Chapter 5: What the Hell Did I Do?
The unceasing blare of the alarm shredded through the fragile layers of my sleep, yanking me awake with brutal force. I groaned, slapping blindly at my phone until the noise mercifully stopped. My head throbbed in protest ─ a dull, pounding ache that pulsed behind my eyes, a harsh reminder of last night’s reckless choices.
Blinking against the harsh light filtering through unfamiliar curtains, I sat up slowly, wincing as the room spun for a moment before settling into focus.
Where... am i?
The walls were foreign, the bed too firm, the sheets too crisp ─ everything about this room screamed not mine. Unease prickle along my skin, setting my nerves on edge as I struggled to piece together how I had ended up here.
Fragments of the night before began to float up from the murky depths of my hangover ─ the buzzing club, the endless shots, the chaotic whirl of music and dancing, the stranger who had cut in line... and the, Aria.
I was supposed to be waiting for aria.
Panic flickered in my chest as more memories rushed back, disjointed vivid. The line-cutter. The way he pulled me from that weird dude. His hand steady on my waist. The heat of his body against mine. And the ─ oh God ─ the car.
the chauffeur.
My heart slammed against my ribs as the memory sharpened. The kiss ─ hungry reckless. The weight of him pressing me into the seat. The way I had practically thrown myself at him, desperate for something, anything to erase the hurt max had left behind.
A sick feeling curled in my stomach. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the images away, but they clung stubbornly to my mind.
Did I really...?