Page 68 of Ice
I wondered where he even was now. He’d stopped turning up when I was small, after the last shouting match, and I didn’t even know what club he ran. Was it anything like Ice’s club? Was he anything like Reacher? I bet they saw a different side of him.
I had this weird yearning to try and find him, to see if he was really as bad as I thought he was. Or if, like Ice, he had a persona that others saw, but it wasn’t the real him.
“Lissa?”
Ice tilted my face up because I’d been staring at, well, nothing, and lost in my thoughts.
“I don’t want you to worry about any of this shit, okay? Did I scare you with the ‘old lady’ thing? It’s not something I’d force on you. I’m not like that. But Jesus… there’s this part of me that just wants to throw you over my shoulder, and take you back to my room, and lock us in there together.”
He rubbed at his eyes, and cursed.
“Is it okay if I go look for paracetamol in your kitchen?”
I nodded, watching him get up and head into the kitchen, his shoulders tensing slightly before he disappeared. Was his shoulder hurting him again? And if so, why wouldn’t he just tell me? Had we hurt it with our crazy behaviour last night? Did I struggle too much?
He sat back down, and dragged me against his side again.
“Right, so… what do you want to do with our day? Let’s pretend we’re on holiday together. What shall we do?”
I moved so I could see his face, reaching up to cup his cheek. It was warm, a little clammy, and his forehead was damp.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded, but suddenly that grin looked forced.
“Just fighting a headache. It’s fine, babe.”
“Not your shoulder?”
He shook his head. “I’m used to being careful. It’s nothing to worry about.” His hand trembled slightly as he reached up to cover mine, over his cheek.
“You’re suffering. How long have you been feeling withdrawal symptoms, Ice?”
He scowled, and looked at the ceiling as he tipped his head back.
“A few hours. It’s fine. I can handle it.”
“Ice, I don’t want you to ‘handle it’. I want you to tell me when you’re not feeling good. This is all part of the journey.”
“Yeah? Well,the journey fucking sucks ass.”
I fought a smile. “So I hear.”
Thirty-Two
Ihatedlyingtoher,but yeah, it hadn’t just been a few hours. I’d woken in the night with the headache, and didn’t want to disturb her, but it was getting worse, and the way I felt like I was vibrating from inside? Yeah, that was horrible. I think I missed some of this shit last time around. Maybe I shouldn’t have cursed them for making me sleep through it. I almost wished I could do that again this time.
“I’ll make us something to eat, maybe that’ll help.” Lissa pushed up from the sofa and started fussing around the kitchen, while I held a hand over my roiling stomach and wondered if the nausea would pass and let me eat. Jesus. No wonder people didn’t bother getting clean. It fucking sucked, and this was my fault. I was going through this again because I fucked up.Again.
I checked my phone when it pinged, noting that Has-Been had already been to the clinic and collected Lissa’s stuff, which he had left in my room for us like it was a done deal that she was coming back there with me, and maybe it was. Why weren’t we there yet? Oh right… no fucking wheels.
I thanked him, but the phone rang almost instantly and I groaned, but answered.
“Thanks, man.”
“So that bitch who runs the place? What a first class cunt.”
I raised my eyebrows, surprised to hear him use that word in relation to a woman. He was pretty respectful of them most times, well, until they posted his sex videos online. Shit. I should still be monitoring for those. I rubbed at my forehead as pain throbbed in time with my heartbeat.
