Unfamiliar (13 page)

I didn’t know a damn thing about Hailey and her guy, but I knew enough to know that the fact her boyfriend had said that to her meant that he wasn’t willing to let Hailey change or try new things. It was like he was afraid to let her grow; afraid that she might grow away from him.

And, so what if she did? She deserved better than that asshole telling her that she wasn’t his Hailey anymore.

Okay, and what about what I’d said? In that moment, when emotions were so high, I’d told Hailey that she was beautiful. Which wasn’t a lie at all. She was beautiful, whether she dressed like a librarian or the way she dressed now. It didn’t matter to me. Hailey had always been beautiful

But was that inappropriate for me to say? I mean, I wasn’t her boyfriend—should I be saying things like that to her? It had felt right at the time, especially when her own boyfriend wasn’t saying those things to her. But maybe it was wrong of me to say that and try to get too close to her.

The drive back to my apartment was a quiet one.

There were a million thoughts running through my head, and Hailey seemed distracted so I didn’t want to say anything to upset her further. I always seemed to end up rubbing her the wrong way without meaning to.

It was just that I always said the first thing that came into my head and sometimes people took that the wrong way. At least you could count on me to be honest and not sugarcoat things.

Once we got to the apartment, Hailey remained silent as she followed me up two flights of stairs. There was no way to know what she was thinking, but as she stared around at the dismal surroundings, it wasn’t too hard to guess.

She probably thought the building was old and shitty. Well, she was in for a real treat once she saw the inside of our apartment.

When I opened up the door, Hailey still didn’t say anything, but I noticed her eyes dart around the room as she took in our humble abode. ‘Humble abode’ was code for ‘crappy dump’. I’m sure she was probably used to something entirely different growing up, judging from the stuck up attitude she had going on sometimes.

I assumed she had wealthy parents who spoiled her and gave her everything she wanted. Sure, my parents were wealthy too, but I didn’t play into all that bullshit. I was fine acting like a poor bum, even though I knew my parents could buy me a brand new apartment if I only did what they wanted me to.

Well, fuck that. I didn’t do things to please other people.

“It’s not much,” I said, leading her inside and shutting the door behind us.

“It’s fine, really.”

I could see she was trying hard not to be rude, which was a nice change for her. Maybe she’d decided to give me a pass since I was being nicer to her for a change. Hey, I wasn’t that bad, was I? Hailey wouldn’t have come home with me if I was a complete jerk.

“Do you want a drink?” I asked, as Hadie awkwardly sat down on the edge of our ratty couch.

“A glass of water, please.”

Complying with her request, I got her a glass of water and then made a whiskey and Sprite for myself. I walked back over to the couch, handed Hailey her glass, and then decided to sit on the couch across from her.

“So, how long have you and Jonathan been living together?”

Great. We were going to make awkward small talk.

I took a gulp of my drink before answering. “Since we were eighteen. We’ve been friends since we were kids.”

“Oh.” Her eyes fell on my drink. “What’s that?”

“Whiskey and Sprite. Do you want one?”

Hailey hesitated before nodding slowly. “I’ve never had whiskey before. Drinking’s never really been my thing, but apparently I’m a different person than I was before because I cut my hair so maybe this new Hailey likes whiskey.”

Yeah, I doubted that but I wasn’t going to tell her no. It wasn’t my place to tell her how to live her life.

An hour—and three drinks—later, Hailey was more than a little tipsy. She was definitely a lightweight and probably should’ve stopped at her first. I’d had several whiskey and Sprites myself, and was now starting to feel the effects of it.

It was funny how much of a change a little alcohol could make—Hailey and I were sitting on the same couch now, knees pressed together, laughing about the first time we’d met in class.

“I really didn’t want to talk to you. You terrified me,” she was saying, her eyes bright and her cheeks flushed. “I was worried you would steal my lunch money or something worse.”

“I was worried you would put me in detention.”

“In detention? What do you mean?”

“Well,” I said, feeling a smile tug on the corner of my mouth, “you kinda dressed like a librarian.”

Hailey’s eyes widened and for a second I thought I’d offended her. But then she started laughing. “Tessa said the same thing! I guess I kind of did dress a little too old for my age, huh?”

“You’re actually fun to hang out with, surprisingly,” I told her, downing the rest of my drink. I wasn’t sure what glass I was on. Sixth? Seventh? It was easy to lose count. “So how come you never drank much before?”

Hailey heaved a sigh and I could tell that whatever she was about to tell me was a big deal. “My dad’s kinda got a drinking problem so the stuff never really appealed to me. Plus Braxton never drank so I think he wouldn’t like it if I did.”

Wow. That was heavy.

“That’s rough. So you’re not some spoilt, rich kid, huh?”

Hailey shrugged and absently took a sip of her drink. “I guess not.”

“I kinda am.” I let out a nervous laugh.

“You’re a rich kid?” Hailey raised her eyebrows in surprise. “But you live so...frugally.”

I laughed at her attempt to sugarcoat my hobo style of living. “My parents aren’t supportive of my music or what I want to do in life so I don’t have a great relationship with them. They’ve never been to any of my shows.. I’ve basically rejected their offer of financial help and they don’t really want to support me anyway; not until I’m doing something more practical with my life, like studying for a Law degree.”

“Wow. I don’t think I could ever picture you as a lawyer. Then again, you are stubborn and like to argue, so there might be some natural talent there.” We both laughed, and Hailey placed her glass down on the table and stood up, wobbling a little. “Where’s your bathroom?”

I pointed to the left down the hall. “It’s the door in the middle.”

