Turning to Stone (Heart of Stone: Book 2)

Chapter 6: Drunk

Chapter 6: Drunk

I rarely slept before midnight on Fridays. For the last few months, Mac and I had been nightclub-hopping around London, rolling into bed in the early hours of the morning. Yet it just so happened that the one Friday I turned in early was the one Friday where my phone wouldn't stop ringing.

Missed Calls: Aaron (8)

New Messages: Aaron (5)

Cancelling the latest notifications, I broke one of my longest-standing rules and switched my phone to silent. Since uni, I'd had a fear of missing a call from a friend in need during the middle of the night, so my mobile remained on vibrate even in bed.

As I reached to place the phone back onto my bedside table, the screen lit up again. Patience already thin, I answered.

"Will you knock it off?" I snapped at Aaron. "I told you to stop calling me. Go find some other girl to hassle."

"I'm with Ed." The words rushed out in a panic, and my initial irritation mellowed into concern.

"Is he okay?" I asked.

"Yes, he's fine. Just drunk—"

"Has he done something stupid? Illegal? Dangerous?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Then he's not my problem," I said. "Call Jeremy Evans if you need a hand. He's in charge tonight."

Just as I moved the phone away from my ear to cut him off, I heard Ed's very slurred voice in the background.

"Tell her favour. She then has to help. It's our thing."

For fuck's sake.

This was Mark's fault. If he hadn't undermined the power of the Favour Agreement earlier, Ed wouldn't be calling on it now for something so trivial.

"Sorry, Soph. He's not making any sense. Something about you owing him a favour?"

My spare hand clenching the covers, I pinched my eyes shut and counted to five. Ed hardly ever drank, so no doubt that had contributed to his current state of intoxication. Whatever the reason, I did not want to spend my Friday night babysitting him.

Unfortunately, though, I had no choice. He'd called Favour, and that was our agreement.

"Fine." I forced it out through gritted teeth and swung my legs over the side of the bed. "Can one of your guys give him a lift?"

"Yes, no problem. Thank you—"

I cut him off. If Aaron had blabbed to Ed out of spite for me ghosting him, I needed to pre-empt that conversation. Unless he was too drunk to remember it. But either way, he had to hear it from me first.

I slipped on a dress and jacket, then headed out through the front entrance so it looked like I was leaving for a night on the town. If I sneaked out in my pyjamas, it would be obvious what I was up to. Given that I'd already suffered through one interrogation today, I wanted to avoid another.

A black Range Rover pulled into the alley ten minutes later, and Ed was hauled out of the back by Aaron.

Fuck. It was worse than I thought: he could barely stand. With his eyes closed and legs like jelly, he slumped against Aaron—one arm slung over his friend's shoulder and the other dangling by his side.

"See why I needed help?" I didn't miss the hostile edge to Aaron's voice. "If you'd picked up earlier—"

"You've made your point," I said, holding open the side door. "Just help me get him into his room and I'll take over from there."