Shawnelle nodded. “You so did.”
Elizabeth snorted. “That’s fucking hysterical. I’ll bet he passed out from shock. Good thing the waitress is bringing another pitcher. Our ride might be delayed.”
“You’re not worried?” Haley asked.
“About what?”
“About telling Gavin you loved him.”
She waved her hand. “Honey, I’m drunk. Anything you say when you’re drunk is bullshit and doesn’t mean anything. He won’t think anything of it.”
Shawnelle gave her a sideways look. “Uh-huh.”
Elizabeth grinned when the waitress came, so damn glad she was drunk and she would forget what she said to Gavin. “Oh, look, ladies, it’s margaritas!”
ELEVEN
DRUNK WAS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. GAVIN WAS CERTAIN the manager of Bernards was going to kiss him when he walked out with Elizabeth, Shawnelle, and Haley.
In fact, he heard their voices as soon as he walked in the front door. They were laughing. Loud. They were doing everything in high-pitched voices. Talking. Yelling. Squealing. Cussing.
He wondered if he and his friends were that obnoxious when they were drunk.
Probably.
Elizabeth squealed and flung her arms around him when she saw him, then pressed kisses all over his face.
Definitely drunk. Which probably accounted for the “love you” she’d said on the phone. Drunken declarations of love never counted, so he’d brushed it off as meaningless.
He extricated what seemed to be eight arms from him, poured the women into his car, buckled them in, and drove Shawnelle and Haley home first. He’d already given Tommy and Dedrick a heads up, so they were waiting for him outside when he pulled up at the hotel where they were both staying.
“Woman, you got no sense,” Deed said with a smile and a shake of his head.
“Yeah, but you love me anyway.” Shawnelle laughed as Dedrick pulled her out of the car.
Tommy just scooped Haley up and carried her, since she’d passed out on the ride over.
“Thanks, man,” Dedrick said over his shoulder.
“No problem.”
He climbed back inside and headed to the beach house, forced to listen to Elizabeth’s off-key singing along to the radio the entire way.
He turned the volume down, deciding talk was a better option.
“So you had fun?”
She grinned. “We had a lot of fun. We had a few drinks, you know.”
Yeah, he knew. The tequila smell filled his car. “Really. Just a few?”
She giggled and kicked her shoes off. “Okay, a lot.”
She started singing again, leaned forward to turn the volume up on the radio.
It was a good thing he really liked Elizabeth, because she couldn’t sing for shit.
He pulled into the driveway, but before he could get his seatbelt off, she’d thrown the door open and bounded out, her shoes and purse forgotten. She went around the side of the house and disappeared into the dark.
Good lord. He grabbed her purse and shoes, went in through the front door, dumped her stuff, and headed out back.
She was on the deck, stripping her clothes off. She was down to her bra and panties, and it was making his dick hard seeing her on his deck like that. He brought his focus up to her face.
“What are you doing, honey?”
“Getting naked.”
“I see that. Why?”
She turned to him and gave him a wicked grin. “I want to go skinny dipping in the ocean.”
He couldn’t help but smile at her. She was a really cute drunk. Dumb and senseless, but cute. “I don’t think swimming drunk in the ocean is a really good idea.”
“By myself, of course not. But you’ll be with me to keep me from drowning.” She unhooked her bra and waved it at him, then dropped it on the floor.
She made a good point. So did her nipples.
“So? Are you going to get naked and go skinny dipping with me?”
“Do you know how cold the ocean is at night?”
“Suck it up. I’ll warm your cock and balls when we get back inside. Then you can fuck me.”
She shimmied out of her panties and stood naked in front of him, her hands on her hips.
He sighed and pulled off his shirt and dropped his shorts. Her gaze rocketed to his cock, already semi-hard at the thought of taking her to bed later.
He should be ashamed of himself, thinking of taking advantage of her in her drunken state.
Then again, the cold water should sober her up a little.
She laughed and turned, making a beeline for the water. He ran after her, easily overtaking her. He got to the water before she did and dove in, waiting for her. She leaped in, the waves crashing into her and knocking her over.
Gavin was there to pull her up, and she came up sputtering and laughing.
“Holy shit, that’s cold.”
“Told ya.”
She splashed him with water, then grabbed him as another wave rushed over them. Her legs wrapped around his, and he dug into the sandy bottom to hold them both steady as the water battered at them.
She laughed as they stood waist high in the water and took a beating.