Chapter 7
Kekoa
Holy mother of hangovers. Like, seriously, the pounding in my head…was too bad for me to come up with something to compare it to. The floor beneath me was both soft and hard, with the thick rug I’d landed on being surprisingly comfortable, though I could have sworn I started in the easy chair.
Oh yeah.
I never made it back to it after I got up to use the bathroom, my mate’s house a blur of seashells and blue tones when they’d given me the staggering, shambling tour we’d taken when we’d gotten back here. My shoulder ached, but when I tried to roll, the weight across my hips grew heavier. Someone tugged me flush against them, shocking me the rest of the way awake. My eyes snapped open, and I instantly regretted it when a floodlightburst like a rocket through my skull, forcing me to close them again.
“We’re just gonna die here,” Lani croaked, giving my hip another tug. “Together. Like shriveled worms.”
When had he wound up on the floor with me? When I’d seen him last, he was slumped sideways against the arm of the couch, eyes glazed as he stared at the television. I don’t even remember what we’d put on to fall asleep to, just that there were several episodes in a row and we all knew the show, not that I recalled much past the opening credits. A nearby snore drew my attention to where Nyx lay sprawled face down on the couch, taking up the space Lani had previously occupied. His arm dangled over the side, fingertips brushing the floor as his hair lay in a messy curtain, shrouding half of his face from the offensive light. For a moment, I wondered what time it was before deciding I didn’t need to know. The light was too painful, and I couldn’t remember where I’d put my phone.
Probably in my backpack. My fuzzy brain vaguely recalled the intention to shove it in there when we’d run out of lawn dart prizes and sat listening to stories about the students in Doc Burns’s classes and Mr. Pepsi and Nyx’s uncle Tony’s exploits. Maybe if I closed my eyes for a little longer, maybe the light would go away, or at least I hoped it wouldn’t sting so much when I opened them again.
My next cognitive thought was of being shaken, which just made me painfully aware that my bladder was fixing to burst.
“Lani,” I hissed, shoving at his arm. “Lani, get off me.”
“Alright, alright, I wasn’t even groping.”
“So not the issue,” I replied, shoving his arm again.
He moved, which was perfect, because I needed a moment to steady myself after I stood and wobbled down the hall on unsteady legs, grateful that I remembered where the bathroom was. I hated turning on the light, but it was necessary to findthe toilet, relief flooding me by the time I was through. I nearly slammed into Nyx on my way out of the bathroom, both of us letting out an awkward "oops" before he scurried past me and closed the door.
Back in the living room, Lani had popped himself up against the side of the couch and was busy rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
“How did we not make it to the bedroom?” He groaned.
“How am I supposed to know? This is your house.” I shot back.
“Oh my god, I’m stiff.”
Snickering, I raised an eyebrow at him.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” he groaned. “That floor about did me in. I don’t even remember lying down there next to you, though I do remember your legs almost tripping me up when I attempted a mad dash for the bathroom. It wound up being more like a shambling ping-pong ball of me hitting walls and bouncing off things. Now I just want a shower and food. Didn’t we bring home a container of something last night?”
“You keep your flippers off my lumpia.”
“Oh, so you’re not gonna share?”
“One, maybe,” I told him. “But you’ll have to share it with Nyx if he wants some.”
I winked when I said it, and he laughed, then winced and clutched his head, moaning about the evils of green punch.
“The aftermath of an amazing evening,” I said as I helped him up.
“You really enjoyed yourself, didn’t you?” Nyx asked.
“Yeah, I really did,” I replied, “even if my skull feels like it’s trying to squeeze my brain out through my ears. It’s just the price of an awesome night.”
“One I feel like I’ll be playing for days from now on when I’m supposed to be planning someone else’s party,” Lani groaned.
“We were a rough-looking bunch wandering back here last night,” Nyx said, holding up his phone to show us some of the pictures he’d taken of us with Doc Burns and Mr. Pepsi, arm in arm and laughing.
“It’s going to be an interesting day at work for a lot of people,” I said as I brushed my hair out of my eyes. “Another bonus point of being fired. Please tell me the plan is to spend the day sprawled across the big old bed you guys teased me with and failed to deliver last night.”
“I don’t know what the hell we were thinking,” Nyx said, “stopping in the living room to unwind when we should have just taken our asses to bed.
