High Card Bluff (House of Car...

Tom had promised his father that he wouldn't come home for the duration of him having the robo legs. There were just somethings Tom did not want to see; and the fact that he hadn't heard anything was a good sign in his family. When he tried to call any phone related to them, it was to get a message that they were unavailable.

If his dad hadn't gotten a vasectomy after the miscarriage, Tom would worry about having a younger sibling after this. As it was, he was probably going to be uncomfortable around the flat surfaces at his parents for a while. It made for an unsettled week, at the apartment and work alike.

Nate had his finals before graduating and was stressed to shit about it, and that was before Grace had decided to stay at her parents so they would both focus on exams. Tom heard immediately how she'd nearly pushed him out the window when he snuck over anyways. Nate had thoroughly enjoyed reliving the sneaking phase of their relationship.

"Dude, I am not exactly getting any right now so could you not?" he didn't think before speaking.

Thankfully, Nate was good at supplying his own narrative, "Oh she cut you off to study and do exams too eh? And you've never been all that good at sneaking in windows."

"No that's your specialty if I recall all the stories." Tom took the chance to turn the tables a little.

"Only one window I want to sneak in tonight." Nate sounded wistful despite having seduced his girl over the weekend.

The exams meant crowds came in waves; after morning were food rushes, after evening were bar shots. Monday passed in a blur but left Tuesday feeling sharp edged. He was antsy enough that Wade of all people picked up unit. "Did you mainline something?"

Tom checked the time again, figuring the brat would be the type to use all 3 hours of an exam to go over it repeatedly. "Just keeping time man." he tried to brush off the bartender.

"You're here all day ass hat." He wasn't wrong.

"Not going anywhere." If it would help maybe, but it wasn't like he could help Dri with her exams, even the practical one.

"Right, that's why you've checked the time every 30 seconds." Wade gave him a flat look.

"His girl's probably writing an exam." Nate jumped on riding his ass too, and Tom's head snapped too quickly to brush off as nonchalant; both his friends laughed.

"D'awww," Wade made a mockingly sweet sound, "You gonna text her for luck or congratulate her for finishing?"

Tom couldn't answer that will Nate there, not knowing if he knew Dri's schedule. He had to think of something and his eyes flashed to the clock again; noon. "I'm taking my lunch break since you two chuckle-fucks seem to have nothing but time.'' He headed for the Supra.

"It's only 30 minutes!" Wade called out after him.

Thankfully Nate couldn't follow, and Tom pulled out towards campus even as he texted the brat. She'd looked so stressed in those quiet moments but never said anything about it. But four fucking exams in two days would be rough on anyone, even Dri. He couldn't do anything to help, but may be seeing a friendly face was better than nothing.

To his surprise, she actually came. And when Dri got close enough that Tom could tell she'd been crying, he didn't even think about it; he got out and hugged her. After that his idiot brain let the mouth go while he held her. She fit under his chin and didn't seem to mind, and despite know he was going over his time he didn't say so this until his phone rang.

At least all signs of the tears were gone by then. Tom sped back to the Nightside feeling better, and like an idiot all at once. It got worse when he got back; he walked in to an almost empty restaurant and bored friends. The moment they saw him scowling Wade swore and passed Nate a $20.

"The fuck?" Tom knew a bet lost when he saw it.

"I figured you'd gone for a stress fuck to help your girl feel better, but not with that look on your face." The bartender explained in an annoyed tone.

"I'm up $20 and you owe me your evening break." Nate swaggered out, happy as a pig in shit.

"Did you see your girl?" Wade wouldn't leave it alone and Tom had no clients to keep busy with. Tom glared at him but Wade read it. "If you saw her, why are you so sour?"

"She'd been crying!" He was still bothered by it, and it didn't help that his stomach was growling, the flavourless granola bar he'd pulled from her pocket not enough to keep him full.

"Can't kill an exam for stressing her out man, take a shot and deal with it." Wade slid an ounce of tequila at him.

It helped; so did staying busy. He'd asked her to text at the end of her practicum, but that'd been before he'd shown up out of the blue. At damn near eight pm his phone finally alerted that she texted.

[stick a fork in me]

[thought this was the easy one?] It'd be a little late to start acting like he didn't care after the hug.

[long 온라인카지노게임, need sleep. Thanks for today] He stared at his phone before he put it away, crowds were pouring in after the last exams of the day.

