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“Immature?” She faced Jeremy then her eyes fell back
on me. “Am I being immature?”

I shook my head. “Mags, no more drinking
tonight.”

Maggie grinned, grabbed Dean’s shot and woofed it
down. She glanced over at Jeremy. “You’re immature.”

“Fine, Mags. I’m immature, just stop drinking
now.”

She looked pleased with herself for the next few
minutes and then she hit a wall. And even though I begged her to
stop, I felt horribly responsible. I only wanted her to loosen up
and end up in my bed with me, not this. Definitely not this.

I was pretty positive it was the last shot of
tequila that did her in. Jeremy was cursing up a storm at me for
getting her annihilated, while Dean just shook damn head. In what,
approval? Disapproval? I didn’t know, and I didn’t care.

The waitress glimpsed down at Maggie semi-passed out
on the table. “You guys are cut off and need to leave.” She slammed
down the bill so we all threw in what we owed. I picked up Maggie’s
tab since I’d caused her to drink, and because if felt like old
times to pay her way. Jeremy lifted her head, she slurred something
unintelligible. He turned to me, not looking too happy.

“What the fuck, man? She’s out of it. Why’d you give
her so much?”

I shrugged like it was no big deal. “I tried to get
her to drink water, but you know Maggie. We had a bet. She lost.
I’ll carry her. It’s no big deal.” But Maggie was dead weight. Even
though she was little, I had a hard time carrying her all the way
back to the apartment. She stirred every once in a while, and it
killed me when she did because she’d look into my eyes and murmur
words like
love, hate, safe, missed you, and sorry.

Once home, I placed her on the couch, covering her
with a blanket to keep an eye on her. She hadn’t puked yet, and we
were all kind of waiting for her to get it out so we could go to
bed. We were in the kitchen waiting on some frozen pizzas to bake
when Jeremy stalked off to Maggie’s bedroom.

Dean glanced over his shoulder to check if he was
gone, and then turned to me. “Um, bro, I thought you were trying to
get her back in your bed tonight,” he whispered keeping an eye out
for Jeremy.

“Yeah, I was. This didn’t go as planned. I forgot
how determined she is when she’s trying to prove a point.” That was
the major understatement of the night. Maggie was piss drunk,
drooling and snoring on the couch. I’d finally convinced her to
drink some water-apparently it wasn’t enough.

Jeremy came back a second later with a bag in his
hand. He kneeled in front of his sister. “What are you doing?” I
shouted.

He grinned up at the two of us. “Oh, I’ve been
waiting for a chance like this forever,” Jer said.

The timer went off, so I yanked out the pizzas. When
I turned around, Dean was kneeling next to Jeremy, and they were
laughing like idiots. “What are you two morons doing to her? Dude,
we’re twenty two-not twelve.”

“Oh, it’s payback time. Don’t even think of stopping
me, Luke. She got me good junior year of high school. I know you
remember.”

I laughed remembering the time we came back from a
party completely ripped. We woke her and Jenny Walter (Jer’s ex and
Maggie’s friend) up, and they were mad as hell. She cut his shirt
off him split down the middle with scissors, shaved off his chest
hair, and then Jenny wrote in a black Sharpie marker he had a small
penis with a little arrow pointing downwards.

I debated if I wanted any part of this. I stared
down at her makeup bag on the floor. They were attempting to make
her face look like some barnyard animal and were getting it totally
wrong. “Well, if you’re gonna do it at least do it right. Move
over.” And that’s how I always got myself into trouble. I could
never let them have fun without me. Maggie was going to be so
pissed.

Jeremy had lifted up her shirt, tucking it under her
bra so she wasn’t completely exposed. He lifted the sharpie from
the floor, but I couldn’t let him do it. “Dude, no.”

“Why not?”

“We’re being juvenile enough. Besides, it was Jenny,
not Mags that did half that shit to you.” He kept going. “What are
you gonna write? She has a small pussy? Knock it off, and move on.
Admit they got you back then, and let it go.”

