Free Saved By You by Kelly Harper Page A

gone, Haden turned back to me and gave me a worried look. Then, he looked between Huck and Sarah. They both stared at him.
    “I can give her a ride home…,” he said, his voice hesitant.
    My heart pounded in my chest at the thought of being alone with Haden again. I didn’t know how, but the anger inside me melted away faster than it had surfaced. I was about to agree with him, when Sarah cut me off.
    “You’ve done quite enough, Haden,” she said, sharply. My mouth opened to say something, but she shot a death-stare at me. “We’ve got it covered,” she said, as much to me as to him.
    He winced and bit his lip, but he didn’t put up a fight. He nodded once and watched as Sarah and Huck led me away. My head swirled in circles as I tried to look back at him. His eyes locked onto mine until we rounded the corner and he was out of sight.
    It had been a long day—a very long day.

Chapter 10

    I woke up the next morning with my head ringing like I’d just been hit with a hammer. I pulled the covers over my head, but tiny pinpoints of light still crept through the nooks and crannies. Each little pinpoint made me twitch and groan in agony. The world was still swirling round and round, and I wondered if it would ever stop.
    “Rise and shine,” Sarah said from somewhere in the room. Her voice was soft, but sounded more shrill than usual.
    I groaned. “Are you trying to kill me?” I asked from beneath the covers.
    “Come on,” she said. I heard the clink of a glass somewhere nearby. I risked a peek, and saw a glass of water and two tiny pills on the night stand. “Take these,” she said. “And make sure you drink all of the water.”
    I stared at them for a long minute, before letting out another groan.
    “What did you do to me?” I groaned.
    Every muscle in my body ached, and I didn’t want to move, let alone venture out from beneath the covers. I pinched my eyes shut, hoping it the pounding in my head would go with it—but it didn’t. Finally, I stretched out a hand and groped around for the pills and the glass of water. I washed the pills down with three huge gulps of water.
    Sarah was sitting on her bed staring at me. She looked worried, but her cheeks were pulled back in amusement.
    “I remember my first hangover,” she said.
    I pinched one eye open at her. “Did it feel like someone was driving a wedge into your skull?” I said.
    “Two wedges,” she laughed.
    I laughed along with her, and before I knew it, my head was pounding furiously. I buried my face in my hands, hoping the pounding would subside.
    “You’ll feel better soon,” Sarah said. “Make sure you drink all of the water.”
    I tried to nod, but she probably couldn’t tell.
    Sarah sat there quietly. I could feel her eyes on me—watching me. I didn’t dare ask what she was thinking. I didn’t want to know. Visions of the night’s events flashed in my mind. They were mottled and confused. I tried to grasp them, to remember exactly everything that had happened, but was impossible. The memories were slipped through my fingers every time I tried to grab hold. My head continued pounding, all the while, and I wondered if I would ever be normal again.
    There were two things of which I was certain. First, I’d made a fool of myself last night, and second, I didn’t care.
    That second part should have scared me more than it did, but, all things considered, it just didn’t seem that important. I had just found out my mom was going to die—I was allowed to make a fool of myself if I wanted.
    A vision of Haden popped into my mind. It was the expression on his face as he watched me leave the bar—or rather, be escorted out of the bar. There were so many things I wished that look meant. I wished it meant that I could forget everything he did to me. I wished it meant he was there for me. Mostly, I wished it meant we could be together. Why were men so damned infuriating, and so damned irresistible at the same time?
    “I really messed