Page 44 of Drown Like Heaven
As I leaned my head up, I could see Mason was sitting in the front seat, messing around on his phone or something. When did he move?
“What time is it?” I asked, my voice mumbling.
If he was surprised by me regaining consciousness, he didn’t show it.
“Like eleven-thirty.”
I shot upwards, my eyes suddenly wide open and my heart racing. “What? I told you I didn’t want to fall asleep. Why would you let me sleep that long?”Howdid I sleep that long? I knew I hadn’t been sleeping well at night recently, but…shit.
“You seemed tired,” he said as I climbed over the center console, maneuvering my way up into the passenger seat, trying not to step on anything with my boots. I dropped my ass in the seat, my pulse pounding loud in my ears and my hands shaking a little bit. My bag was still sitting on the floorboards, zipped-up and hopefully untouched.
My stomach growled, reminding me just how hungry I was, and I knew there wasn’t much waiting for me at home.
“Well, don’t do that. I need to be home,” I said, nervous and regretful.
I need to be home.
Quickly, I began to realize just how many problems I’d just caused myself by falling asleep for such a long time. One of the biggest being that the bus didn’t run this late—not the one that went near my home, anyway—and I didn’t want Mason to know where I lived. So he couldn’t drive me there.
Maybe I could afford to order a ride? I clumsily grabbed my phone out of my purse and tried to power it on.
Dead.
What the actual fuck.
“Do you have a phone charger?” I asked, brushing my hair out of my face and trying to breathe. Mason was so calm, sitting next to me. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. I hated the feeling of waking up like this, disoriented and panicked, trembling, sweat cooling on my back. “Or any water?”
Without waiting for him to answer, I jammed my finger on the button to roll the window down, welcoming the rush of cold air in my lungs. I needed more oxygen. Instantly, a shiver moved through my shoulders and down my spine. I tucked my arms against myself, keeping my sweater sleeves over my hands.
It was so dark over the ocean. Dark and vast and unknown.
A smattering of stars was scattered across the sky over the water, and I could see them better the longer I looked, as my eyes adjusted.
There was a flicker of lightning, so far off in the distance that I didn’t hear any thunder. Maybe the storm would roll in tonight while I slept—God willing, in my own bed.
The panic of how I’d woken up kept building up inside of me, like something terrible lurking behind my back, growing bigger and bigger, encroaching on my attempts at processing the situation.Why did I do this? What am I supposed to do now?
Breathe.
I turned my head to look back at Mason, anxiety still winding its way through me.
“Do you?” I asked again about the charger, getting impatient.
“I do. But it won’t fit your phone.”
“You have an iPhone?” I was literally looking at it in his hands, so I knew he did.
“It’s newer than yours. USB-C, not lightning.” He reached into the center console and pulled out a cord, showing me the end of it like I was stupid. I knew the difference between USB-C and a lightning cable, I just…hadn’t been thinking about it. My thoughts were a mess.
“Okay. Well.”
I didn’t know what to say. I had no way of getting home with my phone dead.
The corner of my mouth twitched like I was about to cry. I dug my nails into my palms, blinking back the pressure behind my eyes.
Briefly, I considered asking Mason to drive me to the gas station, because I knew it’d still be open. Elliot would probably be the one working, since he usually did the night shift. He wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but I just needed to buya charger, which wouldn’t take me that long. He might not even recognize me. I wasn’t sure.
Did I have enough cash on me for a phone charger? Yes. Did I want to spend it on that? Absolutely not. There was a possibility Eric had an extra one in the back office, though…
