Page 50 of Endure the Pain

It wasn’t until we were out of the shower and I was climbing into Louie’s bed, wearing one of his shirts, that Jamie arrived. He looked exhausted with his tux coat missing and his sleeves rolled almost to his elbows. His shoulders were slumped slightly. A clear indication that what had gone down tonight was weighing on him.

He didn’t say anything as he toed off his shoes, crawled from the foot of the bed, and lay on top of me. His head nestled over my navel and he let out a heavy sigh. I lazily ran my fingers through his hair. Louie stood by the side of the bed, drying his hair with a towel, watching us.

“You never told me where you were with Angela at the party,” I said to Louie.

He dropped the towel from his head. “I wasn’t with her. She was trying to fucking corner me and I had to keep dodging her. I pretty much played hide and seek during the entire party.”

Jamie and I snorted at the same time and our bodies shook as we tried not to laugh.

Louie frowned. “It’s not funny.”

It really wasn’t, but just imagining them playing cat and mouse was a much needed chuckle. I cleared my throat and fought not to smile. “Sorry.”

“I saw what Donnie did to you,” Jamie said quietly.

My fingers froze mid stroke through his soft brown hair. “On the cameras?”

“We had to show the video footage to Sean to prove that Donnie’s death was justified,” he explained.

Oh.I went back to stroking his hair, but he stopped me and brought my hand down to his mouth. He kissed my palm. Dried blood and cuts along his knuckles caught my attention. “What happened here?” I asked him as I tilted his hand to get a better look. He hadn’t hit Stefan hard enough for that to happen.

His body tensed. “Donnie had sent one of his buddies to the control room to distract Josh from seeing Donnie attack you on the cameras.”

“I’m going to need to find a replacement for Josh, I take it?” Louie asked as he climbed into bed next to us. He slid his arm behind my neck so my head rested on that perfect spot where his shoulder met his chest.

“I didn’t kill Josh,” Jamie said tightly. “I can’t say the same for Donnie’s sidekick.”

We fell into a numb silence, unmoving as we held each other until we eventually drifted off to sleep.

I was woken the next morning by the strong urge to throw up and the fear that I wouldn’t make it to the toilet in time. I shot out of bed, crawling over Jamie in the process. He let out a loud grunt when my knee met his stomach. I didn’t have time to apologize as I ran into the bathroom and purged all the tequila I had drunk from the night before into the toilet.Yuck.I wouldn’t be drinking that for a while.

My hair was pulled away from my face and a hand rubbed the small of my back, soothingly. After a few dry heaves, I flushed and leaned against the wall. Jamie knelt next to me and pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. “Did you eat something bad last night?”

“Just tequila.”

Jamie sighed and rubbed his face. “When was the last time you ate?”

I grimaced. “Yesterday morning.”

I felt his disappointment ripple through his body before it showed on his face. “I wonder if I spank your ass hard enough, you’ll remember to take better care of yourself,” he grumbled.

He did not just…

“If you ever spank my ass outside the bedroom, Jameson Coleman, I’ll punch you in the dick.”

A snort trailed into the bathroom and we both looked toward the door. Louie was standing there, holding a glass of water, smiling down at the two of us. “I’d pay to see that.” He held out the glass of water to me. “You alright, beautiful?”

I took the glass from him. “I’m already feeling better.”

“I know you probably don’t feel like it, but you should eat a little something,” Louie suggested.

I thought about it and was surprised to find that I was actually hungry. “Okay.”

“I’ll go see what I have,” Louie said.

Jamie narrowed his eyes at his best friend. “Kiss-ass.”

Louie gave him a shit-eating grin before heading to the kitchen. I got to my feet and rinsed my mouth in the sink. Jamie watched me silently until I turned and faced him. He had a mischievous glint in his eye that made me nervous.