By the time he had a moment to try again, it was the end of his shift so he could really only say [Any time]

Wednesday Tom kept his head down and worked hard enough to make up for the beginning of the week. Instead, Nate took over the role of surly asshole as Grace had locked her window; served him right.

Thursday Tom woke to a text from Jerred. [step-sis's birthday Friday, party, bring girl and gift] and the coordinates for a building that Tom actually knew. It was an old hanger for small aircrafts; long abandoned and stripped, only the hangar itself remained. A good place for a party and some short drag races, and Jerred hadn't said no business so there was a chance.

Tom was about to text the brat when his phone warned she'd beaten him to it. [Leann says Fri is her b-day, we in?]

[You're the one who needed a fork on Tuesday, think you can keep up?]

[Booze, music, escaping puppy piss for a night, however shall I cope?] he could picture the hand wave she'd give along with the comment.

It put him in a good enough mood that when he walked into Nightside Nate and Wade had an argument before Tom saw money get placed on the bar top.

"What are you betting on now?" He sounded exasperated but even this couldn't ruin his vibe.

"I say you saw your girl." Nate called out his wager.

"I say if you'd had her after this week you'd have booked off this morning." Wade called out, ignoring the regulars at their tables.

His friends could in fact kill his good mood, and in two sentence no less. It was now far too late, and way too complicated to try and correct their assumptions, and it was better to let them fumble in the dark than give them clues to what was really going on. But Tom was already edging into unclear waters and he didn't need them adding to shit creek like this.

"I hate you both." He repeated the familiar phrase.

"I think I'm closest, there's no way he got laid last night." Wade pocketed the money without argument.

"Do your goddamned jobs." Tomas spat and focused on the first wave of customers.

It got worse when Tom had to book Friday afternoon off, the 24 hours notice making it pretty fucking awkward as both his friends immediately started to bet on the likely cause and outcome. They agreed he was seeing his girl, Wade was convinced she had an exam Friday am, Nate was saying she finished today but was resting up for the weekend. Tom endured in silent misery and left them to their sadism because he had nothing to say that wouldn't make everything worse.

But as he rushed his way through the morning shift at the Nightside, he noted on the schedule that Nate had elected to pick it up despite both him and Grace being done exams. They really were saving up to get a bigger place, it was so domestic.

[Do you know what to do for a gift?] He texted the brat question suddenly in mind. He'd grab whatever after work, then eventually pick her up to get ready at his place; she'd have another big bag because that women did not know how to pack light.

His phone chimed and it was easy to check [same white as sat] and a picture of the label.

[Ill grab it, pick you up at 5:30, get ready-go] when he looked up Nate and Wade were both suspiciously busy looking.

As soon as his half shift ended, he took off, knowing to get 2 bottles of the wine since the brat had recommended it twice. They'd give Leann one and the other could start to go towards that thank you he owed her. She was outside her door at 5:30 as expected, but her bag wasn't as heavy looking as the one from Saturday.

She slid into the passenger seat with a sigh, "Now that school's out mom wants me helping to train a pair of the puppies. I told her yes but I was going out tonight to a party and to not expect me back until Saturday, Sunday if it's a good party." she grouched but Tom suspected the brat liked having an excuse to play with the puppies.

"What type?" He'd heard her call them several colourful names, but not a breed.

"Bullmastiff." Suddenly her frustrations made sense, It was not a small animal. "They're walking paws and wrinkles right now.'' He tone dripped scorn but her smile said 'adorable'. "Though Meatball seems determined to piss on all of my shoes, and the bully puppy is terrorizing the others, so those are the two mom wants me training."

The wine ended up in the fridge to chill, once again only neighbored by the vial of antibiotics. "Why the bully puppy?" all the others had picked up names, though Dri mostly mentioned Meatball.

"Because that's what he is, a bully! Has to be first to eat or he fights. Has to eat the most, or he fights. And when he plays, it's always too rough."

They ate and discussed the dogs, Tom using the bathroom first as he was faster. He even tried not to mock when Dri warned that it may be a stereotype but she took time to get ready. As if he hadn't experienced that already. Since he only had to brush his teeth, wash his face, and change his shirt, Tom was able to hop out before even the brat could get impatient.

"All yours Reinita," he taunted when she could take the bathroom.

"Might as well get comfortable Goon, perfection takes time." she rallied to his taunt.

