21. Sloane
SLOANE
I’m not even fully awake when a pounding behind my eyes and a looming hangover have me craving water, painkillers, greasy food, and a dark room.
I groan, before putting a hand over my eyes, and I hear a deep, sexy chuckle in my ear.
My eyes flutter open as much as they can, and through tiny slits, I’m able to make out River staring at me with a sweet smile.
I wasn’t that intoxicated that I hadn’t remembered that I’d ended up here last night, and I had really sobered up, slightly, by the time we had sex, but it’s still a sight for sore eyes– literally, that I’m in bed with him.
We’d gotten under the covers after we had sex, so even though I’m still naked, I’m covered by the sheet and his blanket, thankfully, because it’s also freezing in here.
“Hey,” I whisper, because I don’t have the strength to speak at a louder decibel.
He flips over to grab something on his nightstand, and when he turns back around, he hands me two painkillers and a glass of ice water.
“Bless you,” I say before taking the medicine with a very long sip of water.
He nods toward the glass. “Drink some more. I should have made you drink water last night. I think I was just… overwhelmed by it all. It didn’t even register to consider your hangover this morning.”
“It’s not terrible.” Kind of a lie. I turn on my back and try to just focus on my breathing and not the nausea building within.
“What did you drink last night?”
“Everything. But mainly, a lot of vodka.” I turn my head to face him. “What time is it?”
“Almost nine.”
“Shit, it’s late.” I groan before putting a hand over my head as I think about trying to get home in this state.
“Do you want me to take you home?” he asks. If only it were that easy!
“Yeah, that’s a great idea.” I chuckle.
He starts to rub my shoulder gently. “I could drop you off down the street from your house.”
“Yes, but I actually live within the district. People from school live in my neighborhood.”
“Okay, fair,” he agrees. “I can call you an Uber,” he offers, and I love that he wants to take care of me.
I nod, because I don’t have the energy to even think about that right now even though I should probably make sure no one is wondering about my exact whereabouts.
“Where does your cousin think you are?”
“I think I said I went home. So she may have figured out I lied. Do you know where my phone is?”
“Charging behind you.” He nods to the other nightstand.
I reach for my phone, unplugging it, and I’m grateful to see it fully charged. “I did not bring a charger.”
“You did not. It’s mine. I didn’t want your phone to die.” Which I’ve let happen countless times when I’ve been drinking.
I immediately open my texts.
(12:38 a.m.) Mack:
Where’d you run off to?
(1:02 a.m.) Mack:
Damn, you left without saying bye?
(3:06 a.m.) Delaney:
I loveee you!
(3:08 a.m.) Delaney:
You’re not home!!! But I think you’re at Plane Guys house!! We will revisit tomorrow; I am too drunk to know for sure. Please still be alive in the morning.
(5:37 a.m.)
Mom: Thinking about you, darling! I miss you. I do not like you being so far away. Counting down till Christmas. FaceTime tomorrow?
I tear up at the last one. My mom and I have been keeping in touch, but I haven’t talked to her in a few days. Then, I wince, realizing I didn’t say goodbye to Mack, but I don’t feel like texting him back right now. I heart Delaney’s text before texting my mom that FaceTiming sounded good.
I toss my phone behind me, and I hear it land on the bed with a gentle thud before letting my eyes close again. “I should go, but your bed is comfortable, and it’s dark in here, and my hangover isn’t ready for bright lights.”
“Lucky for you, it’s raining,” he says before getting off the bed and opening his blackout curtains to reveal a dreary, dark day.
“Oh, thank God,” I say before he climbs back into bed. I see he’s put on his briefs. “You’re not still naked.”
He chuckles. “I didn’t want you to wake up and be uncomfortable if you didn’t remember anything…”
“I could be blackout drunk and still remember and be very happy after a night with your dick,” I say with my eyes closed.
“That’s good to know.”
I turn my head to his and give him a soft smile. “Where do we stand after last night?” I bite my bottom lip, preparing to lay all my cards down on the table once and for all. “I remember saying that I know this didn’t change anything, but… I guess I’m kind of hoping it does?”
