire body goes hot.

After getting Alice into her bedroom, I turn to Sawyer, who is halfway into her bedroom.

“Can you leave? I need to get her undressed, and I don’t want you staring at her. I don’t need a babysitter.” I roll my eyes in frustration.

“Sure, I can, but trust me when I say that she is not the one I would be staring at.” He closes the door.

I get Alice undressed and haul her into bed. I remind her that I am going to kick her ass when she’s sober enough to hold her own. She hiccups and kisses me, leaving her lip gloss print on my cheek. How there is still lip-gloss on her face when she was in such a state, I will never know. I open the bedroom door, and Sawyer is holding out a packet of painkillers and glass of water.

“You might want to leave that next to the bed. I have a feeling she might need that in the morning.”

“Oh, that’s.. nice of you. Thanks.” I am taken aback, but I hold my hand out to take the water from him and glide my fingers over the back of his massive hand. “You’re probably right about that.”

I set the water and tablets next to Alice, kiss her on the forehead and leave the room. I am seeing another new side to Sawyer. He is being, dare I say it, sweet. I put my back against the wall in the hallway and let out a deep breath. Wrestling Alice when she is drunk takes it out for you. It’s like fighting an angry bear.

Sawyer turns to face me, and with the width of Alice’s hallway, he is chest-to-chest with me.

“Now it’s your turn to get tucked up into bed,” he says, and I laugh nervously.

He kept an annoyingly respectful distance from me on the way back to the car and again took me by the elbow to help me into the car. When I dipped down to climb into the seat, he put hishand on the door frame, in the exact place that I bashed my head when I got into his car an hour ago.

“How chivalrous of you,” I say sarcastically, but my core clenches from the small gesture.

“M’lady,” he replies, tipping his make-believe hat to me before closing the door and getting back into the driver’s seat. As soon as Sawyer is in the car, he turns to face me, and I shift in my seat, so I am looking directly into his illegally hot face.

“Why didn’t you call me?” he asks, shaking his head.

“I told you. I deleted your number.”

“Why?” he asks, and he sounds angry again. This man is giving me whiplash.

“Because you’re a dick. Please, Sawyer, I don’t want to talk about this right now. Anyway, this is crazy. You told me you are following me. WhywouldI call you?”

He grunts disapprovingly.

“Fuck, Autumn. I am sick to death of pretending not to care about you and you pretending not to care about me,” he says, exasperated, and he turns to face me, running his hand over his face.

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