- 28 -

AURORA

The last thing I remember about the night was the self-effacing laugh of Marco and the kiss on my forehead before I fell asleep in his arms with no sense of time or place even when I roused up the next day.

Were we at the club or the house? Nevermind.

I managed to pull myself off the bed and reach for the phone. As soon as the screen unlocked and came alive in my hands, I cursed. "Shit." There were 31 voice messages, at least half a dozen missed calls, and a very angry best friend on the other end.

I have almost forgotten that I had promised Sammy I would go out with her and now I was horribly late. Why the hell Marco didn't wake me up?

And most importantly, where the hell was he?

But I had no time to speculate. Sprinting into the bathroom, I got my business done in record time. And thanks to my rash driving skills and lesser-known routes of Chicago, I somehow managed to pick her up by the skin of my teeth. But even that didn't save me from all her pouts and eye-rolling taunts.