“It definitely changed something. Thinking you were in trouble last night.” He rubs his thumb over his bottom lip.
“I didn’t like it. And I keep thinking what if you hadn’t called me?
What if you tried to get home alone and something happened, or you got in a car with someone who had been drinking, or stayed there and something happened… ”
“Hey, hey… you’re spiraling, and the room is already kind of spinning,” I joke.
I reach for one of his hands and gently squeeze it.
“I love that you’re worried about me, but please remember I grew up partying in Europe.
I’ve done the risky, how am I still alive behaviors on a whole different continent,” I joke.
“But I appreciate you looking out for me.”
“Someone has to.” I frown in response because I’m not sure what he means by that. “You told me you felt alone last night.”
“So what… this is all pity?” I try to sit up, but my head is starting to pound, and I need those painkillers to kick in like ten minutes ago.
He puts a hand on my chest and gently pushes me back down. “No. Not at all. I know you can take care of yourself. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to.”
His words feel like warm honey seeping into my bones, and I wish I was feeling less hungover so I could climb into his arms. “What should I do about Mack? Is it going to make you crazy to see me go to homecoming with him?”
“It’s not going to be my favorite thing to witness, but I want you to enjoy your senior year. You only have one year of high school, so I want you to experience everything. You told me last night that you told him you just wanted to go as friends.”
“I did tell him that. Also, based on his texts from last night, he might be mad at me and want to take the invitation back and take someone else.” Not that I would mind.
“He won’t. Mack isn’t like that.”
“I wish you could take me,” I tell him.
“Me too.”
I turn toward him to lie on my side and rest my cheek against my hands. “Are you worried about your niece knowing?”
“No… she’ll keep my secret for me.”
“So… we’re doing this?”
“We’re doing this.” He nods. “But we need some concrete ground rules.”
Having a secret boyfriend was hot.
Having a secret boyfriend that you saw every day and sometimes interacted with in mixed company was scary as hell and also hot as fuck.
One of the concrete rules was no messing around on school property. We had been good about it, but it had made us desperate for each other on the nights I snuck over.
Because having a secret boyfriend and keeping it from your best friend slash cousin you also lived with? Kind of impossible.
So I’d given Delaney some vague details that the guy from the plane and I were seeing each other again, so she wouldn’t be confused about where I was all the time. She was also spending a lot of time with Cole, so for now, she wasn’t on my case about too much.
Mack wasn’t mad about me leaving the party either, once I’d explained that I was very drunk.
He seemed to respect my boundaries, understood that I only wanted to be friends, and still wanted to go to homecoming together.
If he truly understood that I only wanted to be friends, then I was, too, because River was right.
I only had one chance to do all the high school things, and I wanted to do them right.
And unfortunately, I couldn’t do those things with River.
“Baby…” I hear River’s voice in my ear while I sit on his couch studying, and then I feel his lips on my neck and trailing down my shoulder. “You’re fucking your biology teacher. Why are you studying?” he asks before pulling the textbook from my lap and pulling me into his.
I didn’t stay over at his house every night, but this was one of the nights I did but it was also a school night, so I had some homework to do. My aunt and uncle were out of town all week, so I’ve been here a few times while Delaney has been having Cole over so she’s not alone.
“I should still know the information, River,” I respond sarcastically.
“Why? You think I’m not going to give you an A regardless?”
“Well, say this all goes to shit…” I put my hands up before he interjects. “Say it does, don’t you want to be able to prove that I actually know the material and you weren’t just giving me an A? That you weren’t just passing me when clearly the answers were wrong?”
“I could just be giving you answers to the test.”
“If I know the material, I won’t need you to do that.” I tap his nose. “I’m almost done, just give me a little.”
“You know, you’re already my favorite. You don’t need to be such a teacher’s pet.” He pulls me harder against his dick, and I grind down in response.
“Fuck off.” I chuckle before pressing my lips to his.