A car pulled up in front of the house a short while later. I sat on the porch steps, sucking on the bottle of beer I’d found. When she waved at me, her raven hair falling over her shoulder, I got up. Instead of leaving the beer like I’d vowed I would, I downed it, pouring the remainder into my gut.

Waste not, want not, right?

I threw the bottle to the side for someone else to pick up in the morning and walked toward the car, trying to look upright and sober.

When I got into the car, she glanced sideways at me.

“Thank you,” I said.

“More alcohol?” she asked.

I nodded. I wasn’t going to lie to her. “Sometimes a guy just needs to forget.”

I realized what I’d said and clapped my hand over my mouth again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. About forgetting, I mean.”

She shrugged, and I couldn’t read her expression. “It’s fine,” she said.  “Your place?”

I nodded, and she pulled off.

“Thank you for picking me up,” I said. “You’re really nice.”

“I just didn’t want something to happen to you. Trust me, I know all about accidents and blood alcohol levels.”

“Right. We were drunk that night. God, I should have made you stop drinking. I just wanted you to have fun. We’d been talking about doing it for so long, and we were both so nervous, the alcohol helped.”

I stopped, realizing what I was saying.

Her hands were both on the steering wheel, gripping so hard her knuckles were white.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m being an idiot. I shouldn’t talk about that stuff. I’m just glad you came to get me.”

She shook her head. I took a deep breath and looked out of the window.

“I loved you so much,” I said.

I couldn’t help myself. The words were just falling out of my mouth. “I still do, you know? You’re still so much the same person you were back then. You just don’t see it. Everything I fell in love with is still there. And I don’t even care that you don’t remember, because I do. I remember how perfect you were, and I still see it in you, hiding behind you being so careful now.”

“Brian,” she said, but I couldn’t stop.

“I’m not trying to push you into anything. We can just be friends. I will be anything with you if it means you’re still in my life. God, I’ll wait forever for you, if that’s what it takes. I don’t want to lose you, and having you as a friend is better than not having you at all. The last five years without you have been so fucking empty. Sorry, I’m swearing.”

I knew I was rambling. I was pretty sure I was saying things I shouldn’t have said, too, but I didn’t know how to stop myself. My emotions were raw, falling into my lap, plain for her to see.

She was quiet. I glanced at her. Her face lit up with passing streetlights as we drove, her dark hair hung over her shoulders, and her lashes were impossibly long.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” I said. “You were a stunner at school. The cheerleader that everyone wanted, and you wanted me. And now? You’ve grown even more beautiful. You’re a fucking goddess now.”

I was swearing too much. When I looked at her, her face showed nothing. She didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know I’m fucking up. I just can’t help it. Whenever I’m around you, I forget everything, and the only thing that matters is you. It sucks that I found the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and she forgot all about me.”

Sadie stopped in front of my gate, and I pressed the button to open it. She drove in and parked in front of the front door.

“Thank you so much,” I said. “For driving me.”

I opened the door. I wasn’t going to ask her in. I was going to be a good guy and let her go.

Something went wrong with my feet when I wanted to get out of the car, and I fell out instead.

Sadie laughed, the first sound from her since I got into the car, practically. She got out of the car and hurried around to me, kneeling. She was laughing, her gray eyes bright.

I touched her cheek, and her breath hitched in her throat. The laughter wiped away. I would have regretted it if her eyes hadn’t still been smiling at me.

She helped me up. I was fine for the most part. My coordination was just a little off. I got the door open. My wallet lay on the little table in the foyer where I’d forgotten it. Hanson had picked me up, I suddenly remembered.

I was way more drunk than I had initially realized.

“I’ll be fine,” I said, turning to Sadie.

She was a lot closer than I’d thought, her body just inches from mine. My body was hot, and my mind clouded. The only thing I could see was her big eyes looking up at me and her lips, perfect.

I couldn’t resist her. I’d never been able to, but with alcohol in my system, I was a fool in love. I put my hands on her cheeks and tipped up her face, pressed my lips against mine.

She froze, and for a moment, I expected her to slap me in the face. But then she kissed me back, her mouth opening and her tongue meeting mine. Her arms curled around my neck, and she kissed me back.