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The next time she was distracted, I took it again and downed it in one gulp. I grimaced. It was a too sweet but still boozy as hell berry margarita. The perfect recipe for the world’s worst hangover.

I wasn’t worried about a hangover for myself. I was built big enough to take a lot of just about anything without consequences. But her tiny body combined with rarely drinking then drinking too much concerned me greatly.

Ro wrenched the cup from me and stared into it like she could will her drink to come back with thoughts alone.

Ro was drunk. It was stressing me out.

I waved down one of the waiters. She leaned down and I said, pitched too low for Ro to hear, “This one doesn’t need any more strong drinks, okay? She’s had enough.”

I thought that was settled but shit-stirring Frankie smiled at me as she handed Ro her own, still full cup.

I glared. “I always knew you were a bit evil,” I told her.

She shrugged, looking very amused. “No one ever implied that I wasn’t.”

“Where’s your girl?” I asked her.

“She’ll be here any minute. Why, you going to get her drunk as revenge?”

I glared harder. “Maybe I should.”

“Give it your best shot. She could drink everyone here under the table, I guarantee it.”

Frankie shouted for another round of shots.

I shouted for another round of waters.

I took Ro’s shot for her and made her finish her cup of water down to the last drop.

I had my arm around her to keep her steady as she drank but pulled away the second I could.

Frankie slapped her own arm like she was killing a bug and looked at me pointedly. “I think you’ve got a bite there, Turner.”

My brows drew together. “Mosquitos? I haven’t noticed any.”

“I didn’t say it was a mosquito. I think you’ve been bitten by the love bug.”

Everyone in earshot laughed like that was hilarious. I pointed at her. “You stop that.” For some reason they all just laughed harder.

Sure enough, Frankie’s girlfriend Estella showed up a few minutes later and took a few shots straight off without missing a beat.

Frankie tried to turn it into a drinking contest. Normally I’d have been game, but I nipped that in the bud right away. I was not getting drunk when Ro was like this. I needed to be sober enough to take care of her if she couldn’t take care of herself at the end of the night.

Just about everyone ended up in the pool as the party raged on, and when I was distracted, Ro even managed to get a few more drinks in.

I was worried about her. She was laughing a lot but not saying much, which was the opposite of her real personality.

Drunk Ro made me miss sober Ro.

It was dark out by the time my friend Carter made it to the party.

Carter was another author, a successful and prolific one, but much like me and Dair, no one would have guessed it by looking at him.

He was built huge, he’d played football in college and even coached high school football to this day, with messy brown hair and warm eyes and a smile that made him look as harmless as a hunky teddy bear.

He’d shown up already in his swimsuit and shirtless, and he was ripped, head to toe, his abs shredded beyond all reason.

“Wow, who’s that?” Ro whispered. “Oops, did I say that out loud?”