She wanted to know who’d yawned. Sitting up as best she could, she surveyed the rest of the room. Even though she had Rose’s key in her bag, she knew without a doubt that she wasn’t in Rose’s apartment.
A flash of the group of guys surrounding her at the Brews came back full force. They’d bought her drink after drink. How could she have been so stupid? She wasn’t an amateur, but she had been last night.
As she drew in several breaths to calm her pounding heart, the details of the room sharpened. The sheets were navy, and the plaid comforter sat in a heap at the edge of the bed. Across the way was a small kitchen; only a refrigerator, sink, stove, and a compact countertop hugged the corner of the room. Not far from the edge of the bed was a brown leather sofa and a flat-screen television mounted on the wall.
A studio apartment, belonging to one of the guys from the bar. She sifted through the dark memories in her head, but she came up empty. How did she get there and with whom? Through the window, Reen recognized the street. She was in an apartment above the bar. The familiar view outside Burrow’s Brews mocked her. At least her commute hadn’t been long. Maybe that was a selling point for her when she had been an idiotic drunken mess.
She darted to the side of the bed and slowly – painfully – swung her legs until they dangled off the edge. Her shirt clung to her body, but her crumpled jeans were on the floor next to the bed. Her hand fell to her stomach, and she winced, wondering if she’d drunkenly agreed to a one-night stand. The thought brought another wave of sickness through her, and she bounded to the other side the room to the door across the way. She prayed it was a bathroom.
The knob moved further away from her reaching hand. Before she could blink, she smacked into a hard and naked chest. A towel covered his face as he rubbed it against his hair.
‘Whoa,’ the guy said as Reen shoved him out of the way. She only had eyes for the toilet. She fell to the floor, her knees smacking against the cool tile. There wasn’t much in her stomach, but it squeezed the life out of her.
A cold cloth appeared on her neck, and she mumbled a thank you to the stranger. When she finished, she glanced over her shoulder. He was gone. Unwilling to soil this guy’s apartment any more than she already had, she wiped her hand across her mouth and went to the sink to wash up. Even though her insides were empty the room still moved on its own.
‘Here,’ Brody said.
Reen glanced at him through the mirror and then whipped around.
No, no, no. How did she end up at Brody’s place? She tried to remember anything from the night before, but she came up blank. Her stomach lurched again, but with a painful swallow, she managed to keep everything down.
He stood there, in a towel, holding a glass of water. ‘Drink this. I tried to get some water in you last night, but you didn’t want any. You smacked my hand and spilled it everywhere.’ He nodded his head toward a pile of sheets on top of a wicker hamper.
She took the glass from him and stared into it, unable to meet his eyes. Relief and embarrassment flooded her. ‘What happened?’
‘You wouldn’t tell me where you were staying.’ He smirked as if recalling a particularly amusing moment. ‘So, I brought you here.’
She forced the water down her throat. ‘We didn’t…?’
His eyebrows knitted. ‘Sleep together?’
She winced again. The light coming into the room overwhelmed her more than before. Or maybe it was her straining not to look at his chest. The last time she’d seen it, there hadn’t been much definition. Unlike now. There weren’t any gyms nearby, at least as far as she knew. Those muscles were all homemade from some activity around town. ‘So, we didn’t…?’
Brody smiled. A hint of amusement danced in his eyes. ‘I slept on the couch.’
A breath whooshed out of her.
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘I’m going to make you some toast and get some aspirin into you. It will help.’
She followed him like a lost puppy across the space. This time, when she looked around, she saw each inch of the apartment as Brody’s instead of a stranger’s. She should have known he’d come to her rescue. The room was simplistic without many decorations or adornments. The wall behind the bed was exposed brick, giving the room a little rustic appeal. She never imagined a place like this above the bar.
Brody had always been a clean and neat kind of guy, but this place was almost sterile. Maybe he’d just moved in?
‘How long have you lived here?’ she asked, unable to help herself.
He pulled a toaster from inside one of the lower cabinets of the kitchen. ‘Three years, give or take.’
So, not new. ‘It’s nice.’
‘I’m not here much. Between shifts at The Siren and downstairs, I only sleep here.’
‘Why so many jobs?’ It couldn’t be that expensive to stay in The Burrow, especially with a shoebox apartment.
He hesitated. ‘I like to keep busy.’
He placed two slices of bread in the toaster and then grabbed a container of butter from the refrigerator.
‘I’m not sure I can handle dairy this morning,’ Reen said.
‘It’s not for you. I was an adult last night.’
He’d meant it as a joke, but Reen couldn’t help the flush in her cheeks. She had acted like someone who couldn’t handle herself. Coming home brought all the memories back to Reen from when she was a teen. Instead of keeping her guard up, she’d been careless and ended up in a situation far from the one she’d imagined.
‘I’m going to finish getting dressed,’ he said, and slipped past her into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
She released a breath and hung her head in her hands. While away, anytime Brody had crept into her thoughts, she had shut them out. Now, she was inside his apartment while he changed behind the door.
Her bag hung from her chair, and she took a moment to check her phone. Surprisingly, there weren’t any texts from Rose. But she’d stayed with Shane the night before. Reen wondered when Rose would figure out that she hadn’t stayed at the apartment. The conversation played out in her head, adding to the ache in her temples. She needed to get to Rose’s place as soon as possible so that she would be none the wiser.
The toast popped up, and Reen jumped.
Brody strode out of the bathroom dressed in jeans and a blue and white striped T-shirt. With clothes on, he was easier to look at. Though, her stomach still fluttered.
He handed her the dry toast and buttered his. The sound of the knife over the hard bread raked against her brain.
‘You all right?’ Brody asked.
‘Not so much. I haven’t done that in a long time. Why did you let me?’
He laughed, and she winced again.
‘I tried to cut you off earlier, but you got a little mean.’
The night had been a haze. ‘I did?’
‘I mean, I’ve seen worse.’
‘Sorry,’ she muttered.
‘Don’t worry about it. I know seeing your mom probably wasn’t easy. You get a pass from me. If you want it.’
Even though the details of last night were fuzzy, it had more to do with Brody than Mom. If it were possible, she felt even sicker because of it. Her anger with Mom had melted increasingly throughout the years. Seeing her yesterday didn’t bring it up again. Now, she was a sick old woman stuck in a bed. Reen would be a monster to be upset with Mom in her current state.
It wasn’t just