It was almost alarming the big bag she brought with her, especially since all Tom had to do was put lighter, joint, keys, and phone into his pockets. Hearing the sounds of sorcery from the bathroom, Tom wandered out to the couch. The bottles of wine were ready, one still in the fridge for later and one with bow for the birthday girl, and Tom ran out of distractions as he realized the sun was setting.

"Did you die?" he called out.

"I warned you," Dri scoffed as she opened the door, and it was the lack of heels that let her sneak around.

Her shoes were in hand, and Tom realized that for all the time it had taken, the results were worth it. The easy bun was gone, her hair loose and wavy, offering some coverage as her shoulders were entirely bare. Tom couldn't help but notice that the suede corset she had on was effective, and paired with jean shorts over garters leading to thigh highs his brain was not able to stop his eyes from appreciating

"Aren't you gonna be cold?" Thankfully, Tom was able to keep his idiocy to himself.

"Probably, but I wanted pockets instead of a purse today so that limited my options." He didn't see how that had anything to do with wearing that top, but he wasn't complaining. "Oh wait," she vanished and Tom blinked, surprised at how quiet stockings rendered her footsteps. "I can use this but I'm trying to give it back." She came out wearing his garage shirt, the sleeves still rolled and the hem longer than her shorts were.

Tom really needed to get to the party suddenly, wanting a drink in the worst way. Since he was, the driver it limited how much he'd have later for sure. Thankfully the brat was ready to go, and the Supra tore up the distance to their destination

"Why no purse?" he aimed for a safe topic to distract him.

"Leann likes to drink and dance, so if I'm going on a dance floor I'll have to watch my drink. I can't do that and juggle a clutch, it'd look silly." she explained as if it were simple logic.

Tom nearly crashed the car at realizing the brat was going to be dancing in the corset. He focused on driving after that and ignored the kind of thoughts that proved he wasn't a good man.

Jerred had not held back on planning his stepsister's party, and spotlights helped guide him in. The pounding base filled the air, echoing out in area palpable wave. Different lights flashed, colours and strobe, and Tom could see that the party was well under way but they weren't 'late'. He parked in an open space, seeing where he'd be working with Jerred's car versus where Dri would be on the dance floor. It'd be obvious to the guys when he'd look to check on her but in this case he wanted them to see his vigilance.

"Let's find the birthday girl, get rid of this before it gets drunk." he gestured with the bottle of wine. She'd left the garage shirt in the supra and almost out of habit now his hand was resting on her back.

The harsh nylon of the rope tying her corset closed was rough in comparison to the suede, and Tom's thumb stroked across the two in fascination. They worked their way between cars and people, steering towards the cluster surrounding the birthday girl and Tom was grateful when Dri took the bottle of wine from him and slipped forwards to give it to her. Pushing through a crowd of people just felt like asking for trouble tonight, and he was trying to avoid that.

Leann hugged the brat as Tom watched, taking the wine, and he didn't even look away as the bufón came through the bodies beside him. "Jerred's happy you're here, he wanted to talk to you." The man sounded so damn angry about it. So he ignored him and watched Dri talking to Learn before gesturing at him; then he was spared having to reply as they came over.

"Your girl here says to thank you for the wine!" Leann hugged Tom, an awkward affair as he stood still in surprise.

"All I did was pick it up, Reinita's the brains of the operation," Tom's idiot mouth decided to be honest.

"Rain-eeta?" the blonde butchered the Spanish word.

"It means little queen," Tom smirked as he caught the brat's expression, she hadn't been expecting him to explain it. And if asked later Tom would swear it was only because Adrien was watching, but he hooked a finger through one of Dri's belt loops and pulled her forwards, cupping her cheek so he could kiss her good and proper. Before she could yell at him for it, he tried to cover, "I'm with the guys, I'll find you on the dance floor in a bit."

"I'm sure you will." she sounded amused at least.

Tom walked away before he could take any more risky actions, following the bufón to Jerred and having to leave the brat to dance. Being in a crowd like that wasn't Tom's scene, and he was no dancer compared to the James or Vega clans. Still a part of him wanted to stay for a whole variety of reasons Tom didn't want to examine too closely yet.

It was safer to talk to a smuggler about cars. "Grab a beer and come tell me what you think.'' Jerred barked out at him like he was one of the boys.

