Sinful Magic (Book 3 of the Ink series)

Chapter 15

I opened my eyes. The sunlight filled the room and shocked my senses. I rubbed my eyes trying to focus.

"Morning," some strange guy said.

I touched my hair and checked to make sure I had on clothes.

The strange guy stood up, in nothing but boxer shorts. He stared at me, holding onto a bowl of cereal.

"I'm Hutch's brother. Mac." He grinned and ran a hand through his hair. "You thought we slept together or something didn't you?"

"No. I just didn't know where I was." I said. "I was really drunk last night."

"Believe me, I know," he said.

What did that mean?

Hutch entered the room with two bowls of cereal.

I took the one he handed over and scooted over so he could sit down.

"How you feeling?" he asked. He took a bite of his food.

"I feel like I was hit by a car." I rested the bowl in my lap. I wasn't hungry.

"You were really drunk last night. I got to say, I've never met a more stubborn girl." Hutch's brother left the room leaving us alone.

"Whatever I did or said I apologize." I didn't even want to know what I did. I imagined it was horrible.

"No reason to apologize." Hutch shrugged. "It was kind of cute watching you tell me off, cry, and puke over and over again. Not to mention the hour long sob fest about Slade and your mother."

I covered my face with my hair. "I could die right now."

"A few years ago, I was at this bar in Colorado. I got plastered, took all my clothes off and tried singing to the jukebox," Hutch said. He smirked, setting his bowl on the end table.

"I would have rather done that than cry in front of someone," I sighed. "I swear I am not as crazy as I seemed last night."

"I don't think you're crazy. I think you're going through a lot. I think you have been through a lot too," Hutch took my uneaten cereal and stood up. "I'm glad you felt you could come here."

I didn't know how I got there. I was glad I made it and wasn't laying on the sands somewhere. "Me too."

Hutch smiled. "What do you say we go for coffee? Try to kick the hangover's ass before it kicks yours for the rest of the day."

I nodded anything was better than sitting there trying to forget how much of an ass I made of myself last night. I hardly remembered anything. But, it was probably better that way.

After a few minutes of pulling myself together in Hutch's bathroom I was ready to go. I thanked the heavens I could brush my hair and wash my face of all the smeared mascara. I even brushed my teeth with my finger and pulled my hair into a mess of a bun with a stray rubber band I found in one of the drawers of his bathroom.

"Thanks for the t-shirt," I said staring down at his old vintage t. "I had to get out of that top."

Hutch nodded. "I appreciated that top. You were stunning last night."

I walked alongside him down the boardwalk, the sun excruciating. "Last night, what I remember. It was like nothing I ever imagined."

Hutch agreed with me. "That's the same way I felt the first time I realized I lived amongst such beings, made me feel less freakish."

"I don't think I'll ever understand any of this. It's shocking every time I see something so bizarre." We took a seat at the Shore café in front of the big windows.