He rocked back on his heels, wavering. I’d taken
that as my opportunity to get her out of there. I had to bite back
a laugh as I placed her down in her bed. Even though it was so
wrong and immature for us to do that to her, it reminded me of
sleepovers when we were younger. I think it took all three of us
back there. Remembering Maggie and the all the fun we’d shared.
Part of me wondered if that was why Jer did it. Even though it was
completely wrong and juvenile-it brought back a memory that made
all of us smile.

She’d barely moved since we’d gotten home, and it
seemed as though her praying to the toilet was not going to happen.
I pulled off her shoes and tucked her into bed. I was afraid to
leave her, though, so after taking off my shirt, I slipped into my
favorite spot.

The one right next to her.

Chapter 19

Maggie

“Oh, dear God, what happened last night?” I
whispered. When I woke up, I found Luke’s arm draped over my chest,
his leg tangled around mine. He was not totally naked, and neither
was I, but his shirt was missing. I was so afraid he’d catch me
gawking and then know exactly what I was thinking about.

He got me plastered last night, (well, I helped) and
even though my head had several hundred Irish dancers tapping away,
I was more nervous about what I might have missed once we got
home-and into this bed. My mouth parched, I noticed a filled glass
on my nightstand. Carefully, I lifted his arm off me, but he
stirred, so I didn’t dare move until I was sure he’d fallen back
asleep. Once his snoring resumed, I untangled his leg and slipped a
couple inches away from him. My feet had just touched the ground,
the coldness of the water refreshing on my tongue, when his hands
gripped me.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I cleared my throat. “Thirsty. Very thirsty. And I
really need to go to the bathroom,” I answered honestly.

I chugged the whole glass, even as he kept trying to
pull me back down to him. Feeling battered and beaten up from too
much alcohol, I relented and sank onto the pillow next to him. Luke
busted out laughing when I flipped over onto my side.

“Oh, man. I forgot,” he said, still laughing
uncontrollably.

“What?”

He reached over me, lying half on top, and I thought
he was making a move. Instead, he grabbed a Kleenex and softly
placed it against my forehead, rubbing in a circular motion and
pulling it away to show me all the colors of the rainbow. At first
I thought my makeup had smudged, but then I remembered I’d only
worn some gloss and mascara last night.

I shot out of bed, forgetting about the constant
throbbing, to look in the mirror over the dresser. I looked
ridiculous. My entire face was covered. You couldn’t see one speck
of my natural skin color. I eyed Luke as he fought back laughter.
“Did you do this?”

He shook his head.

“Jeremy?” I asked, completely and utterly annoyed
that they would take advantage of a drunken girl when it was clear
I hadn’t been functioning last night.

He shrugged, trying to dodge the question, and I dug
deep to not burst out laughing at how I looked, because it was
actually funny. “You do know I will get all of you back. Don’t
think I don’t know that you weren’t apart of this.” I flung the
door open and stormed into the bathroom. I popped a few Advil and
cranked on the shower.

I knew why I’d drunk so much. It wasn’t just losing
the bet. When Luke cornered me by the bar bathroom, I wanted him so
badly it hurt. I just couldn’t bring myself to go down that road
with him yet. Not until he knew everything. And I wasn’t sure how
to explain it to him after everything he’d been through. That’s why
I’d been holding back. At one time I had the whole conversation
planned out in my head, but now everything had changed.

***

A week later, I was still planning my retribution
when Luke sidled up to me at work. I was just having a bite to eat
before our shift started. “Can I ask you something that I’ve been
dying to ask since we found you?”

I was chewing a mouthful, so I nodded.

“How the hell did you get a job at that strip joint?
Or better question, why did you take it?” I could tell he was
generally curious, and not in a jerk way, but trying to figure out
what had happened to me.

I gazed into his patient green eyes. “I was barely
making it waitressing. Trust me, I tried. Everything was going
against me. If I took the bus for an interview, it’d be raining and
I’d get splashed soaking wet by some damn bus, or I’d break a heel
off my shoe. Every time I had to turn around and go back to my
shithole apartment. Not the one you saw. The first one was way
worse. I managed to nail a job at a small diner-the tips were
decent, but I had to work the graveyard shift. At least it was
something. I was about to give up and call Jer to come get me, or
send some money, when the gang walked in. I overheard them, and Max
winked at me when he caught me listening to their conversation. He
came over and told me about the job. He got me an interview. From
there, it just worked out. The money was good, and I was able to
get into a somewhat decent apartment from Jimmy.” I shrugged. “I
made enough to at least to pay rent, buy food, and save a
little.”

