Chapter 3
ELLIE
“Come on, big fella,” I grunted, hoisting Sawyer’s arm over my shoulder.
Normally, I wasn’t up for drunken gymnastics, but Josie was staying until close with JR, and it was clear that Sawyer couldn’t make it home alone.
“Big fella,” he laughed, but it stopped almost immediately. “That means I’m a big loser.”
“It does not,” I said, trying to maneuver his body to point toward the house. At least it wasn’t winter. There was no possibility of slipping on ice today.
“Big is what they use when they wanna make a guy feel this tall,” he said, thrusting his arm into the air high above his head. We nearly toppled backward from the sudden movement, but luckily, I steadied him.
“Big is a word that describes you,” I grunted, tugging him forward.
“And guy…guy refers to a guy just as pathetic as me,” he slurred.
“You are not pathetic, Sawyer.”
I struggled to get him up the steps of the house, and just when we were about to the top, he decided to lean against the railing.
“Sawyer, I can’t hold you like this!”
“Do you see the stars, Ellie? Those stars are—”
I lost my grip and he fell backward over the railing, thankfully landing on his side instead of his head. Rushing down the steps, I knelt down beside him.
“Sawyer, are you okay? Hey! Talk to me!”
I slapped his face a few times for good measure, but also for the pleasure of hitting the idiot who always got drunk after a woman dumped him.
“Hey! No need to hit a man when he’s down,” he moaned, holding his face.
“There is when you’re completely drunk over a woman you dated for two weeks.”
“Two and a half,” he sighed. “They were the best two and a half weeks of my life.”
I rolled my eyes, hauling him to his feet. In another day, he’d find some other poor woman to fall for, and then he’d be crushed all over again.
“Come on,” I grunted, shoving my shoulder under his arm. “Let’s get inside and then you can tell me all about it.”
“Really?” he breathed, sending a waft of alcohol right into my face.
I regretted saying I would stay in that moment, but what kind of friend would I be if I let the poor man wallow in his sorrows?
“Yep. We’ll put on a pot of tea, and you can tell me everything.”
“Blech! Tea is gross.”
“Don’t let Josie hear you say that.”
“She has to drink it.” He threw his head back and laughed, nearly making me lose my balance again. “Because…because she likes tea!”
Man, there were days that I really couldn’t deal with drunk people, and this was quickly working up to be one of them.
We struggled up the stairs, argued over the keys, whether or not the key would actually turn in the lock, and finally, I threw the door open and nearly tossed him inside just for the fun of it.
“Here you go,” I said, pushing him forward. “Home sweet home.”
He spun faster than he should have been able to in his drunken state. I didn’t entirely understand what was happening as his hand came up to cup my face.
“Ellie Belly, you’re the sweetest in the world.”
“That’s nice,” I said, patting his hand.
“No, seriously. You’re always there for me, even when I’m a mess and gross. I could never ask for a better…a better…”
He swayed on his feet, squeezing his eyes closed in concentration. When his eyes popped open again, they were glassy, but it wasn’t because of tears. Nope, that was one hundred percent alcohol swimming in every pore, orifice, and socket of his body.
“It’s you,” he murmured, swaying closer to me.
Afraid he was going to crash into me and knock me over, I held up my palms and pushed him back just enough to keep him upright.
“What’s me?”
“I’m so stupid.” He chuckled, swaying toward me again. “Ellie Belly, it’s always been you.”
I didn’t even see it coming. Why? Because I was stupid and didn’t pick up on signals. He leaned forward and crushed his lips to mine in the most sloppy, unpracticed kiss I’d ever had. Half his lips weren’t even on mine. But still, there was something sweet about it.
“Ugh,” he gasped, pulling back just in time to turn and puke all over the floor.
“Yep,” I sighed. “That seems about how someone would react to kissing me.”
Sawyer wiped the vomit from his lips, swaying even harder on his feet. “I feel better now.” Turning back to me, he leaned in again.
“Whoa! Not gonna happen,” I said, pushing him back hard.
He stumbled over his feet, then crashed to the floor. Instead of realizing that I had shoved him, he started laughing. “Man, did you see that? I must have tripped over my feet.”
Rolling my eyes, I stepped around the vomit and walked behind Sawyer, shoving my arms under his to hoist him to his feet.
“Whoa! Ellie! Earthquake! Get down!”
“There’s no earthquake, Sawyer. I’m trying to help you up.”
“Belly Girl! Help! Save me!”
He was losing it, completely freaking out, and I just couldn’t deal with that. Not when his arms were flailing around, threatening to hit me with every wave. Dropping him to the ground, I punched him in the face, knocking him out.
With a nod, I shoved a pillow under his head and walked out the door, locking it behind me before hiding the key under the mat.
I snagged my phone out of my pocket and called Josie. There was no way I was dealing with this.
“Hey, did you get Sawyer inside?”
“Yep. The door’s locked, and the key is under the mat.”
“Oh, thank God. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the help.”
“No problem. Oh, by the way, he vomited all over the floor, and then he fell and hit his face on the floor. That’s why he has a bruise on his cheek.”
There was silence for a minute.
“You hit him, didn’t you?”
“Girl, he kissed me and then vomited.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And when I tried to help him up, he said there was an earthquake, and tried pulling me to the floor. It was the only way to shut him up.”
“Understood. I’ll take care of the vomit.”
“Yeah, there was no way I was dealing with that.”
She sighed heavily as I made my way to my car. “One of these days, he’ll learn and stop getting drunk all the time.”
“Yeah, good luck with him in the meantime.”
I hung up without another word. It was beyond my bedtime and all I wanted was to crash. But I had a feeling that as soon as I was in bed, the usual suspects would keep me awake.
I drove to the edge of town and pulled into my driveway, sighing in contentment when my house came into view.
Out of all the things in my life, my house was the thing I cherished the most. It was a mix of old English charm and country living.
With a stone exterior and peaked roof, this tiny house had been mine since the moment I laid eyes on it sixteen years ago.
With the grass bright green right now, it showed off the stepping stone path leading up to the house, right to the slabs of stone used as steps. When the English couple moved here twenty-five years ago, they missed the feel of their village and spent years building this house and making it perfect.
And when they decided to move back to England three years ago, I went directly to them and made an offer. It was lower than what they were asking, but when they saw how much I loved the house, they decided to sell it to me.
Slipping the key into the lock, I pushed the wooden door open and smiled the moment I felt the warmth of the house encapsulate me. Then again, that might have something to do with the fact that it was so small, but I didn’t mind. I lived alone. I had no one I needed to share this with.
I walked through the living room to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of wine from the wine rack, and poured myself a generous glass of red.
My fingers slid over the smooth granite countertops as I headed back to the living room, snuggling into my oversized armchair in front of the stone fireplace.
In a few months, it would be cold enough for a fire, and that’s when the fun really started.
If I could afford firewood this year. That all depended on how the shop did, and the way the gossip around town spread after the crap with Liam, my sales took a hit I couldn’t afford.
So, this was my refuge, sitting in my living room at night with a bottle of red, enjoying the one thing in my life that I loved more than anything. Tilting my head back against the cushion, I stared up at the beams crisscrossing the cream ceiling.
After drinking my wine and dozing in the chair for the better part of an hour, I headed to bed, pulling back the thick covers I slept under even in the summer. I needed to brush my teeth and take off my makeup, but I was too lazy for that right now.
I flopped back and pulled the covers up to my chin, my eyes blinking slowly as I drifted off.
Not much was right in my life, but at least I had this.