Page 102 of The Holy Grail
She probably was.
Leaning forward, she asked, “You want to know what I thought of you that night?”
“Sure. Lay it on me,” he said, then followed her previous example and downed a shot in preparation of whatever she was about to divulge.
“All right.” She smiled at him. “I thought you were at least three handfuls of trouble—”
“Only three?”
“—and your hair looked like it was styled by the previous night’s hookup holding your head between her legs.”
At that, Evan laughed out loud. “Wow. Holy shit.”
“I’m not done.”
“God, I hope not. This is great so far.”
“I thought the scruff on your face would provide the right amount of friction anywhere it might be needed—”
“That’s correct.”
“—and that your eyes were almost too pretty for a man. They made you seem sensitive, which probably fooled women into thinking you’d be a sweet lover, right up until they landed on their back with their feet up in the air.”
His lips turned up in a smile and his eyes closed, as if he was savoring the greatest of compliments. When he finally opened them and looked at her, he murmured, “You know I love you, right?”
The slightly slurred declaration stunned her, but she absolutely believed him.
“I do,” he said. “I really do. And it was hell seeing you and Mal together, because … what the fuck? I mean that. What. The. Fuck? Is this Karma? Is this the universe punishing me for something? Because whatever I did, I’m really sorry.”
It felt like her heart was breaking. “You’re not being punished. This is just …”
“My fucking bad luck? To love two people, and have them be together?”
She didn’t know what to say to that, and could only watch helplessly as he stretched out on the couch on his side and rubbed at his face. When he stopped, his eyes were red and heavy-lidded.
Evan looked both resigned and defeated, as he whispered, “I wish I could figure out how to not love you … or him.”
Heart heavy, Jules held his gaze until he slowly closed his eyes and passed out. Then, feeling the full effects of eight shots of tequila, she got up and went to the couch on slightly unsteady legs, knowing she wasn’t in any shape to leave, not even in an Uber. Somewhat awkwardly, she climbed over Evan, who didn’t even stir, and squeezed in behind him. For a few moments, she lightly played with his hair, before falling asleep herself.
Chapter 31
Crossing the Rubicon
Jules hadn’t woken up with a hangover in a long time.
She’d forgotten how awful it was as she extricated herself from the couch, doing her best not to disturb Evan, who had her practically pinned to the back cushion. She then made her way to his bathroom, which turned out to be surprisingly clean for a single man, and she quickly took care of business before splashing cold water on her face and using some of his mouthwash to gargle with. Once she was done with that, she checked his medicine cabinet for Motrin, telling herself it was medically necessary to invade his privacy. After luckily finding some (along with a large box of condoms), she swallowed several tablets and washed them down with about a gallon of water from the tap.
Back in the living room, she took a moment to gaze at Evan, with his relaxed facial features, sleep-ravaged hair, the Pink Floyd T-shirt riding up enough to expose part of his happy trail, and his bare feet, which were oddly endearing.
It was actually difficult to leave.
As she was getting into her car, her phone alerted her to an incoming text.
MALCOM: Where are you at? I came by your place to talk.
Jules inwardly groaned, because to do so out loud would have made her head hurt worse.
JULES: I’ll explain when I get home.
