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His sleepy face was shuttered, and I slowly let him slide down the length of my side to sit on the floor. I opened the door, held it cracked open the back of my foot and snuck my arms under his armpits to drag him in.
I sure as hell did drag him in, his long legs and feet extended out in front of him. Three huffs and a rough hoist later, I pulled him onto the bed and set him on his side with one knee cocked up and his top arm extended across the length of the mattress. I peeled one eyelid open to make sure, what? I wasn’t sure. I stuck a finger under his nose to make sure he was breathing evenly. And then I watched him for a solid thirty minutes, sitting in the chair just to the side of the bed. I’d been around enough over-drinkers in my life, and he wasn’t giving me the impression he was going to puke up blood or anything.
Now what?
The idea of staying with him didn’t seem like a good one. I wasn’t sure how he’d react in the morning and, frankly, a part of me didn’t want to find out. I took a breath and searched for one of those complementary notepads some hotels provided. Sure enough, across from the bed, bingo.
Dear Kulti,
I tore it up.
Kulti,
I tore it up again.
Fuck it. I scribbled a message that was longer than I expected, pulled the forty bucks I had stuffed into my bra out, and set the note and the money on the nightstand next to him.
Then I looked back at the armchair with resignation. I wasn’t going home tonight and I damn well knew it. If I left, I’d stay up worried the whole night. Obviously, I only had one choice: stay in the hotel room for at least a few hours and then get the hell out of there before he knew I was there.
My conscience said it was the right thing to do, but my gut said to get the hell out.
Damn it.
Chapter Six
“You look like crap.”
I snorted at Harlow’s observation and nodded my agreement. There were individuals who were morning people and could wake up after a couple hours rest and be happy to be alive.
Then there were people like me. I had to get up early so I did it, but that was only after I lay in bed for approximately seven minutes, and then followed that up by sitting on the edge of my bed and staring absently forward for at least another five. Then, if it was a good day, I wouldn’t say anything for another two hours because my morning routine kept me away from humanity. If it was a bad day, someone would force me to talk to them within an hour because things hadn’t worked out as I planned.
So, add up the fact I hadn’t gotten rest the night before, wasn’t a morning person, and my morning run turned into more of a leisurely jog that I yawned through. Needless to say, I was overly anxious about Kulti. I’d looked at my phone at least a dozen times expecting him to call or text me, but he hadn’t.
He also hadn’t shown up yet, and practice was supposed to start in five minutes. He’d been sleeping soundly when I left around six this morning, my neck hurting from how I’d slept in the uncomfortable chair and my body stiff from lugging his ass around. I knew he was alive.
So…
“Are you sick?” Harlow asked as she continued to rub sunscreen onto her shoulders.
I gave her a lazy blink and shook my head as I slowly lowered myself onto my butt with a muffled groan. My back hurt like a son of a bitch. “I didn’t get enough sleep last night.” I sat up too straight and it sent a super-sharp pain across my lower back. “Mother fuck,” I hissed before gulping and looking back at Harlow, who had an eyebrow raised. “I strained my back.”
“Doing…?”
I looked her right in the eye, because I didn’t want to seem like I was hiding something. “I got stuck dragging a drunk person around.”
She made a noise deep in her nose. “Should’ve left them there, Sally.”
How I wish I could have.
A moment later, the defender shoved two painkillers in my direction. “Here.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking the pills from her and dry-swallowing them before chasing them with a swig from my bottle of water.
Someone groped the messy knot I’d thrown my hair up into. “You okay?” Jenny’s clear chipper voice asked.
She knew me too well. “Fine. I got some back pain.”
A furrow formed between her eyebrows; she was just as confused by my predicament as Harlow was, and for good reason. We were all so particular about taking care of ourselves that it seemed weird I’d do something dumb like hurt myself off the field.
