Read Hendrix (Caldwell Brothers #1) for Free Online

and I am not quite sure where I am as my eyes struggle to open and face the blaring lights around me.
    “Shit, shit, shit,” I hear Tabby shriek from another room.
    I pat the space around me, realizing I am on a couch. I blink, my eyes tearing up in the light. Closing one eye, I try to give my mind a reprieve as I look around me.
    Tabby’s apartment. I am on her couch.
    Taking a glance at my body, I see I am still wearing the black dress from last night.
    Last night…
    What did I do? We went to the charity masquerade ball. We had a few drinks to help me relax. Tabby said I needed to let loose for just once. We danced.
    Oh. My. God.
    I was dancing with the man, the one from the bar. We kissed—okay, we mauled each other. Slowly, the memories invade my pounding head.
    The closet.
    The janitor’s closet. What the hell have I done? What was his name? Coggsworth? Codwell?
    Sitting up, I rest my elbows on my knees and cradle my head in my heads as I rack my hungover brain to remember his name. I have never done anything like this before in my life. I can’t believe I let him do things to me … those kinds of things … in a closet at a fundraiser. Alcohol is a true inhibitor. I didn’t even think to react. I didn’t even think to stop him.
    The smells of burning eggs—yes, definitely burnt eggs—and something else assaults my nose, causing me to lurch. Jumping up, I rush to the bathroom, making it to the toilet just in time for my stomach to revolt and empty itself.
    When I finish and am left dry heaving, I look over to the doorway to see Tabby, a disheveled mess herself, smiling down at me. Tears have filled my eyes from puking, and she is standing there smiling at me like the cat who caught the canary.
    “Good morning, sunshine.”
    “Ugh,” is my simple reply as I fight to keep from heaving again.
    “You look like hell, buttercup.” She smiles even bigger at me, causing the mascara streaks under her eyes to mock me further.
    “You are far too perky this morning for looking just as bad as I do,” I groan at her.
    “You should be perky after your midnight rendezvous in the closet.”
    Involuntarily, my hand comes up to cover my mouth in embarrassment. Tabby was the one who opened the door. I bolted past her to the bathroom to clean up and make my escape.
    “Don’t tell me you don’t remember. That guy was smokin’, not someone I would expect to be easily forgotten.” She moves over to the sink, wetting a washcloth before handing it to me.
    “I didn’t forget him. I just … I don’t do that sort of thing. One night stands, that’s not me, Tabby.”
    “Don’t beat yourself up, Livi. I know what you went through. I know how far you’ve come. This is a win for you. This is your year of empowerment and letting go.”
    “This isn’t me. I don’t go off with strangers.” The more I think on it, the more my mind swirls. I hunch over the toilet again, releasing the last of my meager contents.
    “Come on, I’ll get you some coffee. I tried to make breakfast, but I’m too hungover myself. I burned the hashbrowns and the eggs. For a minute, I thought I was going to set off the smoke alarm.”
    The thought of food makes my stomach churn. Seeing the change in my face, Tabby looks at me sympathetically before she walks away. I get up, slowly making my way back to her living room.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about how bad you might be feeling this morning. You were tossin’ them back last night, girlie.” She laughs lightly at herself.
    The room spins around me as dread fills me. I really let loose last night. Just call me loosey-goosey.
    What the hell was his name?
    While Tabby continues chatting, her words bounce around my head like a ping pong ball with me only catching every few words.
    “Totally can dance, girl.” I manage to comprehend that small fragment of whatever she is going on and on about. Why must she talk so much right now?
    Dancing? No, I wasn’t dancing. I was grinding. Heck, I