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started giving me their names, but it was a lot to process. I think I heard a Becca . Maybe a Doug . Perhaps a Randall .
    “Lucas,” I heard at my ear.
    A shiver went down my spine and I turned my head. He was peering over my shoulder putting our faces close. “I already knew that,” I said softly.
    “Wanted to make sure you didn’t forget,” he replied with a sexy, and I mean sexy , smirk.
    As if I could , I thought but thankfully didn’t say. My eyes drifted down to his lips for a split second before I faced forward. Yikes. This guy had trouble written all over him. Trouble for me, anyway. The last thing I needed was to be caught up with someone else. I’d been with Mark for years. It was time for me to be by myself.
    For the next few hours, Wally kept me by his side, parading me around, introducing me to everyone. Drink after drink was placed in my hand. I hadn’t had this much fun in a long time. Mark and I never did this. In fact, if I thought about it, towards the end our relationship, everything was boring. We never went anywhere or did anything. What had once been the reason I got out of my funk and started living life again became the reason I’d stopped. Right now, I felt free.
    One of my favorite songs came over the speakers and I couldn’t stop myself from closing my eyes and dancing. There were a few whoops and hollers and I felt someone grab my hands. Opening my eyes, I saw a shirtless Wally. A tie was wrapped around the top of his head and he wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Let’s do this right, sweet thing,” he said, spinning me. I giggled uncontrollably as he dipped me, twirled me, and carted me all over the room.
    When the song was done, I was breathless and standing in front of my couch. People clapped while Wally bowed. With all my excitement and dancing, I felt dizzy. The room started spinning and I closed my eyes. Maybe I needed to sit down for a bit. I felt behind me for the couch and eased onto it. After a moment, someone sat down next to me, placing a cold glass in my hand.
    “Here. You might want to drink this water,” he said. “You’ll thank me in the morning.”
    With my eyes still closed, I drank as much of it as I could before handing the glass back. Feeling a little better, I opened my eyes and leaned my head back on the couch. I turned to thank the guy next to me and saw that it was Lucas.
    My face immediately lifted in what I hoped was a radiant smile. “Hi,” I said.
    He ducked his head to hide a grin. “Hey,” he said back.
     

Chapter 3
    M y mouth felt dry, my head throbbed, and my stomach churned. Overall, I felt like hell. Gradually, I became aware of my surroundings. My fingertips confirmed that I was lying on my couch. As I forced my eyes open, the morning sun blared obnoxiously through the sliding glass door. I groaned and forced myself to sit up. Wally was across from me, lounged in his recliner eating a bowl of cereal. “What time is it?” I asked.
    “Six.”
    “A.M.? Gross. Why are we up this early?”
    “I don’t know,” he said as he stuffed another spoonful of Cheerios into his mouth. “How you feeling?”
    “It’s rude to talk with your mouth full, and I feel like shit.” I rubbed my eyes. “What happened last night?” I asked, mostly to myself, but Wally answered.
    “Well, you got insanely drunk, danced with me, then got naked and jumped in the pool.”
    My eyes shot open. “What?”
    “Just kidding. About the naked, pool jumping part anyway. You and Lucas sat right there pretty much the entire time, looking at each other all googly-eyed, whispering in each other’s ears, generally being disgusting. Then you passed out in his lap.”
    How embarrassing. “What did I say to him? Did I make a fool of myself?”
    “Uh, I’m not your babysitter, Marlowe. I have no idea.” I scowled, hoping to convey my annoyance. All it accomplished was a grin to spread across his cocky face. “Relax,” he laughed. “You two looked like you were having