“You calling and slurring words that more or less didn’t make an ounce of sense.”
“I called you?” That made me sit up straight.
“When didn’t you call me? About seven times last night. I spoke with quite a few inebriated pals of yours. Some girl named Brianna kept saying her name was Brianna and it was her birthday and that men sucked.”
“I remember very, very little about this person.”
“Last night she was your best friend. She had started suggesting you get on top of the bar counter and dance when I decided to send Ned over to take you home.”
“What?”
“You remember Ned?”
“No, I mean, what do you mean you sent him to take me home?”
“You and your roommates. You told me what bar you were at and I thought it was time for you to go home, based on your complete inability to speak a coherent sentence.”
“Who are you to decide when it’s time for me to go home? You’re not my mother!” A familiar pang of anger started building up inside me. The nerve of this guy.
“I sure hope not. That would be awkward for everybody. But seriously, are you okay?”
“That is quite frankly none of your business,” I snapped.
What was his deal? Just because he has money and a fancy car and driver, he thinks he can push people around and make decisions for them? We would’ve been perfectly fine taking a cab back home. We’d done it countless times before. It’s not like I didn’t have a life before Zayden came into the picture!
“I would say it is, given our contract. It says specifically—”
“Why don’t you just become a lawyer and be done with it?” I sounded angry and that, combined with the headache that was making me feel like I would go blind any second, made me think that I was perhaps not in the best state of mind to have this conversation with Zayden right now. “Look, I am in a lot of pain right now. I’m sure you’ve experienced the mother of all hangovers. It’s not pretty and I am not functional currently. I assure you I didn’t do anything last night that would even put a dent in the contract—“
“I know. You kept saying that last night. I’m not worried, you were on the phone with me practically the whole evening.”
I was such an idiot! My one night out to clear my head of all things Zayden-related and I managed to make it all about him. Why did I drink so much?
“I am sorry for harassing you.”
“It’s not harassm
ent if I enjoyed it.” He was smirking; I could just feel it through his phone. “Really, quite entertaining. You’re really something, drunk or sober.”
“Thanks for the expert analysis,” I spat. “Now if it’s okay with you, I am going to go back to lying down until time stops.”
“Call me if you need anything.”
“I won’t,” I said and hung up.
My head fell right back onto the pillow and I collapsed.
---
Hours later – or it could have been days, for all I knew – I woke up again to Stacey’s face smiling at me.
“Okay little miss drunky, it’s time to spill the beans…what is going on with you and Zayden? After last night, you have to tell me.”
I covered my face under the pillow and mumbled, “Just kill me now, Stace. Why did we drink so much?”
She placed a cup of coffee on my bedside table. “Because you wouldn’t have it any other way. You were clearly pissed about something, and in your drunken stupor decided that the best way to deal with it was by consuming as much alcohol as your liver could handle.”
“But.” I looked up at her again. “But, weren’t you and Nick drunk too?”