“Yep, my aunt.”

“How in the hell does this stuff happen to me?” I question as my stomach gurgles loudly.

“You’ll be okay. You had some Tums a little while ago.” He squeezes my side, and I’m pretty sure my life is like a really bad Lifetime movie.

“You can go to your room,” I tell him after a few minutes.

“No, I’m comfortable.”

“I’m not,” I whine.

“Go to sleep, Autumn.”

“I can’t.”

“You can.” He squeezes me again. “Close your eyes and go to sleep or I will give you something that will put you to sleep.”

“You didn’t just say that.”

“Sleep,” he growls.

“Can you at least move your arm so I can move?” I pull the sheet up higher on my chest, lifting my head slightly to see if I can spot a shirt anywhere near me.

“Jesus, you’re a pain in my ass.” He flings his arm behind him and pulls a piece of fabric from behind his back.

“Why do you have this?” I ask when I see that it’s a shirt.

“I just told you. I tried to put it on you last night, but you refused.”

“Oh,” I whisper, slipping the shirt on over my head and then shimmying it down under the sheet.

“Now, lay your ass down and go to sleep.” He tugs me back onto the bed, not giving me a choice.

I turn my back to him and try to scoot away, but it feels like it takes all of my energy to move an inch. I close my eyes as he pulls me into him. My ass curves into his hips, his arm wraps around my waist, and his bicep slides under my head like a pillow. I try not to think about how it makes me feel to be so close to him. I try to tell myself that I don’t feel incredibly safe and comfortable. Before I can convince myself that I hate how I feel, I fall asleep.

I wake up slowly and take notice that I don’t feel the warmth of Kenton behind me, and I open my eyes, wondering if I dreamt the whole thing. I lift my head slightly and look at the clock. “Shit,” I whisper, seeing that it’s eleven already. I take a deep breath and smell Kenton’s cologne. I lift some of my hair to my nose. The smell is so strong that my stomach flips over.

I take my time sitting up on the side of the bed, and I see that a glass full of water, two Tylenols, and a few Tums have been set on the nightstand. I don’t want to think that it’s sweet that he thought about how I would feel when I woke up and made sure to leave them where I would find them before I got out of bed, but I can’t stop thinking about it as I take the pills.

I get out of bed and look down at myself, noticing that I’m not wearing one of my shirts, but a shirt I’m sure belongs to him. I walk to the dresser and get a pair of panties and a bra before going to the closet and grabbing a pair of shorts, a tank top, and an oversized sweater. I open my bedroom door, looking both ways before running across the hall to the bathroom.

Once inside, I quietly shut the door and turn to look in the mirror. I cover my mouth with my hand when I see myself. My hair is sticking out all over my head. My eye makeup is smeared around my eyes and down my cheeks, and my freckles stand out due to how pale I look.

“Kill me now,” I whisper to my refection as I grab a couple of makeup remover cloths from the drawer and wipe my face. When I’m done, I start the shower and step inside. I look down when I feel something soggy under my feet. My dress from last night is on the shower floor, sopping wet, so I pick it up and ring it out before tossing it over the shower rail.

I don’t know what happened last night, and I can’t help but be thankful I don’t remember anything. I can only imagine the kind of fool I made out of myself while drunk. I get out of the shower and quickly get dressed before french braiding my hair and putting on some mascara, blush, and lip gloss.

As I’m picking up my clothes from the floor, my eye catches my cell phone sitting on the back of the toilet. I pick it up, looking at the black screen, afraid to click it on. I say a silent prayer that I didn’t actually text Kenton last night and that he was just joking when he told me what I’d done. I press the round button before sliding my finger across the screen.

The picture that is now my background has me almost dropping the phone into the toilet. I’m lying across the bar at the club we were at with my dress up around my waist. A guy has his back to the camera and his upper body is bent over me, his face near my stomach.

“Please, no,” I whisper, and my shaky fingers press the icon for my text messages. As soon as the screen changes, texts between Kenton and me pop up. “No, no, no…” I chant, reading the messages.