Several beers, a million dance floor checks, and three engines later, Tom stopped drinking. Shortly after that he was slapping his pocket for the light and smoke to combat the company, and found both lighter and joint missing. It was probably midnight and it occurred to him that the nimble fingered brat had gotten the drop on him. He'd only been close to her and distracted the once, and Tom was amused to consider she done it while he'd kissed her. Suddenly her parting comment made a lot more sense, and he was reckless enough to go after the smoke.

Tom walked away from being generally ignored by the guys; no more work being done and no real business discussed. The music pulsed in his teeth, people in all the spaces around him it felt like, and Tom could have grabbed his drink of choice from near a dozen coolers he walked by. None of it really slowed him. On a dance floor that full, with a crowd crushed like it was, he should have had a hard time finding the brat in the pack. He found her in seconds, the still figure lurking on the edge while she was in the throbbing heartbeat.

He'd seen her pictures, hard not to have working around the type of men he often did; Tom knew Dri could take a damn good picture. This was something else. Leann was right next to her, wearing less, dancing to the same music, and not doing anything different. But where the blonde boogied, Adrianna danced. The last logical brain cell in his head figured it was a model's bodily awareness mixed with that Vega grace. And that corset was just as devastating as he'd expected, because somehow Tomas found himself in the crowd of people, standing so the brat couldn't miss him looming.

"You have my lighter." He had to lean in and damn near shout into her ear over the music.

Either Dri had had a bit to drink, or she was playing along, because she looped her arms around his neck as he spoke and replied with, "Took you long enough Goon." And then she kissed him. Okay, he could work with that.

His fingers could not leave the feel of suede alone, her waist tiny under his hands. Like the last time Dri had initiated like this, Tom got a little stupid and stopped paying attention to the world. The feel of her pressed against him he had memorized, the lingering syrupy taste of whatever she'd been drinking he'd know for life now, and Tom took a selfish moment to enjoy that the best girl at the party was his.

When someone rammed into them, a drunk by accident, the moment was gone and Tom held Dri carefully tucked against his side in case of an attack. The idiot who'd bumped them didn't even seem to realize; flailing back into the crowd but beyond at the edge Tom could see Jerred wave for him to come back over.

"Come smoke?" he had to shout at her ear again and she nodded. Dri did some girlish hand gestures at Leann, who could apparently decipher it as she nodded, and came with him. He tried hard not to notice the suede again, but detoured them to the Supra, grabbing the damn garage shirt for the sake of his sanity.

Thank god it was cool enough away from the writhing bodies that the brat seemed grateful for the extra layer. Though now Tom had to deal with seeing thigh highs and garters disappearing under his shirt, all trace of the shorts hidden. If he wasn't worried about driving later, he'd be having another drink right now. But with at least the distracting suede covered it was easier for Tom to walk with Dri over to where Jerred was impatiently waiting.

So Tom lifted his hand from her back and curled it around her to have his palm up, and thankfully she dropped the joint and lighter a moment later. He brought his other arm around to get them from his hand to his mouth, leaving Dri tucked against him as Jerred watched. He was glad they'd gotten the extra layer on Dri before coming over, but the same things that were going to pleasurably haunt his dreams later were still on display. Thus the arm around her.

Sometimes it was better not to be subtle.

So even though he hated letting Jered ogle the brat, the safest place for her was exactly at his side. He passed her the joint without looking down, a lazy stare down with Jerred just the cherry on top of his fucking day. "S' up?" Tom asked as if he didn't care. Dri had once again leaned into his grip, with her hip against his leg.

Instead of going into detail about whatever it was he wanted to say, Jerred snapped out a business card at him. "Come by tomorrow, check out a couple of cars for me. If I like what I hear I may have a bit of business to discuss with you." the man had the balls to openly check Dri out.

"I'll be there." he had to work the angle; he just hoped it wasn't an ambush.

"Don't make it sunrise, I'm going to go find some fun for the night and I don't want to be rushed." Jerred oozed self-satisfaction at telling Tom what to do and when to do it. Tom could live with it, he was the one bringing Dri home. Even if it was so he could take a cold shower and have a conversation with himself. So instead of replying, he stubbed the joint and walked with Dri back to the Supra.

"I can feel him watching us," the brat's voice quietly warned.

The beer, the cars, the aggression, her fear, and that damn kiss were all fucking with his head, and Tom wanted time to sober up before driving so he was stuck here longer with her in the open. So it was just easier for Tom to give his agitated brain a break, when they got to the Supra Tom picked Dri up by the waist again and set her on the hood, setting himself on the bumper in front of her.

