Page 78 of Irish King

“Believe it or not, I’m thinking law. Can you imagine me as some hotshot lawyer like you?”

“Easily. And you’ve got the brains for it for sure.” I leaned in, giving her a sly smile. “But speaking of Trevor…”

She pursed her lips, but I could tell she was just as excited about that particular topic.

“Well, we both agreed to take care of the college thing before we had any big conversations on what was going to happen next. But… it’s looking like we’re going to move in together!”

That got another squeal out of me, the two of us going in for a tight hug. As we embraced, however, the nausea that had been bothering me returned with a vengeance. I stepped back, blinking hard and trying to work through the dizziness.

“It’s happening again,” Kat said. “Claire, you seriously need to go to the doctor for this.”

“It’s fine. Just nerves. Once this thing with Connor is over…”

Kat regarded me with suspicion, and I could tell that my answer wasn’t good enough for her.

“Please just promise me that you will be extra cautious where Connor is concerned. You know that I was shocked when you first told me what was going on between the two of you and it took me a minute to digest and accept it. But as I told you he had actually tried to help me throughout that horrific ordeal. He was the only one of those goons that showed me kindness.” I gave her a weak smile feeling a pang of guilt and love at the same time hit my heart. Kat had taken the news about me and Connor surprisingly well, stating that she sensed he had a good soul, despite everything.

I told her about his decision to leave that life behind, passing the torch to his brother, Kellan. She regarded me skeptically at first, then smiled.

“Well, I am very happy to hear that. But I’d be lying if I said I won’t continue to worry,” she said.

I raised my glass. “Just need some of this to calm myself down.”

Kat, the expression of concern still on her face, lifted her glass.

“Alright. We’ll drink to our futures?”

“Sounds good to me.”

We tapped rims, and I brought the glass of wine to my lips for a quick sip. The smell of it hit me hard, like the most disgusting thing imaginable. It was so gross, in fact, that I couldn’t even take a sip. My stomach went into revulsions, and I knew that I was going to need to get to the bathroom as quickly as I could.

I slammed my glass onto the counter and rushed down the hall, bursting into the bathroom with such speed that I didn’t even think to shut the door. Once there, I dropped to my knees in front of the toilet and lost the entire contents of my stomach, the little bit of food I’d managed to get down that day ending up in the basin in front of me.

“Oh my God,” Kat’s worried voice called from behind me.

The worst was over. I coughed a few times before reaching up and flushing it all down with a pull of the handle.

I pushed myself up, Kat hurrying over to help me.

“I’m fine,” I said.

“You’re not fine. Something’s wrong.”

I heaved myself up the rest of the way into a full standing position.

“I feel better already. It’s fine.”

Kat said nothing, watching me as I stepped over to the counter and found my toothbrush.

“Let me ask you something,” Kat said. “When you and Connor are, you know…”

I chuckled as I prepared to brush. “We’re adults here, Kat. You can sayhaving sex.”

Kat laughed. “OK. When you guys have sex, what kind of protection do you use?”

“I’m on the pill.”

“The pill, huh?” she asked. “You mean that pill container that you haven’t touched since I’ve been here?”

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