“Morning, sunshine.”I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and brought it to her.“How’s your head?”
Her eyes popped open wide, then slammed shut again when she spotted me, as if my presence was too much.She held out a shaky hand to take the water, but before she wrapped her fingers around it, she made another sound low in her throat.
“Oh … oh, crap,” she muttered, bolting for the bathroom with her hand covering her mouth.
After a few minutes of what sounded like an exorcism gone wrong, I tapped on the door.“Everything okay in there?You want that water now?”
“Go away,” she groaned, her voice muffled by the closed door.“Just let me die in peace.”
I chuckled and turned back to the living room to give her some privacy.I doubted she wanted me listening in as she vomited up the rest of last night’s terrible decisions.
Several minutes later she emerged looking a little sheepish and a lot pale.She crossed the room and dropped onto the loveseat, taking the water when I offered it again.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.Take these, too,” I said, handing her another dose of painkillers.“I don’t even want to imagine how bad your head hurts after seeing the special cocktail you were drinking last night.”
“Ugh.Never speak of that again.”She tossed the pills into her mouth.“Why are you here?”
I laughed at her lack of artifice.Even sick as a dog, she wouldn’t let me forget how she felt about me.“That’s the thanks I get after taking care of you?Tough crowd.”
“My head hurts too much to stroke your ego right now.”
“Ouch.And after I cleaned your apartment, too.Next time you decide to get drunk, try keeping the drink in the glass or your mouth.It took me an hour to clean the sticky spots you dripped everywhere.”
“Gross.”She dropped her head against the cushion and squeezed her eyes shut.“You didn’t have to do that.But thank you.”
“So, what happened last night?The front door was unlocked when I came by this morning.”
She groaned and slouched lower in her seat.“Andie and Sierra dropped a bomb on me during our girls’ night, and I had to get out of there.I was in such a hurry to get into my apartment, I must’ve forgotten to lock the door when I came in.”She dragged a hand down her face.“I can’t believe I did that.”
“I doubt a bookstore would be high on a criminal’s list of places to rob.Besides, this is Carlisle Creek.”
“You’re right.If anyone needed anything, they’d leave cash on the counter.”With a sigh, she added, “I love this town.”
We sat in comfortable silence for a few moments until finally, I could take it no longer.I needed to know.“Can I ask you a question?”
She cocked an eyebrow, a suspicious tilt to her lips, but still waved a hand for me to go ahead.
“All I found was whiskey, orange juice, and root beer.Did you honestly drink them all mixed together?”Her skin took on a greenish tint, telling me that is in fact what she did.“What was that like?”I grimaced, shuddering at the thought of drinking the disgusting concoction.
She chuckled, but quickly groaned and pushed her hand against her forehead.“I wanted bubbles in my drink, and root beer was all I had.And you’re right.It wasnasty.It might not have been as disgusting if it had been just whiskey and root beer, but I’d added the orange juice first, and I was in no mood to be throwing away alcohol.”
“Well, it smelled awful.”I laughed.
“It tasted awful, too.”
As another silence settled over us, I studied Maya, and Maya looked at anything but me.
“So, anyway—”
“I’m going to—”
With a chuckle, I rushed to speak first.“I’m going to head out now, if you’re alright?Do you need anything before I go?”Now that she was conscious, I doubted she’d want me hanging around.
“I’m good.I was about to say, I have some things to do.”
When we reached the front door, I turned to face her, a knot taking up residence in my belly as an idea formed in my brain.Before I could change my mind, I blurted, “Can I get your phone number?You know, to check on you later?”I thrust my phone at her awkwardly.Why was I so nervous all of a sudden?
