Samantha was crying now; the tears smeared her makeup and made black streaks down her face. Sam cleaned her up the best he could when she vomited again. At least this time, she made it to the toilet.
“Dad. Please.” She hiccuped and tried to wipe her face. “Don’t tell Mom.”
“She’ll be here any minute.” Sam crouched down to where she was seated on the bathroom floor.
“What? You called her?” Samantha’s indignation amused Sam, because she was in a lot of trouble. “I can’t believe you did that. She’ll kill me.” Her eyes were frantic and she pouted like a petulant toddler. “How could you do that?”
“Well, she is your mother—”
“She’ll never let me out again! I thought I could trust you!” She narrowed her eyes at him and spit out her words with as much venom as she could muster in her present state. “I hate you.”
It actually might have been painful for Sam to hear his daughter proclaim her hate for him, except for the fact that she was drunk, she’d lied to him and, quite frankly, he wasn’t too thrilled with her right now, either. There was a knock at the bathroom door.
“Sam? It’s me.” Maya’s voice came through the door.
Sam stood and opened the door.
She covered her mouth with her hand as she wrinkled her nose. “She got you, huh?”
He nodded somberly.
“Who’s that boy?” Maya spoke through her hand. “He’s got vomit on him, too. He was cleaning the floor out here.”
“That’s Will.”
“Who’s Will?”
Sam turned back to Samantha, jaw clenched. “Will Waters, her boyfriend.”
“Herwhat?” Maya’s voice rose in pitch as she looked from Sam to Samantha.
Sam narrowed his eyes at Samantha and shook his head in disappointment. He sighed and turned to Maya. “I’ll get her clothes so you can change her and we’ll put her to bed.” He frowned as he raised his eyebrows. “Then we can catch up.”
While Maya took care of Samantha, Sam used the shower in his room to clean up. He emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, to find Samantha passed out, half in, half out of his bed, and Maya futilely trying to get her all the way in.
“Need some help?” He started toward Samantha.
“Sure.” Maya turned to face him and quickly turned away, using her hand to shield her eyes. “Pants, Sam! Put on pants.”
“Oh, yeah. Right.” He grinned at her back as he quickly slipped on jeans and discarded the towel. “Okay.”
She cautiously removed her hand and turned toward him. “Fine.” She cleared her throat and appeared to be trying to suppress a smile. “Um, you get her legs.”
“Actually, I got her.” He motioned for Maya to step aside. She stepped back, but he was acutely aware of her presence as he bent over and picked up his daughter like a baby, settling her comfortably in the bed.
“Thanks.” Maya reached over and pulled the covers over Samantha. “She just stumbled in here and passed out, and I, uh, couldn’t move her.”
Maya was looking everywhere but at him.
He studied her a moment. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure. I’m fine.” She managed brief eye contact. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“No reason.” He smirked. The flush on her skin captivated him, and he couldn’t look away.
Maya cleared her throat. “I suppose we deal with this boy now.”
“Is he still here?”