He didn't care that her heels could scratch the paint. He didn't care that her feet dug into his back. He just cared that if anyone wanted to get to her, they had to go through him first. It wasn't civilized but Tomas had never promised to be. Of course, Tom also knew that the brat was not the kind of woman to be passively manhandled like that, so there would be a reckoning.

"How much have you had to drink?" she didn't bitch him out.

"Few beers, stopped a bit ago, just waiting the last out. What'd you drink?" He'd take an easy conversation.

"Cooler things, they were sealed and cold so I had some in red and some in blue. They tested like slushies with a lot of Vodka." she shifted position behind him, leaning forwards to talk.

He turned a little to face her more, elbow across the top of her knee as he talked over his shoulder, "Stick your tongue out and I'll know what one you had last." he teased.

"Check your own tongue, some probably rubbed off." It made him smirk because she might be right. His smile fell away again at her next words, "And there's Jerred again, watching you." her eyes had only briefly flashed away, but Dri seemed inherently aware of where Jerred and his boys were.

Tom recognized it, the flash of fear in the brat's expression, she was worried for Tom but she was afraid of Jerred. The man hadn't laid a hand on her but she knew the danger he presented, and even tipsy she was agitated by his observation

"Is he still watching?" Tom had a very bad idea in mind. She looked up again, tracking the movement.

"Yeah, he faces this way and looks over constantly." Time to be an idiot.

They were already in quite the position; he had twisted around to face her so Dri's feet were on either side of his hips, and her knees were up. It took no effort at all to turn completely and press himself against her in a hard line, kissing her right back against the hood. If the brat had put up any resistance Tom could have been a better man than he was, but she kissed right back and all his good sense gave up.

A tire squealed in burnout and raised a stink that pulled his attention finally; the flushed and still tipsy befuddlement on the brat hard to resist. But the fear was gone so with an effort of willpower he pulled away from her, catching her hand to help her off the hood and to keep his from roaming over her some more.

"Should say goodbye to the birthday girl, it turns out I'm working tomorrow." Tom finally managed to speak, her hand still in his as they walked towards the dancers.

"Are you ever not working?" she asked as if it only just occurred to her that Tom had three jobs; the bar, the garage, and helping his madre.

"It keeps me out of trouble." he protested.

"Clearly." she wasn't buying it for a second.

The music kept him from responding, the brat staying close as the dancing bodies flailed about after hours of alcohol. It was one of the advantages to being as big as he was, people mostly got out of his way. Of course finding Leann was harder than finding Dri had been, and he was thoroughly annoyed by then.

Again the girls didn't seem to talk, hand gestures enough to prompt the blonde to hug Dri goodbye before return to dancing. How the hell the women were doing it in heels for hours was beyond him; his whole body hurt.

Leaving the crowd and growling out of the lot in the Supra helped ease some of the tension out of his spine, but Tom still felt coiled. If he didn't have the brat with him he'd have gone to beat the stuffing out the bag, instead he took them home. His life was not made easier when they got in and Dri ditched the shoes with a groan. "My hearing is shot to shit right now." her complaint helped.

"Poor Reinita," Tom deliberately mocked, "you're the one that stood next to a speaker for several hours."

"I was going to share this with you," with a magician's flourish the brat had a familiar tube in hand. "But I have no problem keep it to myself for later." It disappeared and Tom wasn't actually certain where she'd hidden it.

He grunted and stepped passed her, opening the fridge and grabbing the wine out. "And this was supposed to be to celebrate you finishing your exams, but I'm more than capable of drinking it by myself." He grabbed his corkscrew and opened the bottle, not grabbing the new glasses he bought to go with the wine, and drank from the bottle.

As expected it made Dri laugh, and she slapped both joint and tube on the table. "Pour the wine into glasses you savage, we can have this after I shower."

He tried not to watch as she walked away, the garage shirt moving around her like a skirt world. His brain was thinking some damn fool things at the moment, so he grabbed the glasses and poured the wine to distract it. And then Tom heard the brat swearing over how tangled her hair was and it let him laugh as he called out, "Your shirt is in the top drawer."

She didn't take as long in the shower as he expected, he only filled his glass once before she popped back out looking like the brat in his shirt again.

"So it turns out mom and dad are road tripping to test the puppies on long drives," she tilted the phone so he could see the picture of six Bull Mastiff puppies in the back of a fairly old Jeep.

