Page 20 of Forbidden Puck
Ella shook her head. “Nope. Tonight,yousleep in the sleeping bag, and I'll sleep in your bed.”
Lance dropped his shoulders in defeat. “Fine. Jesus. I'll sleep in the damn bag. It's not the end of the world.”
Ella stamped out of the room and locked herself up in Lance's room.
Holy hell.
“The Honey Badger has arrived,” Lance muttered to me.
“I think I understand the nickname a little better,” I muttered back.
“Hey man, I'm really sorry you had to put up with her. I lost track of time with Lindsay, and then I remembered I had to buy that sleeping bag … anyway, I hope Honey Badger didn't give you too much trouble.”
If only you knew how much trouble we almost got in.
“No, man, not at all.” I gulped. “Sorry I slipped up with her in the first place. I had no idea you didn't tell her that you wanted her to decorate.”
“Dude. Don't worry. If we didn't fight about this, we would've fought about something else. It was bound to happen.” Lance shook his head as he rolled out the new sleeping bag in the middle of the living room floor. “Right now, I'm kinda regretting inviting her out here, to be honest with you. Could've hiredanyinterior designer in Boston, any Joe Schmo who wouldn't make my life miserable. Man, if I start playing like shit because I'm sleeping on the fucking floor, I'm gonna be pissed at her.”
I slapped his back. “It'll be alright, bud. Just a few days.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He paused, looking suddenly serious. “Radar. Listen. Be careful around her. Whatever you do, don't get caught lying to her. Because God help you if you lie to her, or if shethinksyou've lied to her. She has an honesty policy and she's serious about it.”
I gulped. “I think—I think I'll just give you both a lot of space this week.”
He slapped my back. “Good man.”
Through the window, the lights from Boston's skyline dotted the night. I said goodnight to Lance, and thought about Ella as I walked past her room, Lance's words echoing in my head.
Be careful around her.
I knew I had to, but for entirely different reasons than Lance meant.
This girl could get me in trouble.
Chapter 7
Silly Revenge Fantasy
Ella
I woke up with the late-morning sun hot on my face and a thin layer of dew on my skin.
I blinked, trying to make sense of the lumpy mass that laid on the floor at the side of my bed. I blinked again and again until the blur in my vision began to clear, and at last I could make sense of what I was looking at: a pile of inside-out boxers and dirty socks; a pizza box full of half-eaten crusts and crumbs; several empty tubs of protein powder.
“Euch,” I mumbled, sitting up in the bed that clearly wasn't mine.
That's right. I'm not home, I'm in Boston, at Lance's.
Last night was a haze. I hadn't meant to get drunk, but I'd gotten wasted in a hurry. Flying always does that to me though, doesn't it? Come to think of it, I never ate dinner last night.
That's how I got drunk so fast.
My stomach, pissed at how I'd treated it last night, gurgled emptily and angrily at me.
And I'd had, what, three drinks? Yeah, because Radar poured me a glass of wine, then I had two more on the rooftop with Radar before we went back to the condo together—
Oh no.
