“Oh my god, there’s liquor in it?!” Ellie stared at the glass in her hand in a kind of horror. No wonder she was wasted. Which suddenly struck her as funny and she started giggling again. “I didn’t mean to get this drunk!”

“Why is that funny?” Michael asked, sounding confused. He’d only had beer. No secretly super strong sangria for him. Ha, say that five times fast!

“I don’t know,” Ellie confessed, giggling harder, which in turn made him chuckle.

Turning to her other side, she looked at Luke, who was very nice to look at. Not as nice to look at as Michael, but still very nice.

Michael sighed and turned his attention to his soon-to-be business partner as well. “Sure you still want to get involved with this crazy bunch? This is a pretty good look at the kind of people you’ll be seeing at a BDSM club, even if we’re not doing anything kinky right now.”

Luke just laughed. “I’m having a good time. It’s kind of nice to see a lot of strong personalities getting along so well.”

“I’m not a strong personality,” Ellie confessed, her giggles fading away into a little bit of sadness.

To her surprise, Michael’s arms tightened around her. “I like you just the way you are, beautiful. And you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

She snuggled into him, appreciating his words, taking another sip of her sangria. Because it was tasty and she was already drunk so whateeeeeeeeeeeeever. On the other side of Michael, Luke was looking around the room, taking in all the couples and the non-couples. Olivia was sitting next to Jared and Leigh, chatting with them, while Jake was in an armchair, frowning disapprovingly at Sharon’s prone form. If he kept scowling while she was around, his face was going to stick that way.

Ellie giggled again.

Her thoughts were becoming all floaty as Michael and Luke started talking again, so she just sipped her yummy sangria some more and enjoyed being all snuggled up with Michael, just like the other couples in the room.

It felt so nice. It felt so real.

“Watch your step,” Michael said as he helped Ellie into the elevator. She leaned against him, giggling incessantly.

Once he’d realized exactly how drunk she was, he’d stopped allowing her sangria refills and had gotten her some water, but he hadn’t realized what a lightweight she was. The damage had already pretty much been done. Still, she was at least an adorable drunk - affectionate and cuddly, although with occasional small bouts of melancholy. Several times throughout the evening she’d made comments, obviously comparing herself to the other ladies present and finding herself wanting.

If she hadn’t been drunk, he would have spanked her for it.