He exhaled. “Makes sense. I just wish...God, Maggie
I wished you’d trusted me enough not to leave. To believe in me…and
us. I can’t help but always wonder where’d we be right now if you
hadn’t.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized again.

His hand reached across the table, and grabbed mine.
“I know you are. Could you promise me though to please never do
that again? I don’t think I could manage not seeing that beautiful
face of yours everyday.”

I smiled.

“I have something for you. I hope you don’t get
mad.” He pulled out a flyer from his back pocket. “It’s all paid
for.”

He handed me the flyer and I studied it. “What is
this?”

He shook his head, but kept his smile trained on me.
“It’s a baking class downtown. I did some research. It’s not France
or the school you really wanted, but it’s something. It’s a start.
It’s only a small pastry class. Don’t freak out.”

“Why are you giving me this?”

“I want to do this you for, Mags. Please take me up
on it. I know it’s not me saving you from your dad when we were
younger, but it makes me feel better to give you something you
want. I know you’ve saved some money, but keep saving it.” His
thumb grazed my chin, tilting it to look up at him. “Please, just
take the class.”

The tears formed instantly. “You shouldn’t
have.”

His hand gently caressed my cheek, slowly tracing my
lower lip. “I should have done this a long time ago, Blue.” Luke
stood and walked away.

Every time he did something so sweet and tender, I
couldn’t find the words that I wanted to say. So I just smiled at
his back, and finished my sandwich. Underneath the table my legs
were doing a jig. I was definitely taking him up on his offer.

The bar was slow, so I was let off at ten, but Luke
had to stay until closing. I went home alone with plans of curling
up on the sofa with a good movie and a bowl of popcorn.

At midnight, the door burst open, and cackling girls
followed my brother and Dean inside. I rolled my eyes, annoyed
because the movie was just getting to the good part.

“Hey, do you guys mind keeping it down?” I
yelled.

Both girls shot me dirty looks. Jeremy and Dean
busted out laughing.

“Maggie, have a drink with us.” Dean waved me over,
and I could tell he’d already tied a few on.

“No thanks. I’m watching a movie. Please, Jer?”

Jeremy opened a few beers and passed them around.
The girls whispered, wondering who the hell was the girl on the
couch with the Lucky Charm pajama bottoms. A second later Jeremy
answered. “That there is my baby sister, so stop getting all out of
whack.”

“By three minutes you’re older,” I yelled out.

He sauntered over to the couch with a little extra
swag in his step, and propped himself on the edge. “What are you
doing home? I thought you had to work?”

“It was dead so they let me go home early.”

He looked up at the TV, and then his eyes flicked
back to the girls. “Okay, Maggie we’ll take the party into my
room.” Relieved, I smiled, and watched him usher the other three
into his room-the room he shared with Luke, who would be home
within the next hour or so.

Even though the door to the bedroom was shut, I
could hear them laughing, a quarter bouncing off the table every
few seconds, followed by, “chug, chug, chug.”

It wasn’t until after one that I finally headed for
the bathroom to get ready for bed. My hands and face were full of
face wash, my hair high in a ponytail when I opened my eyes to see
Luke standing behind me. I nearly jumped into the sink. I held up a
finger to tell him to give me a minute.

After I finished, I turned around. “I’m done. It’s
all yours.” I tried to scoot past, but he stopped me.

“I need a favor.” His hand was firm on my elbow.

I twirled my ponytail, trying to do something with
my other hand to avoid doing what I really wanted. Just the feel of
his fingers sometimes gave me goosebumps.

“Ah, yeah. Jer’s kind of occupying the room tonight.
Any chance I could bunk with you?”

My knees felt like Jell-O, like any minute I was
going to drop to the floor and never recover from hearing his sexy
voice asking me to share a bed. Growing up, Luke and I slept
together way more than anyone knew. Even all those years as teens,
when nothing was going on. He’d sleep over and we’d all be crashed
out in the basement on blankets, and somehow we’d always find
ourselves smashed together in the morning. This was no different,
right?