They're not mine and I'm not making any money…
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What Happens in Vegas…
Chapter 1
Leaving the hotel, we headed out the front door and while I was waiting for a valet to bring the Bronco, a limo pulled up. I was watching for whoever was coming or going in it when I was shocked to see the guys start to climb in.
"A limo?" I asked to no one in particular.
"We're going out on the town in style," Tank said, giving me a rare smile and then taking my arm and escorting me into the limo.
"Why, thank you," I told him as I looked around the inside. It was rather fancy with couch like seats, a small TV and a mini bar.
We weren't in the limo long before Lester started exploring the mini bar. Before I knew it, he was popping the cork from a bottle of champagne and handing glasses around.
"To Bombshell, for getting us to the celebration in half the time it took us last time we were here," he said, raising his glass.
"To Bombshell," they all chorused while I blushed.
Once they had drunk, I raised my own glass to toast them. "You guys aren't so bad yourselves," and I took a sip. Feeling my eyes widening at how good the champagne was, I took another sip and before I knew it, Lester was refilling my glass.
The ride to wherever we were going was lots of fun. The guys were relaxed and even Ranger had a glass of champagne to drink. By the time I felt the limo slowing down, I was already feeling a little buzzy but the guys were fine so I wasn't worried.
When we got out of the limo, I found we were outside of a restaurant called El Diablo, so I was guessing we were having Mexican. That assumption was confirmed when we entered the building, me clutching Ranger's arm for stability, and I saw the vibrant colors and smelled the spicy food.
We were quickly shown to a circular booth and I was seated between Ranger and Bobby with Tank and Lester on the ends. We hadn't been seated long before a waitress came to take our drink orders and I experienced a feeling of foreboding when I heard Lester order a bottle of tequila and five shot glasses.
"Do a shot with us, Bomber," Bobby was begging nearly as soon as our drinks arrived.
"Tequila and I don't get along that well," I said, thinking of the state I was in the last time the girls and I had gone out for margaritas.
"Oh come on," Lester said, "we won't let anything happen to you."
"Alright," I finally agreed, still eyeing the bottle of amber liquid.
With me in on the fun, Bobby poured out five shots and handed around lime. I shot a look at Ranger, surprised that he would join in, when he gave me the 200 Watt smile.
"Body's not a temple tonight, Babe," he said.
And with that, he licked some salt, tossed back his shot and then popped his lime into his mouth before indicating that I should go. I hadn't done this since college, but I was shocked at the ease with which it came back to me. I only pulled a bit of a face as I sucked the lime.
I was really starting to feel very happy when the waitress came back to take our meal orders. I hadn't even looked at the menu, but the problem was taken out of my hands when Tank told the waitress we wanted one order of all of the appetizers. That would be fun.
While we waited, the guys did another shot and it didn't take much to convince me to do another as well.
"Wait! You two together," Bobby exclaimed, waving a hand between Ranger and I.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Stick salt on you hands, but lick off each other and one of you hold the lime in your teeth so the person drinking can suck it and then the second person sucks it out of the first person's mouth."
"Babe?" Ranger asked, quirking an eyebrow at me. That looked like a challenge.
"I'm in," I said, handing my shot glass from before back to Lester and trying to quirk my eyebrow back.
I went first, licking the salt from Ranger's hand and I may have detoured a bit up his wrist, but then I remembered to take the shot before I'd swallowed all the salt. He was holding the lime between his teeth so I opened my mouth around it and grabbed it, touching my lips to his but he wouldn't let go of the lime, so I just sucked it with it still in his mouth.
When he finally let go, he wolf grinned at me before licking my hand and sending shivers all through my body. Then he took his shot and touched his lips to mine sliding his tongue into my mouth, searching for the lime I was holding there. He showed some hidden talent as he managed to suck the lime without taking it from my mouth.
We didn't pull apart until I vaguely registered the yells of 'get a room' and 'the food will be here soon, don't eat Bomber' coming from the guys.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Ouch. That was my first waking though. My second was along the lines of, what the Hell happened? My head was pounding, my brain felt like mush and my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. My entire body ached and I wasn't sure if I was really capable of opening my eyes or if it was even a good idea at this point. I was just starting to think that letting myself drift back into unconsciousness was the best thing I could do when I noticed a weight around my waist and heat at my side. Uh oh.
Prying one eye open, I discovered that my face was not buried in a pillow like I had thought, but a muscular shoulder. And that shoulder had a definite mocha latte hue. More uh oh.
Making a supreme effort I tilted my head up, but immediately squeezed my eyes shut again at the splinters of pain that radiated through it. Once the pain had gone back down to it's previous pounding, I opened my eyes again only to confirm my suspicions about the owner of the shoulder I was resting on. Ranger.
