Chapter Twenty-One

Her eyes fluttered open. A familiar ceiling came into view and she blinked a few times, her mind disoriented. Sitting up on her bed, a sudden forceful ache crashed against her mind and a hand shot up to her temple as she winced. Her head was pounding and she didn't know why. She try to think of what could've happened to cause this killer headache but nothing came to mind.

What happened yesterday?

She thought and thought, but her mind was blank. She shook her head and brushed her hair away from her face, groaning. She got out of bed, washed up and left for the living area. Her home was empty and her stomach growled. She wondered where everybody was as she entered the kitchen.

"Keanu? Where is everybody?" Alice asked.

He was standing behind the kitchen counter, brewing some coffee. He faced her. "They're out for a while getting some hangover food for you."

"How do you guys know I have a hangover?"

He paused, observing her. Then he broke into a smile and shook his head. "You don't remember?"

"Umm, remember what?" Alice said as she came up to the counter that separated them. She leaned against it. "Can I have some coffee?"

"Sure," he said, turning around to pour some coffee into a mug. He passed it to her.

"So, what happened?" she said as she sipped from her coffee.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Oh my god, what the hell happened?"

He laughed.

"Tell me!" Alice said.

"Do you remember me inviting you to a family gathering?"

She grew silent as she thought. "Oh yeah! Wasn't that today?"

"No, that was yesterday."

She paused. Then she wracked her brain for memories of last night. "Are you sure?"

"Very."

"Well, what happened?"

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know," she said. "Please tell me. Oh my god, did I drink too much and do something embarrassing?"

"Yeah, you did."

She winced, facepalming herself. Lifting her head back up, she braced herself. "Okay, I'm ready. What did I do?"

"Well, we were playing truth or dare with some beer around."

"Wait," she said, holding a finger up. "I think I remember!" She ran through her memories, and a few faces showed up. Her aunt Gabby was there! She remembered. But what the hell did she do that was embarrassing? Why couldn't she remember? "No, I don't. Ugh. What happened?"

"The beer bottle kept landing on you," he said, then picked up his coffee cup to sip from it. She watched as he drank his coffee, her patience growing thin every second he spent to drink from the cup. "And you had to keep drinking."

"Well? Just get to it already!"

"Don't you think it's better if you don't know?" Keanu asked her.

"No! Tell me! I'm not spending every family gathering with everyone knowing something I don't," she swore.

"You chose truth and told everyone your deepest, darkest secret. Which was how - brace yourself - " Keanu said. "How you wanted to fuck me."

Her mouth dropped so low that she could've sworn it had touched the ground. Panic tore through her mind and she gasped loudly, backing away from the kitchen counter. She held onto both sides of her head and stared at the ground, shaking her head, trying to erase last night.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" she said on repeat.

"Didn't I tell you it was better if you didn't know?"

"No, no, no, no, no," she said. Lifting her head, she saw Keanu looking at her with a poker face. "I didn't mean it. You must know I didn't mean it, right? I was drunk."

He shook his head and laughed, but didn't say anything.

"Keanu! You know, right? Dude," she said, huffing. "I mean, Leonard is my ex boyfriend and you're his father. There's no way I meant what I said. I was just trying to entertain everyone. You know that, right?"

"Your dad should be back anytime soon," he said.

"Don't change the subject," she said, holding a finger up at him.

"Drink your coffee, Alice," Keanu said.

"What else happened?" Alice said, pinching her nose bridge.

"Well, I stood up to stop you. And you lurched forward at me to hug me," he said.

"Fuck," she said, covering her eyes.

"That's not even the best part. You also sucked on my neck," Keanu said. "In front of everybody."

"Oh my god, I want to die!" Alice said, shame rocking her body. "Fuck, what's wrong with me?!"

"And I surprised everyone when I lifted you off your feet to drive you home. But all I cared about was getting you home safe."

She rubbed her head in frustration, messing her hair up. Then she looked at Keanu squarely. "I'm so sorry, Keanu. It must've been embarrassing for you too."

"I'm fine."

"But you know, right? That I didn't mean what I said?" Alice said again, mild fear dancing around in her mind. She absolutely didn't want this to change things with him, not when things were going so well. Trust her to ruin a good thing! Sure, she knew she was lying. It was true that she was having those thoughts about him lately, but hell if she'd let him find out! She'd rather die than let him know, because she couldn't imagine a world where she wouldn't be brutally rejected.

Keanu was always a man of high moral standards, and no way in hell would he ever pursue something with her - there was no chance of that happening. Besides, she was sure she wasn't his type, but even if she was, she couldn't place a single time where she saw him in a romantic situation. Romance was undoubtedly the very last thing on his mind. There was no way! "Me saying I wanted to fuck you, all that crap, you don't think that was true, do you?" But there were so many times where she acted like she wanted him… God, what was she going to do?

He stared at the kitchen counter.

"Keanu?" Alice said again.

He huffed once. "Are you on your knees, little girl?"

What? What did he say? Alice stared at him, at a loss for words. She couldn't have heard him right. No way. He didn't say what she thought he said. Did he? Why would he say something like that? No, she definitely heard him wrong, right?

"What did you say?" Alice asked again.

"I'll pour you a glass of water," he said as he picked up a glass and poured some water from a jug into it. "Here." He slid the cup over to her. She stared at it. She could certainly use a glass of water now. But she didn't take the glass of water.

What did you say, Keanu?

She opened her mouth to speak the words, but before they could come out, her parents came walking into the kitchen with takeout as they fawned over her, asking her questions filled with concern.