Free Every Kiss by Tasha Ivey Page B

you stand up without puking on me?”
    “I just want to lie here on the floor.”
    He snickers. “As much as I enjoy watching you roll around on
the floor, I can’t let you do that. Hold on.” He crooks one arm under my knees
and the other behind my back, lifting me slowly to carry me out of the
bathroom. “You’re a lot lighter when I’m not drunk.”
    I feel the cloud-soft pillow under my head, and I sigh out
loud. The gentle pressure on my skull actually feels good. I hear some
footsteps and shuffling around, and then I feel a weight at the side of the
bed.
    “I know your stomach is upset, but I need you to try to take
more meds. You’re going to feel worse as long as your headache is that bad. Sit
up a little, so you don’t choke.”
    I sit up slowly, and he hands me two pills and the glass of
water. “Drink slowly.”
    Once I lie back down, he takes my glasses off, setting them
on the nightstand, and grabs the bag of frozen veggies and rests it on the very
top of my head. The cold definitely helps, and I can’t help wondering how many
hangovers he’s had to know all the tricks. Then again, he is about five years
older, and therefore, has had more opportunity for life experience.
    “I’m sorry,” I say as quietly as I can manage.
    “Shh. Don’t apologize. Just close your eyes and rest.” He
stretches out beside me and lightly rubs his fingertips across my forehead.
“Stop scrunching your eyebrows. Relax your face.”
    He continues to graze his fingertips over my face until all
the tension is gone. The throbbing eases ever-so-slightly, and the nausea is
only gentle waves now, becoming barely a ripple within a few minutes. I feel my
limbs growing heavier; my breathing is deep and steady. Sleep takes me slowly,
tenderly.
    Almost as tender as the lips brushing my cheek in my dreams.
     

     
    “CALLIE?” MAKENNA BRUSHES my hair
from my face. “Feeling any better?”
    I roll over to face her. “I don’t feel like someone is
stabbing me in the brain with a stiletto. So, yes.”
    “That’s brutal.”
    “It was.” I reach out and take her hand. “Sorry I wasn’t
much help.”
    “I’m sorry I didn’t realize how awful you felt.” She
squeezes my fingers.
    “I didn’t either, really. It came on pretty quickly. Wes
said I looked green, so he made me come inside. Before I could get upstairs, I
had to race to the bathroom to throw up. God, I’m mortified.”
    “He told me all about it before he left. He was more worried
about you than anything, so you shouldn’t be embarrassed.”
    “He left?” Why am I so disappointed?
    “He said he had to get home because he has to work tomorrow.
I think he’s not feeling too well, himself. He was acting kinda strange.
Speaking of getting home, I let you sleep way too long. We have to hit the
road, too. We have a ton of laundry to do tonight, and I have a paper I need to
work on tomorrow.”
    “Okay.”
    After loading up the car and saying our goodbyes to Shane,
we head back home. I feel a little better, but not totally back to normal.
Makenna stays mostly quiet; I think she’s trying really hard to let me rest.
And I almost think she’s going to make it the whole trip without bringing Wes
up, but I should’ve known better than that. Makenna doesn’t let anything go.
Ever.
    “So . . .” She begins, turning the radio all the way down.
“When are you going to tell me?”
    “Tell you what?”
    Her deep sigh tells me that evading isn’t going to be
possible. “You know exactly what I’m talking about Callie. You’ve been acting
really weird, so I need to know what’s going on.”
    “ Nothing , Mak. Absolutely nothing. I get how it
looked . . . I really do. But I promise you, we’re only friends. We even talked
about it.”
    She flings her hair over her shoulder like she always does
when she’s restless. “Why would the two of you even need to discuss it?
Something happened. What was it?”
    “I don’t exactly know.” I’m drumming my