New Love

Chapter 9: Emily

I was woken by the bright light streaming in through the window. I groaned and covered my eyes. My head was pounding. Parts of the last night flashed through my mind. Seeing Jay with Lucy, then Jell-o shots in the kitchen with him and singing karaoke with him. The last thing I vividly remember was throwing myself at Abe in an attempt to make him jealous when he made his way back to Lucy.

Abe. Shit.

I looked to the left to the boy asleep beside me. I pinched the bridge of my nose and slowly climbed out of bed, searching for my panties. I pushed aside the empty condom wrapper and snatched my phone. The time said it was 8:30. Way too damn early to be awake, but I needed to get out of this room and away from Abe to pull myself back together. I quickly dressed and quietly left my bedroom and the sleeping Abe.

I made my way to the kitchen. Empty solo cups, beer cans, and liquor bottles littered the counter. The trash overflowing. I sighed and started making a pot of coffee.

"Morning." Mia shuffled into the kitchen. "What a mess." She plopped down on one of the barstools and dropped her head into her hands.

I grabbed the Tylenol bottle and tipped two out in my hand laying them in front of her. Then slid her a glass of water.

"Take these." I shook out a couple pills for myself and popped them in my mouth.

"Thanks." She took the pills and sipped on the water as I prepared us both a cup of coffee. "Successful first party, I would say."

I snorted. "It didn't go quiet the way I had planned."

"Yeah, sorry about the Jay thing."

I shrugged. I knew I had bigger things to worry about.

"Morning." That big worry walked into the kitchen. He helped himself to a glass, opening the tap for water. I gritted my teeth and gripped the counter. I chanced a glance at Mia. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open as she looked from Abe to me. Abe finished his water, leaving the glass in the sink, then leaned over and kissed my cheek. I cringed.

"I have to go to rugby practice, but maybe I can see you later tonight?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "I think we need to talk about what happened last night."

He put his arm around my waist and whispered in my ear. "And maybe we can do it again."

I tilted my head away from him, avoiding the kiss he tried to give me.

"I'll see you later." I dismissed him. He smiled at me then waved to Mia before heading out the door.

"Oh my God!" Mia exclaimed. "What the hell? I thought you weren't into him."

I shook her head. "I'm not." I was pissed at myself for letting it happen.

"So did you too..." She make a gesture to emulate sex with her hands.

I laughed. "The evidence points to yes."

Mia slapped the counter. "What? You don't remember?"

"It's all a little hazy. I remember kissing him to make..." I trailed off as his booming voice came from down the hall.

"Fuck, Lucy." Jay stormed into the living room with Lucy right behind him. "How many times are we going to have this conversation?"

"Jason..." Lucy whined.

He held up his hand. "Not now, Lucy. I'm over this shit."

"Good morning, you two." Mia interrupted. I stood helplessly against the counter, pretending to sip my coffee. Instead, I couldn't take my eyes off him. He wore a black t-shirt today that fit him just right. He diverted his attention from Lucy. His eyes glazed over Mia and landed right on me. I knew I looked like a hot mess. I had sex hair and I'm pretty sure the shirt I had thrown on had stains on it. A girl sure knew how to make an impression.