Page 19

I gather a change of clothes and head into my bathroom, and turn on the shower. My head is still pounding, but I’m hoping the hot water from the shower will help.
Once I’m dressed and fully aware that it is not a dream, I walk into the kitchen to greet the food laid out and waiting for me. And Bryce, still shirtless.
“All right, I made you some eggs, cut up some fruit, and made some avocado toast for you. Eat,” Bryce commands, pointing to a plate loaded to the brim with food.
I sit without hesitating because I’m way too hungover to fight. Also, I’m starving, and he cooked up a crap load of food for me. As I eat, he brings me some orange juice and Advil.
“Here, take this.” He drops the pills into my hand.
“Thank you,” I throw them back and down them with the juice. While Bryce and I sit there eating, his phone goes off. He pulls up the messages and scowls.
“Everything okay?” I ask, chewing on my toast.
“What? Oh, uh, yeah. Nothing to worry about.” He put his phone down next to him. “Oh, I sent a message to Austin. Vicki is fine. He’ll have her call you when she gets up.”
“Oh, thanks. So, what are your plans for the day?”
“Work. I’ll come by and check on you tonight. Actually,” He looks at his watch. “I need to go get ready for work. Eat, Kat. Take it easy today, and please call me if you need anything, okay?” He rests his hand on my cheek, his touch sending a jolt through me like a live wire.
“Okay. I will.” I mumble. His touch has me off kilter.
Bryce leans forward and places a kiss on my cheek. My body is now ready to combust altogether. With that, he leaves, and I take my time to eat the massive meal that he cooked for me. I need to return the favor. Since I met him, he really has looked out for me and cared for me well beyond what he needed to. There has to be something I can do to make it up to him. But for now, I need to go lay on the couch and hydrate.
While I sit and watch some television in the living room, my phone goes off. I see it’s Vicki. “Hey, did you survive?” I ask her when I answer. She’s probably is doing about as good as me.
“Girl. Tequila,” she groans into the phone.
“Yup. Been saying that all morning.” I laugh.
“Okay, so I’m on my way back. I’m taking a Lyft to you since my car is at your place. I don’t have to work, so I’m literally going to use you for a couple hours until I can feel at least ten percent better than I am now.” She sounds awful; much worse than I do.
“Sounds good. How come Austin didn’t just bring you over?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll see you in a few.” She disconnects the call.
Vicki sure is in a mood this morning. I lay back down on the couch and relax until she gets here.
I must have fallen asleep, because I wake up when I hear a key being put in the door. I look up to see Vicki coming in and dropping her stuff down on the floor in the entryway. She huffs all the way over to the couch and falls onto it with a dramatic thump.
“What’s going on, Vic?” I sit up and ask.
She throws a hand over her head and sighs. “I don’t know what I did last night, Kat.”
“What do you mean? We went out drinking. From what I remember until our black out, we had a good time. From what Bryce remembers we had a great time even after the blackout.”
She frowns. “No, I mean, I don’t know what I did last night. I remember last night. Clear as day.” She frowns.
“What happened, Vicki?” Now I’m concerned. Austin had told Bryce she was okay, but it doesn’t sound like it.
“Austin and I, well, we had sex. Earth shattering, body rocking, life-changing sex.” She puts her hands on her face and screams into them.
I shake my head in disbelief. “All right, I’m a little confused. You don’t remember or you do?”
“Kat! I slept with Austin. I don’t know why I did that! What did I do? Why?” She bolts upwards. “Honestly, he’s a jerk. No, an asshole is more like it. How could I sleep with him?”
“Vic, you guys seemed to get along great from what I remember last night. I don’t understand how he’s an asshole now.”
“He asked me before I left if I wanted to come back later and fuck him till his dick fell off.” She retorted, scowling.