Page 29 of Mending Fate
“Ah.” Mai got it. “The whole nightmare-turns-to-comfort-sex sort of ‘accident.’”
I blinked. “What was that?”
She grinned at me. “Come on, don’t you pick up anything from rom-coms? The hero has a nightmare, and the heroine tries to comfort him, which turns into sex.”
I frowned. “Why is he the hero?”
“Okay, you can be the hero comforting the heroine.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m glad this amuses you.”
“What is it you always say? Find the humor and the light where you can.”
“I didn’t think that would apply to my sex life,” I said. “But it does make me feel a bit better.”
Mai wrapped her arm around my shoulder and hugged me. “Everyone makes sex mistakes. It’s part of growing up.”
“I must’ve missed that day in adulting school.” I leaned against her, grateful for her support.
“I’ll lend you my notes.”
“When did you make a sex mistake?” I asked, suddenly curious.
“When I was a senior in high school, I slept with one of Ru’s friends.” She shook her head and laughed. “Trust me on this, never date your siblings’ friends or your friends’ siblings. It doesn’t end well.”
“I’m surprised Ru didn’t beat the shit out of the guy.”
“He wanted to,” she admitted. “But then I told him I’d seduced the poor bastard…and then broke things off with him two days later. Ru figured that was punishment enough.”
We sat together for a while before Mai finally released me. She kissed my forehead. “What do you need me to do?”
“This was it,” I said. “Right now, I’m going to keep cleaning because I want to tire myself out. If I don’t, chances are I won’t sleep tonight.”
Mai held out a hand and helped me to my feet. “You don’t expect me to clean too, do you?”
I laughed. “No. You do whatever you planned to do today.”
“I figured I’d get a head start on the week and prep some easy meals before we have our girls’ night.”
“Perfect. You make a mess, and I’ll clean it up.” Even as I said it, I realized that’s what I did too often. Cleaned up other people’s messes. I needed to be careful that I didn’t fall into that pattern with Soleil. There was a fine line between helping and enabling. I didn’t want to blur it.
With Mai there, it was easier to keep from thinking too much. She talked about everything, letting me answer when I felt like it or be quiet when I wanted to. The time flew by, and before I knew it, I was in the shower, cleaning off all the grime and sweat of the day and preparing to crash for the night. Food and binge-watching a comedy with Mai seemed like the best way to do it.
Life, however, seemed to have other plans.
As I was helping Mai clear the table after dinner, my phone rang. My heart thudded against my ribcage as I reached for the phone, but the screen showed the last name I’d expected.
Josalyn.
Shit.
Something had happened to Soleil.
Seventeen
Alec
Neither of mybrothers trusted me to drive, and I couldn’t really blame them, not after the completely immature way I’d handled things last night and this morning. I still didn’t want to believe I’d been such an idiot. I could count on one hand the number of times I had actually been drunk in my life, and the other times had ended with me hugging a toilet, not showing up at a woman’s house and making a fool of myself.