Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
RORY
Ifelt like death. No, I just wanted to die.
I’d woken up and barely made it to the bathroom before throwing up, hearing someone walk up behind me to pull my hair back.
“I’m surprised there’s anything left in your stomach,” Jensen murmured, rubbing slow circles on my back. “Ty lost count of how many times you threw up last night.”
“I’m dying,” I groaned, hugging the bowl like it was my best friend, feeling a little better now I’d thrown up, but my head was hammering and my throat hurt. My stomach muscles were killing me, telling me I’d definitely done this a few times through the night.
He sighed, and I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my head. “You want to tell me what happened last night? That was more than birthday celebrations.”
“I was just having fun, it’s not that deep.”
“You want to tell me why you hit Slash and he didn’t hit you back then?” he asked dryly, my stomach twisting at the vague memory.
I’d forgotten about that.
“What are you talking about?” I scoffed, batting his hand away and getting to my feet to flush.
He stared at me silently for a moment before motioning to the shower. “Shower, brush your teeth, and I’ll get you some ibuprofen and clothes. The guys are downstairs making breakfast.”
Relief filled me that he was letting go of the Slash thing, and he walked out to let me shower in peace. My whole body hurt, and I lowered myself to the floor of the shower once the water was hot enough to burn Satan, letting it rain down over me as if to wash away the whole night I’d had.
Jensen returned with a bottle of water and ibuprofen as promised, waiting for me to finish before speaking. “What did he do, Rory?”
“He just pissed me off. Can you drop it? I can handle his bullshit,” I huffed, wrapping a towel around myself and accepting the pills from him. “Did he say something to you?”
“No. He left after you two had your argument. Diesel caught you trying to stab him and said you slapped him. Skeet went to find out what the fuck happened, and Slash said he was being an asshole and doesn’t blame you for throwing hands at him.
What happened? It wasn’t just a drunken argument or he would’ve knocked your head off your shoulders. Did he hurt you?”
“Jensen,” I bit out, downing the pills with the smallest amount of water possible to avoid upsetting my stomach again. “I handled it. You know we don’t see eye-to-eye.”
“Fine, I’ll drop it. Don’t bet on Skeet letting it go though,” he warned, pointing to the cabinet drawers. “Ty said there’s a toothbrush in there for you. Help yourself to whatever you want. If I were you, I’d have water, not coffee this morning.”
I nodded and continued drying myself, thankful when he left again.
By the time I’d gotten dressed and brushed my teeth, the guys were dishing breakfast.
My stomach rolled from the smell of greasy bacon and eggs, but I was so fucking hungry that I didn’t care.
Caden placed a plate in front of me, running his fingers gently through my hair. “Eat what you can. If you can’t stomach it, I’ll make more toast for you.”
“You’re being nice. Why?” I joked, wincing as my head thumped.
“You scared the shit out of me last night. I thought you were going to end up in the ER. I didn’t realize how bad you were until I shut the party down and came to check on you. Get that water into you too,” he ordered, wandering over to the counter to grab his own plate.
The guys quietly talked amongst themselves while I picked at my food, and I definitely felt better once I’d put something in my stomach. I just needed my headache to go away.
I spent a few hours napping once the guys decided I’d eaten enough, and I was more than happy to head home to my own bed when Caden offered to take me.
He surprisingly didn’t bring up Slash or the fact I’d almost killed myself with coke and alcohol last night, being content to curl up in bed with me while I napped some more.
The nausea was gone by dinnertime, and apart from feeling dehydrated, I was much better.
“You need to drink more water,” Caden scolded when I went to make a coffee, my nose scrunching in disagreement.
“I’ve drank water all day.”
“Drink some more. You need an IV or something,” he grumbled, nudging me out of the way with his hip to make my coffee for me.
“I’m fine.”
“There’s more water in dry sand than your body right now,” he tsked, grabbing a second cup for himself.
I patiently waited for my coffee, moaning when I had the first sip. “Thank you. I’ll bounce back once I get this into me.”
He eyed me for a second before motioning for me to follow him outside, the cool evening air feeling good on my warm skin.
We sat beside the pool in silence for a few minutes until he spoke, his voice soft. “Was last night because of us?”
I frowned, glancing at him. “What do you mean?”
“Did you write yourself off because we pushed you? Luke warned us you’d hate a big party and the whole cake thing. I just thought maybe it was because you haven’t had a big party like that before and you’d like it once you experienced it. I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.”
