Blame it on the Alcohol

“Aleah.  Hey, Aleah.  Your phone is ringing.”

I blinked twice and slowly let my eyes focus.  I turned my head to see Luke lying next to me, looking at me.  I looked around the room.  I definitely was not in my room.  I rose up my head to look across the room and see Nate’s bed empty.  I slowly raised the covers and looked down at myself, relieved to see I was semi-dressed.  I had on one of Luke’s shirts and my panties, but that was it.  I rolled on my side to grab my phone, which was ringing once again.  It was on the floor next to the bed.  I looked over the edge of my bed to see Zach calling me.  Bad timing.  I ignored his call and saw I had 7 missed calls and a few texts.  Two of the calls were from Zach, and the other five from Sarah.  My head was pounding and my mouth was overly dry.  I even felt slightly dizzy.

“Um… Sarah called me, I need to call her back.”  I hopped out of bed with my phone, trotted over to his door, peeked out to make sure none of his roommates were in the hallway, and jogged to the bathroom.  I shut and locked the door and called Sarah.

“Where are you?” I heard her hiss and whisper, at the same time.

“Luke’s.  I must’ve accidentally fallen asleep here.  Is something wrong?”

“Zach is here.”

“There?”

“Yes.  Here.  As in our living room.  He showed up early to surprise you.  But you aren’t here.”  I could tell she was talking through gritted teeth now. 

“I’ll be there a.s.a.p.  I’m about 10 minutes away.”

“What do you want me to tell Zach?”

“Uhh…”  I started rubbing my temple with my free hand and closed my eyes.  I couldn’t lie to Zach, but there was no way I wanted to admit this.  And my head was pounding so hard, I could barely think straight.   

“Just tell him that I’m out but I’ll be back soon.”  I hung up then.

I immediately opened my texts and started one to Zach:  Hey!  Sorry I didn’t know you were coming in to surprise me early!  I’ll be back there soon.  Using bathroom, don’t want to call :)

I finished up in the bathroom, washing my face with hand soap and water, thinking back onto the previous night.  I had a date with Luke, where we went to a bar.  Although for the life of me, I couldn't remember which one.  We had met Nate and his girlfriend, and a few of their other friends there.  I opened up the cabinets and saw someone’s mouth wash in there.  I dumped some in my mouth, spit, and then cracked open the door.  I checked the hallway and sprinted back to Luke’s room.  Luke sat up when he saw me enter and gave me a smile.

“Everything’s kind of blurry last night.  How much did I have to drink?”  I took off his shirt, revealing my naked breasts. 

Luke sat and just stared at me momentarily, looking me up in down, standing there in only my panties.  I started pacing the floor looking for my clothing.  He regained his composure then.  “You must be a light weight.  You only had a few vodka tonics.  You don’t even remember coming back here?”

I frowned and stopped walking.  I saw my bra thrown over his desk chair and walked over to it and started putting it on.  “No.  I don’t.  I remember being at the bar.  And then doing a few shots.”

“Oh yeah, we had some shots, too.”

“Did we…”  I trailed off, not wanting to know the answer.  I was praying nothing happened, seeing as how I was about to be walking into Zach’s arms shortly.

He laughed.  “No.  In fact, I carried you in here and laid you on the bed fully clothed, and Nate’s girlfriend changed your clothes while I stepped out.  From what she told me, you wouldn’t put pants on and took your own bra off.  She said you attempted to get completely naked, but she couldn’t find my sweats, so she insisted you didn’t.” 

“Well that’s embarrassing.  Remind me to apologize to her.”  I shook my head, but it hurt too badly to do anything else.  “Wait, so you hadn’t seen me… unclothed?”

He smiled sheepishly at me and shook his head no.

“Oh.  Awkward.  Sorry.”  I pulled the sparkly tank top on over my head and buttoned my jeans.

“Trust me, no apologies needed.”  He was grinning widely.

I rolled my eyes.  “Where are my shoes?” 

“By the front door.  Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Sarah called me.  I have a friend waiting for me at the apartment.”

“Will I see you before you leave tomorrow?”

“No.  Sorry.  I won’t have time.  I have to pack today and get things ready, and then I have my match tomorrow before I go.”  As soon as I said it, I regretted telling him I had a match.  I mean, he easily could’ve looked up my schedule on-line, but I don’t know that he would’ve gone to those lengths.

“Want me to come?”

I opened his bedroom door to walk out.  “No, that’s okay.  I’m sure you’re busy, plus as soon as I’m done playing I’m heading to the airport.  I won't be able to socialize at all.”  I started walking so he wouldn’t press the issue.

He followed me downstairs.  I slipped on my heels and rummaged through my purse to find a ponytail holder.  I put my hair up and then grabbed my purse again.  I turned to Luke and forced a calm smile onto my face.  “Thank you so much for taking care of me last night.  And for not taking advantage of me while I was incoherent.”

“My pleasure.   I will see you when you get back?”

“Of course.”  I stood on my tiptoes and tilted my head slightly and pressed my lips lightly against his.  He kissed me back, briefly, and then we pulled apart.

“Have fun, babe.”

“Thanks!  I’ll see you soon.”  I smiled, and then turned and headed to my car, to go meet Zach.