Page 35 of Finding Hayes
“Oh, God,” she said, as she jumped to her feet before sprinting around the couch toward the bathroom. “I’m going to be sick.”
I made my way down the hall and heard her heaving. I pushed the door open and stood there as she hung her head over the toilet. I waited for her to finish vomiting before reaching around her body and unzipping her coat and carefully slipping it off her shoulders.
She groaned, and I moved to the sink and turned on the water, wetting a washcloth and wringing it out. I handed it to her and flushed the toilet before helping her sit back so that her back was pressed against the wall. “Sorry about that. I’m not used to drinking so much.”
I sat beside her. “So, how about you tell me why you drank so much, then?”
“Since when do you ask so many questions?” She wiped her mouth and forehead with the damp cloth.
She was right. I wasn’t usually this inquisitive because I didn’t normally give a shit.
But I gave a shit about Savannah.
“Since when are you someone who deflects every question that’s asked?”
“Fine. I’m fake marrying a man I have worked hard to hate for a very long time, and I’m lying to everyone in my life about it. And it’s all so that I can help my father who is dying before my eyes. And let’s not forget that I just had to say goodbye to Abe, a man who was like a grandfather to me, who also left me the money to help my father, but with all these crazy conditions. That’s reason enough to drink tequila, isn’t it?”
I chuckled. “I’ve known you a long time, Sav. Fake marrying a man you’ve worked hard to hate is not the craziest thing you’ve ever done.”
“That’s your answer? That I’ve done worse than being deceptive to everyone I know?”
“Just saying. I’m the only living witness who knows it was you who pulled that fire alarm our freshman year in high school.”
“You are such an asshole for bringing that up,” she groaned. “I did that for you.”
“I know you did.”
I still remembered it like it was yesterday. I’d had a late night because my fucked-up stepfather, Barry, had come home drunk and was breaking furniture and going crazy. I’d had a chemistry test that morning and knew I’d fail since I hadn’t studied the night before because I was dealing with family drama, per usual. And if I failed that class, I’d be yanked from the football team because Coach did not mess around. I’d thought it would cost me my future. But it turned out that football wasn’t my future anyway.
“And you didn’t end up taking that football scholarship, did you?” she asked, but she made it clear she already knew the answer.
“I did not. But that’s not the point.”
“What’s the point?” she asked, her voice sleepy now as she fell against my shoulder.
“The point is, as a firefighter, I could have you arrested, knowing what you did,” I said over my laughter. “A fake marriage is nothing for a hardcore criminal like you.”
She laughed, her eyes were closed now, and she whispered four little words that I hadn’t expected to hear from her.
“I missed you, Hayes.”
I miss you, too, Shortcake.
ten
. . .
Savannah
Sunlight flooded the room,and I tried to lick my lips, but it appeared my tongue was superglued to the roof of my mouth. It felt like someone was banging their drums inside my head, and I covered my eyes with my hands and rubbed them several times before attempting to open them.
After I blinked a few times, I sat forward.
Where the hell am I?
Tequila. Puking. Hayes.
“Oh, God,” I groaned.
