Chapter Eighteen
Eliza – Saturday
Shit. My heart was pounding furiously in my chest. I hated seeing Milo with that woman; it literally drove me mad. She was one of those faces that I’d seen around Florence, but she wasn’t anyone I knew. But now I detested her. I wanted to punch her in the face or at least wrap my arms around Milo to stake my claim.
But I couldn’t, because I didn’t have any claim. We’d decided to be friends, on my insistence, which was exactly what we had to do because he would be leaving soon. That part held up, no matter what I wanted.
“Don’t panic,” Laynee hissed the second she saw my freaked-out expression. “He’s blown Phoebe off; he’s coming back. He’s resisted her charms, which is saying a lot because she is a mega slut! He must like you.”
Ugh, why am I so desperate for that to be true? I was such a fucking idiot. I stared at Laynee in a panic, but before I could spill all my issues, Milo was back with us, and we had to act normal. Luckily, she took over the conversation for a moment, allowing me to sit back and sort my thoughts out.
Was I a fool to push Milo away? Should I have kept hooking up with him until he went home so that I didn’t have to see him getting with anyone else? How the hell would I feel if he brought someone back to the cabin and I had to hear them going at it from the next room? I’d been living in the Eliza/Milo bubble for such a long time that I’d totally forgotten about everyone else, and now that might smack me in the face.
I’d fucked it up, and now I was going to have to drink until I didn’t care whether or not Milo brought someone else back to sleep with. With that thought in mind, I grabbed the glass in front of me and slugged it back quickly, needing to feel its effects.
I was going to have to get through this night somehow!
***
“Is this what you guys call a club?” Milo teased, sending me and Laynee into peals of laughter. “It’s tiny! I’m used to huge, glamorous places. I don’t know if this is going to do.”
“I know, but it’s all we got,” I squealed, much happier now that I was drunk. Sure the problems were still there, rationally I knew that, but I was far too buzzed to care. The awful shots Laynee had been buying me were doing the trick. “So, we don’t have any choice. We have to suck it up – and now that you’re in Florence, so do you.”
“You go and get us some drinks. We’re going to the bathroom,” Laynee insisted, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from Milo. “We’ll meet you in a minute.”
The stark white lights of the bathroom hit my eyes hard. I blinked a few times, probably looking like a total idiot, which was confirmed by Laynee’s laughter.
“Oh, my God,” I gasped in a silly voice. “This place is designed to make me feel like shit.”
“Okay, I didn’t bring you in here to talk about how wasted you are. I want to know what’s going on with you and Milo.” She sounded so serious that it actually took me back for a second.
“What do you mean?” I’d kept this to myself because I was scared of revealing to my friend how into this I was getting. I also thought that saving the information about my hot night of sex with Milo until he left would be a good idea because I was so afraid of her saying anything to her, but now my walls were crumbling, and I needed to talk to someone. I needed some advice, and she was the only one who could give it.
“You keep shooting these looks at each other. There is so much heat between you. Something happened, right?”
I bit my lip and nodded slowly. “Yes, it did. I can’t even describe it to you, it was so good.”
She grabbed my hands, screamed like a loon, and jumped up and down. “Oh, my God, that’s so exciting. I didn’t even realize I was a third wheel. I’ll find a way to leave you guys alone.”
“No, don’t.” I grabbed her hands hard. “Don’t leave me with him. I told him I didn’t want anything to happen again. I told him we should just be friends.”
“Why? Are you crazy?”
“He has to leave.” I shrugged as if it didn’t hurt. “There’s no point in starting anything.”
“But you like him, and he clearly likes you.”
“That’s the problem,” I shot her down before she could get on a roll. “So let’s just get back out there and have some fun. Take my mind off him.”
The night turned into something of a blur from that moment. I could recall drinking and dancing and laughing, but all in short bursts, and none of it very coherent.
I wasn’t a great drunk, which was why I didn’t usually drink too much, but that had all gone out of the window. If I wanted to forget Milo and Phoebe at the bar, then I had more than done that.
“Come on,” Laynee whispered to me what felt like hours later. “It’s time to go home.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but a wave of exhaustion hit me. Actually, getting the hell out of there to bed sounded like a good plan. I rested against her arm and let her and Milo guide me outside.
