Taking Chances (Learning to Love) (5 page)

Of course he fucking can
.

Karma really was a bitch. I motioned to the bartender for two more shots, wishing they could just be poured straight into my veins.

"I'm really sorry about that. I had no idea that you would know what I was saying." I knocked back my shot and pushed the other toward Gary.

His face turned pale and he shook his head. "I…uh…better not."

"Suit yourself." I shrugged. "I guess I owe you an explanation. My friend was pestering me to hook up with someone and I was just trying to get her off my back. I'm so sorry you got the wrong idea."

Gary's face fell and I felt even worse. He probably thought he'd hit the jackpot when he eavesdropped. I almost comforted him, but I didn't want to lead him on anymore, because there was no way I was going home with sweaty hands Gary.

Now Sebastian, was a different story
.

Where the hell did that come from? I don't even know him
.

I downed one more shot of tequila, the amber liquid slid smoothly down my throat, and slammed the shot glass down on the bar with a thud. I really needed to get some fresh air.

I made my way out onto the terrace as the tequila began warming me from the inside out. I half expected to find Gary trailing behind me, but it seemed he had come to his senses and was sitting back in his seat. He was probably eating both our desserts, not that I cared. The tequila was all the dessert I needed. The other guests funneled out onto the terrace or gathered at the bar.

It was a beautiful night, warm with a nice breeze. The moon was full, bathing the grounds in a bluish light. I took a deep breath and noticed the scent of jasmine in the breeze. I was a little dizzy from the tequila but it didn't stop me from taking the glass of champagne offered to me by a boy in a white tuxedo carrying around a tray of drinks.

Maybe Kat was right. Maybe I did need to find someone to take care of my needs. I certainly did not need another relationship, that was for sure, but what would it hurt if I found someone to scratch the itch every once in a while?

"You sure you want to drink that?" Sebastian asked, sneaking up from behind, startling me. His sexy smile was gone and he looked almost disappointed.

"Positive," I said, downing the champagne just as my friend in the white tux came back with a refill.

I was all about the bad decisions tonight
.

Sebastian looked at the new glass in my hand and frowned.

"What the hell do you care anyway?" I stared at him, demanding an answer.

"You haven't had much to eat. It just seems like a lot of alcohol for such a little girl."

I snorted. "I am not a little girl and I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure you can." His eyes grazed over me.

Trails of heat followed the path of his eyes across my body and stole the air from my lungs. "I can." Far from witty, but it was all I could think to say.

He nodded and one side of his mouth curved up into a devious smile. "Sometimes though, it can be fun to let someone else take care of you too."

Thoughts of Sebastian naked and 'taking care' of me in several different ways flashed through my mind as the tequila took over. I fought the urge to reach out and run my fingers over his lips. I wanted to touch him, taste him, feel him inside me. He stepped closer and I swore I could feel electricity jump between our bodies.

He took my hand and my heart nearly stopped dead. "What I wouldn't give to know what was going on in that pretty little head of yours."

My cheeks burned with embarrassment. I pulled my hand from his and took a step back. "That will have to remain a mystery because I won't be telling."

"Oh, come now, Lexi. There must be something you could share with me." He tilted his head and raised one eyebrow.

"I think I'll just leave it up to your imagination. You do have an imagination, don't you, Sebastian?"

He stepped closer once again and slid one hand around me, resting it on the small of my back. "I would love to show you just how creative I can be."

My skin burned under his hand and his breath fell against my neck sending shivers down my spine. Every part of me screamed out for his touch. I had to do something quick or I might have tried to undress him right then and there.

My head spun with dizziness and I pushed him back to twirl out of his grasp. I tried to hop up on the railing to sit since I was starting to really feel the tequila, but I lost my balance and nearly fell. The only thing between me and the prickly shrubs below was a set of strong hands around my waist, pulling me back against a muscular chest. I leaned against him, breathing in a mixture of expensive cologne and something I couldn't quite place, that wiped all rational thought from my head. I wanted to fill my lungs with his scent and run my tongue over his skin to see if he tasted as good as he smelled.

"Lexi, look at me. Are you all right?" he asked in a serious tone, pulling me back to look me over. I wanted to protest, tell him to pull me close again but the room started to spin and my words seemed lost in the haze.

CHAPTER FOUR

I tried opening my eyes, but they didn't want to cooperate. The overwhelming brightness of the room coupled with the throbbing pain that echoed throughout my skull was too much to tolerate. I felt around and squinted against the sunlight, trying to figure out where I ended up. It didn't take much to realize it was not my own bed.

I ran my hand over the soft t-shirt I was wearing and tried to think back to the last thing I could remember. The church was clear, including the guy with the mole hitting on me, but I did deserve that for using him to tease Kat. Another man flashed into my mind. He was tall, with piercing blue eyes, and hot as hell. I remembered doing shots of tequila at the rehearsal dinner.
Oh why did I do so many?
My head throbbed in agreement.

Someone rolled over next to me and let out a little snore.

Shit, I'm not alone
.

Panic washed over me alongside a wave of nausea. I tried to pry my eyes open, but the light stung, and my vision blurred. That was all it took. I dragged myself to the side of the bed and vomited.

"Shit, Lex, you're six inches from the bucket I gave you," Matt groaned as he pulled my hair back in a futile effort to keep it free of puke.

"Matt?" I croaked, my throat burning from the acid.

"Of course. Who did you think it was?" He tried to stifle a laugh and gently rubbed his hand up and down my back.

