"I don't know," she squeezed out, clinging to me like a baby monkey. "Tell me when it's over, 'kay?"

"I think it's tequila," I surmised, my words a drunken slur, as I studied the empty glass in my hand. "Hey, is it okay if I crash here tonight?" Loosening my hold on her, I sat forward, set my empty glass on the coffee table, and reached for the makeshift ashtray we'd been using earlier in the night; a glass swan ornament. "I can't go home like this."

He'll kill me.

And I don’t wanna leave you.

"You think I'm gonna let you leave me by myself with the damn ghosts?" came her urgent response. "Uh, hell yes, you can crash here."

"Appreciate it." Placing a fresh, pre-rolled joint between my lips, I grabbed a lighter and sparked up. "And I'll protect you –" pausing, I took a deep hit and exhaled slowly, "from the ghosts."

"You better," Molly warned, snatching the joint from my hand and placing it between her lips.

Brain fog or not, my eyes tracked her every move as she inhaled deeply and then pursed her plump lips in the perfect O-shape as she slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke right in my face.

My dick twitched in my sweats.

Fuck me.

That was new.

Molly giggled and I joined her, laughing like a fucking idiot for no good reason.

"When did you get so hot?" I heard myself ask and then frowned when I registered the words coming out of my mouth. I frowned deeply. "I mean –"

"When did you get so hot?" she mimicked my voice and then fell forward from the height of laughter, resting her head against my shoulder. "Smooooth."

Snatching the joint from her, I forced a smile and took another deep hit.

The fuck was wrong with me?

Leaning back against the couch, I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly.

"Hey, D?" Molly asked after a long stretch of contented silence.

Cracking an eyelid, I looked at her. "Hmm?"

"What do you think would've happened?" Leaning forward, she quenched the joint and placed it back in the glass swan. "If I hadn't left." She blew out a breath and dropped back on the couch, head nestled on my lap. "If the fire had never happened."

"I don’t –" Shaking my head, I pinched the bridge of my nose and groaned. "I can't think about that night, Molls"

"Humor me," she whispered, craning her head to look up at me. "Let me live vicariously through your imagination."

"You use some big ass words, Dolly."

"Play along, D." She gave me the damn puppy dog eyes. "Please."

"Alright, alright." Draping one arm over her bent knees, I used my free hand to play with her hair. Fuck knows why I did it, but it felt nice and she didn’t tell me to stop. "I think…well, I think everything would be different if you hadn't left."

"Yeah?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Fuck, I didn’t know what was happening to my body right now, but I felt like I was burning the hell up. The more she stared at me, the harder it became to resist the urge to lean down and kiss her. She wouldn’t want me to do that. Not here. Not after everything. Didn’t change the fact that I wanted to, though.