Page 71 of Bourbon Bliss
“We’re playing a game,” she said. “And you’re interrupting.”
The crowd of tipsy Bootleggers started to turn on me. I heard a few boos. I needed to tread carefully. They might have been playing a kids’ game, but I knew how quickly this town could start a brawl. I didn’t want to be at the center of one.
“All right, then, carry on.”
She scrunched up her nose and glared at me. “I will. Simon says reach for the sky.”
I raised my hands in the air along with everyone else.
“Simon says put them down. Run to the bar and back.”
No one took the bait.
“Simon says…” She leaned to the side. I reached out to catch her, but she kept her feet. “Simon says you all win. Go take a shot.”
Cheers rose up behind me and someone put their hand on my arm. I looked down to see Nadine Tucker give me a quick smile before ducking behind me.
“Good boy,” she said.
June was still standing, her eyelids heavy.
“Come on down from there before you fall.”
She waved me off. “I’ve got it.”
“You don’t got it.”
For a second, I debated taking the time to coax her down and help her walk out of here on her own two feet. The last thing I wanted after the other night was any notion that I’d force her to doanything. But I could tell by the way she swayed that she was on the downhill side of drunk, liable to puke or pass out—or both—any minute. I wanted to get her somewhere safe now, not wait until her drunk ass decided to cooperate with me.
I grabbed her by the waist and tossed her over my shoulder. “Let’s go, June Bug.”
“Wait, no! We’re playing a game! They’re having fun playing a game with me!”
“Game’s over, honey,” I said. “Time to go home.”
“I don’t want to go home.” She beat on my back a few times, her blows only one step shy of useless.
“I know, but you’re drunk and I don’t want you hurting yourself.”
“You’re drunk.”
“Sure, June Bug, whatever you say.”
I hauled her outside to my car. If she was going to puke, there wasn’t much I could do about it. My rental was closer than her place, so I went straight there. I’d deal with the ramifications later. For now, I just wanted to get her settled for the night.
She didn’t puke in the car, but I could tell it was coming as soon as I parked. I got her out before whatever she’d been drinking started to come up.
“That’s it, honey, let it out.”
I held her hair back as she doubled over. It was freezing cold, and I was dressed in nothing but a t-shirt and sweats. I shivered while I tried to keep June from tossing up a night’s worth of heavy drinking into her hair.
She stopped and straightened.
“You think you’re done?”
She smoothed down her shirt in what looked like a drunken attempt to regain her dignity. “Yes, I believe so.”
Wrong. She doubled over again. I shivered in the night air. My teeth started chattering.
