A few moments later, I feel tugging and pulling, and I think I’m on my back, then I’m sitting up, then I’m on my back again, only to sit up once more.
“I’m pretty sure these are just going to come back up in an hour, but try to swallow this Advil if you can.”
There’s something pressing against my lips, and I really don’t know what it is, but I hear Damon’s voice, and I know he’ll take care of me. So, I open my mouth and let whatever’s there slip inside.
“Open again,” he commands before filling my mouth with water. “Liam, I need you to swallow those without choking, okay? Concentrate, and then you can sleep.”
I manage to get only a little water down the wrong pipe. I sputter and cough for a second, but it settles quickly. Then something brushes across my forehead, and I swear the last words I hear before I black out are, “Please don’t hate me. I love you.”
Chapter 9
Damon
Liam makes it two and a half hours before his body tries to expel the poison.
Tough go for us tonight.
I knew he’d had too much to drink when he took me down in the foyer and promptly fell asleep on top of me. Because of that, I grabbed a pillow and am attempting to sleep on the floor of his room just to make sure he doesn’t aspirate.
While I’m down here, I think about my brother’s boyfriend, Knox, and the way he cared for my brother after a jet-ski accident before they were even together. I make a mental note to tell Knox—again—how much I appreciate that he was there for Tay when I wasn’t.
Thinking of Knox makes me pause, a small smile coming to my lips. Despite the drastic age gap between Knox and Liam, the two favor each other in the way they keep their facial hair trimmed, the color of their dark hair, hell, even the shape of their jawlines is similar.
I guess Tay and I have the same taste.
He would find that hilarious.
At the first disgusting sound of Liam losing thekeeping-the-alcohol-downbattle, I’m pulled from my thoughts. Bolting upright, I roll him to his side and stick the bowl under his face.
He’s so fucked up, he doesn’t even wake up through the whole ordeal. When there’s a break in the mess, I grab a wet washcloth from the bathroom and clean him up as best I can.
And so it goes until six a.m. when he finally opens his eyes and sees me sitting over him, wiping his forehead with a fresh cold cloth.
“Death. I feel like fucking death,” he mutters, making me laugh despite the heaviness of the conversation that lies between us.
“You look like it, too,” I tell him, wiping at his forehead again.
He assesses me for a minute, and I think he’s about to tell me I don’t look any better. Instead, he says, “You’re spinning too fast for me to tell what you look like.”
“Christ, Li, how much did you drink for you to still be drunk after puking your guts out all night?”
He groans. “Is that why my mouth tastes like rotten garbage?”
“Yep. I’ll be right back,” I tell him, slipping from the bed.
When you stay at a certain level of accommodation, the resort concierge will do a lot to keep you happy. About an hour ago, I made the call for grape Gatorade, saltine crackers, and Coca-Cola, being intimately familiar with Liam’s preferred hangover remedy.
Walking back into Li’s room, I hold the drinks up for him to choose.
“Gatorade,” he croaks.
I uncap it, handing it to him as he scoots himself upright to take a sip.
“Fuuuuuuck,” he whines, pausing his movements.
“Looks like we’re finally taking a rest day,” I tease, savoring the normalcy of the moment…until Liam speaks again.
“Don’t stay in on my account. I’m not going to be good company anyway.”
