Chapter 6

• Chapter Six
• Late the next day, Ellie woke up cautiously; steady not to topple over the huge elephant on her head. She hated having a hangover; it was the only reason that kept her from swimming in beer like a fish. “Kris, I hate you,” she whispered.
• She stood up slowly and walked out of her room one step at a time, cursing why she had agreed to the party, at a strip club! She stopped when she passed her electric guitar in the hallway, an idea for revenge in her mind. A pan would be best suited for it, but she wanted to make Kris cry. She connected it to the speaker that was in Kris’s room and put her winter ear muffs on before she turned it up to high volume, she wasn’t about to torture her already panging head. She played a high F and watched Kris fall out of her bed with a loud scream.
• She grabbed her pillows and held them tight against her ears. “What are you doing?”
• “That is for getting me drunk!” Ellie hit the strings again, “That is for my hangover!”
• Kris ducked under the bed begging, “Ellie, I’m sorry! Please stop!”
• Before she could hit the strings again, someone grabbed her hand from behind and pulled her ear muffs off.
• “I don’t have a hangover and it’s giving me a headache.”
• “Dale?” Ellie exclaimed, turning around to face him. Her eyes were drawn to his beautifully chiseled abs and arms. She was drawn even more by the V on his waist that led to his briefs, exposed by his open tight jeans. Her eyes widened in horror imagining the state she must be in. He wakes up looking so hot and fresh and I wake up looking like the wicked witch of the west! She thought in a moan.
• Carson laughed and responded to her thought, as if he could read her mind, “Trust me, I’ve seen you at your worst and this isn’t it.” He turned and walked out of Kris’s room. “You can go get your normal girly morning rituals done. I’ll wait in the kitchen for you.”
• “Please tell me I’m dreaming, because I wouldn’t mind a piece of that!” Kris was on her feet and staring out at Carson.
• “Kris!”
• “I would be dreaming, which would technically make it totally okay!” She defended herself.
• Ellie rushed into the bathroom. She rinsed her mouth in mouthwash, imagining how bad her breath must smell, and then she showered, washing away the stale beer and cigarette smell. She smelled her hair, hoping she wouldn’t have to wash it, but the indescribable eye watering odor didn’t leave her much of a choice. She squeezed half the bottle of shampoo onto her hair, moaning about the pain and time it would take to comb and dry it. She barely got out of the bathroom before Kris had charged in. Ellie laughed. On a normal day it would take Kris an hour to get out of bed, just to take a shower. On a hangover day, close to three hours, but with Dale here, it had taken her fifteen minutes.
• Ellie peeked past their small living room and into the kitchen to watch him; he’d put his shirt on. She hadn’t seen him for two weeks, and now he was in her kitchen cooking for her.
• He is in my kitchen, she thought worriedly. Ellie eased forward, “Dale, did you spend the night?”
• “Yes. Don’t worry I slept on the couch,” Carson answered, laughingly, “You were too drunk to do anything other than sleep.”
• “How did we get here?”
• “I drove you home from your birthday party. I had to carry you out of the club, and finally up a flight of stairs. You are heavier than you look.”
• Ellie breathed a little when she remembered she’d texted him about the party before she got plastered. She never thought he’d come, or that he was back from his work trip, but he still came. And I was too drunk to remember... She felt ridiculous wondering how she’d behaved last night.
• Placing a can of beer in front of her, “Don’t worry, you were a very well behaved drunk.”
• Ellie looked at him with a raised brow, “Wow Dale, you must really like me drunk!”
• “No, it’s not that. It’s good for the hang over,” the expression on her face didn’t look convinced, “Sometimes the cure for poison is the poison itself. Trust me.” He signaled for her to drink it.
• “He’s right,” Kris was dressed, a towel wrapped around her wet hair. She walked to the fridge and took out a can of beer for herself. “So Dale, don’t you have work today?”
• “No, it’s my day off.” He placed the eggs and bacon on the counter. “Lunch is served.”
• “It’s Ellie’s day off too. Maybe you could give her a real birthday present.” Kris hinted, winking at Ellie. Ellie exhaled, rubbing her temple with the tips of her fingers.
• “What do you mean...?”
• “Don’t!” Ellie half yelled, cutting him off, “Don’t ask, don’t ask, and don’t ask.”
• Carson chuckled, finally getting the hint, “Kris, if you have somewhere to be today, I just might. It could get very noisy,” his lips spread in a cheeky smile.
• Ellie bit down on her smile as she walked away, pulling the robe tighter around herself, “You are both incorrigible!” She closed the door to her room, hiding her frantic search for something to wear and drying her hair. When she was done, she stepped out of the room and all she could hear was the loud TV.
• She took a deep breath before she walked to the living room. Dale was on the couch, switching through the channels. “Where’s Kris?”
• Carson smiled as he looked up at her, “She left.” He tapped his hand on the couch, “She wanted to give us some alone time.”
• Ellie’s throat tightened, she wasn’t sure if she should sit next to him, or not, but she sat down anyway, leaving a considerably large amount of space between them, “I figured you two would get along. She’s as open minded as you are.”
• “About sex?”
• “What?”
• He had to bite down on his tongue to keep from laughing at her frightened face. “We are both open when it comes to the topic and you are a little conservative about it.”
• “I just don’t believe that I have to sleep with a guy the same night I meet him,” she said, defending herself.
• He raised his eyebrows and smiled at her, then winked, “So I have to wait one week and four days before we....”
• Ellie felt like she was about to faint, “Lets watch a movie,” she jumped off the couch and sat on the floor, where the DVD’s sat. That one week and four days was beginning to feel like a century to her and an impossible target with him inches away from her. He wasn’t making it easy for her to stay loyal to her rules, neither were her hormones.