No Second Chances Ex-husband (Lauren and Ethan) novel Chapter 63

ROMAN'S POV

“Me? Drunk? You must be mistaken,” she slurred, her words dragging as she pushed herself up to her feet. For a second, I thought she might actually hold steady, but the next moment she staggered sideways, nearly tumbling into the chair she had just risen from.

“I feel alive!” she suddenly screamed, throwing both arms wide open as if the entire world was watching her performance. Heads turned, curious stares flicking in our direction, but she didn’t care. She looked reckless, wild, and completely unbothered by who might judge her.

I couldn’t help the smile tugging at my lips as I watched her. It was strange, I’d only known her for a few minutes, yet in this short span of time, she had managed to display a more raw personality than most women I’d encountered in my life. She wasn’t pretending, she wasn’t playing a role to impress anyone; she was just being herself, drunk or not.

Now I understood why she had been so hesitant earlier, why she had insisted she didn’t want to drink. It wasn’t because she disliked alcohol, it was because she had no control over herself when she did. And seeing her like this confirmed that she was right to worry.

“Come on, Roman! Let’s go P-A-R-T-Y!” she sang out, spelling it out with exaggerated energy, bouncing slightly on her heels. Her eyes glittered, her smile stretching wide, but this was a different version of her entirely. Only minutes ago, she had been holding onto a grudge against me for reasons I still couldn’t figure out, shutting me out with coldness in her tone. Now, in this drunken haze, she wasn’t holding onto anything, no anger, no resentment, nothing but pure recklessness.

“Whoa there,” I said, quickly reaching out to catch her wrist as she attempted to dart toward the dance floor. “You can’t go partying like this.”

My grip stopped her, but before she could argue with me again, her entire expression shifted. Her lips pressed together tightly, her cheeks puffing just slightly, and her hand flew up to cover her mouth.

“I… I need to go to the bathroom,” she mumbled through her fingers, her voice strained. Her eyes squinted as if the lights were suddenly too much for her. “I have to throw up.”

“Bathroom?” I repeated, eyeing her. “How do you plan to manage yourself in there in this condition?”

She didn’t bother replying. Her hand remained clamped over her mouth, and her body hunched forward slightly like she was trying to keep it together. I could tell from the look on her face that she was seconds away from losing it.

“Come, I’ll hold your hair and help you out,” I offered, trying to sound reassuring.

Her eyes widened a little, and she shook her head stubbornly, swaying as she did. “No, no…you’re not allowed in the women’s bathroom.” Her words dragged and slurred, and for a second, I wondered if she even realized what she was saying.

“Don’t worry, I have that handled. Let’s go,” I said firmly. I didn’t give her much of a choice this time as I slipped my arm around hers and gently tugged her forward. Her legs tried to follow, but she stumbled almost instantly, her balance completely gone.

“Can you even walk?” I muttered under my breath. I wasn’t sure if she caught it, but I doubted it. She was too far gone, her head bobbing slightly as though the floor beneath her shifted like waves on the ocean.

“I think it’s coming,” she suddenly whispered, urgency dripping from her voice.

My chest tightened. Even though we had only just met, and even though I didn’t owe her anything, the thought of her throwing up on herself in the middle of all these people didn’t sit right with me. The crowd would laugh, whisper, maybe even record her on their phones. She didn’t deserve that. Nobody did.

She was vulnerable in this state, fragile in a way she probably hated to admit when sober. And though I barely knew her, I found myself determined to protect her from the humiliation of collapsing in front of strangers. I knew she couldn’t walk much further, not like this, and if I didn’t act fast, by the time we reached where I was taking her…

She would have already vomited.

So, there was only one thing left to do. Without bothering to ask for her permission, I bent down and scooped her up from the ground. To my surprise, she was much lighter than I had expected. For someone who carried herself with so much fire and attitude, I thought she’d weigh me down more, but instead, she felt almost fragile in my arms.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify