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"Do we have to do this here?"

She nodded her head up and down like a goddaht now"

Not a good idea She couldn’t even stand up by herself She eaving back and forth, and looked like she was going to drop to the floor any ht her before she fell "Okay, here we go" He scooped her up in his arht there with Elizabeth’s purse and a kiss to his cheek

"Here you go Good luck"

She held the door for hilared at him "I don’t want you to takeyou hoet there"

"Okay" Her head dropped to his shoulder, and she was blissfully quiet on the ride ho her home, he took her to his house, where she’d have less of a chance ofan escape when he tried to talk to her

She passed out on the ride home, didn’t wake up when he carried her into his house and up the stairs to his bedroom He took off her shoes and covered her, and she didn’t move

She was out Totally and utterly out Whatever he wanted to say to her was going to have to wait until toht and closed the door

He went downstairs, picked up where he’d been on his Xbox gauring out what he was going to say in the

ELIZABETH WOKE WITH A START AT THE SOUND OF A door closing, shot up in bed, and blinked her eyes open

Ugh Cotton mouth

Whiskey

This was all Jenna’s fault

Not really, but always nicer to blame someone else for your own stupidity

She needed coffee, stat She forced her eyes open, and that’s when she realized she was not in her own bedroom

Even worse, this was Gavin’s bedroo up at Riley’s last night Thank God Jenna had the presence of mind not to let her drive hoh to do so, but drunks never had co ht, so otten into it She’d likely been too drunk to have any sort of intelligent conversation anyway

Good She had nothing to say to hihtstand

Holy crap, ten aive up alcohol Or at least alcohol binges when you’reshe didn’t fall in love often Or ever

At least she never intended to fall in love again The wear and tear on the body, heart, and soul was too great She’d already invested enough years of her life in Gavin, and for what? To be called a whore?

She should have listened to her mother Love hadn’t worked for her oing to take up Tori’s lifestyle in the future Career first, ht of only as recreation, and there was no such thing as love

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, checking her status

A little shaky, slightly nauseated, and desperate for a cup of coffee Other than that, she was okay Now she had to get out of here

She found her shoes and slipped them on, then opened the door

She smelled coffee Oh, God She didn’t care if she was forced to have a civil five- to have a cup of coffee She tiptoed downstairs, hoping he was asleep or, even better, gone

As she rounded the corner into the kitchen, she spotted Gavin leaning against the counter He lifted his gaze from the newspaper to look at her He wore a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt, and oh, God, he looked so good His hair was o up to him, put her arms around hiers She wanted to kiss him and ask him why he couldn’t love her as much as she loved him

This hy she was a cold-hearted bitch Love just fucking hurt too much to risk the attempt She’d tried She’d failed It sucked

She walked into the roo the newspaper on the counter

"Apparently"

"Feel okay?"

"I’ll live"

"Coffee?"

"Desperate for sorabbed a cup and poured, held it out for her

"Thanks"

He didn’t try to engage her in conversation while she drank down the sobering, life-affirrateful She needed to consume an entire pot of it, but not here Not with him

She laid the cup down and fished in her purse for her phone "I’ll just call a taxi to take me to my car"

"I’ll drive you"

"No"

He laid his hand over hers "Elizabeth"

She pulled her hand away "Gavin, save it I don’t want to hear whatever you have to say"