“Trust me, I had the best time. The ending sucked though,” I chuckled, sipping my coffee.
“You honestly just got drunk for the sake of it? Nothing was bothering you?”
“I promise, I’m fine. I got free expensive whiskey and drugs, what did you expect? I wasn’t going to say no to that,” I grinned, hoping he believed me.
“Next year we’ll keep it small. Did you have a good day though? Before almost dying in the bathroom?” he asked dryly, making me smile.
“Yeah, I did. No offense, but I’m kind of hoping next year I’ll be able to spend my birthday with Mom. She used to make a big deal out of my birthday, and a girl’s day would be nice.”
“Still no luck finding where she could be?” he asked carefully, and I shook my head.
“No. I don’t know where to go next. Your mom got me her last known address and said medical records stated she was pregnant, but that's the end of the trail. I could go to Rosevale where she was last seen, but then what?” I sighed, a thoughtful look coming over his face.
“Ask Skeet. He has connections everywhere, so surely someone could help track her down. If he has a private investigator, I’ll pay for it.”
“You’d do that?” I asked quietly, and he reached out to take my hand, giving it a squeeze.
“I said I’d do anything for you. Someone has to know where she is, so we’ll find her.”
The thought of finding her and leaving Ashburn Valley made my chest ache.
Could I convince Mom to stay here? Josie would let her have a room until we could get our own place. For all I knew, Mom had a good job, so maybe she even had a nice place close by?
What about my sibling? Was it a boy or a girl? Did she have more kids after that?
Maybe she was even married and that’s why I couldn't find her? Max never said she divorced him, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened and I was just in the dark about it.
“Talk to Skeet,” he repeated when I didn’t say anything, moving back to finish his coffee.
We sat outside for over an hour, and I told him stories about Mom that I could remember, joking that she and Josie could bond over their experiences with Max.
It was nice to talk about her, and it ignited my motivation to find her. Sitting around waiting wasn’t going to change things, so Caden was right. I needed to ask Skeeter for help.
Caden got a call from Josie, so he stood and wandered off to talk to her, giving me a second to text Skeeter.
Rory: Do you have anyone that can track down a person?
I didn’t have to wait long for a reply.
Skeeter: Gotta be specific, baby girl. Do you want a hitman, or an investigator?
Rory: Investigator. I need help finding my mom.
He didn’t reply for a minute or two, and I was starting to think he wasn’t going to when he responded.
Skeeter: Yeah. Give me what you have on her and I’ll sort it. You know the price tag for what you’re asking?
Rory: Caden offered to pay for it.
Skeeter: Good. I’ll send him the bill then.
At least he wasn’t grilling me about last night.
Rory: Thanks, Skeet.
He didn’t reply, and I hadn’t expected him to.
“Mom’s coming home on Tuesday. Today’s meeting got pushed back until tomorrow afternoon,” Caden said as he appeared beside me.
“She had a meeting on a Sunday?”
“Rich people who own businesses don’t get days off. It’s why they’re rich,” he pointed out. “What do you want to do tonight?”
“I was thinking of heading out. I appreciate you spending the day with me, but do you mind if I have some alone time? I just want to go for a drive,” I answered, waiting for him to argue.
“Where to?”
“Just the Heights. Birthdays are hard without Mom, and I like going for drives sometimes just to sit and smoke.”
“Okay,” he said easily, making me glance at him.
“Okay? You’re not going to fight me? Stalk me? Call the guys to save me from my invisible demons?” I joked, not particularly believing him.
He chuckled, shrugging slightly. “If you’re not back by ten, I’m calling to harass you. If you don’t answer, I’m coming to find you. Deal?”
“Deal,” I smiled, getting to my feet and giving him a quick kiss. “Thanks.”
“See? I can be understanding,” he grinned, sliding an arm around my lower back to tug me closer. “Come home so I can give you belated birthday sex.”
I was too sore for that, and I winced. “Uh, my period is doing weird stuff, so rain check?”
He blinked at me, some of the color draining from his face. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It’s irregular. Don’t look so panicked, it’s always like this.”
“You can’t just say shit like that without proper explanation,” he grumbled, looking slightly embarrassed. “Do you, uh, need anything?”
“I have it handled,” I said dryly, patting his chest. “But thanks.”
He bent down to kiss me, keeping it slow as he held me, and I relaxed against him.
Kissing him was torture because I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed with him every damn time.