“My phone died.”
“I tried to put it on charge for you, but you started kissing a message from Ryder and then passed out with it under you.”
Could this day get any more humiliating? He leaned back against the wall, willing his head to stop throbbing. Felix wondered if he had a job today, and then it all came back to him. He didn’t have any jobs. They’d all been canceled, because everyone online hated him for being with Ryder.
His stomach lurched, and he had to sprint to the bathroom before he emptied what was left in his stomach. It was a fluorescent yellow liquid, which burned when it came up, and the smell made him want to be sick again, but all he could do was dry heave.
Felix needed to get to his phone. He’d been notorious for drunk texting in the past, and he had this horrible feeling he may have sent something to Ryder. Why was he kissing a message on his phone? He couldn’t think straight, but he knew he had things to do. Number one was checking his phone, so he knew what he was dealing with. The second was to brush his teeth and have a shower before he threw up again. Next, he had to get Sam out of his apartment. No, that should be the first thing he did. He hugged the big white toilet, finding it comforting, but it felt like he’d finished heaving.
“You okay, baby?”
Felix’s head snapped up. Sam was standing there in just his boxers. He had an impressive body, although nothing on Ryder, but Felix wasn’t sure why he was standing in the doorway of his bathroom, semi-naked and scratching his balls.
“What did you call me?”
“Baby?”
“You don’t get to call me that. You hear me? Do not call me that, okay?”
Sam looked shocked. Felix had never gotten angry with him before.
“Why are you still here?” asked Felix
“Is that all the thanks I get? You could have been robbed on the street if I wasn’t there when you passed out.”
“Why were you there, Sam?”
The details were still fuzzy, but he had a vague recollection of them arguing. Had he met Sam somewhere else, and brought him home, or was he waiting for Felix? Why would he be waiting for him?
“Please, can you just go, Sam? I need to get my head straight.”
“I’m not leaving until I know you’re okay. Did Laura know you were that drunk when she decided not to come home?”
“No. I was fine when she left me. She assumed I was going straight home.”
That bit, he remembered.
“Can I at least get a shower before you kick me out?”
“Fine. I’ll get you a towel.”
He flushed the toilet, and before he did anything else he put a pile of toothpaste on his brush and started brushing as he went to get Sam a towel. His head was still throbbing, so he grabbed the Advil out of his bedside drawer. He spotted his phone and put it on charge. Walking back to the bathroom, he passed the towel to Sam, finished brushing his teeth, and rinsed.
“Anything on the top two shelves is mine so you can use them.”
“Thanks.”
Felix nodded and left, closing the door behind him. He needed water, so he headed to the kitchen. There was a largecold bottle in the fridge—perfect. He gulped down about a third of the bottle before he took the pills. There was no way they could work that fast, but he instantly felt better. A long way from being normal, but better was progress. He drank some more water. The shower started, which was a sign Sam would leave soon.
Feeling a need to cleanse his apartment of all traces of his ex, he went into his bedroom and started stripping the bed. His phone pinged once, and then again, then again. He was getting déjà vu as his phone kept going. He didn’t want to look at it, but it was like a magnet drawing him closer. Just as he got to his phone, there was a loud banging on his front door. What the fuck?
Felix rushed to the door as the banging persisted. He opened it ready to have a go at whoever was making so much noise, but his voice caught in his throat; it was Ryder.
“Is it true?”
“What?”
“Is it true, Felix?”
