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I finished getting clean and shut off the faucet. The sudden lack of hot water made me shiver, which also seemed to wake me up a little more. Wrapping a towel around me tightly, I cursed myself for not turning on the little space heater in the bathroom and tried to put on my clothes without taking the towel off. I got one leg halfway into my slacks before I gave up, sat on the toilet seat, and cried.
It was no use. Everything hurt, especially inside my skull. There was no way I was going to be able to work today. Cop-out or not, I was going to have to call my sister and figure out a way to call off.
Ditching the work clothes, I stumbled into the bedroom and yanked my pajama drawer open. A pair of fuzzy pants was on top, and I grabbed them before stumbling over to my closet and pulling an old hoodie out to slip on as well. The sun was beginning to peek through the curtains already, and I had no idea where my blackout curtains were and probably wasn’t going to be able to hang them even if I found them.
Finally in something comfortable, I went back into the living room one last time. My phone was still on the couch, and I grabbed it while picking up the wine bottle on the floor and setting it upright on the coffee table. I’d throw it away later. I wanted it to stay there as a testament to my stupidity for when I wasn’t feeling like I had been hit by a train.
A half of a pack of water bottles, still in the plastic wrap that kept them all together, sat in the kitchen on a shelf. I grabbed the whole thing and headed back into the bedroom. Once there, I put the bottles on the floor, grabbed one and opened it, and downed almost the entire thing in one go. I cracked open a second one and sat it on the nightstand before shutting the blinds completely and pulling the curtains as tight as I could.
Collapsing into the bed, I wriggled down until I had the blankets up to my chin and pulled the hoodie down over my eyes. I pulled open the contacts on my phone and found Luna, hitting the call button and yawning. Lying down was triggering the need for more sleep already.
“Sofia?” Luna asked on the other end of the line as the ringing stopped abruptly. “What are you doing up this early?”
“I’m sick,” I said. It wasn’t entirely the truth, but sickness and hungover were cousins on the same branch of the get-out-of-work family tree. “I can’t make it in today. I need you to tell Leo and Papa.”
“Oh. Do you need me to bring you anything? Soup?”
“No,” I said, trying to resist the urge to wretch at the idea of eating anything at the moment. “Maybe some soup later. Much later. I’m going back to bed.”
“Okay,” Luna said. “Get some rest. I’ll take care of Papa and Leo.”
“Thank you.” I hung up, shoving the phone under the pillow. I wanted to go to Kieran’s messages and see if maybe he’d sent one that hadn’t popped up as a notification. But I knew better. He hadn’t responded because he was ghosting me. He’d got what he wanted and realized that he didn’t want to get into a relationship before he explored what else Ashford had for him.
Joke was on him. Ashford wasn’t exactly teeming with possibilities. I should know.
I closed my eyes and tried to sleep but found it hard to do. Part of it was the headache that I now realized I should have taken something for, but that wasn’t the worst thing keeping me up. That was Kieran. I finally pulled the phone out from under the pillow and checked the messages again, pulling down so it refreshed.
Nothing changed. The message didn’t even say it had been read.
Sighing, I shoved the phone back under the pillow and pulled the covers tight. I tried to think of anything other than Kieran. Food wouldn’t work since it brought me back to the competition and how I was excited to compete against him, but food was my go-to.
It took a long time, but eventually, I drifted off to a restless, dreamless sleep.
16
KIERAN
Smoke.
Clutching chest. Can’t breathe. Where is everyone? I can hear people crying out for my help, but I can’t find them in the darkness and flame.
A foreboding sense of doom. What have I forgotten? Where am I? How do I get out?
Flames shoot in front of my face, and my yell of surprise is drowned out by the roar of the fire. I hunker down and try to find a way through the flames. A path reveals itself, flames licking the narrow area where I might just fit sideways if I skip through it. I have to try.
