Page 55 of The Heartbreakers
“Finally,” he complained when he spotted us. “Can you guys help me? I’ve had to go to the bathroom for like an hour.” He was sitting on a chair, and someone had duct-taped him to it. It must have taken a whole roll of tape, because his entire shirt was hidden underneath the gray.
Oliver was on his hands and knees laughing so hard that he was crying. “Best. Party. Ever,” he managed to get out between laughs.
“Shut up, Harry Perry,” Xander said. “I’m seriously going to pee on myself.”
I rushed to Xander’s side to help him, but before I could peel back a single strip of tape, the front door slammed open, and the entire penthouse shook. A beer bottle toppled off the bar and shattered on the floor. The clicking of heels filled the now-silent suite, and we all stared as a very angry-looking Courtney stormed into the room.
“Oh shit,” Xander said.
A cheerful whistle filled the air. “Morning, guys,” Alec said as he strolled into the living room. He looked freshly showered and dressed for the day, not like he’d partied all night long. When he spotted Courtney, he spun back around, attempting to escape before she noticed him.
“Don’t you dare move a foot, Alec,” Courtney hissed. “You boys were supposed to be down in the lobby half an hour ago. What the hell is going on here?”
“Well, we had a party,” Xander started to explain.
“Clearly,” she said, her impatience obvious.
“It wasn’t supposed to be a big one,” Oliver said, “but then—”
“Honestly, what’s gotten into you boys lately?” Courtney said, cutting him off. She shook her head a moment later. “Never mind. I don’t think I want to hear the answer to that question. Someone go find JJ right now. You four have ten minutes to meet me downstairs.” Then Courtney was gone, the door slamming behind her.
“Oh my God,” I said, slumping down onto the couch. “This is all my fault, isn’t it? I’m so sorry, you guys.” At first nobody said anything, but then Alec started laughing. When Oliver and Xander joined in, my mouth fell open. “What? Guys, this isn’t funny!”
“This is not your fault,” Oliver said between laughs. “Don’t apologize.”
“But you threw a party for me, and now Courtney’s pissed.”
Alec shrugged. “You know what? I’m glad.”
I gaped at him. “What? Why?”
Oliver nodded. “Me too. When was the last time we did something that pissed her off this much?” he asked, as if making Courtney angry was some kind of accomplishment he’d been missing out on.
“I can’t remember,” Alec answered. The boys considered this for a moment before grinning at each other like dorks.
“You’re all psycho,” I said, shaking my head. “Completely psycho.”
“Hey, guys?” Xander said then. “I still have to pee.”
Chapter 15
It took nine of Courtney’s allotted ten minutes to get the duct tape off Xander. Then the boys freshened up and were out the door in another five. I had no idea what their schedule was for the day or when they’d be back, but I didn’t care because my plan was to sleep for the next twenty-four hours.
That didn’t work out so well.
As soon as I lay down, I started thinking about this morning and waking up with Oliver. Thinking turned into worrying, and soon I was in full-out panic mode. Exactly what had happened between us? I prayed it was nothing. Maybe we were both so drunk that we accidentally passed out in the same bed. Maybe. But the evil part of my mind jumped to the worst possible explanation—what if I’d thrown myself at him?
Unable to sleep, I tried watching a movie, but nothing could distract me from my thoughts. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I went back to the boys’ suite to see if they’d returned. Nobody was there, but I decided to stick around because I knew Oliver and I had to talk. I spent the next hour practicing what I was going to say. The minute he walked through the door, I was going to march over to him and tell him that whatever happened last night was an accident, which was definitely the tequila’s fault, and that it would never happen again.
“Ugh, this is ridiculous,” I exclaimed and pulled at my hair.
Shaking my head, I sunk down on the couch. The more I rehearsed my speech, the more I thought talking to Oliver wasn’t such a good idea after all. Most of the party had come back to me in throbbing, colorful flashes, but there was still a blank when I tried to picture the events surrounding him.
I could always ask Xander or Alec to tell me the details, but they were still gone doing band stuff. Maybe things would be a lot less frustrating if I just asked Oliver straight out what went down and stopped being so embarrassed. I could do that, right? After all, we were just friends.
As if on cue, the hotel door slammed open and Oliver appeared carrying three large grocery bags. Trying to carry was a better description. One of the brown paper bags was ripping, and he was struggling to get the load to the kitchen without losing anything. I shot out of my seat and rushed over to help him.
“Thanks, Stella,” he said when I relieved him of one of the bags. We set everything down on the counter next to the sink, and an onion, a jalapeño, and a can of tomato paste came spilling out.