Wracking my brain, I tried to remember the events of last night and how we could have ended up like this. Even concentrating as hard as my headache would allow, the events of the evening were disturbingly hazy. The last thing I really remember was drinking champagne in the limo the guys had ordered to take us out, getting to the restaurant and doing shots of tequila while we waited for our dinners to be served. Not good.
Very gently, I wiggled an arm free from where Ranger had his arm thrown across me. I wasn't sure if I was ready for him to wake up yet. Luckily, he seemed to be pretty out of it still. Once I'd gotten my arm free, I shut my eyes again and carefully lifted the sheet we were covered with. It took me a few minutes, but I finally gathered enough courage to open my eyes and peek under the sheet. Neither of us was wearing a stitch of clothing. Again, not good.
Shutting my eyes yet again, I let the sheet drop and tried to will it to all just go away. Judging from the fact that I could still feel Ranger warm beside me and that I wasn't suddenly wearing pajamas, I figured that it hadn't worked. Burying my head deeper in Ranger's shoulder, I tried to figure out what to do.
Should I wake him up? Should I just leave? I didn't want to do either. Waking him up would mean dealing with the morning after mess and I still haven't fully recovered from our last morning after. And this time, I had a lot more feelings invested. As for just leaving, I wasn't sure if I was physically capable of dragging myself from the bed right now.
Giving up, I relaxed and let myself fall back asleep, deciding to deal with it later.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Ouch, I thought as I came awake, this feels familiar. With a feeling of apprehension, I once again cracked an eye and again met with a mocha latte arm. It didn't take me long to remembered why this was familiar. Lots of alcohol, Ranger, no clothes. And it hadn't gone away.
Lifting my eyes, I found Ranger watching me intently. Unsure as to what to say, I just laid there, not breaking eye contact for about a minute.
"Hey," he eventually said, in a scratchy voice, indicating he had just woken up as well. "How're you feeling?"
"Unhgh," was my only response as I shut my eyes again and buried my face into his shoulder once again.
"Thought so," he replied.
"Do you remember last night?" I mumbled from where my face was hidden.
"I remember dinner, then going to a club and we were dancing. After that, I've got nothing."
"Did we…" I started, unable to fully voice the question. I was really holding out hope that we'd gotten back to the hotel, crawled into bed and been too drunk to find something to sleep in. That still didn't explain why I was in his room and not my own…
"Yeah, I think we did, Babe," Ranger replied, dashing my hopes as he tightened his hold on me and rubbed my back. "You okay?"
"I think so," I said, before stating the obvious. "But, I'm really hung over."
"Want me to call room service and order the cure?" he asked.
"Please," was my only response as I rolled off of him so he could reach the phone.
Neither of us was really in great shape right now, so we could deal with whatever happened last night once we were feeling a bit more human. I also had a feeling I was still a bit drunk, which would explain why I wasn't more freaked out right now, but it also meant I wasn't up to the conversation that would have to take place.
Giving my head a gentle shake to drive away the serious thoughts that I wasn't ready for, but were demanding attention, I turned my head to watch Ranger order our breakfast.
"Hello. This is Carlos Manoso in suite 415. Is it possible to have room service delivered from McDonald's?" I heard Ranger ask and had to smile. I'm pretty sure they didn't have fries and Coke on the normal room service menu. "Good," he continued. "I'd like to order two large fries and two large Cokes. Thank you."
One he hung up, I gently rolled my eyes to look at him as he relaxed back onto the bed. He'd ordered McDonald's for himself?
"I'm just as hung over as you are, Babe," he said doing the ESP thing. "And from what I remember, my body wasn't a temple at all last night, so a little more won't hurt."
After that, we both simply laid on our backs, side by side, not talking, until we heard a faint knocking coming from the main door of the suite.
"I'll get it," Ranger said, slipping out of bed and pulling a pair of sweats from the back of a chair. He also tossed me the t-shirt that had been with them before heading out the door.
A minute later, he came back carrying our food. Entering the room, I saw him reach for the light, pause, shake his head and continue towards the bed. As he approached, I caught a whiff of fry; I think I recovered a little bit just from the smell. I know I began to recover as I shoved the first few in my mouth.
We continued in silence until we were both about half way through our fries when Ranger spoke.
"I think this is actually working," he said.
"Of course it is," I replied, giving him an eye roll and instantly regretting it. "Owww," I groaned, shutting my eyes as my headache sent splinters through my head.
While my eyes were shut, I felt Ranger get off of the bed so I pried one open to watch him wander towards the bathroom. Huh?
