Page 40 of Unsupervised

My heart thumps in my chest, and I’m doing my best not to show it. “I don’t know much about that, but I would suggest not running like your ass is on fire when she kisses you.”

Our attention is drawn back to the tank of mud where Owen and Marty start grabbing each other. What neither of them seemed to anticipate was how slick mud on metal would be. Slipping and sliding, they fight more to stay on their feet than they fight each other. Marty finally gets Owen down and makes him tap out.

“Fine!” Owen shouts, wiping mud out of his eyes. “You win! A hotdog isn’t a sandwich!”

Layton and I both glance at each other before cracking up. That’s what they were arguing over?

Marty throws a handful of mud at Owen, but he dodges it. Owen scoops up a huge glob and chucks it at Marty’s head as he looks away, and it splats right on target. When Marty starts toward Owen, he tries to run.

It’s like the run of so many cartoon characters, only instead of running in one place in the air, he’s running in one place as his feet slide on the mud. A split second later, he loses his balance and falls. He’s quick enough to protect his head, and I don’t know exactly what hit the bottom of the tank, maybe an elbow, but the sound it makes is legendary.

Bwonggggg.

It stretches out over the still night and everyone pauses for a silent moment until Owen speaks, still lying in the mud. “Well, that was loud.”

There’s no holding the laughter back anymore, and tears run down my face as Marty helps Owen out of the tank.

“Idiots,” Remee scoffs, a smile on her face.

Maybe it’s the alcohol—the beer and shots seem to have caught up to me in the last few minutes—or just the situation, but I can’t stop laughing. Layton smiles down at me and my chest aches with the effort to hold it in. All I can do is point in Owen’s direction. “He—the sound—I can’t.”

Oh god. I’ve got a full on case of the giggles and I can’t stop.

Gripping my side that’s in agony now, I gasp to grab a breath when I can.Get it together, Kelly, for fuck’s sake. It doesn’t help when I realize half the neighborhood is watching and laughing at me now instead of Owen.

A loud hiccup just makes things worse, and Layton grabs my hand. “Come on, let’s get you some water, birthday girl.”

We head across the street, and my hiccups and giggles sound so much louder in the silence of my apartment. “I have to pee,” I announce, making a beeline for the bathroom.

After I relieve myself and wash my hands, the room starts to tilt back and forth. I’ve gotten control of the giggles, but the hiccups are fierce.

Layton waits for me in the hall with a bottle of water, and his blurry smile is the last thing I remember.

Chapter Eleven

Layton

The sound of the party rages outside but the moment Kelly emerges from the bathroom, I know she’s done. A bright smile leaps to her face like she’s forgotten I was here in the last two minutes and is surprised to see me. She closes one glassy eye, trying to focus on me.

“You know what’s sexier than you?”

My eyebrows raise, and she giggles.

“Two of you.” Her words are stretched and slightly slurred.

“Do you see two of me?”

“Yep.” She steps forward and hooks her arms around my neck. The talk I want to have with her is going to have to wait until tomorrow. I need to get her to bed before she passes out.

“Drink this.” She blinks and steps back when I raise the bottle of water between us.

She stumbles a little, and I grab her waist. “That’s not my beer.”

“Water is better for hiccups.” I’ve learned a long time ago that most drunk people don’t respond well to theyou’ve had enoughstatement.

“Oh, okay.”

“Do you want to show me your room?”