"Which one's Meatball?" They were all various shades of brindle, though some were definitely darker than the others were.

"Find the fat one," she sounded fond," and the reddish ones is the bully."

He needed another safe topic to keep distracted, filling the glasses only taking so much effort, and he was still restless. "What was that long 온라인카지노게임 you mentioned on Tuesday?" For some reason the question made Dri nearly chug her wine.

"Molstad's an ass," there was enough slurring on her words that Tom realized the brat was definitely drunk. "I walked in expecting to hear a review of the pieces I've been working on for weeks. Instead, I got stuck doing a hands on practical that was pass/fail, all because Molstad's a sadistic bastard who thinks I've been hiding in my comfort zone." Her indignation seemed to help sober her up a little, but Tom wisely got up and replaced the wine with water; realizing that it was probably a little late to prevent hangovers. Besides realizing he wasn't exactly sober either, Tom was able to catch than the brat wasn't lying, but that had been an awfully short long 온라인카지노게임. His girl could talk if given a chance, and yet she'd summarized it to hell now.

He was drunk enough to not be tactful, "so did you pass or fail?"

"I have no fucking clue," she looked furious, and since it wasn't aimed at him Tom just enjoyed how beautiful the brat burned when she get worked up. "I finished before time ran out but he still had to judge if it's a success; I've been waiting for the call ever since." at least that explained why she'd actually let loose tonight; anything to kill the anxiety.

"You had your phone on you all night?" Not in the shorts, he'd have felt that on the car while his hands had wandered.

Dri laughed, taking a moment to drink the water. "You'd be surprised what a corset will let you carry."

"Better than a glock in your bra?" he couldn't help teasing.

She nodded with an amused little 'mhm' noise, "I showed Grace how to get a mickey into the Fall Ball when she was sixteen." She yawned into the back of her hand suddenly, and Tom realized it was well into morning.

"Bed you; I need to shower.'' he offered her a hand up and she let him pull her to her feet.

"You do, you stink." she agreed so kindly and followed him into the bedroom.

Tom headed for the bathroom with his sweats in hand, and turned to say something but fell silent as the brat climbed into bed. He headed for the cold shower he needed to try and wash away the satisfaction of having her in his bed again, but he almost inevitably dropped a hand to deal with to issue his uncivilized thoughts raised. It helped; his tipsiness blunting any shame as he shuffled to bed feeling less like he was a soft breath from disaster. She was already asleep, so he fell in next to her and was out cold as well.

---

This time there was no demented Tigger routine to rudely jolt her awake; a small blessing because that would have been agony. Adri started to wake up as something brushed her cheek softly, and she finally opened her eyes. Being mostly asleep still spared her the soon to descend horror of a hangover she'd earned, and she had a moment to see Tom kneeling beside her bed, looking at her fondly before she started to feel rather terrible.

"Your breath is the worst right now," Tom smiled, holding water and painkillers, "and if my head hurts, you've gotta need these."

"Move," Adri pushed Tomas out of the way as she bolted for the bathroom.

Throw up while hungover was no fun experience, thought after mixing vodka coolers with wine Adri wasn't sure why she'd thought a little water would've prevented this. It was humiliating feeling, and her raw stomach didn't appreciate the added discomfort. And to her absolute embarrassment, Tom walked right into the bathroom and crouched down behind her while she helplessly vomited blue in to the bowl. He'd wet a towel and laid it against her neck, letting the cold water drip while he held her hair out of the way. She felt too rotten to even chase him away, and the moment she wasn't suffering the violent rejection of leftover alcohol, he was smart enough to back off.

"Spare toothbrush is yours," he waited out, letting her spy the still packaged item on the counter with the water and the pain killers," Your breath is probably worse now." It was absolutely the worst time to remember that she'd made out with Tomas on the hood of his car last night, blushing while hungover nearly made her puke again.

She'd definitely had worse dates, the feel of Tom's hands almost petting her lightly through the suede corset, tracing lower to the shorts but always retreating was still making her heart race. Getting so hungover was just truly unfortunate.

"Take the pills and get back in bed," he called through the door, "I wasn't waking you up to kick you out, but Jerred's expecting me at the shop and its almost eleven."

She opened the door, frowning at him, "What time did we make it to bed last night?" her internal clock had floated away with her dignity.

"5ish." She could see bags under his eyes, his hangover pinching his expression. "One of us should get some sleep; if we both start glaring at the world people will think there's a problem."

