10. JJ Woodford
JJ WOODFORD
T he first rule of going to a party where you only know one person is to never get too drunk. I passed successfully and woke up this morning feeling fairly decent. Finn on the other hand texted me from his room saying he feels like dog shit.
I don’t really remember seeing him in a bad state last night, but that’s because most of my night was occupied by the girl with tan skin and brunette hair. Danielle, was it? No. Daisy, like the cow. I remember almost saying that to her last night—good thing I didn’t.
I knock on Finn’s door, and when he groans in response, I let myself in. “Rise and shine,” I say before ripping open his blinds to let in the sun.
He covers his face with a pillow. “You asshole.”
“Come on, the beer can’t have got you in this much of a state.”
“I need coffee and a large breakfast from the café,” he mumbles into his pillow pathetically.
I roll my eyes. “Since when have you been this dramatic?”
“I don’t know,” he grunts, and after a few moments, he pushes himself up from the bed, rests his back against the headboard, and rubs his eyes viciously. “Oh god. I feel sick.”
A stifled laugh escapes me as I cross my arms and lean on his dresser. “Still moping?”
He flips me off and manages to stand. “Fine. I’ll go get breakfast.”
“You will?” My brows rise in shock.
Finn nods and stabilises himself against the wall. “Let me find my car keys and I’ll go.”
“I’ll come with you.”
He waves a hand at me—signalling no. “I need the space. I need time not to be judged. Are you okay with that?”
“Fine,” I chuckle. “Go and bring me back a bacon sandwich with coffee and no sugar. Thanks.”
Finn doesn’t bother to shower before he pulls on his clothes and searches for his keys. Five minutes later, he leaves, slamming the door on the way out. I head downstairs and grab myself a glass of orange juice.
I stare down at my phone and my recent texts with my dad. My mother’s treatment has started, and the doctors will know soon if it’s working. I’ve been praying with everything I have that she pulls through, and this is a miracle for her, for all of us.
A family without my mum isn’t a family. It’s a gigantic blackhole.
Loud music begins to blare from upstairs, and it startles me. Then I remember—Ivy is probably home. I sip on my orange juice and try to ignore the sound as I read over my father’s last message, but become increasingly distracted when I hear an awful singing voice.
The sound of a door opens, and suddenly I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. She’s still singing, but almost at a whisper as if she’d used up all her energy.
Ivy’s foot touches the landing, and she glances up, her entire body tensing as she sees me. “What the hell are you doing here?” she demands, slightly out of breath. “I thought you left.”
“Finn went out to grab breakfast.” I laugh as I fold my arms over my chest. “Said I wasn’t allowed to go with him because I’d be a distraction.”
She snorts. “Probably because he’s throwing up down the side of the door.”
The corners of my lips tilt upwards. “Nice singing by the way,” I say without hiding my amusement. “Those high notes were Grammy worthy.”
Ivy’s eyes burn before they narrow at me. She turns and heads back upstairs, but not before I hear her mutter, “Asshole,” under her breath and I chuckle.
I make my way to the living room just in time for Finn to walk through the front door. He looks worse than when he left, his skin almost grey and his eyes dark and heavy.
“You good?” I quirk a brow.
“No,” he declares. “Some lady tried cutting me off at a junction and then ended up my ass the whole journey back. Almost crashed.”
I exhale a breath through my nose. “Typical. Did you get the goods?”
Finn holds up a coffee and a takeaway bag. “I drank mine on the way back. It was either that or vomit everywhere.”
I shake my head at his dramatics as he passes me my coffee and then throws me the bag with my sandwich inside.
“What are we gonna do today?”
“Lay as low as possible,” he groans before catapulting himself onto the sofa. “But if you want to do something, feel free. I’ve got a date with this lovely cushion and the football.”
My brows hit my hairline. “Really?”
“I have games to catch up on.”
“Funny, I thought you were over football after you ditched the team last term.”
Finn narrows his eyes at me. “I had to. I was falling behind in class.”
“Oh…” I trail off. “Not because of Maya?—”
“Do not bring up her name,” Finn warns me. “I beg.”
I raise my hands in defence. “If only you’d talk to me about what happened.”
If there’s one thing I know about Finn, he keeps his cards close to his chest.
He practically fell in love with Maya the moment he laid eyes on her in second year, and now? I have no idea what happened between them because he won’t open up to me.
I’d never push him, but it frustrates me to see him suffer.
“Nothing happened,” he grumbles before reaching for the TV remote. “Now shut up and watch the game.”
“Fine,” I huff. “Whatever.”
We get through twenty minutes of the first game when I hear footsteps echo down the stairs. I twist my head to see Ivy strolling past. She doesn’t glance my way as she reaches the front door.
“Bye,” she says quietly.
“Bye,” Finn groans into his pillow like a sloth.
My phone vibrates beside me and I glance at it.
Unknown Number:
Hey, it’s Daisy. It was so cool to meet you last night. I was wondering if you’d want to meet up another time, alone. Just us two. It would be nice to get to know each other.
I clear my throat and glance at Finn. “You know much about Daisy? She was at the party last night.”
“You mean that smoking hot brunette, Victoria’s Secret model lookalike?” He manages to pick his head up from the pillow an inch to look at me.
“Uh, yeah. I guess that’s her.” I give him a bemused look.
Thinking back to last night, there was a lot going on and new people to meet. From what I can remember, she was pretty with the dark, alluring, mysterious vibe going on that most guys would find sexy.
Finn snorts to himself and turns back to the screen. “She’s Ivy’s best friend. Total man-eater.”
Ivy’s best friend.
Well shit. I wasn’t expecting that. Does she know we hooked up?
“Why?” Finn mutters.
“She just texted me asking to hang out.”
His mouth hangs open now, and I have his attention. Then by some miracle, he pushes himself up from the sofa. “She texted you?”
I nod once.
“Fuck, you have to text her back. She is hot.”
“Sounds like you might have something for her,” I state suspiciously.
Finn scoffs. “She’s Ivy’s best friend, man. That would be fucking weird.”
Right. Of course. Just like how Ivy and I would probably be weird, but the damage has already been done.
He settles back into the sofa. “You should text her back.”
My eyes are glued to my phone, gazing over the words again. I mean, yeah, she’s cute, but something inside me isn’t pushing to reply.
Any guy would jump at the chance of going out with her given her confidence, but I’m not interested. I only gave her my number because I didn’t want to seem rude. She’s a nice girl, but I like a little more chase.
I lock my phone without replying and focus on the football instead.