Drinking Contest [ReD]

"What's this..?"

"It's..." he rubbed his face with his hand, wondering why he'd decided to show her this. "It's a story. For little kids. About angel fish. And you."

Addy's Angelfish was a children's story about a girl named Addy who found an Angelfish while diving and proceeds to go home with the angelfish and learn about its life. It was a rough draft, and a lot of the lines were crossed out and rewritten to have a light rhyme scheme. At one point, there was a doodle of Addy in what looked like a bathing suit, so Lochlann returned the page quickly.

"Anyway," Lochlann said. "It's your turn."

Lochlann pulled her back closer to him, resting his head back on the top of hers. She sounded sleepy and that was almost contagious, but he couldn't back down now! Not when he was so close.

"The coffee is the lie," Lochlann said, his voice automatically lowering to match hers. "I can't imagine you wanting anything else to drink at this point."

He really hoped the lie wasn't the story draft.

"Wrong, get yourself another beer after this."

Lochlann's eyes widened because oh shit she didn't really like the story and that's why her face is all red and oh—

Just like that, all his thoughts stopped.

The press of her lips were gentle and though he was caught off guard, he'd kissed enough girls that he was able to respond without thinking, his head tilting to accommodate her lips in between his own.

She pulled away and Lochlann's mouth suddenly felt very cold without the warmth of her lips. Though she was in his arms, he felt alone.

And alive.

Alone, alive, like he'd swallowed a tub of minnows and they were all swimming around in his stomach. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt something so conflicting.

That was a mistake.

It was a mistake he'd wanted for weeks, but she'd been drinking, and for once he hadn't been planning on seducing her--only shit, did she seduce him?

Lochlann looked down at the sleepy girl in his arms and his face softened, and he was glad that her eyes were closed because he wasn't sure he could handle her seeing the raw, tired, scrubbed out part of him that had just crept up to the surface.

"The kiss was the lie,"

The lie was more than that. The lie was him thinking that maybe, maybe she'd let him love her, and maybe things would be different this time around.

Lochlann picked her up and carried her to his bed, setting her down and kneeling on the floor next to her.

"Addy," he said, his voice very quiet. "You're drunk. Go to sleep."

"I'm not drunk..."

"Okay, well, you're not drunk, but you're definitely unsteady, and I don't want you getting hurt," he murmured, running his hand up through his hair.

"I don't want to sleep," she muttered. "I'll be alone..."

Lochlann looked up at her, and then reached up and brushed her tear off her face with his thumb. On the inside, Lochlann was a mess. His stomach was in knots and he'd started to get that nervous feeling he normally squashed down with whatever he could put in his system, but he couldn't do that, not with her here. He felt like he was about to make a very bad mistake, but every fiber of his being wanted, no, needed, to make that mistake.

Lochlann grabbed onto the side of the bed and then pulled himself up to his feet. He looked down at her, trying to not let any of the feelings he had show on his face, and then he got into the bed next to her.

Without any care for how it might look or what might happen in the middle of the night, Lochlann pulled her close to him and kissed the top of her head.

"You won't be alone. I promise."

I promise that I will hurt you.