I shut the door of his truck, and Alex left before I even made it across the parking lot. I knew he wasn’t happy with me, but he’d get over it. I was sure he’d come again if I needed him to have my back. So, I brushed off his concerns and walked into the bar, where I could start spending my winnings.
Three
Kat
I woke up to the sound of seagulls squawking. Despite this, my location didn’t register in my brain right away. The pounding ache in my head stole all my attention, and I groaned before I even opened my eyes. My arm was thrown across my face, covering my eyes, and I knew the meaning of regret as I moved it away.
The newly risen sun was already shining too brightly, hurting my eyes even through my closed lids. I realized I was outside, and the events of last night came back to me.
Piper and I had gone to the Copper Bar, where I was quick to dump money into the jukebox and pick enough music to last for two hours. We drank, gladly accepting free drinks from men in the bar without offering anything in return other than polite conversation, and danced the night away.
None of the men in the place caught my eye, but Piper was a different story. Around midnight, she told me that she was leaving, and the guy on her arm looked startlingly like Nicholas Cage.
Good for her, I guess.
Not long after that, I left the bar, finding that it wasn’t nearly as fun without someone I knew to talk to. The sensible thing would have been to go home, even if I had to order an Uber because of the drinking, but I didn’t want to do that. Instead, I crossed the street, heading for the beach.
In the light of day, even with a throbbing hangover headache, I could see that wandering off by myself in the middle of the night after drinking heavily wasn’t the best idea. I carried mace on my keyring, but that didn’t mean I was invincible.
Once I reached the sand, I had pulled off my shoes and socks so that I could walk along the edge of the water barefoot. The gentle waves ran over my feet, wetting the bottom of the legs of my skinny jeans, and my toes sank into the wet sand with each step.
I wasn’t sure how long I had walked the beach before deciding to stop and rest. I had just intended to sit for a moment before heading back toward my car, hoping that I would be sober enough to drive home by the time I got there. But I made the mistake of lying back on the white sand, gazing at the sky above, trying to find shapes in the stars.
The next thing I knew, a damn seagull woke me up.
Sitting up, I used my hand to block the sun from my eyes as I looked around. I could tell that it was early by the positioning of the sun, which was good because I didn’t need to be late for work two days in a row.
I craned my neck and saw that I hadn’t walked nearly as far as I thought I had last night. My car was still sitting in the bar’s parking lot. I got to my feet, seeing that every inch of my clothing was covered in sand. I brushed it off as well as I could, going as far as to shake out my long hair before pulling it up with a hair tie that was around my wrist. Grabbing my shoes, I made my way toward the bar, cutting across the sand to save time.
There weren’t many vehicles on the road at this early hour, so it was easy to scurry across the street once I pulled my shoes back on. My throat was dry, and there was a nasty taste in my mouth, so I hurried home to brush my teeth and take a shower before work.
When I turned onto the street my house was on, I saw that I wouldn’t be able to park in my driveway. There was already a motorcycle there. It looked like Jason was at my house. Considering the early hour, I was willing to bet he spent the night. I parked at the curb and entered the house. The first thing I saw was my brother sleeping on my couch, snoring loudly. I didn’t bother to be quiet as I closed the door behind me, and he jolted awake.
“Where the hell have you been?” he asked through a yawn as he blinked at me sleepily. His thick black hair was a mess, and there was a red mark on the side of his face from where it had been pressed against the arm of the couch.
“You’re not my keeper,” I said, tossing my purse onto the small table by the door. “The question is, why are you in my house?”
I walked past him into the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker. Within seconds, the heavenly smell of caffeinated brew filled the small kitchen.
“Me and Lexie had a fight, so I crashed here,” he explained, following me and plopping down at the kitchen table.
“You didn’t think toask?”
He shrugged carelessly. “I know where you keep the spare key. Besides, you weren’t even home.”
I would’ve come home if I’d known he was here, but I didn’t tell him that.
“You know, if you’re hungover, coffee’s not a good idea. It’ll just dehydrate you.”
“What makes you think I’m hungover?” I asked, leaning against the sink while the coffee finished brewing.
“You smell like a bar.”
I childishly stuck my tongue out at him. “You don’t exactly smell like a daisy,” I teased. “What’s your excuse?”
“Just pour me a cup of coffee,” he said with an eye roll.
I did, giving it to him black while I dumped a load of sugar into my own mug. I glanced at the clock on my stove. I still had over an hour before I had to be at work, so plenty of time.
