Page 56 of What Happens In Vegas
Chapter 23
‘Let’s get you a drink of water.’ Quinn scooped Bonni up into his arms and carried her further into the room. He sat her on the couch, putting a pillow behind her back when she started to slide.
‘I don’t want to drink water. Do you have more champagne? Sometimes it tastes yucky but, in Vegas, it’sawesome!’ Quinn watched Bonni try to look around the room, but her eyes crossed and shestarted to tilt again.
‘I think it’s better we have water.’
She stuck out her tongue and wrinkled her nose. ‘But you can have wateranywhere.’
Quinn thought his heart was going to explode at how cute she was being. Her head fell back and he wondered what on earth had made her hell-bent on getting so drunk. ‘Baby, Las Vegas water is filled with magic and luck, so you gotta drink it all up. Youjust stay there while I get it.’ Quinn moved quickly to the bathroom to fill two glasses from the tap before Bonni decided she could fly, or something equally nonsensical.
‘Hereyou go, darling. Drink up now.’ He sat beside her and she slumped into him. Lifting her to a sitting position, he held a glass to her mouth. She gulped some water down and he wiped a drop off her chin. Bonni looked upat him, her eyes, normally so alert and vibrant, now glassy. She was having a hard time keeping them open. While he was appreciative of her adorableness, he wished he’d pushed harder for dinner. If he had, perhaps she wouldn’t have gotten so drunk. What was bothering her?
‘I’m going to miss you, Quinn.’ Her breath caught.
‘Where am I going? Here, you need to drink some more.’
Bonni drank therest of the water, wiping her hand over her mouth, and he gently placed her back on to the pillows.
‘You’re going to leave,’ she said, and he watched her eyes flutter.
Cupping her face again, he traced the curve of her cheek. ‘I’m not going anywhere. I’m here with you right now.’
‘I don’t want you to go, Quinn.’
He shifted the pillows around so he could sit at the corner of the couch, anddrew her back on him. ‘I don’t want to go either.’
‘You’re special. I like you, a lot.’
She was telling him things he wanted to hear. Only she was drunk. Perhaps talking truth?
‘I’m not going to go anywhere. You’ll stay here with me tonight.’
Bonni snuggled into him and rested her cheek on his chest. ‘’Kay. I can hear your heart beat.’
He brushed her hair off her face again and saw that hereyes were closed. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and held her tight. Quinn stayed that way for a little while, cradling her.
Then she suddenly sat up, startling him.
‘Are you okay, baby? Did you fall asleep?’
Sheshook her head. ‘Nope. Just resting my eyes. Everything is spinning.’
‘I’m not surprised. You’ve had a lot to drink.’
‘Yup. Gotta forget stuff sometimes, ya know?’
He wassilent for a minute, then asked, ‘What are you trying to forget?’
Bonni shrugged her shoulders. ‘All the people going away.’
‘Who’s going away?’
‘Everybody does, you know. So I decided I would always leave first. I wouldn’t ever get left behind again.’
He needed to steer her off that path, even though she’d revealed an important character trait about herself. Would she leave him? Run away?Does she think I’ll leave her?
‘Not everybody will leave you. I won’t leave you.’ Quinn felt his stomach sink. Because leaving was what a professional poker player did. Constantly traveling to follow the games. He knew, in that moment, that if he wanted to be with Bonni he’d have to give it up.