With a nod, Hailey began to move forward and, as she did, started to trip. I quickly jumped up to steady her and she grabbed onto my arms for support.

“Your arms are really musclely. Is musclely a word? No? Well I'm making it one because your arms are definitely musclely.”

Yeah, she definitely should’ve stopped at the first drink.

“Do you want me to take you home, Hailey?”

She shook her head, frowning a little. “No, I feel great. And, besides, I’m just telling you what I first thought when I saw you. I noticed how big your arms were and I wondered what it would be like to touch them.”

“So you find me attractive?” My voice was low in her ear.

Hailey’s face was so close to me that if I turned my head, our lips would touch. And, maybe I did want our lips to touch. Maybe kissing Hailey was exactly what I needed to do right now.

Maybe it was exactly what I would do.

Hailey

I felt like my head was split in two—is this why it was called a 'splitting headache'? Well, now that made sense. It was a struggle to open my eyes and when I did, I didn't know where I was. I was suddenly filled with panic as I jolted up way too quickly and then groaned when my stomach clenched and vomit started to rise in my throat.

I swallowed it back down and groaned again in disgust as I laid back down, no longer really caring where I was.

Slowly, images from last night started becoming clearer. Chemo didn’t work. Mrs. Douglas was being put on hospice. Braxton being a jerk about my hair. What Chase had said:
There aren't enough words to describe how beautiful you look.

Then two too many Crown and Sprites.

Talking.

Laughing.

Kissing.

Well-muscled arms holding me.

More kissing.

Clothes being torn off.

More kissing.

Chase's hands rubbing up and down my thighs.

The stubble on his cheeks scratching my face.

The weight of his body on top of me.

Oh God.

No effing way. I forced myself to open my eyes again, but did so more slowly this time. Yep, I was definitely lying in a bed— a bed that just so happened to smell exactly like a certain tattooed guy. I lifted up the covers to reveal myself in only an oversized t-shirt.

Guilt crashed over me full force. How could I have done something like that? I cheated on Braxton. I was a terrible person. What was I going to do? What was I going to say? I had to tell him—but how was I going to find the words?

“I thought I heard you. Figured you’d need this.” Chase strolled into the room wearing only his boxers with a glass of water and two big, white pills in his palm.

I tried not to stare at his huge arms or the ridiculous six-pack he had as I pulled the covers up to my chin. Though if what I thought happened last night had really happened, it was nothing he hadn't seen before. My cheeks felt hot and I lowered my eyes, unable to look at Chase. I was so embarrassed.

“What's wrong?” he asked as he sat down at the foot of his bed.

“Nothing. I just can't believe I did that last night.”

“You did get pretty wasted. I told you to slow down.”

“That's not what I mean.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Me and you— last night—do I really have to spell out what is wrong here?”

“I guess so because I'm kind of confused.”

“I have a boyfriend!”

“I’m aware of that,” he said quietly, and there was an edge to his tone that I didn’t understand.

“And you don't see that what we did was wrong?”

“Seriously Hailey, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.”

“Wait...do you mean—you and I—we didn't?”

“Didn't what?” he asked, obviously questioning my sanity. “Will you just spit it out already?”

Did he honestly have no idea why I was so upset? Yeah, sure I’d gotten drunk last night, but did he really think I was the kind of girl who would do something like that? Of course he probably did. I’d been upset, had agreed to come to his apartment, and then proceeded to get drunk— not exactly my typical behavior, but how would he know that?

“I cheated on my boyfriend last night,” I whispered, still unable to believe I could be so heartless.

Sure Braxton had been a jerk, but that didn’t justify my actions. It wasn’t even really his fault. He was just upset about his mom— it probably really had nothing to do with me or my hair; he just had no one else to take out his frustration on so he’d lashed out at me. I couldn’t really hold that against him. I was devastated about everything too— how could I do that to him?

“Wait! What?” He stood up. “With who?”

“With you, Einstein!”

He seemed relieved by my answer, though I couldn't imagine why. “Hailey, nothing happened last night.”

“Yes it did—I know I may have been drunk but I remember...”

“You remember what? Because the only thing that happened was you getting so drunk you couldn't even walk straight. I did what any decent person would do—I let you stay here and sleep it off. I even cleaned up your vomit.”

“But I remember—“ Oh God…

“What do you remember exactly?”

“Never mind.”

“No, tell me.” There was confusion plain on his face as he tried to figure out what I was talking about. I kept my face blank. There was no way I was going to admit it—ever—especially not to him.

“It was nothing.”

I watched his expression change as the pieces clicked in place. The confusion was slowly replaced with the sexiest smirk I had ever seen. “You had a sex dream about me. Didn’t you?” He seemed extremely amused by this.

“No, I didn't,” I snapped a little too defensively.

“Yes, you did.”

“Why the hell would I have a dream about you?”

“Probably because you find me completely irresistible,” he said, that smirk still on his face. “I bet I was amazing, huh?”

I chose to ignore his question. “Why am I wearing your shirt?”

“I told you, I had to clean up your puke.” He laughed at me as my eyes narrowed. “Don't get your panties all twisted; Tessa took care of getting you cleaned up and changed. I just cleaned it up off the floor in the kitchen. And the living room. And the bathroom. Honestly, we need to work on your aim if you’re going to have any more nights like last night.”
  

“Tessa was here?”

“Still is. She's still asleep in Jonathan's room--it was a long night for everybody.”

I couldn’t think of anything to say to this so I just stayed in the same position, trying very hard not to stare at Chase’s distracting upper body. I had never seen a back like his before; every muscle was so defined.