Stud

There's a pounding my skull, an ache in my back, and pressure on my chest. In fact, there's small puffs of breath on my cheek. I peek open my right eye and there's a black fuzzy blob on my chest. Green eyes appear from the black fuzz, and a small meow. There's a cat on my chest, when the hell did Vance get a cat. I open both eyes to clarify, yep, there's a cat on my chest. "Vance?" my voice comes out as a whisper. My throat dry. The cat meows at me again, the paw coming out to bat my face. What the hell. That's when I notice the red couch, Vance doesn't have a red couch. I take in the room, it's small, but homey. There's a bottle of water, and advil on the coffee table to my left.

I try to replay last night's events, I remember Lucy..did I come home with her? But why am I on the couch and I'm still dressed. What the fuck is going on? I hear a door close and glance down the small hallway. Jade appears in a baggy shirt and some shorts, her black hair is piled on her head in some kind of knot. What I notice the most is the black frame glasses on her face, I had no idea she wore glasses. I watch her as she moves towards me, "Hey! You're up!" she greets me, her voice low. She takes a seat on the edge of the coffee table when she nears me. How the hell did I get here? But she looks sexy as hell right now. Jade smiles, "You must feel like shit." She eyes me and when I don't say anything, just stare at her, she grabs both the bottle of water and pills. She hands the bottle of water to me and I grab it from her. She continues talking as she opens the bottle of pills, "Mike helped bring you up, you were in rough shape." She pours two pills into her palm, and replaces the cap eyeing me. "You must be still drunk." She laughs, "Okay, C'mon let's get you hydrated, pilled and some food in your stomach." She stands up and when I still don't say anything, her head cocks to the side, "Hello?"

"You wear glasses." I blurt.

She laughs loudly, "Yeah, I wear them at home, but otherwise contacts."

"Oh." Is all I return with. She pats my shoulder and holds out her hand, I lift my hand palm up and watch as she places the blue liquid pills in my hand.

"You are more than welcome to shower." She pauses, her lips pucker out, "Actually, I insist. You smell like shit, plus you'll feel a lot better." She walks out of the room but continues talking, "Towels are in the small closet just outside the bathroom, I'll throw your stuff in the washer and grab you something to wear temporarily."

I finally move to sit up, pills in my palm, bottle in my other. Jade's cat jumps onto the back of the couch and curls into a ball. I start to ask why she has men's clothing but it comes out as a croak, making me cough. I open the bottle and take a swig of water, toss the pills in my mouth and take another swig, swallowing the pills. I take a bigger gulp of water then move to stand, feeling a little weak. When I get my bearings, I move into the doorway of the kitchen, and lean against the frame. I watch Jade move around the kitchen, grabbing items and notice her shirt hanging off her shoulder a bit exposing some colorful tattoo. She moves towards a cabinet next to the fridge and reaches for something just out of her reach, making her stretch up on her tip toes. That's when I notice her legs, the muscle in her smooth olive calves and up towards her thick thighs which lead to a perfect ass. A involuntary hum comes out of my mouth, causing her to turn around, my eyes snapping up towards her. I smile, because I'm guilty of checking her out. Her left eyebrow arches upward, but she doesn't say anything.

"So you have clothing that will fit me?" I ask.

"Yep." She responds, moving to the coffee pot, glancing at me. This time I arch my eyebrow at her. She turns, leaning against the counter, and waves her hand over the length of her shirt. "I sleep in oversized shirts." Her lips purse, and she says it like she's saying, "duh". Such sass. It makes me smile.

I nod, "Alright."

She rolls her eyes and points towards what would be the bathroom if the cabinets weren't blocking the way, "Go!" she demands. "You're starting to stink up my place."

I laugh, a real genuine laugh and turn around walking towards the hallway, and into her bathroom. It's small, just like the rest of her place, but she makes it work. Her bathroom is a light blue with the basic toilet, sink, and bathtub. It's a little messy, her counter covered with girly shit. I move and sit on the side of the tub, turning the knob towards the "H", the stream of water shooting out of the shower head. I start to undress, feeling the ache in my whole body. Just as I remove my shirt, there's a knock on the door, and then Jade's voice, "Just toss your clothes out then."

