6
It was Saturday, and Eric realized, with a groan, just how glad he was of that fact the moment he opened his eyes and sunlight stabbed into the very backs of them, searing his retinas, making him grab for the pillow to put it over his face.
Even as much as he drank, it was unusual for Eric to get drunk. His tolerance was just too good, which meant that he must have really overindulged the night before to feel like this. How had he even gotten home? His memory was a bit fuzzy on that one.
It seemed to take forever for him to roll himself out of bed, and when he glanced at the clock, he saw it was close to eleven. Feeling like his guts were all unanchored inside of himself, he forced himself to sit up, to face the bright glare of daylight which seemed like a tropical sun but was actually just the typical Northwest cloud cover.
Coffee. He needed coffee, and a shower, and then he needed to go find the greasiest breakfast that he could stomach. He knew from experience that the grease would help him feel a little better. The trick was getting it.
His body, his very bones, felt about a million years old as he stumped down the stairs toward the kitchen. As he went past the living room, he froze, because he heard the sound of regular, deep breathing, then a soft sigh.
Someone was on his living room couch.
His body tightened, and the hangover receded somewhat, enough that he could walk more steadily, anyway. His hands firmed up, and he took a step, ready for anything, or so he thought.
The pretty little waitress from the bar was a surprise to him, though, and he stared down at her, frowning, as he tried to piece together what had happened the night before, and why Faith, who he barely knew, would be spending the night at his place.
Getting drunk and taking a woman home was not something he was above. It had been a while since he’d done it, but it was hardly behavior which would be unusual in his general life. But usually, he would wake up to find her still in bed with him, or, more often, completely gone.
So why was Faith on his couch?
Her big, dark eyes opened, and for a moment, she looked just as confused to be in Eric’s living room as Eric was to find her there. She looked at him, though, and a smirk cleared the sleep from her eyes as she pushed her wild dark mop of hair back from her face.
“Morning, handsome,” she teased, and then sat up, yawning and stretching. “You gonna just stare at me all morning or are you gonna bring me some coffee?”
Eric felt like a bit of an idiot, but he did keep staring. There was a woman, a woman he barely knew, and he had only some vague ideas about why she was there. It wasn’t, he knew after checking in with his body, for sex. He didn’t have any of the pleasant sensations that he would associate after a night of that sort of release, and oddly, he felt sort of relieved about that.
If he was going to break his dry spell of over a year, he’d really prefer to remember it. Maybe that was all there was to it. Maybe.
“Look, it’s the least you can do after last night,” Faith said, and for a moment, Eric’s heart clenched in his chest. What had he done when drunk? He couldn’t help but worry it had been something inappropriate, but then the moment passed, and he saw the teasing grin on her face. “I mean, if some guy is gonna take me home, then at least I could hope to get sex out of it. So I figure you owe me coffee.”
Eric gave a slight smile of relief, despite the pounding drums which sounded inside of his head. His hangover was back in full force, and he couldn’t help but laugh a little and shake his head. He liked this girl. She didn’t play games, she said exactly what she meant, and Eric couldn’t help but find that appealing.
He went off to make the coffee, and a few minutes later, he was back with two steaming mugs of the thick black brew. He’d made it as strong as he could stand, and he groaned softly as he swallowed down a big gulp of it, loving the way the liquid seemed to scour away the nasty taste inside of his mouth. Slowly, his headache receded a little, to near manageable levels.
“So I just realized that I don’t know you,” Eric said, and Faith arched an eyebrow at him. Well, that had been a bit clumsily said, and Eric tried again. “I mean, like, I know everyone in this town. Most of them I went to school or something. So what’s your story?”
Faith tilted her head at him, her eyes slightly narrowed, just a little bit suspicious, as though trying to decide whether to trust him or not. Finally, she gave a little nod, like she’d come to some sort of conclusion.
“Totaled my bike about a month ago,” she admitted, sipping at her own coffee with a gusto that did his heart good. “Got a job to try to pay to repair it. Not much of a story to tell, man.”
Eric frowned a little, looking her over with slightly narrowed eyes. This small, slender, short girl, riding a motorcycle? That was quite a mental image, and he couldn’t help but approve. Part of him had always wanted to ride, and here was this girl, doing it.
“Not much of a story? Do you know how weird it is in a town like this to have someone new around?” Eric shook his head, going back to his coffee. Faith might downplay her history, but he couldn’t help but be interested. He had the feeling she would have quite the story to tell.
Faith grinned.
“Weird enough that you might actually give me a call sometime?” she teased, and Eric laughed and dropped it, able to tell that she didn’t really want to talk about it. Fair enough. It might be a story he was interested in, but it was, after all, her story.
“Maybe,” he said, and as she got ready to go after draining her coffee, he had to admit that maybe he would. He liked being around her. He liked spending time with her, even as little as they had. “Hey, you want a ride somewhere?” It had just occurred to him that she couldn’t have driven her own ride here since she’d driven him home. It really seemed like the least he could do.
“Yeah,” she admitted. “Back to the bar. Thanks.”
As they left, as she clambered into his truck, Eric glanced across the street. The sunlight was gleaming on the window, and it made it hard to tell for sure since it turned it nearly opaque, but for a split second, he could almost swear that he saw a face in the window which had been empty for so long.
Probably his imagination. He shrugged and got into the car. What call would Theo have to be looking at him? Eric had made it pretty clear when he’d turned and walked away the previous night that nothing was going to happen, and that it would be best for both of them if Theo just stayed away.
Too bad Eric didn’t even really want that.
