To Have and To Hold

Chapitre Dix

I awoke slowly from a dead sleep, my eyes feeling cemented shut, lashes glued together. My heart beat was echoing in my ears as my head felt stuffed, a drumline on repeat in my skull. I burrowed deeper into my warm sheets, pressing my face against the warm side of the pillow. I wasn't even sure what woke me; no sun was shining in my eyes, no loud noise was pounding in my ear. Except—

"Aaaaaaaaalice."

I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut.

"It's three o'clock, and you know what that means. It's time for sexy undie shopping." There was a pause, no longer than a breath of air. "Have you been sleeping this whole time?"

A part of me should've startled awake at the fact that I'd slept until three o'clock on a Sunday, sprung from the bed in a craze. But I just burrowed deeper into the warmth of my blankets, pressing my face firmly against my pillow. Ugh, was that drool? "No."

"No, you haven't been sleeping this whole time or no, you're not going shopping."

"No."

I felt Jasmine's fingers pinch at my toes, and a sharp pain stabbed through my foot. "Get up, lazy butt. Why are you still sleeping? When did you go to bed last night?"

"Stop talking. Let me sleep."

"Say the magic word," Jasmine prompted.

I rolled over, glaring. "Please."

Jasmine was dressed in a pretty mauve colored dress, complementing the shade of her skin and the deep shade of her hair, which was pulled up into a bun that sat directly on the top of her head. Her arms were crossed. "Wrong. Up." When I didn't move, Jasmine leaned and grabbed a fistful of my blankets, yanking them away from my body. Cold air hit my bare shoulders. "Why the hell are you still wearing your bridesmaid gown? And jeez, what'd you do to it?"

This had me startle awake. My squinted eyes became wicked clear in a moment, and I sat up in my bed, glancing down at my body. I could see the mud covered, torn hem of my dress, my bruised feet, and a few scratches on my forearms, from when we were wandering through the forest. Everything that happened last night came back to me in a rush. The camera, the photos, the kiss, Jeremiah— "Oh, my God."

"You look like you've been, like, hit by a truck or something." Jasmine reached down and grabbed my foot, lifting it. My hamstring stretched. "This blister looks bad, Al. Infected looking. Were you running around without shoes on?"

I jerked my foot away from her grip, pulling my knees to my chest. The chiffon dress stretched. In a voice I didn't recognize, I said, "I—I went on an adventure."

"With who?" she asked, genuinely sounding concerned. "Some skeevy guy from the west side of town again? Don't you know better?"

"The guy from last night," I said. My fingertips tore through my hair, getting stuck in the tangles and frizz. "From the wedding."

Now her eyebrows rose, almost to her hairline. "Wait, the hottie with the camera? You actually talked to him?"

A part of me bristled at her lack of faith, but really, I couldn't blame her. Going up to a guy and saying anything was a huge reach for me. And technically, he'd approached me first. "His name was Jeremiah."

"And you went out with Jeremiah, alone, in the dead of night?"

Well, at least I thought so. Everything from last night—and this morning—felt like a dream, very distant and faint. Except that kiss. "Yes?"