I remove the rest of my clothes and look around. Shit, I forgot to grab a towel. I didn't ponder on it and whipped open the door. A smug grin on my face because I wasn't ashamed of what I was packing. I never had a complaint. Of course, she looks but instead of the wide eyed reaction I normally get, she smiles and then really shocks the shit out of me when she asks, "Cold?" and the grin instantly falls from my face. She laughs loudly, throwing her head back. "I forgot a towel." I mumble, now slightly embarrassed. She turns towards the right and opens a door, grabbing a towel and tossing it to me. I place the towel in front of my junk, and hand her my clothes. She takes them from me, winks, and disappears. Leaving me completely speechless.

I stand there, still covering myself, staring where Jade stood making fun of me. A slam of the door makes me jump, snapping me out of it. I toe the door close and hang the towel on the empty rack. Stepping into the shower, I don't waste time, even though the hot spray feels good. I wash quickly, the scent of Jade's flowery soap filling my nostrils. The complete opposite of what Melissa used. Thank goodness. I shake my head, ridding thoughts of the bitch. I shut the water off and grab the towel from the rack, noticing a pile of clothes on the toilet. I never heard the door open. I dry myself off, hang the towel and grab the clothes. There's a pair of mesh basketball shorts, and a local college t-shirt. They're a bit snug, but nothing to dwell on. I leave the warm cocoon of the bathroom and step into the hallway. The smell of coffee and maple syrup greet me, making my stomach grumble.

Jade is placing French toast on a plate on the table when I walk in, she glances up, "Perfect timing stud." I shake my head, trying not to be embarrassed.

"I'm sorry about..." I point my thumb over my shoulder, "Sorry about that."

She laughs, "What did you think was gonna happen?"

"I don't know. I didn't really think that far ahead." I tell her honestly.

She hums, "uh huh." And takes a seat. I follow and sit across from her. She piles some eggs from another bowl onto my plate and then hers, then grabs the syrup pouring a nice amount onto her food. She stretches her arm out towards me silently asking if I want some, which I grab and pour some on my food. I cut a portion off my toast and shove it in my mouth, the onslaught of flavors assault my tongue.

"Oh man." I moan, "This is delicious!" There's vanilla and cinnamon mixed in with the syrup. I devour the French toast. Jade laughs and gets up, grabbing a pan from the stove, returning with two more slices and places them on my plate. "Thanks."

She returns the pan and takes a seat, "So do you remember anything from last night?"

I clear my throat, "Ah, no."

"How's your head?" she asks.

I rub the back of it, where the dull ache is, noticing a small bump. I wince and glance at her.

"You blacked out." She explains, "Fell right off the stool." My face must have given away my confusion, "Mike helped bring you up here. I figured it may be the best place for you." She shrugs.

"Thank you." I pause, "I really appreciate you looking out for me, for taking care of me, and for feeding me. I don't know why you did it but thank you."

"You're going through something, whatever it is, it's deep. You're using alcohol to ease the pain. I see it often. Sometimes it's nice to know you're not alone." She reaches out and places her hand on mine, my eyes flicking to hers, "You're not alone." She pats my hand and pulls it back to the side of her plate. I nod my thanks.

We're quiet while we eat, it's not an uncomfortable silence, but I can't help wonder what she's thinking about. Then the thought crosses my mind, shit, did I do anything dumb? I don't remember a thing, but I wouldn't put it pass my drunk self to hit on her. Fuck. I hit on her sober. Kind of. Do people see me as this mess of a drunk too? My life is a mess.

"My wife cheated on me." I tell her, "I filed for divorce." I fill in when she doesn't say anything. "I loved her more than anything, I thought she was my forever, but she showed me I wasn't hers by fucking my coworker on our couch. I can't help but wonder why the fuck she agreed to marry me. You're right, the alcohol numbs me. The days are getting easier, but the nights are the hardest." I admit.

She stares at me for a moment, "Your ex is a fuckin idiot." Is all she says and continues eating. I pull in air, filling my lungs and let what she just said soak in.

Leave me all the comments! I love hearing your opinions, they give me life! Tell me what you think!

Don't forget to vote for the chapter!

OH! I made a Instagram account! Follow me! jenni_linn_writes