Me: Why do you hav to so hot?

Kenton: Where are you?

Me: da clubs lol

Kenton: What club?

Me: I wants to kis you all ovr

Kenton: Dammit, tell me where you are.

Me: I asj Tara shesnice.

Kenton: I’m on my way.

Me: howz that

Me: Yoi kisz god

Kenton: Go to the bar and ask for water.

Me: Tequeda is like watber

Kenton: Baby, I need you to find somewhere to sit down until I get there.

Me: Sitty with a nicews guy

Kenton: Where’s Tara?

Me: herre

Kenton: Parking now.

I close my eyes and bite the inside of my cheek hard, trying not to cry from embarrassment. I’m never drinking again.

Chapter 4

Not My Ass!

After I read the text messages in the bathroom, I try to sneak back into my bedroom, planning to hide out until it’s time to go to Viv’s house for dinner. Unfortunately, as soon as I make it back into my room, Kenton knocks on the door.

I think about not answering, but I don’t want to be mean after he so obviously took care of me the night before. As soon as I tell him to come in, he pushes the door open, carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a bagel in the other. I don’t know how to react to him being sweet. Since the day I met him, things have been a roller coaster, and I’m not someone who likes amusement parks.

“I want you to try to eat something,” he says, walking around the bed.

“Thanks, and thank you for taking care of me last night,” I tell him, taking the coffee from his hand as he sets the bagel down on the bedside table.

“How’s your head?”

“Better. Thanks for the Tylenol.”

“You’re welcome.”

The small smile he gives me has my eyes dropping to his mouth. I take in his face, the scruff along his jaw, and the way his hair hangs, touching the collar of his shirt.

“You need to shave,” I blurt and look away, but my eyes go back to him when his laugh hits my ears.

“You think so?” he asks, rubbing his hand along his jaw. I want to lean forward and touch his face to see what it feels like against my skin. “You might like it,” he mumbles, his eyes dropping to my thighs.

I don’t know if he’s thinking what I am, but the thought of the rough scruff on his jaw running along the inside of my thighs has my hands shaking.

“Eat. We’ll head out in a couple of hours. I got some stuff to take care of before then, but come find me in the office,” he says, his voice sounding deeper than before.

I nod, not able to say anything. I have a feeling that any words that might come out of my mouth right now would be incoherent anyways.

He looks at me again then stands, shaking his head. I watch him as he walks to the bedroom door, stops at the threshold to look at me over his shoulder before tapping the doorjamb twice, and then leaves the room. I let out a long breath, wondering what the hell I’m going to do. I’m drawn to him. He scares the shit out of me. I’m never like this and don’t know what to do with the jumbled mess my emotions are in.

*

“You okay?” Kenton asks, and I look from the house in front of us over to him and nod before I start to open the door to his car. “Wait here while I come around,” he says, unfolding his large body from behind the driver’s seat.

I watch him walk around to the passenger’s side of the car. Watching him move is fascinating to me. He reminds me of a lion or a bear, his movements fluid, even with his large mass.

He opens my door and I get out, running my sweaty palms down the front of my shorts as I stand. As soon as I clear the door of the car, his hand goes to the small of my back and he leads me up the front porch. He doesn’t even knock or ring the bell; he just opens the screen door and walks us into the house.

My feet stop inside the front door. I didn’t tell Viv that Kenton was going to be bringing me, and I don’t want her to think that I’m rude, even if they are family.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his eyebrows coming together.

“I feel bad. I should have called and told Viv what was going on. I don’t like springing this on her,” I tell him, fidgeting with the ends of my sweater.

“I called her this morning and told her I was coming,” he assures me.

“Oh.”

“It’s all good. Come on.” He grabs my hand, pulling me along with him.

When we clear the front hall, we walk into the large living room, where more than a dozen people turn to look at us.

“Crap,” I whisper and then glare at Kenton when he starts to laugh.

