Page 32 of The Weight Of It All
“Well, a few things… Thor, kale, and why gay men should eat pineapple.”
Anika blinked, and a slow-spreading smile covered her face. “Are you and him…?”
“What? No! I told you before, he’s so far out of my league it’s ridiculous. And I’m not ready for that!”
She waved my phone in my face. “An hour and twelve minute phone call tells me otherwise.”
I let out a long-suffering sigh, picked up my shot of schnapps, and downed it. Then, to prove my point, I picked up Anika’s shot glass and downed it too.
And that pretty much sums up how my night went.
Seven
My phone beeped,waking me up. I didn’t recall downloading an exploding jackhammer as my message sound, but it boomed in my head. I cracked one eye open and regretted it immediately. The blinding sunlight pierced my brain, spawning a thousand fire ants inside my skull.
Good. Fucking. Lord.
The thought of butterscotch schnapps made my stomach roll. And peach, and strawberry, and some glow in the dark glacier type of schnapps. Fucking hell.
I reached blindly for my phone hoping the message that woke me was from Anika and she was as sick as me, but when I could finally peel my eyelids open and focus on the screen, I saw it was Reed.
Did you survive?
My mouth felt like I’d licked the pavement the whole way home. Nausea bubbled in my stomach, and the fire ants were still partying in my head.
My replies were sent in separate, fragmented messages.
No.
Because schnapps.
Anika’s fault.
#PrayForHenry
His reply was immediate.
HAHAHA
Not funny. Dying.
Did you want to go shopping for new gym clothes?
Today?
Yes.
But I’m dying.
That bad, huh?
Spectacularly.
No worries.
Even hung-over I could tell he sounded disappointed.
Tomorrow? If I can manage being upright, I’ll make you a citrus tart tonight.
