In His Bed (18+)

Chapter 6

CW: Emetophobia – In this chapter, there are two very hungover characters, and there is a non-graphic description of them throwing up.

As I stepped out of Faith's shower for the second time, I heard the sudden, frantic pounding on the door of someone in dire straits.

Rushing, I wrapped the towel around me and opened the door, stepping back just in time to avoid being trampled by Faith's desperate race to the toilet.

At the sound of her stomach emptying, I grimaced and looked away.

Out in the bedroom, Sierra appeared to be stirring. Based on the amount she'd drunk last night, she'd be following Faith's example momentarily.

Not wanting to have a front row seat to this particular duet, I grabbed my bag and walked out, setting it down on Faith's desk.

When I heard Sierra stand and make a mad dash for the bathroom, I waited until she left the room to drop my towel before the mirror and begin to dress.

As I pulled on my bra, I caught sight of one of the hickies Jason had given me. The bright red blemish adorned the underside of my left breast. I blushed, remembering some of the other places he had marked me last night.

Pulling on a turtleneck and a pair of jeans, I stuffed the silky nightgown down into the bottom of my bag. As I was running a brush through my hair, I noticed that the worst of the retching had stopped.

"You guys okay in there?"

"Yeah." Sierra's voice croaked distantly.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Water. Ice water." Faith demanded.

I closed my bag before heading downstairs to the kitchen.

The entire open-concept living space on the first floor was empty, a fact that did not surprise me. Jason had been pretty worn out when I'd left him a few hours before.

Smirking, I pulled out a couple of glasses and went to the refrigerator, dispensing ice and chilled water.

Upstairs I stepped into the bathroom to find it mercifully vomit-free. Faith sat next to the toilet while Sierra stood over the sink, furiously brushing her teeth.

"Here." I handed Faith her drink first, then Sierra.

Faith scowled at me. "How are you not hungover?"

"Oh, I am. I just woke up earlier - even had time to take a shower after." I pointed toward my still-damp hair.

"How?" Faith whined, "You drank more than we did."

I hadn't. It didn't take much to pretend to be drinking around people who were actually drinking.

Shrugging, I answered. "I think it's the Xanax. It's my prescription, so I've got more of a tolerance to it than you do."

Faith downed half of the water in one continuous gulp, followed by a loud belch.

"Ugh, God. What time is it?"

"Like ten?"

"Fuck. Is my dad up?"

I shook my head, "I didn't see him."

The last time that I had seen him, he'd been dozing on his bed as I'd been sneaking out.

"Okay. We need to get un-hungover before he wakes up."

"You guys get showered while I start on breakfast?"

Sierra gave me a thumbs up while Faith could only groan.

"Any more eggs?"

I nodded, picking up the frying pan and scraping the last of the contents out on Sierra's plate.

Faith nudged her remaining pancake with idle disinterest, looking like she was struggling to keep her breakfast down.

In the distance, I heard a door open and felt my spine tingle with anticipation. Faith straightened up and gulped down the rest of her orange juice.

Jason appeared at the end of the hall, hair wet from a recent shower, dressed in the grey sweatpants and white t-shirt he'd been wearing last night.

You mean, not wearing... 

I looked back down at my plate, fighting a grin.

"Morning, girls!"

"Morning, Dad." Faith called back, failing to match his energy.

Gosh, I wonder which one of them got laid last night... I sipped at my own juice, letting my eyes rake over his form.

"So, how was the movie?"

Movie? I felt confused for a moment, before remembering, Oh, our cover story.

Faith shrugged. "It was fine."

"Oh? What about the pizza place?"

"I -uh," she pressed a hand to her stomach, "I think it might have given me a little bit of food poisoning?"

"Really?" Walking up, he laid his hand against her forehead.

Faith put on her best, "helpless" face, "I just feel so queasy..."

"I guess that means you won't be helping me clean out the basement?"

Faith shook her head, "Dad, you really should just hire someone to do that."

I perked up. "Do what?"

Faith shot me a glare, but Jason answered me. "Just a chore we've been putting off for a while – some things that need to either be sold, donated or thrown away."

"Oh? I could help with that."

Faith and Jason paused and turned to stare at me, Faith looked like she was ready to take my head off, but Jason had a curious glint in his eyes.

I explained. "My mom and I do a lot of thrifting – we resell some of it online. I'd have to work around school and my job, but I could do it."

It would take a lot of afternoons and weekends, odd hours when Faith would be busy and Jason would be alone.

I watched him bite back a smirk.

Faith narrowed her eyes. "Okay, that's super sweet Hailey, but that stuff is left over from Mom and Dad's divorce, so it's kind of personal, y'know?"

"That's probably why it's taken you so long to go through it. You guys have memories attached to each item, so parting with them has to be pretty painful." I shrugged, "I don't have those attachments, so it'll be easier for me."

"Hailey-"

Jason interrupted his daughter. "She's got a point, Faith." Addressing me, he asked, "What would you want for payment?"

A sequence of wickedly erotic images ran through my mind, and as I looked at Jason, I felt like he could tell. "Um... how about two hundred dollars and ten percent of any profits?"

Faith glanced between us, "Dad, you can't-"

"One hundred," he countered.

"One-fifty."

"Done. When can you start?"

"Monday?"

"Dad!"

Jason turned to Faith. "Honey, you told me to hire someone." Back to me, he said, "I'll have a spare key ready for you."

I bit my lip. That wouldn't be the only thing he'd have ready for me.