My stomach growls loud. “Is there a vegan option?” I ask as the smell of bacon fills the room.
She walks out of the kitchen, fresh and revived, which is the complete opposite of how we look. “I made two separate breakfasts. For the non-vegan, which is Lauren and myself, we have scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and some hash browns.”
Lauren still hasn’t moved. She just groans I think in appreciation.
“For the vegan, I fried some of the fake bacon, which I’m pretty sure is rubber, and some vegan eggs, which look like I can’t even tell you. Is it even healthy?” she asks.
I just nod. “I need toast.”
Barbara goes back in the kitchen while I lie on the couch, watching the wall, “Did I strip last night?” I ask.
“Yes, but Barbara threw a sheet over you for your dignity.”
Lauren has her eyes closed.
I feel the couch vibrate, so I move my hand around it, coming up empty, till it buzzes again and I feel it next to my feet. I grab it in between my feet, bringing it up to my face. I press the home button, showing me Facebook notifications as well as Instagram and then texts from Noah. I close my eyes, trying to remember. Opening them, I enter my password before going to my messages. I see four from him.
You’re cuddly when you’re drunk.
I am not an asshat and there is no herd.
Please be my friend.
You’re sexy AF when you use weapons, just not around my dick.
I scroll up to see our conversation and gasp when I see that I sent him about a million texts. Okay, maybe not a million, but at least ten. “You are a horrible wing woman!” I shout at Lauren, who raises the hand she has over her eyes up to look at me.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” she asks, puzzled by my sudden outburst.
“Rule one of drinking, phones are placed in a locked drawer. Where is your phone?” I ask her.
“I have no idea. I think the last time I saw it you took a knife out.” She places her hand on her face again. “I can’t believe you pulled the knife out and the pizza guy came. I thought he was going to shit himself when you threw the door open and said, ‘I will cut a bitch if you don’t get the fuck away from this door.’”
My hands fly to my face. “Oh my God. I pulled it out when Austin showed up,” I say while Barbara comes out of the kitchen with two plates, placing them right on the coffee table.
“I’m not defending him, but the knife was a tad too much,” Barbara says, going into the kitchen and coming back with her own plate. “You texting him our picture was like kicking him in the nuts. I think he answered back traitor.”
“I’m sorry. It’s the wine, or was it the vodka?”
She waves her hand in the air. “Please, I’ve been called worse. Serves him right. He really fucked up this time.”
“Can we change the subject?” Lauren says, rolling off the couch and sitting on the floor while she grabs her plate, eating it on her lap.
“Yes,” Barbara and I both say at the same time while I eat the eggs. “They are so fluffy. How did you get them this way?” I ask her, grabbing some hash browns.
“Water,” she says simply. “Usually I add milk, but I didn’t know what was what, so I just added water.”
We spend the rest of the meal just eating. The two of us are almost like zombies. We try to help Barbara clean up, but all we do is bring our plates into the kitchen.
“Barbara, don’t worry about the mess. I’ll get to it after I nap,” Lauren says while I side hug her.
“I’m going to go and collapse in my bed. Barbara, you can party like a rock star and look like a lady the next day. You’re my hero.”
I turn and walk out of the room while they continue talking, walking/crawling upstairs. I pass Rachel’s room as I go to mine. It’s a good thing they spent the night at my parents or I would have to donate to their therapy fund. How many nieces and nephews can say that their aunt almost sliced open a pizza delivery man?
Once I get to my room, I fall face first into the bed like a starfish and drift off to a fitful sleep. By the time night rolls around I feel almost normal, almost. The kids have come back and are now in bed while I lie in mine. I took a shower finally, so I’m lying in my bed naked. A dim light fills the room, the television playing in the background, but my mind isn’t processing anything that is happening. Instead, my mind keeps turning to Noah. Him showing up with Austin was a huge surprise. What wasn’t a surprise was the way my body got pulled to him. How he put his arm around me and all I wanted was to throw down the knife and wrap all my limbs around him. His blue eyes, his beautiful lips. A knock at my door has my mind coming back.