door for her to
slide into the back seat. She turned with a surprised look on her face
when he climbed in beside her. Rosa told her to hurry, and then hung
up the phone, which troubled Paige even more.
She was about to ask Casey why he was coming with her, but he
cut her off. "You may need my help." He spoke to the driver.
Since they were both drunk, she wasn't quite sure if either one of
them could help if Tadd or John, or both, refused to leave. From the
sounds of Rosa's voice, she was pretty drunk too. Paige was afraid
she had gotten herself in deeper than she'd anticipated.
The drive back to the gate was short. Unfortunately, the city cab
didn't have access to drive on base, so he dropped them off at the
security gate. She didn't even bother trying to pay when she saw
Casey already leaning forward. Hopping out of car and walking up to
the gate, Paige tried to keep a straight face. She pressed her lips
together and flashed her Common Access Card to the military police
officer on duty. He looked so serious and she couldn't help but giggle
slightly, but covered it up with a cough when Casey playfully nudged
her.
Base lodging was a mile walk from where they were, and they
hurried as quickly as they could without running. Paige felt another
giggle escape and thought how funny it had to look with an inebriated
woman wobbling down the street trying to go save her friend.
24
Casey smiled and grabbed her hand. All of a sudden, he didn't
seem to be drunk anymore and she wanted to kick him for it. She had
consumed way more alcohol than she normally did and felt really
tipsy by the time they rode the elevator up to the second floor where
Rosa and her rooms were located.
Paige pointed out which room was Rosa's. While Casey knocked
on the door, she stood slightly behind him and frowned when Rosa
opened the door with a big smile on her face. Now she stood there
with a smile on her face? Irritated she stared at the woman who had
made her leave the dance floor to come rescue her. "I thought you
were having trouble." Her voice was flat.
Rosa motioned for them to come on in.
Paige stepped around Casey and followed Rosa into the room.
Anticipating that her smile was because Tadd had left, she figured no
one was in the room and stopped short. There he was, a grin in his
face while he was, sprawled half on the couch. Pants unbuttoned and
shirt tossed carelessly on the floor. Paige stared, unsure of what Rosa
expected her to do.
"Oh, he just pissed me off, but we're fine now. Come in, we have
wine." Rosa's shirt was slid half way up her waist. Apparently her
heels had been kicked off when she'd walked into the room. Her
shoes lay haphazardly where they had bounced off the wall of the
entry way.
"Where's John?" Paige glanced around cautiously, half anticipating
him to come in the room half naked as well. Her eyes leapt to Tadd
when he spoke.
"Oh, he's a couple rooms down with Angie." Lifting his arm as if
pointing them in the direction of where John was down the hallway.
Tadd's skin was a golden tan. Even in his resting position, his
muscle bulged.
Casey followed Paige and stood with his hands on his hips with a
stern gaze at Tadd but asked Rosa, "You sure everything is ok?"
"Yeah, all's good." Rosa's speech was still slurred.
Even though Paige was drunk, Rosa had consumed way more
alcohol than she had and wondered how she was even standing. She
25
wanted to make sure that Rosa was not being forced into anything she
didn't want to do. "You wanted him to leave, you don't now?"
"No, darling.' aw's good. Sit. Have a glass." Rosa poured the wine
into plastic cups, spilling a bit on the table. She giggled when she
banged the bottle on the table, nearly knocking it over. She caught it
before it fell of the table. Picking up two red plastic cups, she shoved
one in each of Paige's hands.
Hesitantly, she walked over to where Casey had sat down on the
oversized chair and offered him a
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