CHAPTER 16
Frankie
Iwoke up with a massive, pounding headache, and a nightmare that tasted terrible on my tongue.
I couldn’t remember my dream, but it was so bad there was a sick feeling in my stomach. It had been about Jillian. . . in the dream Jillian had gone away. But that was ridiculous.
Jillian would never leave me.
The room spun around me as I attempted to sit up.
Oh, my God. What had happened last night?
Was I drunk? Why did my head ache so badly? Where was Jillian? How come I didn’t feel her beside me?
I rolled over. Something stunk, was soaking through my board shorts. Why was I wearing board shorts in bed? I plunged a hand into my pocket and stared in confusion at the silvery rainbow scales.
Why were there pieces of rotting fish in my pockets?
Who the fuck . . .?
I rolled over.
The bed was cold, empty.
I blinked, reaching for my glasses on the bedside table, and encountered an angry hiss.
Ah fuck.
It all came rushing back to me now.
I had fucked up.
The memory of Christabelle on my dick made me nauseated, and I had to put my head between my thighs to keep from throwing up.
I was in Mrs. Greenberg’s spare bedroom with all my things in boxes, and assorted members of her feline family were sitting staring at me.
“I’m trying to get her back.”
They were not amused. Only stared disapprovingly at me, like they thought I was a mouse they wanted to pounce on.
“Hey fellas,” I said, to two particularly large orange cats sitting on my calves. “I’ll give you each a lasagna to get off me.”
Well, that joke didn’t hit either. They only hissed contemptuously at me.
Wow, I had definitely lost my touch, because not one of my jokes was hitting, and I realized WHY they weren’t hitting. One thing that had always given me confidence was Jillian’s low, throaty laugh, the way she’d look at me with those sunshiney eyes.
What had happened? What had gone wrong? How could I have behaved with such egregious stupidity?
Why had I let a fantasy intrude into reality?
The idea that Jillian—JILLIAN—would stop loving me was completely incomprehensible, and had been since the moment I met her.
Now,Christabellefalling out of love with me. That was expected. We had been off and on even for the short time we were together.
But Jillian, she had always been steady. Always been there for me.
Looking back, I was ashamed to remember the times my mind had drifted to that toxic hit of Christabelle.
