Page 73 of Shame Me
“Sorry. Just forgot.” Or had he had more to drink earlier in the day when we hadn’t been watching? In my own heart, I knew it to be true.
But Cy’s patience seemed to be thin, reminding me of how he’d been when I’d first met him. “Who has the two of clubs?”
Glancing at my cards, I noticed that it was me. “Sorry.” I took it out of my hand and laid it on the floor. Meanwhile, Zack started pouring himself another drink.
In case he’d already forgotten about me, I picked up my cup and held it out, laying my arm over his thigh. “You sure?” he asked.
“Yeah. Fill ‘er up.”
Seeing Cy and Braden exchange a glance pissed me off, but I wasn’t going to acknowledge it. Having a fight with them would only undermine what I was trying to do here. And I downed it when Zack did.
It wasn’t long before I was feeling the effects, even with a full belly of food.
But it worked. Zack stopped drinking. Was it because he didn’t want his alcohol gone too quickly? Or was he worried about my foolishness?
Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember much of anything else after another round of cards—but I woke up around five in the morning with a dry mouth and the need to pee. I got out of bed, still fully clothed but without my sneakers, and my head pounded like someone was taking a jackhammer to it.
Did Zack have to deal with this feeling all the time?
Holding my head, I went to the bathroom. After peeing, I washed my hands and then cupped them, sipping water to quench my thirst. As I headed back to bed, I felt a wave of nauseaand ran back to the bathroom, barely making it in time to get to the toilet.
When I crawled back into bed, Zack draped an arm over my waist. “You okay?”
“Never better.”
Honestly, though, it took me several hours to go back to sleep, because my mouth was uncomfortably dry—and every time I’d try to quench my thirst, I’d wind up puking. I finally laid in the other bed so I wouldn’t wreck Zack’s sleep too. It was then, as I lay alone watching the edges of the curtain turn light, giving away that day was breaking, that I questioned what I’d done. Zack hadn’t learned anything watching me imitate his behavior—but it was a stupid move on my part. I felt ill, almost like I had food poisoning.
Then I guessed in a way I did. My body was rejecting what I’d consumed the day before.
Later that morning, I finally managed to fall asleep again and, after what felt like nothing more than a few minutes, Zack was rubbing my shoulder, saying my name to wake me up.
When I opened my eyes, it felt like I was only a few feet away from the sun—not because of heat but because of the intensity of the sun’s rays. My first instinct was to cover the top of my face by draping my arm over it. “Hey, babe. It’s time to check out.”
“Just give me a minute.”
“Don’t forget we have that interview.”
Squeezing my eyes shut even more, I tried to concentrate. Zack’s words made sense, but I was having to search hard in my brain for the information. And then I remembered—a reporter from the online hard rock and metal magazineFerocitywas going to be interviewing us over Zoom, and Mick had talked the hotel manager into letting us use their tiny business center and not allowing anyone else in for fifteen to twenty minutes for an extra fifty bucks. We could have done it for free, but this waythey would put a note on the door that other guests couldn’t use it till we were done.
Still, I wasn’t ready. “I’ll be there soon.”
His voice sounded unsure. “Okay…”
I had the best of intentions—but after the door to the hallway clicked closed, I drifted back to sleep. It wasn’t until my cell phone started screaming at me that I finally sat up.
Ugh.Another wave of nausea washed over me but, far worse, my head was pounding.Great idea last night, Dani.
The call was from Mick, but I was going to get in the first words. “I’m sorry. I’ll be right there.”
“I’m checking you out of your room now, so hurry up and get the hell out of there and then meet us in the business center on the first floor.”
I let out a slow breath and then headed to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. My hand was shaking as I glanced at my phone—several text messages from each of the guys and the time was after eleven.
Jesus. I’d really fucked this up.
What time had Zack left the room? It had only felt like a few minutes had passed, but he had probably met the guys for breakfast before checking out.
After taking a big gulp of water, I jumped in the shower—and I almost threw up again, but I forced it down. I was going to have to take small sips from here on out. I didn’t bother washing my hair, but after I’d soaped and rinsed my body, I got out and toweled off, looking at the time again.
