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He leans sideways against the wall of the short corridor that leads to the bedroom, watching amusedly as Kevin struggles with Veronica. Archie has to admit Kevin at least tried to be quiet as he led Veronica into the apartment, but she wasn’t collaborating. Her shoes dropped with a thud against her beloved wooden floor, and it woke him up from his light sleep.
Veronica giggles as she falls backward and less than graciously on the sofa.
“Come on, V,” hisses Kevin as he attempts to untangle himself from Veronica. “Moose is waiting downstairs in the car, parked in a tow-away zone so he’ll leave me if I take too long.”
“But I want to go dancing! Kev,” she whines. “Let’s go, don’t be boring. Your husband can stay home, with mine.”
“Maybe another time.”
“Boo!” she pouts and it almost makes Archie laugh. “Archiekins would take me dancing. He likes when my ass–”
“Okay!” Archie finally interrupts before she can make drunken confessions to their friends, but that doesn’t stop Kevin from arching an eyebrow at him. Who knew sweet Archiekins was so kinky? “I’ll get it from here.”
“Archiekins,” Veronica coos, the word slurred at the end as she smiles at him. Her eyes are glassy and her movements less graceful than normal.
Archie heaves a sigh. “Tequila?”
Kevin grimaces. “It’s basically the only thing that gets her drunk like this, and she claimed it was necessary after we told her the news of Moose and I finally being cleared for adoption.”
“Congratulations, Kev.” Archie is really happy for them. After all they went through, including reconnecting and getting married, the baby seems like the last happy stage in a long story that hadn’t had enough happy moments.
“Thank you.”
“Celebratory tequila!” Veronica announces loudly, before Archie chuckles. “I have a bottle…” She tries to stand up but Archie gently nudges her to stay on the couch which is enough to keep her sitting.
“I’ll leave you with Miss Tequila Sunrise.” Kevin hands Archie Veronica’s keys. “Good luck.”
He leaves quietly, and Archie makes a mental note of inviting them over for dinner, even though Veronica will probably plan something better in the morning – once her brain is free of tequila fog. After all, she’s been the biggest supporter of that relationship despite their history.
Veronica falls on her side on the couch and she turns so she can lift her legs, she stretches as if she has found her spot for the night, and he’ll be damned if she sleeps on the couch. The thing might be expensive and comfortable, but she hates to sleep there.
“I’m not that drunk,” she says while he goes to the kitchen for a bottle of water. “You know me, and should be aware of it.”
With a bottle of cold water in his hand, Archie returns, standing barefoot and shirtless at one side of the couch. He watches her twist her body on the couch to lay on her belly before she pushes herself to be kneeling on it. Her hair is tousled and her dress askew. Her makeup is barely out of place. And by her tone, he can tell what she’s trying to imply, so he smirks.
“You know what tequila does to me,” Veronica purrs as she moves towards him crawling on the couch, and it takes all his willpower not to laugh. “Andrews,” she whispers as her hands fall on top of his stomach, her thumbs following the ridges of his abs as she presses her forehead to his chest, humming while her nails rake against his skin until they reach the waistband of his sweats. “Why are you wearing pants?”
It’d be a lie if he said this didn’t affect him, but instead of dropping his pants as he’d do given different circumstances, he only squats down to take her over his shoulder and carry her to the bedroom. Of course, she yelps initially, but he has to crack up when her hands travel down his back and into his pants, and she squeezes his ass.
Veronica giggles. “God, you’re so hot.” When he slaps her ass in return, she squeaks. “I hope that’s a promise.”
“Ronnie,” he mutters while laughing.
He gently places her on their bed and she looks at him expectantly.
“Remember that time in Mexico when I drank tequila Margarita off your abs at a bar? We pretended we didn’t know each other all night, and went back to our hotel when the sun was coming out… whew .” She plops down on the bed. “We even forgot to close the curtains.”
He feels the heat creeping up his chest and face. That’s one of the reasons they rarely get drunk together because when they finally sobered up, they picked up discarded clothes from all places including the balcony – fortunately, their room had a private view.
“Drink up, babe,” he opens the water bottle and offers it to her before she takes the bottle in her hands to drink by herself as he goes to the walk-in closet for her pajamas.
“Second drawer. I charged it yesterday!” she shouts from the bed, and he snorts a laugh.
“Not happening, Lodge. You reek of alcohol and cigarette smoke, and you’ll fall asleep on me. Unless it’s champagne, we don’t do this.” He retrieves her emerald green silk pajamas from her drawer full of similar items and ignores the drawer right above that one. He reappears and sees she somehow managed to get undressed and now she’s on her side posing in just black lingerie in the middle of the bed he had been sleeping in less than half-hour ago.
She gapes at him. “You’re telling me you’re not touching me? All of this?” She motions a hand along her body and he has to shake his head before his voice betrays him.
“I’ll help you to the bathroom, so you can take your makeup off, brush your teeth, and change into your pajamas. That’s all the touching I’ll do.”
She rolls her eyes. “Why did I marry such a good boy?” But she’s smiling when he takes her hands to help her sit up and takes her to the bathroom.
“You married me for my looks and said yes because of your money, I thought we had that clear,” Archie quips, making her laugh, but as she does she throws her head back and they flop back into bed together. “Love?” He’s on top of her and she looks into his eyes. The glow of the night table lamp makes her tan skin look more golden.
Veronica touches the hair around his ear and tugs on his earlobe. It makes his skin tingle. “You’ll have to carry me.”
And he does. He stands behind her while she brushes her teeth and takes her makeup off, combing her hair gently and then making a ponytail. She uses his shoulders as support when he slips the silk shorts on, his thumbs gliding against the soft skin of her legs. And then he helps her sit between the sinks of the double vanity, snapping off her bra before slipping the pajama top on.
“You smell good,” she comments as she slips her arms around his neck, while he finds support at her hips. Veronica buries her face in the crook of his necks and Archie can feel her taking a deep breath. “So good.” She presses tiny kisses to his neck and shoulder, and if all the things she did before were easy to ignore, this is not. She moves closer to him, her legs at each side of him as her mouth follows the line of his jaw until it reaches his chin, and then travels up to his mouth in a slow torturous kiss that has him second-guessing his decision. But when he feels his will wavering, her minty breath tickles his lips as she pulls back and presses the side of her face to his right shoulder. “I’m sleepy.”
He sees their image in the mirror, and a lopsided smile makes it to his lips. Of course, now she’s tired.