Following the Rules

Chapter 48

Last I'd heard, Lorraine was winning the bet. Bitch worked fast. She had twelve numbers to my five. Could be because she wasn't nearly as picky. When it came to winning, she always did whatever it took. But I hadn't seen her for the past hour, it was unlike her not to check in. Even when she wanted to go back to the hotel or hook up with someone, she always told me. So I went looking for her.

She found me before I could spot her, one arm was draped around a giant who had at least two or three feet on her. On her other arm, was Sawyer. He rolled his eyes at something she said, then he was looking at me. My heart skipped a beat.

What was he doing here?

He isn't suppose to be here.

"We're going back to the hotel," Lorraine said, gesturing to the small group of people behind her. "You ready?"

My gaze skirted over the people she'd invited to our hotel, people I'd never met before. It was always like this with her, she was always making new friends. Normally I didn't care, but normally Sawyer wasn't part of that equation.

"What's he doing here?" I asked quietly, my voice betraying how cautious I truly was.

She looked at him and smiled brightly. "He's coming with us."

"The fuck he is."

The room was spinning a little, my balance may have been off and my thinking process wasn't working the greatest, but I knew he shouldn't be here. He didn't belong here.

She gave me a disapproving look, clicking her tongue once, then twice. "I like him, he's fun and he's coming with."

"Toni sent him." I said flatly, knowing that would get her attention. She didn't like that Toni and I were so close, she didn't want to lose me to anyone or share me.

"I'm not a lap dog." Sawyer said darkly. "I'm here because I want to be."

I highly doubted that.

"Whatever," Lorraine waved her hand dismissively. "He's coming with."

She eyed him up and down like he was her favorite candy.

Something twisted my stomach until it was nothing but an uncomfortable knot. When we got to the car, I took a bottle of Whiskey from the back seat and tried to wash down whatever feeling was trying to make an appearance.

"I left my car over there," Sawyer said when Lorraine started towards the hotel.

"Sugar, you've had way too much to drink." She said with a giggle. "It's not far from here."

I trudged behind them, drinking from the bottle like it was water and I hadn't had a single drop for days.

Sawyer slowed to walk beside me, eyeing the bottle before he swiped it from me. "Aren't you going to share?"

I gave him a dirty look, snatching it from him after he'd taken a large gulp. "I don't buy it."

"Don't buy what?"

"Why you're here."

He shrugged, tugging the bottle from my tight grasp. "Is it so hard to believe that I just want to party? I had a life before I met Toni, there are a lot of things you don't know about me."

"This is it!" Lorraine shouted from up ahead. She pushed through the double glass doors of the Rose hotel, shooting me a large grin over her shoulder.

He nudged my shoulder with his right before we entered, pointing out the tall dude Lorraine had been all over earlier. "Twenty bucks says she bangs him tonight."

I smirked, accepting the bottle of whiskey he so graciously handed back to me. "Twenty bucks says she fucks all three dudes tonight."

His eyes widened as he looked over at me. "You really think so?"

"Huddle together everybody," Lorraine said from inside the elevator as she waved everyone inside.

"I don't think we're all going to fit." I said apprehensively.

Sawyer wrapped both of his arms around me, then pulled the both of us into the little bit of space left in the elevator. My body stiffened being this close to him. I could feel his chest against my shoulders and his hips right above my ass. He held me tightly, dipping his face into the crook of my neck.

"You smell nice."

Lorraine chuckled, her brownish green eyes sparkling deviously back at me. I could only imagine what she was thinking.

When the elevator doors opened, I stumbled over my feet to get out. Sawyer caught me easily before I could kiss the floor. He draped his arm carelessly over my shoulders, leading me towards Lorraine and the others when they walked ahead. Once we were in the hotel room, I slipped out from under his arm and went straight for the couch.

Lorraine flipped on some music and started dancing around one of the three guys. The two girls that had tagged along gave Sawyer a long, tantalizing look. He ignored them as he talked to the guy rolling a doobie. As soon as it was lit, Lorraine snatched it from his fingers to take a long drag.

She smiled widely, passing it over to me. I brought it to my lips, locking eyes with Sawyer as I inhaled the weed. "Does this bother you?"

He laughed, plopping down beside me on the couch. Instead of responding, he grabbed the doobie and took a hit. "Why would it?"

My eyebrows furrowed, trying to figure him out. He wouldn't just come here. Toni must have sent him. "I'm not going back."

His eyes softened a fraction. "I'm not here for that Kaylee."

"I don't believe you."

"Believe whatever you want, tesoro."

Translation: Darling