Then come the slightly less pleasant part. The “Holy fuck. My head hurts,” followed by the “Shit, that’s right. I got hammered last night,” and last, but not least, the “Crap, I have to barf.” Zoey and I are currently experiencing the latest. Except my phase three comes with an epic dose of regret.
We’ve agreed: last night was a bad idea.
The shots, the drinking games?
Bad idea.
The hot-as-fuck make-out session in the bathroom with my brother’s best friend?
An even worse idea.
Zoey’s been bugging me about it since the moment we woke up—my bad for inviting her to spend the night. One thing is for sure: I am definitely not going to forget kissing William Martins on her watch.
“Are we ever going to talk about what the hell I saw last night?” she hounds me.
I nestle my head under my pillow, releasing a heavy sigh. How exactly do you go about answering a question you’re asking yourself? On one hand, Will said so much. On the other, he didn’t say squat. He didn’t once mention if he had feelings for me. Or what this kiss would mean.
Or did he?
Any event that occurred before he caged me against the bathroom counter and kissed the breath out of me is a bit of a blur. All I remember vividly are his hands all over my body, his lips on mine, the way he—
“Kass, for fuck’s sake, I’m dying over here.” Zoey pulls me out of a daze. “What was that?’
“Well, you see, a kiss consists of two people locking lips—”
“Shut up.” She laughs. “You know what I mean.”
I pry my head out from under my pillow. “I don’t know, okay? It just happened.”
“Bullshit. A guy like that doesn’t just walk up to a girl like you and makes out with her.”
I can’t help taking offence to her remark.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean that you’re… you. You’re a good, respectable girl, Kass. He wouldn’t have made a move like that without you giving him some sort of green light. You’re not like Callie, bless her soul.”
“Ouch.” I’m upset for her. “So much for being her friend?”
“Oh, no, I’m not being mean. She proudly calls herself a ho.”
Well, then.
“Hey, don’t change the subject. What’s up with you two?”
“I’m not sure… We’ve been texting a lot recently. Hanging out. I guess we sort of became friends.”
Zoey snorts. “Honey, friends don’t almost fuck on the bathroom counter.”
“It was just a kiss.” I flush. Last night was euphoric. It was the most alive I’ve felt in a long time.
“Please, he was this close to bending you over the counter and taking you right there.”
“Zo!” I scold her.
She sticks her hands up. “Nothing but the truth, baby.”
“Shouldn’t you be mad?” I realize. “You spent the whole night trying to match him with Callie.”
“Are you insane? Don’t get me wrong, I like Callie. But you’re my ride or die. If I’d known about this, I would’ve been Team Kass in a heartbeat.”
Zoey might be a handful sometimes, but then… she says things like this. Makes you feel supported, loved. And that’s why it’s so hard for me to believe Will’s claims about her throwing me under the bus if it came down to me or her. She has flaws—we all do—but she also has these redeeming qualities, and for that one, short moment, when the good side comes out, it’s so easy to forget all that she’s done.
“I feel bad for Callie. She had such high hopes, and he still ended up in that bathroom with me,” I admit.
“Meh, I wouldn’t worry about it. He was just her flavor of the week. She’ll have found herself a new plaything by Monday.”
I wish I could believe her, but Callie’s dreamy eyes as she talked about Will last night suggest she most likely won’t go down without a fight.
“What do you think it means?” Zoey rolls to her side, propping her chin into her palm as she stares at me curiously. “Are you two like dating now?”
“Hell if I know,” I say, only acknowledging my lie when the words trickle out of my mouth. Unless Will turned into Prince Charming overnight, I do know. “I’m guessing it was just a drunken kiss. Until he tells me otherwise, that’s how I’ll look at it.”
Zoey proceeds to catch me up on what happened after I went searching for Morgan, telling me that as soon as I left, Will pushed Callie away and stormed off. No explanation.
“Water.” Zoey groans mid-boy-talk. “I need water. My mouth feels like the fucking desert.”
Four complaints later, I decide to put her out of her misery and go grab us cold water bottles out of the fridge.
“Can you get painkillers, too?” She gives me the puppy eyes.
“Coming right up.”
“Thanks, you’re the beesssst,” she slurs.
She’s clearly still drunk, and if I’m being honest, I am, too. The difference is, she doesn’t have to be at work in two hours. I do. I need to sober up. Tiptoeing down the stairs not to wake Winter, I almost slip on water and grip the railing for balance.
Who the hell put water all over the stairs?
I think back to the party gossips Zoey dumped on us in the Uber. Something about Bianca whining that she couldn’t find Haze anywhere after he broke off their “special friends” relationship. He told her it wouldn’t be right to keep sleeping with her knowing that she has feelings for him.
I know, that was… awfully decent of him. He must’ve gotten punched in the head too hard at the last fight.
I also happen to know Winter disappeared not even an hour into the party. Coincidence? I think not. My guess is they left together. Still doesn’t explain the water, but it’s the best I’ve got. Man, I hope she didn’t do anything stupid.
Says the girl
