Page 2 of Sailing Free at Loch Tunnagan (Loch Tunnagan #1)

Jess accepted the cup with some degree of difficulty. Her limbs weren’t obeying her like they usually did and she struggled to get her arm lined up with the cup in order to take it from Steph. The sticky liquid sloshed onto her hand and down her arm. She sucked at it in an attempt to clean it up.

Steph laughed, “You’re so wasted!”

Paul squeezed his way through the crowd to join them, “I love this song!” He grabbed Jess’ arm, “come dance with me!”

“I’m going to the toilets. I've spilled my drink all over me,” yelled Jess.

“I’ll come with you,” replied Paul.

“No, this is your favourite song. You can’t miss it. Dance with Steph. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Steph grabbed Paul's arm and pulled him further onto the dancefloor, “I’ll dance with you Paul!”

Jess fought her way towards the restroom through a mass of warm sweaty bodies that bustled against her as they danced. The strobe lights pulsating through the dark room warped her vision making it impossible not to bump into people as she passed them.

She felt warm, really warm. Her head was swimming and the room started to spin. Her legs gave way and she reached up to grab onto the nearest thing that would keep her in an upright position. A guy’s shoulders.

“Hey!” The tall guy grinned down at her, sweat dripped off his forehead and she felt it splash into her eye.

He held onto her waist and pressed his body against her.

As he moved to the rhythm of the music, he forced his hips against hers.

Somewhere at the back of Jess’ mind a voice was telling her to move away but the rest of her brain and her body didn’t seem to be functioning properly.

He moved his hand to her bum and she felt him squeeze and draw her even closer to him.

He lowered his head; she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

His mouth came down over hers. He tasted stale, like old cigarette smoke. She felt nauseous.

Suddenly she could feel the presence of someone else beside her.

“Jess?” The soft low voice whispered in her ear, “I’ve got you.”

In an instance Ryan had her; he gently took her wrist and wrapped her arm over the back of his neck and across his shoulder. His other arm was around her waist.

“What the fuck man!” yelled the guy.

Ryan said nothing. He didn’t even acknowledge the other guy's presence. He simply turned and walked through the crowd, supporting Jess and holding her close.

They passed Steph who was queuing at the bar again.

“I can’t believe how drunk she is,” laughed Steph.

She held her hand up, cupping the side of her face as if imparting a secret to Ryan.

“I’ve been giving her doubles all night,” she said in a conspiratorial tone.

“Urgh Steph!” moaned Jess as a wave of nausea hit her.

“What!” Steph replied defiantly, “You’re so boring. You need to loosen up and learn to enjoy being out more.”

“Jesus Steph,” Ryan’s jaw clenched. He shook his head and was about to say more but Steph was already gone.

“Where we goin?” Jess’ words came out slurred.

“Out of here,” replied Ryan.

“‘You mad at me?” she leaned closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“No,” came Ryan’s quick retort.

“You sound mad,” mumbled Jess.

Ryan handed over their cloak room ticket stubs to the attendant. The girl placed both their coats on the counter. Ryan picked up Jess’ and wrapped it around her shoulders. He then put his own on and escorted her outside.

The cold fresh air was an antidote to her drunken stupor. The fog cleared from her mind but the nausea intensified.

“I’m going to be sick,” she complained. In a panic she made her way to some nearby bushes and hurled the contents of her stomach into them.

Ryan stood behind her acting like a true gentleman when she herself was in the most unladylike state she had ever been in. He held back her hair and rubbed her back reassuringly.

“I’m so sorry,” groaned Jess. Her eyes filled with tears and she began to sob.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get you home. You’ll feel better soon,” soothed Ryan.

He stuck out his arm to flag down a taxi. The driver pulled over. Ryan opened the door but before he could get Jess inside the driver held up his hand.

“Hang on mate, has she just been sick?”

“Yeah,” replied Ryan.

“You can’t come in here. We get too many students spewing in the taxis.”

“I’m not going to be sick again,” replied Jess.

“I’ve heard that one before,” the driver scoffed as he reached over and closed the door.

“Sorry,” sniffed Jess. “You take the taxi Ryan. I’ll be okay.”

Ryan didn’t bother to reply to that. He gently squeezed her hand.

“Let’s go to the corner shop. We’ll get you some water and then we can walk back.”

Jess sipped at the water that Ryan handed her when he emerged from the shop. He shifted the plastic bag to his other hand and then reached out and laced his fingers through hers. His warmth seeped through her. Hand in hand they started the long walk back to the uni.

