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I smiled. “Yeah, it’s definitely new to me. And I can’t say that I’m enjoying being on the receiving end of the person not calling when they said they would.”
“She must be special.”
I nodded. “She is.”
“I’m guessing you have chemistry together?”
“We do.”
She started to laugh. “I bet no woman has ever complained about not having enough chemistry with you. You’re too sexy for your own good.” She pointed to my face. “The eyes, the scruff, the whole I-don’t-give-two-shits attitude. Hell, even a damn beanie is hot when you wear it.” Daisy chugged back half her drink.
“Maybe you should slow down a little?”
“Fuck that. I’m on the road to getting shit faced.”
An hour later, she arrived at her destination. Somehow I’d become her babysitter, and now I was stuck helping her into an Uber to get back to our hotel. She was so drunk, I had to keep my arm around her to make sure she stayed upright when we got out. At her room, I opened the door and flipped on the lights. Two steps inside, she dropped her purse. It landed upside down, and the contents spilled all over. I helped her to the bed before gathering all the crap from the floor. Then I put everything, including her leather clutch and phone, on the end table and walked down to the foot of the bed to take off her sandals.
“Alright, Daze. You’re in your room. I’m going to head out. You going to be okay?”
She smiled with her eyes shut. “Where are you going? Don’t you want to fuck me? I’m single now, you know.”
It was probably the alcohol talking. But drunk or sober, I had zero interest in any other woman than Lala. In fact, just being alone in a hotel room with another woman made me feel uneasy. So I leaned down and kissed Daisy’s forehead.
“I’ll check on you in the morning.”
I thought I might’ve heard snoring as I pulled the door closed behind me.
Back in my room, I was relieved to be alone. I couldn’t wait any more to call Lala. Her lack of communication was freaking me out. I needed to get some sleep tonight, so I was going to reach out, even though she was supposed to call me. I kicked off my shoes and chugged half a bottle of the free water the hotel left each day, then sat down on the bed and took out my cell.
Except…my code didn’t work.
I tried a second time. Then a third, before turning the phone over.
A purple case? Mine was black. Fuck, this wasn’t my phone. I’d had my cell in my hand when I picked up Daisy’s shit from the floor, including her phone. I must’ve taken hers by mistake and not mine.
Fuck.
I hated to be a dick and wake her, but I really needed my phone. I didn’t even know Lala’s number without it. So without bothering to put my shoes on, I went back to Daisy’s room and knocked.
No answer.
Great. Just great.
I knocked louder, then put my mouth near the crack of the door.
“Daisy! It’s Holden. I think we have each other’s cell phones! Can you open the door?”
The third time I knocked, a door opened, but it wasn’t the one I was knocking on.
“People are trying to sleep, goddammit!” An older man yelled.
I waved. “Sorry.”
He slammed the door, and my shoulders slumped. I put my ear to the door, hoping maybe the commotion had stirred Daisy, but the only thing I heard was a loud-ass snore.
Fuck my life.
***
The following morning, I waited until seven o’clock before going back to Daisy’s room. I hadn’t slept yet again, and I was going out of my mind not having my phone and being able to communicate with Lala with everything she was going through.
Daisy had always been a morning person, so I hoped that hadn’t changed. I knocked lightly, not wanting to piss off the guy next door again. Thankfully she answered this time. She was still wearing the clothes from the night before and looked like crap.
“I’m sorry to bug you so early.” I held out her phone. “But I think we have each other’s phones. I must’ve taken the wrong one when I left your room last night.”
She nodded. “Yeah, we do. I was going to go down to the lobby and see if I could schmooze your room number from the front-desk guy once the Tylenol I just swallowed kicked in and took the edge off the pounding in my head.”
She walked inside and grabbed my cell, while I held the door to her room open and waited. “I didn’t realize it wasn’t mine when I answered it a few minutes ago. That’s what woke me up.”
“My phone rang? Who was it?”
“Lala.”
I closed my eyes and dropped my head. “Shit.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I told her you weren’t here, and you must’ve left your phone here when you helped me to my room last night, but she didn’t sound like she believed me.”