"I sleep now, you sleep when you get back." she couldn't argue right now even if she wanted to.

"I'll try not to take too long," he was already out the door and locking it behind him, so she turned and went back to the damn shower.

The shower helped immensely, Adri hated to feel like she smelled and the wine from last night was coming through her pores. It made her feel a little embarrassed, but Tom had been just as drunk by the end of the right. At least she hoped so, the wine was all gone and if she'd drank that much on her own she'd just be dead.

Her hangover hovered between tolerable and terrible so in spite of movement, the shower, and even brushing her teeth Adri did exactly as Tom said and went back to bed. It should have felt strange, hell that first night she'd been too embarrassed to even get into the bed. Now she was in a bed while he wasn't even here and the only thing that bothered her was the distant realization that she'd treated the bedroom like her own, but the hangover won.

Being woken up a second time after that wasn't as stomach churning, but it was a very good thing it was her phone ringing and not a person.

"Adrianna," she didn't even look at the caller ID; barely sure where she was, who was calling, what time it could be, and why she had climbed into bed naked.

"Are you still in bed? I thought I'd come by and we could work on the rough ideas for Catwalk," Honey James' cheery voice warned that Adri really should be up and about by now.

"I am still in bed," And she might have just heard the apartment door unlock.

"Adri, I'm at your door and knocking. No one's here and there aren't even puppies. Are you hiding from me?" She sounded amused and not hurt, as if Honey had caught Adri being silly.

"I'm not hiding, I am still in bed." And to prove a point, Adri snapped a quick selfie of just her head on a pillow. And that was definitely the door and this was going to get very interesting if Tom spoke loud enough for Honey to hear.

"That's not your bed." Honey sounded far too certain, "Your bed is girlie; that's a men's bed. If I had to guess I'd say Tomas' bed. Say hi for me!"

"Reinita time to get up." Tom called as he opened the bedroom door, unaware that Adri was on the phone, stuck holding the sheet up for modesty.

She was sitting in his bed, naked as the day she was born thanks to her hungover habits, her hair wet and tangled, and Honey James laughing in her ear; Adrianna had had better Saturdays. "Tom, Honey says hi. Apparently she's at my house right now expecting me to be there." Adri gave up, today was a write off and she has no idea how to recover it.

"Well get some clothes on, I'll drive." He couldn't hear Honey start to gasp for air she was laughing so hard, but Adri could.

"You... you're in his bed... and you've got no clothes." Honey might accidentally laugh herself to death at this rate. "Please tell me he's proportionate." Adriana hung up the phone, with Tom giving her only a mildly curious look.

"She could hear you," was all she managed to say though Adri was proud that her voice was so calm.

"If we're going to your place we can eat there, I'll catch you up as we drive." Tom was wisely not asking or remarking on her state of undress.

"Are you just always hungry or are you like a bear where you need to eat so much per season?" He left so she got out and searched for her' day clothes, asking the question through the door.

"I can pretty much always eat," he actually answered and Adri once again smelled Tom lighting her damn joint.

She couldn't rush out the time, she had no clothes on. Bastard. It'd serve him right but Adri knew that she wasn't that bold today. "Honey's going to smell that and its just going to add to this whole thing."

"Whine, bitch, moan!" he taunted back.

She opened the door and dropped the big bag on the couch, deliberately going to get her joint right from his lips. "You know before a few weeks ago, not a single soul but me knew I smoked. How is it with you I get immediately exposed?" Oh god she did not just ask the question like that after this morning.

His eyebrows had jumped up and she could see a smart-ass comment coming, only to be saved by a knock at the door. Without waiting for an answer, something slid under the door and the knocker walked away. Adri had seen too many movies; she almost expected it to be a bomb. Instead, it was the same business card Jerred had given Tom last night.

The humour of earlier was gone from Tom's eyes when she saw them next. "Jerred knows where I live, and I drove to avoid tails. Means I gotta check for a tracker; I am not leading those fuckers to your doorstep."

His anger and protectiveness were a distraction she calmly ignored. "Wait, if it's the card from where you were today, then isn't it likely that that's where you got pinged?"

"Even if that's the best case scenario, it raises it owns questions. If where and when is there and today, who and why are pretty fucking important. And then why tell me? To keep me humble?" He caught her train of thought and built on it. It was a reminder that for all he downplayed his intelligence, Tomas did work as a PI with his mother; and Maya would not raise fool.

