Perfect Regret (Bad Rep #2)(13)
Author: A. Meredith Walters

And here I was coming home, wearing the same gross clothes I had worn last night, still smelling like Eau de Garrett.

I finally headed toward the apartment. Just as I put my key into the lock, the door flung open and a very angry Maysie stood before me with her hands on her hips.

She grabbed me by the arm and yanked me inside, slamming the door behind me. She took in the sight of me, noticing my current state of disarray. Her eyes narrowed as she processed what my arrival this morning meant.

Then her furious expression changed and her lips split into a devious grin that was ten times more frightening.

“Oh my god! I want details!” Maysie pulled me into the kitchen where she already had the coffee maker going and cups set out on the counter as though she were waiting for me to show up.

“What the heck are you doing up at this hour?” I asked, hoping to delay the inevitable interrogation.

Maysie poured us both a cup of coffee and got out the creamer, handing to me. “I’ve been waiting for you, jerk face! You had me worried to death!” I took a sip and cringed. It was the worst coffee I had ever had. Maybe that was my roommate’s sadistic plan of revenge for worrying her; kill me with bad coffee and endless hounding for information. It was definitely the most horrendous death I could think of.

“Uh, yeah, sorry about that,” I said, hopping up on one of the stools by the island.

Maysie sat beside me and stirred her drink, watching me closely. “Yeah, well Jordan said he saw you go off with Garrett who told us he’d give you a ride home later. I argued that the last person in the world you’d want to drive you home was Garrett Bellows. But when I tried to find you…well let’s just say I got an eye full,” she said, poking my arm.

My neck and face flushed red and I felt as though I were on fire. Oh Jesus Christ. What the hell had been my problem last night? I wish I could recall exactly why sleeping with Garrett had seemed like a good idea.

“I’m a bit shocked, I must say. He was the last guy I would have ever guessed to hit the Riley Walker crazy sex radar. But I’ve heard he’s a tiger in the sack. Plus, he’s totally hot in that ‘I couldn’t give a crap about anything but making you come’ sort of way. Don’t you dare tell Jordan that I said that,” Maysie rambled. I was having difficulty keeping up with her at this point in my morning. And honestly, the whole thing was making my already pounding head, crack open so my brains could spill out on the floor.

I was in overload. I couldn’t wrap my head around the way my life had detoured in the last twelve hours. It was too much for my poor morning after brain to compute.

I hung my head, not meeting her eyes. “Can we not do this, Mays? I’m exhausted and I have to work tonight,” I pleaded, hoping if I sounded pitiful enough she’d stop.

Maysie was quiet and I looked up to find her staring at me strangely. “What?” I asked her.

She shook her head and gave me a smile. “Nothing. I just don’t understand you,” she stated, putting her mug in the sink.

“What do you mean? Just spit it out. My head hurts, I’ve already dry heaved a few times on the drive home. I’m not in the mood to play who’s smarter than Maysie,” I said shortly.

Maysie opened her mouth but then promptly shut it again. “Mays, baby? What are you doing? I don’t like waking up without you.” Jordan came into the kitchen and pulled his girlfriend into his arms, holding her tightly. She leaned into him and I gave an exaggerated cough. The Maysie and Jordan version of a donkey show would need to wait until I was safely out of the room. Unless they like wearing projectile vomit as a legit style.

Jordan looked over at me and smiled. “Hey girl. You just getting home?” he asked me incredulously. Okay, now I was getting annoyed. I could barely deal with the shocked questioning from my roommate. But I didn’t need a round of “I can’t believe Riley made a bunch of shitty decisions” from Jordan freaking Levitt.

I could barely stomach hypocrisy on a good day. So being force-fed a hefty dose of my own was beyond what I wanted to deal with right then. I threw my hands into the air in exasperation.

“Yes, I decided to play the slut kitten last night and engaged in a round of barely conscious sex. I don’t remember much about it. I don’t think I want to remember anything about it. So let’s just put this all in the I will never drink that much again category and move on,” I said loudly. I blew out a breath and walked passed the pair, heading to my room.

Maysie followed me and stood in the doorway. “It’s okay, you know,” she said as I pulled back the blankets on my bed so I could crawl in and forget last night ever happened.

“What?” I asked with more than a little annoyance.

“That you slept with Garrett. It doesn’t make you a slut. I’m just a little surprised is all. But we can talk about it later. Get some sleep before you grow your talons and claw everyone’s eyes out,” she said good-naturedly and with entirely too much supportive understanding for this time in the morning.

“We will not be talking about this later, Mays. There’s nothing to talk about. So put that thought right out of that head of yours,” I said stubbornly. I kicked off my shoes and got into bed. “Now I’m gonna try to sleep this hangover away before I have to work this evening,” I said pointedly.

And thankfully Maysie left it at that. After she closed the door, I found that no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t get to sleep. I tossed and turned but every time I closed my eyes all I could see was Garrett’s face as I left this morning.

I had the feeling I had made a bigger mess than I realized.

6

“I’m so excited that we got chosen for this internship! Can you believe it, Riley? Out of all the seniors in the English department, we are the ones that get to work at the Bakersville Times for an entire semester! It’s gonna be epic!” Gracie Cook was practically bouncing in the passenger seat as I drove toward the local newspaper’s downtown office.

Even though I wasn’t as effusive as Gracie when it came to showing my enthusiasm, I could admit I was pretty damn excited. Gracie and I were both English majors with concentrations in journalism. We had been in the same classes for most of our college career.

At one time that had bugged the crap out of me. Gracie and I had only ever pretended to get along. We put on the happy smiles for Maysie’s sake since we were both friends of hers. However, last school year we had formed an uneasy alliance during the Maysie and Jordan Crazypalooza and had inexplicably become friends.