13. Harper
HARPER
Magnus removed the Durian carcass, and the air quality improved, but the reeking stench of rotting still lingered.
I’d had another full glass of my Malibu drink, and now I was floating on a blow-up pineapple in the pool.
The sun was starting to set, so while it was still hot out, I wasn’t going to bake out here as I floated along.
The bendy straw was my best friend since I couldn’t really raise my head anymore to drink.
I wasn’t a lightweight, but I was good and tipsy when it came to drinking on an empty stomach and chugging the first two glasses.
The guys left me to my own devices, doing whatever it was they did when they weren’t babysitting me.
“Hey, angel,” Ghost called. “Magnus is starting dinner. He wanted to make fish. Are you okay with that?”
Flashing him a thumbs up, I took another gulp of my drink.
“Something tells me I shouldn’t let you finish off that drink,” Ghost commented.
The tell-tale sounds of someone entering the pool had me swinging my head to the side. Sure enough, Ghost was coming to join me. Only he wasn’t wearing anything but the skin he was born with.
“Are you trying to manipulate the drunk girl with your sexy body?” I asked as my words slurred a little.
Ghost glided up to my floaty and plucked the drink from my hand, then proceeded to drink the rest of it.
“Angel, while I would love to play with you and that delectable body of yours, it would never happen while you aren’t of sound mind.
The first time I get to slip into you and make you lose your ever-loving mind, you’re going to remember every moment of it.
Right now, I’d be worried about you puking on me or drowning in the pool. ”
My bottom lip popped out as I realized he wasn’t out here to play with me. Instead, he was making sure I didn’t die because he got me drunk.
“I didn’t get you drunk, angel. You shot-gunned the second glass all on your own and refused to eat anything when I offered it to you,” Ghost corrected, booping me on the nose.
“Did you read my mind?” I asked, trying to roll onto my stomach—which I was unsuccessful at doing and landed myself in the pool.
Strong arms scooped me up right away as I spluttered, wiping the water out of my face. I could feel Ghost’s chest vibrating as he laughed at me. “You all right there, angel?”
“I think I’ve had enough pool time, and don’t laugh at me,” I muttered and slapped him on the chest.
He, of course, ignored me and continued to chuckle as he carried me out of the water and set me on one of the lounge chairs.
Snatching up the towel I’d left there, I dried off my face and flopped back with a groan.
“Don’t ever let me drink again. I always forget how awful it is when you start to sober up.
God, I’m going to have a migraine from hell after this, and I bet there’s no McDonald’s to get a Coke.
That always helps to make me feel better. ”
“Do you know why that is?” Ghost asked as he settled himself next to me.
“Because it’s magic.”
Ghost snorted at that. “No, silly, it's because there is an anti-nausea of sorts that is found in Coke. That’s why it makes you feel better, not because it’s magic.”
“Okay, but does wherever we are, have a McDonald’s?” I argued.
“No.”
“Then why are we talking about this?” I pouted, kicking my feet like a little kid.
Ghost grabbed my arm that was covering my eyes and pulled it away, tugging me closer to him. I didn’t have the willpower to fight him and whatever crazy idea he had up his sleeve. Then strong hands started to massage my scalp, and I moaned as the pounding started to lessen.
“Remind me the next time we let you drink, we make sure you don’t guzzle them down. You turn into a spoiled child, and while I might find it entertaining, others might not so much,” Ghost shared.
“You’re talking about grumpy old Maggie, aren’t you? Well, you can tell him to suck my toe because that’s all he deserves after how he’s acted.”
Ghost’s hands paused, and I cracked open an eye to look up at him, only it wasn’t Ghost who’d been massaging my head. It was Magnus. “Ooops.”
“Are you that upset with me, Harper?” he asked, a look of concern on his face.
Reaching up, I took both pointer fingers and tried to pull up the corners of his mouth. “You never smile, you know that? So grumpy all the time. I’m sorry you lost someone you loved. I know how that feels, but being sad for so long doesn’t make them come back.”
Magnus pulled my hands away from his face to kiss the backs of them before placing them on my chest. “What if I told you, you make me smile?”
“Prove it. Since I’ve been here, you’ve maybe cracked a smile once, and I’m not talking about smirks or grins. Like a real smile that goes all the way up into your eyes. The kind you feel that comes from your heart,” I explained.
