Growing to Love You *ON HOLD*

4 | How's Your Head

The party was in full swing, and I was never drinking again.

My loose curls fell nicely around the toilet bowl like they were giving it a hug. Then I felt it.

The contents in my stomach raced their way up my throat along with the sound of my agonized gags.

I felt a hand on my back.

"Sheesh girl, you weren't kidding when you said you weren't going to hold back" Emily giggled.

I'm surprised she could even hold herself upright considering we both drank the same amount of alcohol.

I whimpered in regret.

I hate myself.

The night was literally a blur. I remembered the smell of weed and alcohol attacking my nose when Emily and I first walked in the house. It was more like a mansion, honestly.

I didn't even know who's party it was but all I knew was that they were extremely rich. Open bar, pool, balconies (yes, plural) and a DJ.

Emily had a past fling with some guy who knew the owner of the house, hence how we got invited.

I vaguely remembered drinking my 6th shot.

I grimaced, the thought of alcohol causing me to gag into the toilet again.

I also remembered seeing Alex walk in with Nate and then immediately feeling sick.

The bastard sure knew how to ruin a good time.

Alex looked breathtaking, though, I do remember that.

I continued to dry heave into the toilet.

"I love you and everything but are you almost done?" Emily looked at me from the corner of her eye as she applied her lipgloss in front of the mirror.

Emily looked drop dead gorgeous in her rose gold romper and gold sandals. Her red curls bounced around her forehead framing her oval face. Her hair was tied in a loose bun and her freckles made her grey eyes pop.

Basically, she made every man in the room choke on their spit, or alcohol in this case.

We were total opposites, but we made the best pair. I literally don't know what I would do without her.

I looked at her for a moment longer, until I remembered that she had asked me a question.

I sat up abruptly and nodded. "Yeah. Let me wash my hands".

As soon as I stood up the room began to spin. I met eyes with Emily briefly before I felt myself fall backwards, my shoes loosing grip of the floor, and me, losing my grip on reality.

Emily's eyes widened in horror as she tried to reach out and grab me, but it was too late.

I felt the pain at the base of my head before anything. Then, I heard a small crunch.

Emily stood above me, staring at me in fear. Her mouth was moving, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. Then her head snapped to the door behind her as it began to open.

My vision began to blur.

I whimpered in pain as I closed my eyes and let go.

——————————————————————————

I couldn't swallow.

What on earth?

I cracked my eyes open and looked around. I was in a room. My body ached so bad.

I craned my neck up to get a better view of the room which caused a sharp pain to stab the base of my head.

"Ah!" I winced.

I touched the back of my head. It was tender and swollen. "What the..?"

I looked around as best as my neck allowed me to. Then reality came crashing back. I was in Alex Greene's guest room.

But how did I get home.

I looked under the covers and saw that I still wore my green tank and blue shorts from last night.

I sighed in relief.

I saw my phone on the dresser next to me and reached over to grab it.

As soon as I got ahold of it I saw that I received a text from Emily.

"Hey Riley, Your dumb butt got too drunk and you ended up falling and hitting the back of your head on the bathtub. You passed out and thankfully Alex came in as soon as it happened ;) Anyways, he carried you and took you home. Lmk when you're conscious again.  xx"

"Crap!!" I threw my phone down on the covers.

That super hot douche bag saw me at my worst and I wasn't even conscious to witness it. Plus he carried me.
I covered my eyes in horror.

My cheeks began to burn at the thought of his muscular arms wrapped around my legs.

"Gah, STOP" I silently scolded myself.

Then my door creaked open and in walked the Greek god himself, wearing a green battered Champion tee and gray sweats. His hair was wet.

"Hey"

Morning voice. For goodness sake.

"What are you doing?" I croaked. I winced at my dehydrated voice.

Alex ignored my question.

"How's your head"

"Hurts like hell. I can't move" I grunted.

Alex looked at me and stayed silent.

I probably looked awful. I didn't even want to imagine how messed up my hair and makeup looked. How embarrassing.

I felt like crying.

"I know I look gross okay. But uh, Emily told me what happened. So uh, thanks" I wiggled my feet under the covers. "Just forget what you saw last night" I said as I laid back and squeezed my eyes shut so hard that I saw stars.

I could feel Alex's stare burning through my soul.

"You need to take some pain killers. I'll go get you a glass of water too."

My eyes snapped down to meet his.

He continued to look at me with his stupid poker face. Then he turned around and began to leave the room.

"Oh and take a shower. You smell like Tito's."

The edge of his mouth lifted slightly, finding slight humor in his statement, but his voice was flat.

I stared at him, mouth slightly gaping open.

Is he being playful right now?

Before I could gather all of my thoughts, Alex left and closed my door.