⸻ TWENTY-SEVEN ⸻

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I. Am. In. Pain.

My eyelids are heavy, and the room is painfully bright. I stretch my limbs, groaning at the ache running through them. The fuck...? Did I go under a bus? My head's killing me, and my muscles are sore. What's happening?

Oh shit. I got drunk. So drunk. We stayed at the bar until they basically threw us out. I vaguely remember a heated debate about Star Wars versus Star Trek, ending with Joseph and Brian making everyone in the bar vote for the best franchise.

I try to move again with a grunt. Shit... Twenty-six is too young to be this wrecked by a hangover. I roll over in search of my phone and freeze.

This isn't my room.

What the hell?

Two keycards are on the nightstand by my phone, and then I remember. I went to my room, changed my mind, and went to room 504. As I take my phone, I suddenly recall something else.

Oh fuck. Oh, no. I sent texts. Booty call texts.

Utterly mortified, I summon the courage to read what I sent to Lex.

Goinh to the.secrt room 🍆💦👅🍑
👌👉
Wait no
👉👌
^that one

With my face buried in the pillow, I let out a scream of frustration. Drunk Andy is a fucking idiot. I'm never touching alcohol ever again. I can't tell what's worse. The ridiculous emojis, or how he left me on Read. But even I want to ghost myself, so I can't exactly blame him. I'm so pissed that my pounding headache becomes irrelevant. Holy shit, I hate myself.

How the hell do I keep putting myself in those situations?

I roll on my back to stare at the fixture above me. How am I supposed to face him after this? I simply cannot. I need to be on the next flight to Peru.

With a tearless sob, I drag my ass out of the bed to take an ibuprofen tablet from my bag. "What the—"

It's filled to the brink with loose peanuts. My face is frozen in confusion as I stare at the weird content for a moment. Last night was really wild, wasn't it? I shuffle through them to find what I need and then head to the bathroom for a glass of water.

Then, I sneakily make my way back to my room, praying to God I won't encounter one of the guys. Thankfully, I don't, which allows me to relax a little. I proceed to get ready as fast as my incapacitated state allows. Since I can't find it, I suspect that Lex took off with the underwear I threw at him yesterday, and I don't know what to make of it.

When I arrive at the breakfast room, I instantly spot my colleagues, thanks to Oliver's red hair. Once closer, I see Brian and Steven are the only ones missing. I fill a plate with whatever feels edible—so not much—and sit in one of the empty chairs with the group.

"Hey, guys," I say, avoiding Lex's gaze at all costs. They greet me back as I take a bite of my English scone.

"So, last night was pretty wild, eh?" Oliver says to me. Why me in particular, though? He guesses my confusion and chuckles. "How much of it do you remember?"

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