Maya Banks - Giving In

Kylie glanced up at Dash over Joss’s shoulder to see him smoldering with rage.

“It’s not what you think,” she said in a low voice.

“And just what is it then?” Dash asked in an icy tone.

“Leave her alone, Dash. She’ll tell me and Chessy and then if anyone needs their ass kicked we’ll sic you on it,” Joss said.

Kylie nearly wilted in relief. God she loved her friends. Why had she avoided them all week? She could have been here days ago, wrapped in the love and support of her best friends instead of being at home drunk off her ass, alone and miserable.

Joss took Kylie by the hand and dragged her past Dash and into the house. Dash didn’t look pleased, but he bit back any response and allowed Joss to have her way. Thank God.

“Stay out of our hair for a while, darling,” Joss called back to Dash. “This is girls’ night and the girls’ code is ‘what happens in the circle stays in the circle’ and ‘no men allowed.’”

Dash rolled his eyes. “I’ll be in the bedroom watching TV. But I expect a report later. I’m not letting it drop, Joss. If that son of a bitch put his hands on her, I’ll take him apart.”

“I love it when he gets all alpha,” Joss whispered to Kylie. “It makes me want to go jump his bones right now.”

Kylie groaned. “Seriously, Joss? I just got dumped and you’re taunting me with Dash’s alpha maleness. So not fair.”

Joss’s face wrinkled in sympathy. “He ended it?”

“Hey, no talking until y’all get in here so I can hear,” Chessy complained as the two women entered the living room.

Chessy rose from her perch on the couch and ran over, throwing her arms around Kylie.

“Don’t you ever scare us like that again,” Chessy said. “Joss and I were so worried, Kylie. What happened, sweetie? You look terrible!”

Then she backed away, her gaze drifting over Kylie’s face and neck. Joss and Chessy both gasped.

“Did he do that to you?” Chessy choked out.

Kylie sighed. “It’s a really long story, guys. Can we sit down and open a bottle—or three—of wine? I’m going to need it for this.”

“Coming right up,” Joss said.

“I need at least three glasses in me before the bloodletting starts,” Kylie muttered.

“Then drink up and make it fast because we want every single detail,” Chessy warned.

Joss returned a moment later, a bottle of wine in both hands. Glasses were already sitting on the coffee table. Joss poured, filling all the glasses, and then she handed one to Kylie.

She drank thirstily, draining the glass in seconds. Joss arched one eyebrow but quickly poured Kylie another.

“It’s times like these that I wonder if we shouldn’t have something a little stronger,” Kylie said.

“Well, if we’re going to get shitfaced, I suggest we raid Dash’s liquor cabinet,” Chessy said.

Joss frowned. “If we are getting shitfaced, then neither of you is leaving tonight. I’ll give your keys to Dash and you’ll have to go through him before you leave.”

Kylie and Chessy groaned, but gave up their keys. Joss left to give them to Dash and then returned to the living room.

“Okay, so what shall it be?” Joss asked dramatically as she opened the liquor cabinet.

“What’s the old saying?” Chessy mused. “Beer before liquor, never sicker? Liquor before beer, never fear? Does that apply to wine as well?”

Kylie frowned. She was already fuzzy from the two hastily downed glasses of wine she’d had. “Would wine be substituted for beer or liquor? And does that mean I’m going to puke my brains out because I drank liquor after wine?”

“Honey, we’ll all be puking our brains out later,” Chessy said dryly. “Come on, Joss. Just pick something so we can move on.”

Joss shrugged and then reached in, pulling out two bottles of liquor. She plunked them down on the coffee table and then retrieved shot glasses from the cabinet.

“I vote we pour them all now,” Chessy said. “If we’re pouring after imbibing a lot, we’re going to totally make a mess in Joss’s living room.”

“Good idea,” Kylie said. “Pour them up, Joss.”

Joss carefully lined up a dozen shot glasses and then began filling them all.

Chessy picked two up and handed one to Kylie. She handed the other to Joss and then retrieved another from the coffee table for herself. She held up her glass to Joss and Kylie.

“Here’s to men are assholes,” Chessy said.

“I’ll drink to that,” Kylie said.

“I’ll drink as long as we exclude Dash from that statement,” Joss said.

Chessy rolled her eyes. “He’s been an asshole before. And he’ll be one again before it’s all over with. Just drink with us, damn it.”

Joss laughed and then they clinked their glasses together.

Then they tossed the alcohol back.

Kylie’s eyes watered, her nose burned, and she nearly choked as fire ripped down her throat and into her belly.

“God, that’s horrible!” Kylie sputtered.

“You don’t drink it because it’s good,” Chessy said. “You drink it for what it does. Give her another, Joss. We have to loosen up her tongue.”

Joss thrust another glass into Kylie’s hand and then Joss and Chessy directed her to drink it.

The second went down a little better than the first. Thank God.

She leaned back against the couch so her stomach would settle and to allow the alcohol to take control.

“I’ve spent the week shitfaced,” Kylie admitted.

“Oh honey, I wish you would have answered your damn door,” Chessy said. “You should never have to drink alone. I’m more than willing to be your drinking buddy.”

“Couldn’t,” Kylie said lamely. “I had to work some things out.”

“Like quitting your job and putting your house up for sale?” Joss demanded.

Kylie winced. “Yeah, those things.”

“What on earth happened, Kylie? And how the hell did you get those bruises?” Chessy asked.

Kylie closed her eyes, trying to hold the tears at bay. They burned her eyelids. She thought she’d cried herself out and that she didn’t have any more tears to shed. Apparently she was wrong.

Joss and Chessy descended, each taking a position on either side of her. Chessy wrapped one arm around her while Joss gently pushed Kylie’s hair from her eyes.

“Talk to us, Kylie. We’ve been so worried,” Joss said in her sweet, loving voice.

“He didn’t hurt me on purpose,” Kylie said. “He’d never do that. I know it but he doesn’t. Or at least he doesn’t now.”

“You’re not making sense, hon. Slow down and start from the beginning,” Chessy prompted.

Kylie sighed but did as her friends asked. She spilled the entire sorry tale starting from when she confided her past to Jensen to the present. She didn’t spare herself any in the telling. She told them she’d spent the week in the wine bottle crying her eyes out.

“Oh wow,” Joss breathed. “That’s a tough one for sure, sweetie. Poor Jensen. I can’t imagine how he felt when he woke up to see his hands wrapped around your neck. Dash would die if he ever did something like that.”

“That’s just it,” Kylie said. “Jensen would never do anything to hurt me. It was a dream—a nightmare. He didn’t know what he was doing. But he just shut me out. He couldn’t dump me fast enough. How the hell do you convince someone they’re wrong if they won’t stick around to talk to you about it?”

They were all silent for a moment and Chessy reached for the bottle, pouring them each another shot.

Kylie gratefully downed it, hoping for the numbness to settle in soon. A balm to the ache in her soul. At least for a little while she’d feel nothing but the warm buzz of alcohol. And to think she’d always loathed the idea of getting drunk. This week had taught her a lot about her old ideas and ways.