Page 48 of The Tip-Off
“No.”
She comes into view, tan legs bare. She’s wearing one of my t-shirts, but it’s so big on her it fits more like a dress. A short dress that looks too good to be real.
“What’s wrong?” I’m almost to my feet when the ghost of a smile plays on her lips.
“I don’t want to sleep alone.”
“You’re drunk.”
“Drunk Gabby wants the same things as Sober Gabby.”
“The fact that you’re talking about yourself in the third person makes me seriously doubt the validity of that statement.”
“Interesting. Take off your pants and let’s talk about it in more detail.”
I chuckle, God help me. “Not happening.”
“Will you at least come sleep in your bed? I know you have an early flight and the meeting tomorrow.” She motions to the couch. “Sleeping down here can’t be comfortable.”
“I’ll survive.”
“You are so stubborn.” She lifts the hem of her shirt.
“What are you doing?”
“If you won’t sleep upstairs, then I’m going to take off my clothes and join you on the couch.”
I reach her just as she gets the shirt high enough to reveal the pink lacy underwear underneath. Never gonna be able to un-see that. “Stop. Okay, you win.” I turn her so she’s facing the way she came. “Keep your clothes on. I’m right behind you.”
And that’s how I end up sleeping in the same bed as Gabby for the first time. And as for sleep – I would have fared better on the couch. You can’t lie next to a hot chick and not think about sex, and you can’t sleep with a boner. You just can’t. It’s science.
23
Gabby
“I heardyou did the walk of shame this morning.” Blair sets her backpack down in the chair across from me and takes the seat beside it.
“Walk of awesome,” I say without looking up from my laptop. “Joel was right about that.”
“So…?” The tone of her voice begs for details and I look up.
“Nothing happened. Just sleep. If my memory is correct. I might have tried to take my clothes off, but he stopped me.”
“The man has willpower.” She lifts her chin and looks to my laptop. “Whatcha doing?”
I spin it around so she can see the screen.
“I don’t get it.”
“It’s a playlist for Zeke. All songs that mention the NBA in the lyrics. Plus, a couple songs by Shaq because who doesn’t love an NBA star trying to rap?”
She raises both eyebrows and snorts. “If you say so.”
I add one last song to the list and then shoot a text to Zeke with the link. “Done.”
“Good. Are you ready to register for classes next semester?” She lets out a little squeal. “I can’t believe we’re finally going to take classes together. I was thinking we should take Ethics on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then on Tuesday and Thursday Business Marketing. Those two are prerequisites for the MBA program.”
“Actually, I’m not sure.”