“Autumn, you’re here! And look! You brought the ass,” Viv says, walking towards us.

I feel my eyes go wide at the word ‘ass’ and start shaking my head at her.

“Oh, honey, trust me. I know this one’s an ass.” She pats Kenton’s cheek, smiling up at him.

“Thanks, Aunt Viv.” He laughs, kissing her cheek.

When she comes to me, her hands go to my face, her eyes look me over, and she smiles, shaking her head. I have the urge to bite my lip. I know what she’s thinking, and she is oh-so wrong.

“Is Mom here?” Kenton asks her, and I look over at him, feeling suddenly like I might be sick.

“Yep. She’s outside with your uncle.”

“I’m gonna go get my mom, baby. I’ll be right back,” he tells me and starts to move away.

“No! I mean…don’t do that. I…um, I need to go back to the house,” I say quickly, trying to plan my escape. “You guys have a nice dinner and I’ll just reschedule.”

“Oh, nonsense,” Viv says, waving her hand around.

No way do I want to meet Kenton’s mom, and there is nothing anyone can say that will convince me differently, I think, feeling the panic rise.

“Honey, I’m so glad you’re here,” a woman says, walking into the room.

I take her in. Her dark hair is shorter than Kenton’s. She’s petite; I would guess close to five one. She’s wearing a long, flowing dress and a blue jean vest with a wide belt wrapped around her waist. My eyes close and my head falls forward. Now I have no way to get out of this without looking like an ass.

“I thought Aunt Viv filled you in on what was goin’ on,” Kenton says as he picks the woman up off the floor, giving her a hug.

“She did. Well, kinda. She said you were bringing someone to dinner, and I told her if it was Cassie, I was not going to be happy,” she says, and Kenton chuckles as he sets her on her feet.

“I didn’t come with him,” I blurt like an idiot, causing the woman’s eyes to come to me. “I mean…we drove together, but we didn’t come together.” I lower my head and shake it back and forth. “I mean, we’re not together. Viv asked me to dinner a few weeks ago, and I’ve been coming every Sunday since.” Shut up! Shut up, you idiot, I tell myself. Sadly, I don’t even listen to my own warnings. “Kenton and I just live together. That’s all.”

Viv gives my arm a squeeze and Kenton’s mom looks like her eyes are going to pop out of her head. When I look at Kenton, his eyes are soft as he smiles and shakes his head.

“Mom, this is Autumn. Autumn, this is my mom, Nancy.”

“Hi. It’s nice to meet you,” I tell her, sticking out my hand. Nope, this isn’t awkward at all.

“You too, honey.” She pulls me in for a hug then looks over at Viv and smiles. Viv smiles back, and I can see the wheels in her head are turning.

“I’m gonna grab a beer and go outside with Uncle Maz.”

“Sure, honey. Go on,” Kenton’s mom says.

I want to grab him and have him take me with him. His eyes come to me and light up, and something about the look has me taking a step back.

“I’ll be outside, baby,” he conveys sweetly, taking a step towards me, and before I can step back again or duck, his hand slides around my waist and his mouth lands on mine in a kiss that forces all the oxygen out of my lungs. When his mouth leaves mine, my fingers go to my lips. “Okay, ladies. Take care of my girl,” he says, pulling his eyes from me. His hands give my waist a slight squeeze, and then he turns around and walks towards the kitchen before I can ask him what the hell that was.

“So, it’s a small world, huh?” Viv snarks, looking over at Nancy then back at me. “I didn’t know your ass was my nephew.”

“He’s not my ass. I mean…sorry. Your son’s not an ass or anything like that,” I say, looking at Nancy, feeling my pulse race, and wishing I could teleport out of the room.

“Honey, I know my son, and I know he can be a little rough around the edges, so please don’t feel bad for calling him an ass.” She smiles with a twinkle in her eyes. “So, how long have you been seeing each other?”

“Oh, no, we’re not.” I shake my head frantically, looking between the two of them.

“Really?” She tilts her head to the side, studying me.