No Vacancy (The Aveline Series Book 2)

Chapter 44

DARCY

I wokeup the next morning and felt like I had been run over by a truck. My head was pounding, my mouth was so dry it felt cracked, and I knew that it was a matter of minutes before I vomited. I opened my eyes reluctantly and looked around at my unfamiliar surroundings. My heart began to race as I realized I didn’t remember most of the night, and I was having trouble deciphering where I was.

I looked under the covers hesitantly, hoping and praying I wasn’t naked.

I sighed. It was worse.

I wasn’t nude, but I also wasn’t wearing my own clothes. I was wearing a pair of men’s shorts and t-shirt, and I felt my body begin to tremble. I looked slowly from one edge of the room to the next, holding my aching head and trying not to cry before I could put together the pieces of the night.

It only took a moment for my body to begin to relax when I recognized where I was. This was Green Gables Inn. I sighed a breath of relief that I wasn’t in the room of one of those random guys and that I wasn’t missing any vital organs, but then I began to panic again as I remembered whose room this was.

This was Penn’s.

Oh, shit.

No, no, no. There was no way I had sex with Penn Murphy last night.

And Peyton. Where was Peyton?

I searched for my phone and noticed a note on the end table along with a bottle of coconut water, pear juice, crackers, and two pills. I picked up the note.

Darcy,

I know what you’re thinking, but relax. No, we didn’t have sex.

Oh, thank God.

Yes, I had to change your clothes, but only because you vomited all over yours. But, no, I didn’t look.

I groaned. The fact I puked might have been an even worse revelation than the possibility of having sex with Penn.

Your friend is at her house. I called her an Uber and made sure she called when she got home. She also threw up before she left, but I didn’t change her. I’m sure she managed.

I stopped reading momentarily to try to understand all of my feelings. The hairs on my arms were standing up as I worked through my emotions. Happy, relieved, confused. There were so many different feelings floating through my body after being saved and taken care of by Penn last night. I wanted to work through them, but I decided to push them down and continue reading.

I left you two Tylenol, for what I can assume is a terrible headache, and I googled that pear juice and coconut water are good for hangovers, so I picked some of those up. Let me know if they work. I washed your clothes and put them in the bathroom. Take a shower and rest. I’ll be back in a little while.

- Penn

I took the Tylenol and drank the pear juice, grabbing my phone and checking the messages.

PEYTON: I am never drinking again for as long as I live!

PEYTON: At least not tequila! I swear it. Don’t ever let me touch tequila again, Darcy.

I laughed and clicked onto Lettie’s name.

LETTIE: Thanks for letting me know she got back safely.

I was a little confused, so I scrolled up to find several messages from Lettie freaking out.

LETTIE: Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you?

LETTIE: Darcy? I haven’t heard from you. Call me.

LETTIE: DARCY IF YOU ARE DEAD I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU.

DARCY: Hey, it’s Penn. I just picked Darcy up from some pirate bar about fifteen minutes away. I am bringing her back to Aveline, and I called an Uber for Peyton. Everyone is okay.

LETTIE: Oh, thank God.

LETTIE: Thanks for letting me know she got back safely.

A few spotty pieces of the night were flooding back to me, including a very tone-deaf rendition of a Beach Boys song in the car with Penn that I hoped was only a dream. I spotted my purse, and next to it sat the pirate hat and sword from the bar. Apparently, I had officially won the mad pirate crown. I groaned and rubbed my eyes before I lay back down in the bed and pulled the covers over my head. I was going to rest. I was going to rest for just a little while and then I would face the truckload of embarrassment that awaited me.