Ryan Hunter

” Heck, now I remembered. Claudia’s wine cooler was the reason why Liza lay in my bed, with her sexy calf resting in my groin. Unfortunately, it was also the reason why I couldn’t remember much of the previous night. “Damn, I told her not to punch it too much,” I muttered. Then I studied Liza’s face for a sign that I should be worried this morning. “Sorry, I don’t remember much of the night after I carried you up here. Am I in trouble?”
    “As far as I remember you were pretty drunk yourself. So I was quite safe from you.”
    That she had been. But I was clear in my head now, and having her laying half on top of me gave me pretty cool, maybe X-rated thoughts. Her smooth skin tempted me to stroke and explore, and I started to run my thumb in small circles over her thigh. “I’m afraid my time of numb indifference is over. So, unless you’re up for some trouble now , would you mind moving your leg?”
    Her eyes grew wide at that, and she clearly didn’t know how to respond.
    “What?” I gave her a tentative smirk. “You know you’re not the ugliest girl in the world.”
    Somehow, that didn’t go down so well with her, because the next thing I knew she pushed aside my bent leg, with which I had trapped hers in place, and rushed out of my bed. She was crazy, or maybe just not used to a hangover, but it was clear she’d suffer a head-rush any second, and I didn’t want her to black-out in my room. I got up with her and, before she had a chance to fall, I cupped her elbows.
    She took a second to steady, then she look up at my face.
    “Feel better?” I asked.
    “Not really.” She slipped out of my hold and grabbed her shoes from the end of the bed where I had put them last night, if I remembered it right.
    I gave her a minute to put them on then headed downstairs, knowing she’d follow me. The tiled floor felt cold against my bare feet. I needed that now to settle down my boiling blood.
    “Hey, Ry,” someone called from the hall as we came down the stairs.
    “Morning, Chris,” I said back and found him sprawled on a sofa. His look when he realized who was trotting down after me was hilarious.
    As we reached the bottom of the stairs, Liza wanted to take a turn for the front door, but I couldn’t let her slip out like that. Without a goodbye and some advice on dealing with a hangover. Taking her hand—and damn, yeah, that was a good feeling—I pulled her into the kitchen where I handed her a water bottle with an aspirin dissolving.
    Standing rigid in the middle of the room, she sniffed the water but didn’t drink.
    “Why so skeptic, Matthews? It will help your headache.” I said as I leaned against the counter and took a swig of my own sobering drink.
    The sip she took then would have been hardly enough to drown an ant.
    “You don’t trust me?”
    “How could I? ” she answered. “I woke up with a hangover from a soda and with an equally drunk person sleeping next to me half of the night.”
    Ouch. “Yeah, sorry about that. I don’t usually get drunk at my own parties.” Not from beer, anyway. “And believe me I’m going to get a piece of Claudia for messing with the wine cooler.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Look, as long as you keep hydrated today, you’ll be fine.”
    She massaged her temples, and didn’t look one bit like she believed the headache would ever go away again. “It feels like someone installed a construction site in my head.”
    “Oh yeah, I know the feeling. ” It was like I invented it. But the aspirin usually worked wonders. “If you give me a minute to shower, I’ll drive you home.”
    “No!” she blurted and shocked the hell out of me. Or maybe it was just disappointment, because she made it sound like she couldn’t get away from me fast enough. At the same time, her face scrunched up, and she winced. Then she said in a softer tone, “No thanks. I’ll be happy to take the walk and sober up before meeting my parents. My mom will freak out.”
    Oh, okay. That I could understand. “Suit yourself. Want my sunglasses?” I added as I walked her to the door.
    “Why would I want your sunglasses?” She pulled the door open, and with the first sunray streaming in, she flinched back and knocked straight into my chest.
    Ah hell, I could do that all day. And unless I was totally mistaken, she enjoyed the brief body contact, too. “I know you so want it, ” I purred into her ear with every intention of seducing her back into my room. But if