Magnus smiled, but it was a sad smile—a smile that told me he was still hurting inside. “I guess you’re going to have to teach me how to smile like that again because I can’t remember the last time it happened.”
“Only if you promise not to be such an ass. Try asking me to do things instead of ordering me around. It might go better for you… just saying,” I answered with a shrug.
Magnus nodded and started to massage my head again.
At some point, I drifted off to sleep because when I opened my eyes, it was morning, and I was tucked in bed, wrapped around Magnus with the feeling of someone behind me.
Everything in me didn’t want to move, but I knew that my bladder was what woke me up, demanding attention.
Groaning, I untangled myself and slid out of bed, stumbling my way to the toilet.
My body felt like it was run over by a Mack truck, and my head had its own pulse that pounded against my brain.
There was a reason I had a ritual I did before going out and coming back from drinking.
I’d managed to get it down to a science, so I didn’t have this happen.
I would be out for the count today, and I imagined the triplets would have other plans for me.
Finished in the bathroom, I cleaned up and crawled back into bed, hiding under the pillows.
I hadn’t seen Ghost yet, but I was sure he was off doing something shady while the other two babysat me.
“Gorgeous, you alive under there?” Jaxson asked, lifting the edge of one of the pillows.
“Fuck off,” I mumbled.
“Guess that clears up that question,” he teased as he wedged himself in further, so we were almost nose to nose. “I’m thinking today is gonna be pretty unproductive if this is how things are starting out.”
“Everything hurts, and my body hates me. Can we have a stay-in-bed day?” I inquired, pushing out my bottom lip to give him a proper pout.
Jaxson rolled his eyes. “Okay, we can have a stay-in-bed day if you really want, but that means tomorrow you do whatever we want to do.”
“Um… I’ve been doing that since I got here, I don’t think it will be hard,” I commented, shoving the pillow off my head to curl around it instead. “Besides, Maggie over here is still sawing logs. It would be rude to wake him when he clearly needs to get some sleep.”
Jaxson frowned at me. “You don’t remember much of last night, do you?”
“What are you talking about?” I pressed, returning his expression of confusion.
He sat up and looked down, brushing strands of my hair out of my face.
“You passed out for a bit, and we let you sleep, then you started doing this strange sleepwalking thing. Any time we took our eyes off you, you’d be trying to take the Jeep out for a joy ride.
Then when we tried to stop you, tears would burst out of you, and Magnus was the only one who could get you to stop. ”
Shooting up straight, I gaped in horror at Jaxson.
What he was talking about was what my therapist called a trauma response from losing my parents.
I’d grown out of it, and only if I drank certain liquor or was under a great deal of stress did it reappear.
Clearly, the combination of what was happening to me caught up with my subconscious.
Then I remembered what had to happen to calm me down and hid my face in my hands.
“Oh God,” I moaned. “Please tell me what I think happened didn’t actually happen.”
“Interestingly enough, Magnus was the only one who knew the song, although, after the number of times he had to sing it, we all learned it, but you latched onto him like an anaconda,” Jaxson shared, trying to hold back a smile.
“Who in your family was a fan of Bye Bye Birdie?” Magnus asked, his voice gravely with sleep. “These two idiots refuse to watch a classic movie, let alone a musical.”
“My mother. She loved all the old classic musicals and would let me watch them with her. She changed the song from “We Love You Conrad” to “We Love You Harper,”” I answered softly, feeling a little shy after making him sing what I dubbed the blue song.
“I used to make her sing it to me every night, so after they died, it was one of the only things my grandmother could do to calm me down. I haven’t done the sleep-driving thing since my last final project for college. ”
Jaxson reached up and tweaked my nose. “Gotta admit it was hella cute to watch grumpy Maggie sing you a lullaby while you curled up in his arms.”
Groaning, I hid my face again, my embarrassment so strong it was overpowering my headache for the moment. “I’m so sorry. Dax wanted to murder me because I left school and drove to her place. Then for the rest of the night, she had to deal with me and sing that stupid song.”
Both of them laughed at that, and I couldn’t blame them. If you knew anything about my best friend, you’d know she wasn’t the best at the cuddly touchy-feely type stuff in our friendship. Although now that she had her harem of men, I’d seen a softer side coming out.
“Where is Ghost?” I asked, looking around for him.