Jaded

[46] The Baron and the Mistress

Oh no, I think we fell asleep on the roof. It's either that, or Jay, Pres, and I are cuddled super close under several layers of blanket for absolutely no reason- with the sun now shining directly on our faces.

With Pres clinging to one arm, and Jay clinging to the other, it takes more effort than I expected just to raise my head a bit and look around.

Yup, we fell asleep on the roof. Shit. I was not planning on doing something so dangerous, and if I was going to do it, I would have liked to at least remember it.

"Good, at least one of you finally woke up." I jump (metaphorically, of course, since physically I'm pinned down by two idiots) at the sound of a deep voice coming from Jay's window.

No matter how hard I try, I can't strain my neck enough to see who's speaking to me. And I really, really need to see because I don't recognize this voice, so the possibilities are endless. Eventually, I wrangle my arm out of Pres' gorilla grip and use it to hoist my upper body around enough to see.

Huh. "Who are you?" I ask, scanning the man's face in a futile attempt to spark any kind of recognition.

I've never seen this guy before, I'm certain of it because there's no way I would forget such a pristine beard.

"Sammy, I'm Collette's-"

"Ah, the fiancé!" I exclaim, grinning. Can't believe I finally get to meet Collette's long-time lover.

He chuckles, "not yet, but hopefully soon." Then he shakes his head and adds, "anyways, enough of that. You three need to get back in here now, before Collette sees."

"Too late, I've already seen."

Sammy shuffles to the side as Collette centers on the window, leaning halfway through. Her cheeks are streaked red and her nostrils are flaring. Uh oh.

"I can not believe you three! Inside. Now." Her voice is tight as she folds her arms and steps back.

I shake the idiot on each of my side and corral them both through Jay's bedroom window- which is actually a huge accomplishment because Jay is literally the heaviest sleeper I have ever met. But seeing as how I'm in big trouble, it's best not to bring up this achievement.

We're seated side by side at the foot of Jay's bed as Collette paces around, rubbing her temple and grumbling. I feel like a lamb in line for slaughter.

By the time Collette has collected herself enough to speak, Pres and Jay are finally awake enough to be as freaked out as I am.

She clasps her hands together and booms, "do you have any idea how dangerous that was?! Do you?! You three could have broken your necks!"

Collette asks Jay exactly how long we've been on the roof, and then unleashes the full force of her wrath. Her voice thunders like a coastal storm as goes through every possible worse case scenario she can think of, mentioning multiple times the sheer stupidity and irresponsibility of our actions. There're even threats to superglue Jay's window shut.

By the time Collette is done, her face is beet red and she's out of breath. Sammy quietly moves behind her and rests his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them in small circles.

I genuinely feel bad. Falling asleep up there was incredibly stupid, especially considering the angle of the roof and the lack of space. The fact that none of us fell off is just insane- I think I've used up all of my luck for the next 5 years.

Jay slowly gets off the bed and trudges to Collette. Without a word he wraps his arms around her and squishes her in a big hug. Even though he's a foot taller than her, he leans over so that she's the one holding him, gently stroking his back.