I had no idea why the hell I was in my brother's bed, but my panic subsided. If I was with Matt, that meant I couldn't have done anything I'd regret. After a few minutes, my stomach stopped trying to eject itself from my body, and my eyes began to focus. As the room came into view, I realized that I wasn't in my brother's bed. We were in Kat's room.

"Why are we in Kat's bed?" I wiped my mouth on the neck of the t-shirt I was wearing.

"You really don't remember last night, huh?" He was quite amused, which told me I must have embarrassed myself.

Great.

"Oh Lex, not on my rug!" Kat yelled, as she walked into the room and saw the puke over the side of her bed. "I told you we should have dragged her to her own bed."

"I got it, babe," Matt said with a chuckle and got up to clean the mess on the floor.

I gave Kat my best 'please forgive me' look, and she melted instantly. She climbed into bed with me and pulled my head to her shoulder.

"What happened last night?" I asked her, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Kat laughed and I could tell she was stalling, trying to decide if she should give me the whole story.

"Kat, please?" I covered half my face with one hand. As much as I'd like to skip the details of my humiliation, the bandage just needed to be ripped off.

I could see fuzzy pieces of what I guessed were memories, but none of it really made sense. I had to know more.

God, how much tequila did I drink?

"Well, I don't know if you will be hearing from Sebastian again," Kat said, looking away to avoid eye contact.

I tried to remember who Sebastian was. He had to belong to the blue eyes I kept seeing in my head. I could almost feel strong arms around me. Images came back little by little, but a lot was missing.

"Is he in the wedding party?" I couldn't quite place him, even though his eyes were clearly visible in my mind.

"Yes. He's Justin's cousin, from Europe." She was still feeding me baby-sized bites of information, probably hoping my memory would come back and spare her from having to break the bad news.

I peered over the side of the bed at my brother. He was scrubbing at the rug with his nose scrunched up. The scent of lemons mixed with vomit filled the room and my stomach to twisted in protest. My body did
not
want to move, but I had to get out of the room. I must have had my puke face on, because Kat slipped out of bed and extended a hand to help me up.

"Let's get you out of here before you blow chunks all over the rest of my rug." Kat held on to my arm, just in case, as we made our way into the kitchen.

I considered coffee, but the thought brought threats from my stomach. Kat poured me a glass of orange juice and popped some bread in the toaster. It wasn't often that I got a hangover, but then again, I didn't normally drink a lot either.

She poured herself a steaming hot cup of coffee. "You better get it together. We have too much to do before the bachelorette party later," she said and pushed dry toast at me.

I groaned. "Shit, how could I forget about that?" I rubbed my temples. "Bring on the strippers," I deadpanned.

"Yeah, you look really prepared for that, Lexi."

I couldn't argue. "So let's hear it. What happened last night?"

I broke off small pieces of toast and popped them into my mouth. I was encouraged when I didn't immediately puke on the counter.

Kat eyed me cautiously.

"Come on, just tell me! Not knowing is so much worse than anything you could tell me."

She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know everything. You were with Sebastian out on the terrace for a while. I'm not sure what happened out there, but he didn't seem happy with you."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "He looked angry when he stormed back in the room."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say. There was a part of me that didn't want Sebastian to be mad at me, even if I could only just barely remember him.

"Hon, that's not everything." Kat gave me a look that could only be read as
I'm not sure you want to hear this
, and I took a deep breath. "Okay, let's hear it."

"Do you remember Gary?" she asked, nibbling nervously at a blueberry muffin that was clearly labeled
Lexi's, don't touch!

"Mole guy?" I braced myself.

"Yes, well, you had him pinned up against the wall by the bar trying to suck his face off." She screwed her nose up at the memory. "When you disappeared in the men's room with him, I almost sent Matt after you, but Sebastian beat him to it."

My mouth dropped open, and a deep heat flooded my cheeks. I was speechless.

Kat took my hand for comfort and continued.

"Oh God, there's more?" I shook my head in disbelief.

"Don't be surprised if Gary has some bruises tomorrow at the wedding. I think he might have broken his nose too. There was a lot of blood."

"Wait, what?" My brain wasn't comprehending what she was saying. "Why was Gary bleeding?"

"I don't know exactly what happened, but by the time I got there, he was on the bathroom floor with his face covered in blood. Sebastian was fuming. Like, seriously, I thought he was going to kill the poor guy. Your shirt was laying on the floor, and your pants, well, I'm not even sure what happened to them."

"Oh. My. God."

"You were trying to push Sebastian away from Gary, yelling for him to stop," she continued. "Matt threw his jacket around you, and we got you out of there before anyone realized what was going on."

"Oh my God, who saw me?" The panic washed over me again when I realized I would see everyone at the wedding and wondered what the hell they would be saying about me.

"Don't worry, babe. I'm pretty sure only the bartender and one of Justin's ancient family members knew you were involved. Matt got you out of there before people started coming over to see what the yelling was about." Kat tried to look reassuring, but I knew how bad the scene must have looked to everyone.

Matt came into the kitchen with a bucket in hand and a towel draped over his shoulder.

"You owe me for this, Sis," Matt grumbled as he set the bucket and towel over by the back door.

"Why didn't I sleep in my own bed?"

Matt burst out laughing, and even Kat couldn't hold in snickers.

"You insisted there were birds in your room and you couldn't sleep in there. I actually found you laying on the kitchen island at about two. I was afraid you were going to fall off and crack your head open on the tile, so I moved you into Kat's bed to keep an eye on you," Matt answered, still holding back laughter.