Page 103 of Mine Forever
Laid out on a sofa, there’s a blanket draped over me and I’m still in my clothes from the night before.
A large flat-screen TV takes up one wall, and the rest of the room is so tidy, it looks like it’s hardly ever used.
“I’d start with the water first.”
On the coffee table next to me is a cup of steaming coffee and a bottle of water.
I lean my head back to find Lucas sitting on the loveseat, the gray-and-white kitten now in his lap.
With a sigh and a surge of mortification setting in, I slowly sit up and swing my legs to the side.
Elbows on my knees, I hold my aching head in my hands for a moment before looking up at him.
“Thanks,” I say, reaching for the bottle of water.
It’s an effort I don’t have the energy for, but I manage to keep from chugging the bottle to relieve the foul-tasting ball of cotton that has grown in my mouth overnight.
From the corner of my eye, Lucas watches me, sipping his coffee, his eyes calm and understanding.
The little fur ball jumps over the blanket and picks her way across the sofa, plopping down next to me.
I run a hand over her soft fur, which makes her seem bigger than she is, and she tries to bite my fingers.
“Where did she come from?”
“I found the kittens this morning. They were stuck under some palm fronds in the yard.”
“By themselves?”
He nods. “There were three of them, and it looked like maybe mama left and didn’t get back.”
As if I need another thing to pull at my fucking heartstrings. “Where are the other two?”
“Odette took them. I’m just keeping her until Ifind her a home.”
“Good ol’ Odette.”
“Yep.” He pauses, watching me pet the cat and sip my coffee. “Better?”
“Yeah.” I run a hand through my disheveled hair. “How did I end up at your place?”
“Nate was going to take you to his, but Lucy was having a rough night and Charley needed help. So he brought you here.”
“Shit. I feel like I should apologize to you and Charley and Nate.”
“Al too. He said you’d been a real asshole.”
I sigh heavily and lean my head back. “Why didn’t you just take me home?”
“When you started talking a lot of nonsense, it made me nervous. Add to the fact that there was one point that you couldn’t stop throwing up for a while.”
I drop my head to my hand. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”
“Seriously, man. Don’t worry about it. Friends take care of friends. Even if they do accuse the other of wanting to sleep with his girl. And it seems like you could use a friend right now.”
I groan and cover my face. “Fuck, man. You should have punched my ass out.”
He shrugs a shoulder. “I thought about it, but it wasn’t worth the pain my hand would endure hitting your stubborn face.”
