Was she kidding? I’d had housekeepers my whole life. I’d never cleaned up a mess inside. I’d cleaned a lot of barns, though. Nasty shit, literally. But…no.
“The dorms have people who are paid to do this,” I told her.
“At one in the morning?”
She had a valid point. “Do you have…a broom or something?”
“You have to pick up the larger pieces first.” She sighed. “I’ll show you.”
“No, stay there. You have bare feet. I don’t want you to step on any of this.”
“All right. Pick up what you can see and throw them out. Then we’ll need a wet-dry vac.”
“Where am I supposed to find a wet-dry vac?”
“I have no idea. You’ve been here for three years. I’ve been here one day.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.” I picked up all the large pieces of glass and threw them away in the large wastebasket at the end of the hallway. When I returned, I said, “I’ll go see about that wet-dry vac.”
“Okay.” She yawned.
I was being an asshole like my old man. She hadn’t gotten the water and aspirin for her headache. “I’m sorry. Go to bed, okay? I’ll bring you the water and meds for your head. Then I’ll take care of this.”
“You’ll have to warn people not to step on it. They could slip on the water or get a sliver of glass in their foot.”
“Hopefully people aren’t walking around here barefoot,” I said.
“No, take care of the glass and water first,” she said adamantly. “I’ll be fine.”
She was something else. “All right.”
She went back into her room and closed the door. Before I could ponder where in hell I’d find this wet-dry vac she spoke of, her pal Ennis came loping up with something that might fit the bill.
“Figured we’d better get this cleaned up. Once the booze runs out downstairs, everyone’ll be coming up here to bed.”
“Yeah. Thanks, I guess.”
“Don’t mention it. I got this. I’m the one who made the mess.”
“Because I punched you.”
“True.”
“Hey…I’m…”
“It’s fine.” He plugged the thing in and began cleaning.
Yeah, I was being a dick. But around Daphne, I didn’t want to be a dick. Where could I find some aspirin for her?
“Hey,” I said to Ennis. “Do you have more aspirin?”
“Yeah. Help yourself. My room’s open. It’s on the lower level, room 103. Sitting on the dresser.”
“Roommate?”
“Hasn’t arrived yet.”
“Thanks, man.”
I scurried down to Ennis’s room and found the aspirin. I made a pit stop in the lounge where the party—and the Everclear punch—was still going strong and snagged an empty cup. I filled it with water from a drinking fountain and headed back up to Daphne’s room.
Ennis and the shop vac were gone, so I knocked gently on Daphne’s door.
“Come in,” she said softly.
I entered. She was lying on her bed on top of the covers. Her robe had parted slightly, giving me a view of her cleavage. My groin tightened. Damn.
“I got you another cup of water, this one unbreakable.”
“Thanks.”
“Come on. Sit up. Take the pills and drink all the water. It’ll keep you from feeling completely shitty tomorrow.”
“The thought of putting anything in my mouth…”
“I know. But you need to. Come on.”
“Where’s Ennis?”
“He found your wet-vac thing and cleaned up the mess.”
“Is that what I heard? Why did he clean it up? You made it.”
“Actually, he’s the one who dropped the glass.”
“Because you punched him for no good reason.”
“It’s over now, Daphne. Here.” I handed her the pills.
She popped them in her mouth and took a sip of water.
“The rest,” I said.
She dutifully drank all the water and handed me the cup. “Go now. I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“I’ve already seen you like this.”
“Crap,” she muttered, falling back onto the bed. “Where’s Patty?”
“She’s at my place with Murph.”
“You mean Sean?”
“Yeah, with Sean.”
“What’s she doing…? Oh.” Daphne laid her arm over her forehead, covering her eyes. “Of course. That’s why you came here. You want sex.”
I couldn’t fault her observation, given what Murph and Patty were doing, but that wasn’t why I’d come. I could have had eight different kinds of monkey sex with Wendy if sex were all I was after. “I’m not looking for sex.”
“Of course you’re not now. I look atrocious.”
“Hey, you look beautiful,” I said, meaning every word.
“I’m a mess. God, my hair is going to be in knots by morning.”
“Then brush it out now. Where’s your brush?”
“I don’t know. Where did I put that stuff? The top dresser drawer, I think.”
I stood and walked to the dressers. I had to guess which one was Daphne’s. I opened the top drawer of the closer one, and inside sat a hairbrush with a hot-pink handle. “The pink one?” I asked.
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
I brought it back and handed it to her. “Here you go.”
“I’m too tired to do anything.” Another yawn split her pretty face. “I’ll just deal with it in the morning.”