Free Revved (Axle Alley Vipers) by Sherilee Gray Page B

wanted any other woman in his life.
    But he didn’t get a chance to tell her, because when he turned her way again, she was out cold.

Chapter Eight
    A loud, incessant buzzing sound came from down the hall. Rusty rolled to her back, letting out a groan when the movement had her stomach rolling. The buzz was cut off abruptly by a crash and a string of curses.
    Piper was awake.
    God, Rusty wished she weren’t.
    Head thumping, she glanced down at herself. I managed to change into a T-shirt. That had to be some kind of miracle considering the state she’d been in.
    How had they gotten so drunk? Then she remembered her and Piper’s never-ending rounds of tequila shots. “Idiots.”
    The fuzzy feeling in her mouth was at an all-time high. Gross. Like a small rodent had crawled into her mouth during the night and died. She needed water, and she needed it now.
    Her phone started ringing on her bedside table, she fumbled for it and put it to her ear. “Yeah?”
    “You sound like shit.” Her brother’s voice echoed down the line, far too damn loudly.
    “Thanks.”
    He chuckled. “Just making sure you got home okay.”
    “Looks that way…”
    There was a bang on her door. “Get up,” Piper moaned.
    “As much as I’d love to chat, I gotta go.”
    “Rusty…”
    “Talk to you later.” She hung up on Deacon before he started one of his annoying “why we should respect alcohol” lectures, and flung her phone aside. Though in this instance, he was probably right.
    Why had they done this when they knew they had work today? Dragging her sorry ass out of bed, she hung onto her head to fight the pounding dizziness and shuffled to the door, wrenching it open. Light streamed in from the living room window, and she winced.
    Piper stood by her door, leaning against the wall, still in the clothes she’d been wearing at the club. Her blond hair was sticking up on one side and lipstick was smeared across her right cheek. “What the hell was I thinking?” she whispered.
    Rusty shook her head. “No idea, but let’s not do that again.”
    Piper nodded, then gripped her head as well. “Agreed.”
    They shuffled side by side down the hall, the smell of fresh coffee a siren song leading them toward the kitchen. “You made coffee? Have I told you lately that I love you?”
    Piper stopped suddenly, eyes widening. “Um…it wasn’t me.”
    Rusty followed her sister’s gaze, and her mouth fell open. Reid stood in her kitchen, as if he owned the place, that overlong hair tied back, leaning against the bench, mug in hand. “Want one?” He lifted his mug and gave it a little shake.
    A flash of memory broke through her fuzzy brain: Reid calling her, coming to the club. “You’re here?” She stared down at herself. “Did you…”
    He grinned. “I wasn’t going to, but you decided to give me a strip tease.”
    “I what ?” Noooo. No. No. No.
    “I managed to get that shirt on you before the panties and bra came off. Then I took the couch.”
    “I stripped?”
    “Did a little dance and everything.” His grin turned wicked. “I didn’t peek. Promise.”
    Heat started climbing up her neck. She couldn’t meet his eyes and instead focused on the ink covering one side of his throat. It was some kind of swirly design, and she wondered how far down it went. Damn, even his neck was sexy. Could necks be sexy?
    Stop it!
    Her face was so damn hot now that her eyes actually started to water. “I stripped…and danced?”
    “Yeah, you were good, too. Still managed to strip down while you swayed all over the room. That takes some serious skills, babe.”
    That’s it. She was never drinking again.
    Piper turned to her, mouth gaping, then a smile spread across her face. “Oh my God, Rusty. You didn’t?” Then clutching her head, she doubled over and busted a gut laughing.
    Reid was still smiling as he poured them both coffee. He handed the mugs over, along with the bottle of painkillers they kept in the bathroom cabinet. “Maybe