“I hate clubbing,” stated Jess after a few moments of silence.

“Me too,” Ryan chuckled. “We don’t make very good students. I’d rather stay in with a cup of tea and a book.”

“Let’s do that the next time the ‘ whole floor ’ decides to go out,” suggested Jess.

“It’s a deal,” replied Ryan, squeezing her hand.

The walk passed by quickly as they chatted comfortably with each other.

When they arrived back at the uni Jess opened the door to her room and groaned.

They had made a huge mess in the rush to get ready.

It looked like a tornado had ripped through her room.

Clothes lay strewn over her bed, Stephs make up was smeared across her desk and kirby grips were scattered over the floor.

“Sit down,” ordered Ryan.

He filled a glass of water and handed her some paracetamol from the shopping bag.

Jess slumped back on the bed and took the paracetamol.

Every last ounce of her energy seeped away.

She watched through drooping eyes as Ryan moved around the room tidying the mess.

He placed the makeup back in Steph’s bag, knelt down and picked up the spilled Kirby grips, took hangers from her wardrobe and hung her dresses back up.

Jess inwardly cringed when she saw Ryan holding up a bra that she had tossed aside earlier in the evening.

But he didn’t seem phased. He just folded it over and placed it on her chair.

When the room was back in order he spoke to her softly,

“I’m going to head over to my room now. Get into your pyjamas and then get to bed. If you start to feel sick again, phone me.”

“Thank you, Ryan,” Jess uttered.

The door closed gently behind him and Jess somehow managed to get her heavy limbs moving long enough to change into her pyjamas and brush her teeth.

Her phone pinged. It was Paul.

Are you okay Jess. We can’t find you?

Yeah, back at the uni, replied Jess, Going to bed.

Hope you’re ok. I’ll sleep in Steph’s room tonight so I don’t wake you.

Jess let her eyes close and gave in to sleep.

A soft knock at the door the next morning woke her.

“Come in,” she mumbled. There was a pounding inside her head and she pressed her hand up to her forehead in a feeble attempt to ease the pain.

Ryan poked his head around the door, “I’ve brought you something to cure your hangover.”

The smell of bacon wafted into the room and her stomach growled. Ryan placed a plate down on her duvet.

“That’s an eclectic mix on one plate,” she grinned sitting further up in the bed, then winced as her headache intensified with the movement.

“When I was in the shop last night, I grabbed random stuff that I thought might help you this morning,” he replied.

Jess studied the large dinner plate more carefully.

A bacon roll sat next to a steaming mug of coffee, a can of Irn bru, a tub of salt and vinegar Pringles and a box of paracetamol.

“You’re a legend,” she said through a mouthful of bacon roll. “Are you not having anything?

“Mine’s through in the kitchen,” he replied.

“Bring it through here and join me,” she pleaded. “I feel guilty having you stand and watch me eat.”

“Okay,” he relented and nipped out to get his breakfast.

He returned after a few minutes. “I found some zombies in the kitchen.” Ryan opened the door fully and tilted his head to indicate where Steph and Paul were standing behind him.

Jess suppressed a smile. The pale pallor of Steph’s skin contrasted with the dark smudges of mascara that lay under her eyes. Hair that had been sculpted to sit perfectly in place last night now stuck out at jaunty angles. They both groaned and slumped down on her bed.

“Budge up.” Ryan hovered at end of the bed.

They all shifted up and Jess lifted the covers so that they could snuggle into the warmth of the bed.

Steph grabbed the tub of Pringles off Jess’ plate and popped it open. She took a couple of crisps and eyed them suspiciously.

“Do pringles help hangovers? This could go one of two ways. I’m either going to hurl them straight back up or it’s going to make me feel better.”

“If there’s a 50% chance you’re going to be sick, go to your own room,” Jess gave Steph a playful shove.

Too late. Steph was already crunching her way through a handful of crisps. “They're good, I feel better!” she said with relief.

Paul leaned over to look at Jess, “How’re you feeling? I’ve never seen you so drunk.”

“I’m actually doing ok,” Jess smiled. “Ryan looked after me.”

Steph stopped chewing, “Jess, I’m sorry about last night. I’d had a lot to drink before we left and I wasn’t making great decisions by the time we got to the club. I should never have lied to you about how much I was giving you to drink.”

“It’s ok,” replied Jess, “but for future reference, I’m done with clubbing.”

“Me too,” added Ryan.

“I’m going to cut back on nights out too,” stated Steph.

Ryan and Jess looked at each other and smiled subtly.

"What!” exclaimed Steph, catching their exchange. “I really am.”