"Advil," he said, holding up a bottle as he came out of the bathroom.
"Thank God," I replied. Anything to get rid of the pounding in my head.
"Here you go," Ranger said, holding out his hand and offering me two liquid-gels.
I quickly popped them in my mouth, swallowed and chased them with a slurp of Coke. Painkillers go so well with the cure. I did wonder if they were any match for the mother of all hangovers I was sporting or if I'd be up any time soon.
Climbing back into bed, Ranger swallowed his own Advil and resumed eating his dose of the cure, so I followed suit. I sort of wondered how much longer we could keep this up.
Ten minutes later, as I was licking the last of the salt from my fingers and washing it down with the last slurp of my Coke, I got my answer.
"Babe, I think we need to talk," Ranger said, sighing as he leaned back against the headboard.
"I know," I replied, feeling a bit panicked. I could literally feel my heart thundering at the thought of another rejection. "Can we do it later, though? My brain just isn't working nearly well enough yet."
"Sure, Babe," he said.
After that, we both just sat there for awhile longer. We really were in bad shape.
"Do you have any idea what kind of shape the guys are in this morning?" I asked.
"Not a clue," Ranger answered. "They were all dancing and having a great time at the club last I remember. All I know for sure is that none of them are passed out in the main room of the suite."
"I wish I could remember seeing them drunk," I complained.
"How much do you remember?" he asked.
"Tequila before dinner."
"You really can't hold your alcohol, can you?" Ranger asked, giving me a little smile. "I'm sorry, I should have stopped you or not let the guys give you shots."
"I'm a big girl," I said, leaning sideways and resting my head on his shoulder.
This was comfortable right now and I didn't want it to end. I wasn't sure if it was because I was still a little drunk or because I was just in denial, but I knew things would get awkward as soon as we had our talk.
"I know you are, Babe," Ranger said, tilting his own head to the side and resting it on top of mine. "But I still should have been watching your back."
"You were," I replied, smiling a little. "You wouldn't have let me go home with some stranger would you?"
"Definitely not," he said.
"Good."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Ouch, I thought as I felt myself being pulled towards consciousness. This is getting to be way too familiar, I decided. At least this time the worst pain was in my neck from the way I'd been resting on Ranger's shoulder.
"Babe, wake up," I heard Ranger saying.
"Huh?" I asked. I never claimed to be eloquent when first woken up.
"We fell asleep," he answered as I felt him pushing some hair back from my face.
"Oh."
"How are you feeling?"
"A lot better actually. I think the hangover's almost gone. How about you?"
"Pretty good," he answered. "But I think I'll be skipping my run today."
"You're going to Hell in a hand basket," I said.
"Probably," he agreed, before sighing and saying the words I was dreading. "Babe, I think we need to talk about last night."
"Yeah," I said, sighing myself. I knew we had to, I just didn't want to.
"Do you want to do it now, or do you want to go, shower, get dressed and do it then?"
"Door number two, please," I said at the prospect of putting off our talk a little longer.
"Okay, you go shower and then meet me back on the couch in the sitting area in an hour," he said, giving me a time so I couldn't back out. "I'm going to shower and then try to locate the guys."
"Thanks. And good luck," I said, giving him a small smile before slipping out of bed and making for the door.
Half way there, I realized I was still only wearing Ranger's shirt. I didn't see my clothes anywhere, so I cracked the door and peeked around.
"The guys are still MIA, Babe," Ranger said chuckling. "It's safe."
Turning around and sticking my tongue out at him, I slipped quickly slipped out the door and headed for my own room.
Once there, I debated flopping on my bed, in my thinking position, but I decided that thinking really wasn't what I needed right now. What I needed was a shower so I'd be nice and relaxed before this talk I was facing.
In the bathroom, I turned on the faucet to let the water get hot and while I waited I grabbed my toothbrush, looking forward to getting rid of the taste that was still lingering in my mouth. Just as I reached for the toothpaste, I saw something sparkle.
Huh?
Looking at my hand, I caught sight of something that made my heart stop for a second. I was wearing a platinum ring with what had to be a one carat diamond and a gold wedding band. How the Hell was I hung over enough to miss that? Sure we'd kept the lights off out of respect for our headaches, but still!
Blindly walking out of my bathroom and out of my room, I made my way back to Ranger's room without taking my eyes off the rings. As I walked back into his room, I found him just exiting his own bathroom. He was also staring at his left hand, but looked up when he noticed me.
"We couldn't have…" was all I said, staring into his eyes, seeing the same shock I'm sure was mirrored in mine.
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A/N: So, what do you think? Please review and let me know!