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Elijah
Waking up a little hungover in the morning is always amplified by sunlight. It’s a thing. I’m experiencing it right now. Each little ray of light is like a needle. If I were at home, the blackout shades would cover this quite nicely. I reach down and pull the blanket over my head.
Wait. Blanket? I open my eyes slightly to see the queen-sized weighted blanket from the foot of the bed pulled up across my chest.Mom.She even set a glass of water on the bedside table for me. I stuff my head back between the pillows and immediately fall back to sleep.
The next time I wake it’s due to the bed bouncing on my left. “Time for lunch, Brother. Get your drunk butt up.”
Fuck. Hayley.
“Hayles, Jesus. Could you give me a minute?”
“Mom’s back and she wants to make you lunch. She sent me to get you.”
“Bullshit,” I grumble. “You offered. You knew I was going out with Wes last night and wanted to torture me.” Hayley is mylittle sister. She is the definition of annoying, especially right now, but she’s also someone I would take a bullet for without question.
She was the second person to see me after Tori left. Wes was the first. He called her. I hadn’t moved in hours from the chair I sat in, waiting for Tori and her boss to leave, and it freaked Wes out. He knew if anyone would be able to reach me, it would be Hayley.
She’s going to be a senior at NYU. She took a year off to travel after high school. Mom and Dad thought she’d never come back. I pulled her aside the day before she left. She promised me it would be one year off and then she would hit the ground running. She’s never broken a promise to me.
She’s much more self-aware than I was at that age. She knew she needed time. She knew she wanted to experience the world. She knew it would be better for her in the end. I’ve seen how right she was. Now I’m jealous I didn’t do the same thing.
Hayley’s going to slide into our art department as a junior designer after graduation. Her style is modern and fresh. She will be a key asset for her demographic moving forward. The fact I will now also be her boss is just icing on the cake.
She bounces one last time to settle against the headboard. “You’re right,” she giggles, “I did. Seriously though, you good?”
I push myself up so I’m sitting beside her, rubbing my hands over my face to try and clean out the cobwebs. “I’m all right. Wes insisted we hit Tao. I wasn’t super into it, but going for a while was easier than listening to him whine because I said no again. Added bonus of going was Sam is in town.”
“Sam? Really? Has he fucked up again yet? I will kick his ass myself if he makes Lucy cry again.”
“Calm down. Jesus. Everyone’s good. He’s not the same guy you met. Anyway, the two of them were tag teaming me all nightabout moving on, finding a girl not for forever just for tonight type thing. Sam was more subtle about it. Wes was not.”
She rolls her eyes. “Is he ever subtle with anything? How did you end up here though?”
“Yeah, he’s like a sledgehammer, so no. End up here? Well, I was going to go home then my car just ended up in the driveway. Dad found me shooting hoops, and I wanted to stay actually. The city was too claustrophobic.”
“I’m looking forward to going back to school and the city. I’ll be closer so I can harass you more often.”
“Remind me to change my locks and revoke your security access at the office.”
She smacks my chest. “Shut up.”
“Damn. Easy. Don’t use your kickboxing kung fu on me.”
“You’re such a wuss.” She reaches over and takes my hand. “Not gonna lie. I was happy your car was in the driveway when I got up.”
“Thanks, Kiddo.” I reach across my body and mess up her hair with my left hand.
“Ouch! What’s with the brass knuckles?” She takes my hand and looks at it. “The Sawyer ring. When did you get it?”
“Last night. Dad thought it might ease the sting of taking my ring off finally.”
“It looks good on you, Eli. You really took your wedding ring off?”
I shrug. “Yeah. I did.”
“Don’t shrug that off. It’s a huge deal. I feel like it’s been a weight on your soul. Weird if I say I’m proud of you?”
I gently brush her hair back and kiss her forehead. “No. I appreciate it. Now get lost. I’m going to shower quick and steal clothes from Dad.”