As we waited for a cab, my mind started to spin once more. All I could think about was Milo with Phoebe, and it made me realize that during the time I was dancing with Laynee, we’d left him by himself at the mercy of all the women in there. He was probably hit on a million times and now wanted to take one of them back. Maybe he felt awkward because of what happened between me and him, so he turned others down because of that.
I needed to fix that. I needed to show him that I was totally cool with just being friends.
“You know, I can stay with Laynee tonight if you want the cabin to yourself?” I slurred, staggering against him. “I don’t mind if you... you want to take someone back...” The words were like daggers in my chest, so I had to force the smile on my face.
“Don’t be crazy,” he chuckled. “I’m coming back with you. Let’s sort out a ride.”
I glanced over to my friend, who wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at me before hugging me goodbye. “I just saw Romy, and you know that she lives down the road from me. We’re going to walk home together. Call me and let me know what happens with you two.”
As I waved her off, I giggled a little manically to myself. It did make me feel a whole lot better that I’d managed to get some of my emotions off my chest with Laynee, since she always found a way to make me feel better about things. Maybe she was right and Milo did like me; maybe that was the reason he hadn’t taken Phoebe up on her offer. Sure, that outcome left me in a lot of trouble, but it made me feel good, too.
“Eliza!” Milo yelled, grabbing my attention as he stepped into the nearest cab, so I raced to join him. “Get in.”
I slid in the backseat next to him and slowly felt his arm snake around me. It felt so right to be so close to him; it felt so nice. His presence was so warm and comforting, it made my heart race like crazy. The urge was there, to lean in and kiss him, but luckily, the surly driver’s presence was there to remind me that we shouldn’t.
Friends... we’re just friends.
I turned away from Milo, acting like I was watching the world go by, when really, I was doing my best to get my thoughts in order. Everything whizzed past, but all I could think about was him.
I kept remembering his hands all over me, his tongue exploring me, the pleasure he gave me... To be perfectly honest, my brain was doing totally the opposite to what I wanted it to, making it very difficult to keep away from him.
He paid the driver and we stumbled inside, with Milo practically propping me up. I allowed him to guide me toward the bedroom, the whole time my emotions stirring inside of me. As I lay down on the bed, I had to clamp my lips tightly together to stop myself from asking him to lie with me.
“Here, I’ve brought you a glass of water and some aspirin,” he whispered kindly to me, while lightly stroking my hair. “Tomorrow might be rough – do you feel sick?”
“I’m okay,” I groaned. “But I am sorry about all of this. You could have been having much more fun. You could have had any of the girls tonight, and you’re stuck here with me. That sucks.”
“I went home with the one girl that I wanted to,” he insisted with a smile. “I’m just glad I’m here to look after you!”
He was too sweet, too nice – it was crazy. It made me need to lean forward and kiss him all over again. I wanted those lips pressed up against mine once more. I didn’t, though, mostly because my head felt too heavy and I was afraid I might actually throw up. I simply smiled at him instead and allowed my eyes to flutter closed.
“Goodnight,” he whispered before I heard the floorboards creaking and him creeping away. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Night,” I groaned in reply.
“Hey, before I go,” he hissed, causing my eyes to snap back open. “Who is Josh?”
Oh, God, did I talk about Josh? How embarrassing. Why the hell would he have picked me if I chatted drunkenly about some other guy? “Oh, he’s someone I dated for a while ages ago. I... I didn’t even like him, not really, not like...” No, God, don’t say “not like you!” “We drifted apart, then I saw him kissing someone else on New Year’s Eve. Like, right in front of my face. I don’t care; it just sucked, that’s all.”
I watched his face break out into a bright grin. “He sounds like an asshole. I thought that when Laynee mentioned him.” Damn, Laynee! What the hell did she do that for? “You deserve so much better... and you’ll get much better, trust me.”
As he closed the door behind him, I wished it could be him. He was incredible, much better than I could have ever wanted, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Once he was gone, I allowed my imagination to take control, and I pictured all the things I wanted to happen. It was much easier than thinking about how sad I’d be when he was gone. I imagined him staying with me, touching me, tasting me all over again, and those images filtered into my dreams, giving me the most pleasant night’s sleep that I’d ever had.
Well, until about five a.m. rolled around and I had to jump up to finally be sick. Then it became one of the worst nights ever. I was sweaty, shaky, and hot all over. The hangover I was about to suffer would be horrific. Luckily, the salon was closed all day, so I could just sleep it off.