Free Breathless by Laura Storme Page B

finished her first tumbler and was feeling
good when James came in.
He was stunned to see
her car in the driveway and even more stunned to
find her buzzed in the living room.
"Gray, how long has she been here?"
"An hour.
She just finished her first glass and I'm
making her her second.
She's fine, James.
I'm
taking care of her.”
"That makes me feel better," he replied sarcastically
grabbing a beer from the supply he kept in the
fridge.
James pulled up a stool from the bar in the dining
room and perched himself on the edge.
Laying his
cigarettes and lighter on the end table, he took a
long swig from his beer and watched as Alex
followed the baseball game and made commets to
Joey about the players.
"Something else, I don't
know about her," he said to himself.
"Come on," she said, "That guy couldn't catch a ball
with four hands.”
James laughed at her joke and drew her
attention.
She looked at him with glazed over
eyes and he realized she was almost too far gone
for her own good.
Hopping down off the stool,
James walked over to her and sat down beside her.
"How you doing," he asked.
"Just fine," she smiled.
"Alex, come here," called Grayson from the dining
room.
Alex got up from the couch, steadied her legs and
walked into the dining room.
Grayson and Morgan
had positioned themselves behind a homemade bar
and were shuffling a deck of cards.
"Where did this thing come from," Alex asked
sitting down on one of the stools.
"Morgan and I made it.
It's not fabulous, but it
works for us.
Here," handing her a pocketknife,
"carve your name in.
It's a guest list too," he
smiled.
Alex took the knife, sat down her drink and carved
her name into the bar.
It wasn't the easiest thing
to do while feeling this good, but she accomplished
it well, handed back the knife and took a long drink
of her screwdriver.
The first glass of the potion
had dulled her senses and Gray had deliberately
made this one stronger.
Alex couldn't really tell.
Grayson shuffled and explained the rules, while Alex
watched him.
She was mildly attracted to him and
felt comfortable around him and his friends.
She
believed him when he said that she would be
okay.
Alex immediately lost the first
hand.
Shaking her head, she laid down the
mismatched cards and Morgan laid down a
straight.
"Good thing we aren't betting for money," she
laughed.
"How about something more interesting?"
"What?"
"Clothes. "
"You're going to look funny in this sweater," Alex
joked and then consented to play.
James grew more interested from his position on
the loveseat as to what was happening in the dining
room.
He heard Alex laughing and joking with
Grayson and his friends, but couldn't quite divine
what the joke was because Morgan was standing in
his line of vision.
"Jimmy, catch," yelled Morgan half turning and
tossing an article of clothing his way.
James caught the item and looked at it
quizzically.
Suddenly the smell of the garment
caught the trigger in his brain and James realized
that it was Alex's.
"Shit," he muttered standing up and making his way
into the dining room.
Alex sat there calmly drinking and playing cards
dressed in her camisole and jeans.
Morgan was rubbing Alex's shoulders and she was
growing sleepy from the combination of the
massage, alcohol and heat in the room.
"Alex," James asked as he approached her.
"Hey, join the party.
You're sitting over there like
a bump on a log.
Live a little," she replied turning
her attention back to the game.
This time she won
and had both Morgan and Gray remove their shirts
to put them on a level playing field.
Alex lost the
next two hands and removed her camisole to reveal
her bra and a sock, arguing that it was a valid piece
of clothing.
"Okay, that's enough of that," she declared when
she lost the next hand and her sock.
Her
sensibilities kicked in and made her remove herself
from the game before she lost much more.
"Let's dance," she requested, moving to the stereo
and finding a sultry tune.
Swaying to the music,
Alex approached James and