Free Rock Bottom by Jamie Canosa

have an ultimate goal to work toward?” I was fascinated.
    “Simple. I do whatever makes me happy at the time.”
    “Don’t you ever regret some of those decisions later, though?”
    “Not really. I mean, yeah, occasionally things would be easier if I’d made different decisions in the past, but I try not to think about that. I try to live in the moment and be as happy in each individual moment as I can because you never know when everything will change and everything you’ve been sacrificing your happiness for all along, could just . . . disappear.”
    That particular sentiment hit a little too close to home and I sucked in a sharp breath.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you, Ry. Nothing has disappeared on you, okay? You don’t even know what you really want yet, but when you do? Princess, I promise, nothing will be out of reach.”
    I’d tried his do-what-makes-you-happy-in-the-moment thing earlier and he’d turned me down flat. Obviously, what I wanted and what he wanted were two entirely separate things.
    “Now what’s going through that head of yours to put that look on your face?”
    “Nothing.” The mellowness of earlier had worn off and I was itching to move. “I should go.”
    “You can’t.”             
    “What do you mean I can’t? Sure I can.”
    “Seriously, Ry. Neither of us are good to drive right now.”
    Me, I understood, it was my first time feeling these effects. But him? “You can’t drive?”
    “Okay, I probably can. But I’m not risking it with you in the car with me.” A warmth spread through me, making me smile at his care. “We wait. Besides, your eyes are ridiculously bloodshot and you probably smell like pot.”
    Grabbing a handful of my shirt, I brought it to my nose and sniffed. Shit, he was right. I reeked of the stuff.
    “Crap! What am I gonna do?”
    “I have some eye drops in the medicine cabinet. You can grab a shower and you said you have a bag in your car?”
    “Oh yeah.” Suddenly, I was a flipping genius .
    “Stay put. I’ll go get it.”
    “Okay.”
    Elijah slipped out the door and I dropped back down on his bed, silently praying the shower water was better than that sludgy crap coming from the kitchen sink. I rolled onto my side and my keys dug into my hip. Shoot, Elijah would need those to get to the bag.
    I hurried after him toward the front door, only to be brought up short when Andy stepped out of the kitchen. His bulky body blocked my way down the narrow hall.
    “Hey there, sweet cheeks. What have you and that boy been doing back there all day?” He took a step closer and I took one back. “You want a real ride? I could show you a thing or two that boy can only dream of.”
    The repulsive grin returned and I had to choke back the bile creeping up my throat.
    “I-I don’t—” I was saved from figuring out where the hell that sentence was going when Elijah’s hand closed over his shoulder, dragging him away from me.
    The guy was nearly twice Elijah’s size, but he planted him in the wall with ease. The beer on his breath might have had something to do with that.
    “I told you to stay the fuck away from her.” I’d never heard a person growl before. I’d read about it plenty of times, but I’d never actually heard it for myself.
    “Hey.” Andy raised his hands in mock surrender. “I was just offering the girl a good time. If you can’t please your woman, don’t take that out on me.”
    “Go near her again and I’ll break your face.” Elijah turned, taking my arm and dragging me back toward his bedroom.
    “Didn’t I tell you to stay put?”
    “I thought you might need these.” I held up the keys in all their triumph.
    To which Elijah held up my bag. “You didn’t lock it.”
    Dammit . He always won.
    “Come on. Let’s get you looking presentable.”
    He escorted me across the hall and showed me where he kept the eye drops, even going as far as helping me squeeze them in my eyes when I couldn’t do it myself.