Chapter 24 The morning after
Stephanie
Waking up after a night out drinking had to be listed on the top ten horrible things in the world. My head throbbed from all the drinks I consumed last night.
Note to self: never drink at a party again.
But despite my hangover, I still had to act like a normal teenager and go to school when all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. Right now, I hated being a teenager.
I spent a few more seconds in bed, cursing my life and my decision to go out yesterday. It had obviously not gone well. I ended up so drunk and got pushed into a pool by a mean girl. And now, I was probably the school's laughing stock.
I reached for my phone on the nightstand out of habit and realized it wasn't there. I remembered I hadn't taken my purse out of Brooklyn's car last night.
Groaning, I kicked the covers off and padded into the bathroom. I sighed at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. I looked horrible. I wondered if I could just skip school today. It's not like anyone would notice.
But I had to get my phone back, and I couldn't be skipping school when I literally just resumed. So I sucked it up and got in the shower. It took about thirty minutes for me to shower and get ready. I tried to fix my tired appearance as best as I could before stepping out of my room.
The house was somehow quiet. I couldn't hear my mom's chatters, or feel Maria's presence as she cleaned, not even the sound of Will making business calls.
“Where did everyone go?” I muttered to myself.
“Out. They left the house hours ago. Where have you been?” I heard Kendrix's voice behind me. I turned to see him by the fridge, bringing something out.
“Sleeping.” I sighed as I strode to the dining table. Kendrix was dressed in the school's uniform. Although, his shirt was unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up to reveal his strong arms. His chestnut hair was wet.
The memory of him carrying me out of the pool last night flashed across my mind. I was reminded of his strong arms wrapped around me, his scent filling my nostrils as he held me close on the ride home.
Sure, those two situations had been entirely platonic, but my mind didn't seem to realize that as I continued to wonder what it would feel like to feel those hands on me again.
“Stephanie,” I blinked out of my thoughts as I heard Kendrix's voice so close.
I didn't realize when he walked away from the fridge and was now standing right in front of me, while I was busy fantasizing about his hands.
Oh my God! Fucking kill me already.
“Huh?!” I muttered, tearing my gaze away and tried to salvage the rest of my dignity.
I made a silent prayer he hadn't realized I was drooling over him. He would never let me live it down.
“Pass the hot sauce.” he gestured to the sauce next to a covered plate. I reached for it and handed it to him without really looking at him.
“Thank you.” he said, his fingers sightly brushing mine.
Focus! Focus!! Focus!!!
It didn't matter how many times I mentally screamed those things at myself, my brain seem to pause with the suble touch.
Damn you, Collin's drinks. I was clearly still drunk if I was this affected by a simple touch.
“Oh, and by the way, you got a little something over here.” he gently brushed the corner of my lips with his thumb.
And for a second, I was in a trance again, enjoying the feeling of his hand on me. Until it hit me. The asshole was toying with me.
“Hey!” I yelled and shoved him away with all my might.
He staggered backwards and burst into laughter. I scowled at him. “What?”
“I literally just caught you drooling over me.”
I scoffed and dragged my gaze towards the covered plate. “You wish.”
I dragged the plate towards me and removed the lid. The delicious scent of waffles suddenly hit me.
Waffles. I love waffles. But mostly, I was just excited that I could finally do something with my hand and not gawk at the male beside me.
“You do find me irresistible.” he smirked and placed both hands on the table. The position gave a clearer view of his toned chest.
Nope, not looking there.
“More like I find you annoying.” I scoffed and began cutting through my breakfast with more force than necessary.
“Okay then.” he put some distance between us and went back to doing his thing.
And just because I couldn't resist my curiosity, I raised my head from my plates and saw him crack some raw eggs into a bowl. The next thing he did was certainly a way of telling me he knew I was watching.
“Why are you taking off your shirt?” The question fell out of my lips before I could stop myself.
“Why? I thought it didn't bother you. At least you don't have a hot coffee to spill this time. Although, I do worry about that fork.” he gave me a knowing smirk.
It took me a second to realize he was referring to the first time I had seen him shirtless. When I spilled coffee on myself because I was too stunned.
Oh, for fuck's sake! I do not want to be reminded of that so early in the morning.
“You're delusional if you think that was because of you. You might be stupid hot, but that coffee spill was a complete accident. It has nothing to do with seeing you shirtless.” I stabbed harder into my waffles and made a point not to look at him.
“So you do agree that I'm hot?” He grinned.
The fork froze midair. I had two options now. I could do the mature thing and agree that I did think he was good-looking. Or I could change the subject fast.
I chose option two, because hell would freeze over before I admit that Kendrix Sinclair was good-looking.
“Aren't we gonna be late for school? I mean, we already are, but we should still hurry.” I said, stuffing my mouth with food.
I knew he saw through my attempt to change the subject, but fortunately, he didn't call me out on it.
“Pretty sure we already missed assembly and we will miss first period too.” he sighed and began whisking the eggs. He dumped some hot sauce into it and continued mixing.
I found myself watching him, my food abandoned. There was something about seeing him shirtless and doing mundane tasks that was just so hot.
That was until he poured the egg batter into a water bottle and closed the lid. I blinked, my lips slowly parted.
“What are you gonna do with that?” I asked.
“Drink it.” he shrugged.
“You're gonna drink raw eggs with hot sauce?” I asked, my voice was a mixture of shock and genuine concern.
“According to a sport influencer, it's a very efficient way of getting over a hangover and being in shape for practice. After last night, I need this or Coach will literally murder me.” he shook the bottle some more while I tried not to cringe.
“So you're going to drink raw eggs?”
“Apparently.” he took off the lid. “Trust me, I've eaten so many gross foods in my life, this is nothing. It doesn't even crack the top ten.”
“But this is different though. You're literally drinking chicken's embryo. It's not only gross, it's disturbing.” I shuddered.
“When you put it like that, it is.” he sighed. “I just have to get through practice like I hadn't spent last night drinking, and I promise, I would never drink during the season again.” he muttered and dumped the content into his mouth.
I found myself holding my breath, waiting for a full sized chicken to crawl out of his throat, but that didn't happen.
“Okay?” I asked when I couldn't bear the silence anymore.
“Well, aside from the initial gross taste, I'm good. Whether the influencer was lying or not, I'll find out at practice in a few hours.”
I released the breath I was holding.
“I think I added too much hot sauce. My tongue feels like it's on fire. I need some water.” he reached for a glass and I slapped his hand away.
“You need milk, not water.” I fetched him the carton from the refrigerator. He muttered his appreciation and gulped down the liquid.
I found myself watching his Adam's apple as he drank, the tiny bead of sweat on his forehead. He was still shirtless and I was standing so close to him.
He placed the carton on the table and wiped away the milk mustache. He held my gaze, some untold emotion in his eyes. His hands flexed at his side and he took a step forward. Just one. Until he was only a hair's breath away.
The shrill sound of a phone ringing pierced the thick atmosphere. We jolted apart and Kendrix rushed to his phone. I started during random things to look busy, like retying my shoe laces, checking my backpack.
Eventually, he finished talking to whoever was on the other line. His face was twisted with worry when he returned.
“It's Brooke. She said we need to get to school immediately!”