"Just shows how little they know you Goon." she offered the only comfort she could with familiar habits.

"Text Honey to go home, this is definitely going to require effort and take forever. They told me its there, now I have to be good enough to find it." Adri had already pulled her phone out, feeling she was going to have to start scheduling Catwalk work around the chaos of her new situation.

[So it turns out my life is complicated -rain check with a long explanation owed] Adri shot off and hoped Honey would understand.

[Tomorrow you're mine, have your man drop you at my place] Honey deliberately wrote back.

Adri was too focused on the whole car had a tracker thing to worry about it though, so she, left it be. "How'd they get to the Supra anyways?"

They were in the garage; Tom going over everything with a literal flashlight in his teeth while she was sitting on the cement separator. Adri knew on how to check the dipstick, change a tire, and refill the windshield fluid and that's it: so she was keeping out of the way.

"Jerred brought me to a used car lot. Had me look over a few road cars to see if I could sass out that they were modded to out run police; smuggler's cars." Since that probably involved being focused somewhere else, it gave them the time. He was running his hands along the wheel wells now, apparently knowing his car by touch and she tried very hard to not focus on what that had felt like yesterday; Tomas was' tactile.

He found the tracker in the back passenger well, and they were able to bring it back to his apartment faster than Adri had expected.

"Why are you keeping it?" Curiosity compelled her to ask, she had a theory but wanted to know if she was right.

"Gadgets tell you about to user," He'd wrapped it in layers of foil; because he had that but no food.

"Cost, distance, level of technical skill?" She'd seen spy movies as had figured this was likely.

"Where they bought it, how they paid for it..." She could fill in the blanks. Any piece of information could lead to the next.

"But you know who, so I'm guessing where is your goal?" He gave a soft smile to confirm but remained quiet.

"Well I do still have food at my place, if the bad guys can't follow then is it safe to go?" she offered but he was shaking his head no.

"Now I assume there's a second tracker." Adri felt her lips give a silent 'oh!

"I'm not going home today am I?" If he was worried about a secret tracker, he'd be worried about a tail.

"We can order food, pamphlets are in the utensil drawer." He sounded less thrilled by take out than she'd expect, but even the Goon probably gets sick of it.

Tom went over every inch of the Supra and found no secret second tracker. He should have been less stressed by it, but maybe having to do detail work while hung over had zapped any sense of success out.

It had taken hours and she'd brought him food twice "Hey, go nap; I slept, you sleep." She reminded him of the deal they'd made that morning.

"Too close to bed, it'll just fuck my night," he grumbled, cracking his neck.

Because of Adri's extended beauty sleep, she felt mostly better but not tired. Still, it wasn't like she couldn't skim her phone in bed. It was fair. "Shall we?" she got up from the couch and offered her a hand as if she could bodily haul him up on her own.

He took her hand and let her get him standing. And while he used the bedroom she looked at the notebook he'd been leafing through, where she was writing out everything they learned about Jerred's locations and details. Today's little adventure in counter intelligence was duly catalogued and dissected. They'd already talked a few ideas out, Tom only adding in pertinent details as needed. He seemed to go with his gut and figure things out as they evolved, but that was too random for Adri's method. She still felt like there'd be a pattern if they just got enough information together. Too much was unknown.

They still didn't know why Jerred had poker and business at some events and not others, and the tracker situation today all hinted at a larger web they were just seeing the pieces of still. Her minded chewed the idea.

"Reinita, bed. If I'm going, you're going." Tomas caught her attention, already in his pajamas to Adri's surprise. He was so damn grouchy that Adri sighed and went to the bedroom. She took a clean shirt to the bathroom and got into it for sleep.

He seemed less agitated when she got into bed and curled on her side, phone on dark mode so he could sleep. Adri was looking at Honey's previous Catwalk shows; trying to see if she could anticipate any designs for the inspiration the year as Tom's breath deepened into full sleep. When he rolled over and once again cuddled her to her chest like she were a blankie, Adri blushed a dark red and held still.

Unlike the last time that had happened, they weren't wrapped in a comforter each; she could feel his heart beat against her back. But he was warm enough that it was cozy so Adri almost fell a little guilty for turning her phone off and enjoying it. Between the party and the cues her body was giving her right now, Adri knew it was inevitable that she admit that she was attracted to Tomas. Because she needed a complication like this in her life. Annoyed and slightly flustered, Adri focused on sleeping and not making a fool of herself.