Tristan flies at me, straddling over the top of me. “Oh my god, what a relief. Can you imagine?” She dry retches again.
“Are you serious right now?” I slap her, bucking my hips to get her off me.
She does it again. And she actually looks like she’s going to puke.
“Tristan, do not fucking hurl on me!” I squeal, slapping her legs.
Instead of stopping, her face turns bright red, and she keeps gagging. Making that god-awful sound people make when you’re up chucking too.
“I,” she retches, “keep thinking of you,” and she does it again, “of you having to suck Graham’s dick.”
And then she makes one fake barf right into my face before she explodes into loud hysterics, rolling over my bed. She turns the serious reality of what my life is going to be, into something less horrific. For the moment.
“Well, I’m glad you think my life is funny,” I glare, pulling her hair hard, making her crack up laughing again instead of stopping.
She flops over next to me, still giggling. “Nah, the girls and I have already signed you up for Alpha Anonymous for your heats. We’ll save your pussy the humiliation of going anywhere near Pack Lowly. Jesus, how disgusting would that be?”
“I shudder myself.” I grimace, rolling over. “Seriously, Tris, I’m good. Pack Lowly can’t touch me. It’s a business transaction, nothing else.”
She sobers up, and I knew this was coming. Tears fill her eyes. She blinks them away before she speaks, her eyes boring into mine. “Even if you’re pretending you’re okay, I want you to know, I’m so fucking heartbroken for you. I’ve never seen you so happy. I think you were falling in love, Ho…”
“You can’t fall in love in a couple of days, Tris,” I answer as gently as I can. Lying like a champion in the process. My heart squeezes, reinforcing what I already know. You most certainly can fall in love over a weekend. “Anyway, it’s not like being alone is going to be hard to get used to.”
“Are you going to move back to Unity?” She brushes hair off my face, each touch full of tenderness and compassion.
“I don’t think so,” I answer honestly. “I’ll come back here after seeing Raney pack. I need to do this properly if I’m going to succeed.”
Tristan looks at me with lots of emotion and tears in her eyes. “You’re going to be so fucking amazing running Verdune. Margot and Allan will be so proud of you.”
“Oh god! Now I am going to cry!” I moan, slumping away from her. We kind of chill out and just hang out on the bed for a while not saying a word. But I know she’s there for me, I can feel all her love as easily as I can feel her physically next to me. “Hey, Tris, you know I’m so happy you’re here.”
“I know, Ho. I know,” Tristan says, rolling over to give me another snuggle. “I’ll do your hair and make-up after you finish packing. We’ve got an hour or so before Koz’s team pick us up.”
“I can’t believe Raney is actually getting packed. And she doesn’t know! She’s going to love it, but hate it too,” I smirk, knowing Raney.
“Right? Anyway, can your driver take us to the airport, because I told my lift to go,” she asks, but she’s got a weird tone to her voice making me suspicious.
I side eye her. “Of course.”
“And can we have coffee?” she asks again, still smiling like she’s hiding something, but it’s almost like she’s taunting me by barely sharing anything about it except lots of suggestions she is hiding something.
“Oh my god, Tristan,” I tease and roll up to grab the phone for the kitchen. “Anything else?”
“Cookies.”
As soon as I’ve placed our order with the kitchen downstairs, I start packing a small case before swapping out for a bigger one. It might only be a day I’m away but right this second, I don’t have the energy of deciding what to wear which means I overpack, so I’ve got options.
“I can’t believe Raney’s going to pack, well I mean, that sounds weird considering she was always going to pack with Koz.” I pass over my shoes for Tristan to put in before I start on my toiletries.
“Right?” Tris snorts.
I twist looking at her, she’s looking suspicious again. “She was going back to see King to unpack.”
“Right?”
“Tris, what the fuck is ‘right’?” I mimic her.
“I’m excited. Give me a break. Two of my girls are packing,” she says, her eyes narrowing.
