“To Kylie,” he says.
We lift our glasses, then lick the salt and take the shot, following it with lime. It burns going down. Normally I like doing a few shots of tequila, but tonight even the first one doesn’t sit well. I immediately feel a little sick.
I grab one of the waters on the table and take a sip. I’m probably just dehydrated.
“So…” I say, looking at Braxton. “Single again, I hear?”
He smiles again and the tingles are back. Why does he keep smiling at me like that? It’s not fair. I can’t think straight. “You didn’t know?” he asks.
I shake my head. I can’t quite talk yet.
He shrugs, completely nonchalant. “Yeah, wasn’t working out.” He meets my eyes. “But at least now I’m open to the right thing when it does come along.”
“That’s good,” I say. I take another sip of water. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I’m relieved.”
“Are you?” he asks. “Tell me.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I figure this must be good for your budget. How much were you spending on jewelry? Like, in a given week?”
He raises his eyebrows and smirks. “Thousands, at least. Imagine all the extra money I’ll have now. I wonder what I should do with it?”
“Clearly spend it on me,” I say. “I could do with a new car, and my apartment needs new furniture, so…”
“I can do something about that,” he says. “When should we go shopping?”
“As soon as possible,” I say.
“Sounds good,” he says. “You need some new panties too? Because I’d be happy to take care of that for you.”
“Braxton!” Selene says.
He grins and raises his eyebrows at her.
“You’re the worst,” Selene says with a laugh.
“You know what?” he says. “We need another shot. To celebrate my greatly enhanced budget.”
I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, but he gets up and goes back to the bar before I can protest.
“Are you okay?” Selene asks. “You look a little red.”
I pull on my shirt to fan some air onto my boobs. “Is it warm in here?”
“I’m not warm, but Braxton forgot about personal space again. Maybe that’s it.”
I take another sip of water. “Yeah, could be.”
Braxton returns and we all do another shot of tequila. I sit back while he chats with Selene. I go from feeling too warm to almost shivering with cold. I move a little closer to Braxton, letting my arm lean on his. He shifts his leg so it’s touching mine. For half a second, I think maybe we shouldn’t be sitting like this, but his body heat seeps into me, so I don’t pull away.
Either the tequila is strong as fuck, or there’s something wrong with me. My body feels like it’s turning to water, and my face is burning. I lean my forearms on the table and almost put my head down.
This isn’t good.
Selene’s eyes are wide with alarm. “Oh my god, Kylie, what’s wrong?”
“Ky?” Braxton says. His brow is furrowed and he puts a hand on my forehead. “She’s hot as hell.”
“Excuse me?” Derek says. He’s standing at the end of the table, glaring at Braxton.
“Hey man, I think she needs to get home—”
“Yeah, fuck off, I’ve got this,” Derek says.
I feel Braxton tense up next to me, but he doesn’t say anything, just gets out of the booth.
I can barely stand up. My legs don’t want to support my weight, and my head is swimming. It’s like coming to after a drunken blackout, only I haven’t lost time and I’m not drunk. I barely feel the two shots of tequila, and I had all of three sips of my beer. I put a hand on my forehead and lean against the table.
“Shit,” I say.
Braxton stands up and grabs my arm to steady me. “Are you okay, Ky? What’s wrong?”
&ldqsuo;I’ll take her home,” Derek says. He puts an arm around me—roughly, like he’s angry—and pulls me toward the door. I stumble forward, my vision fuzzy. I have to clutch onto him when we get outside, so I don’t fall over.
He gets me to his car and I can’t even fasten the seatbelt. My arms feel weak and my stomach is churning. Derek gets in without a word and starts the car. I lean my head back against the seat, and close my eyes. I can’t keep them open. I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m caught between burning up and freezing cold, and it feels like my limbs won’t work. All I want is to get home and crawl into bed.
What the fuck is happening to me?
I wait as long as I can stand before making an excuse to Selene about needing to leave. She was concerned too, but seemed unreasonably certain that Derek would get Kylie home and she’d be fine.