Last Love | Book 3

Chapter 26

(Jennifer)

I take a sip of champagne and set the glass back on the counter. "Be sure to be careful tonight, honey." My mom says, pouring herself a glass of champagne too. "I will. Josh and I will be back first thing in the morning to pick up the kids, okay?" I grab my wallet, and phone off the counter. "Sweetie, Don't rush yourself to get back. The kids will be fine here. Tonight's your's and Josh's night." She says. "Okay, thanks, mom." I give her a quick hug. "Josh! You ready?" I ask. "Yeah!" He yells from the living room. I hear him mumble something, then he appears in the kitchen. "Let's go." I down the rest of my champagne. "Thanks again!" I call, as I quickly follow him out the door.

We walk arm and arm into the club, both of us eager to get inside. The whole place is covered in New Years decorations, and it's crowded with people. "Are you sure this is what you want, Jen?" Josh asks, eyeing all the people. "Yes. We barely leave the house, don't bail on me now." I say. "I won't." I take his hand and lead him straight to the bar. We're getting a taxi home and the kids are staying with my parents for the night, so we're free to get as drunk as we want, and that's exactly my plan.

The music thumps loudly in our ears, as we dance together, my back pressed to his front, and his arms wrapped around me. I haven't been this drunk in years. The room spins around us as we laugh and grind on each other, barely able to hold ourselves up. We've been embarrassingly loud and annoying this entire night, but we're both too drunk to care. I can tell we're both gonna have a bad hangover tomorrow, but tonight we're feeling just right.

As the clock gets closer and closer to midnight people begin counting down. Only three minutes left. We start to count down with them. "Three!" I wrap my arms around Josh's next. "Two!" I pull him closer and he wraps his arms around my waist. "One!" He leans in towards me. "Happy new year!" Everyone screams. I press my lips to his, kissing him with so much passion we both nearly fall over. We pull away to catch our balance, giggling drunkenly like so many other couples around us. He kisses me again this time  gentler. "Love you." He whispers. "Love you too." I whisper back, smiling hugely. I'm so excited to spend another year with him, the love of my life.

We stumble out of the club, and I nearly fall again, but Josh catches me. "Thanks." I manage to mumble between giggles. I slip my shoes off so I can walk more efficiently and follow josh down the street, both of us laughing as we walk.  When we make it far enough away from the club to be able to hear again, Josh calls us a taxi. The whole ride home we keep laughing, either from the stupid jokes we keep telling each other or just from looking at each other. The taxi pulls up in front of our house. Josh hands a fifty to the driver and thanks him for driving us home, then we climb out. "Race me inside?" I ask, already preparing myself to run. "I'll beat you." Me says, smugly. "Not a chance." I jump the first step to the house and keep running until I reach the door. Josh is at my heels as I open the door and run towards the stairs. I squeal when I hear him behind me on the stairs, but I don't stop running. By some miracle, I manage to reach the top without falling. I think I've won when I reach the bedroom, but just as I'm about to declare victory Josh tackles me onto the bed, making me scream. My scream turns to laughter as he starts viciously tickling my sides. "Stop! Stop! Stop!" I struggle to break away from him. I push all my weight against him and shove him onto the bed, freeing my hands in the process, but he quickly recovers and shoves me back down. Instead of tickling me, he starts kissing me. I kiss him back briefly, before pulling away. My head is spinning from all the movement and my body's starting to feel numb. He leans in and kisses me again, pulling me into his arms. His hand reaches my back and he quickly unzips my dress. "Josh, stop." I whine, my head pounding. He doesn't listen, instead he pulls my dress down over my shoulders. My stomach turns and an overwhelming sense of nausea hits me. I'm about to tell him to stop again when I pass out.

I wake, feeling like I'm suffocating. I lift my head and open my eyes only to see Josh sleeping underneath me. My head's pounding. I groan and look around, confused. I was sleeping with my face pressed into Josh's neck. That must've been why I couldn't breathe. I slowly slide off him, trying not to move to quickly. My back feels startlingly bare. I press a hand to my back and realize my dress is unzipped and pulled down over my shoulders. I sit up and rub my eyes. I remember stumbling back here with Josh, him kissing me, then trying to take my dress off. I remember telling him to stop and then nothing after that. We must've both passed out. I sit up slowly and stretch. What time is it? I glance over at the clock. It's already almost noon. Shit, my parents are gonna be wondering where I am. I pull my dress up and reach around my back and zip it. Josh groans and opens his eyes. "What's going on?" He asks, confused, as I stand up. "Wait, where are you going?" He asks, sitting up quickly, then pressing his fingers to his forehead. "I have to go get the kids. I'll be right back." I say, slipping on the first shoes I can find, which just so happen to be my heels from last night. "Last night was.... wow." He shields his eyes from the light. "I know. It was fun while it lasted, though." I climb back onto the bed and press a kiss to his forehead, gently. "I'll be back soon. Try to go back to sleep, hon." I whisper, pulling a cover over him.

A/N: I know I'm a couple days late, but happy new year!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'd appreciate if some of you commented your thoughts