Sign On The Dotted Line

Chapter 28

Beth

I stumbled out of the elevator and kicked off my shoes, the room starting spinning and I had to lean on the arm of the sofa for a couple of seconds to get my equilibrium back to normal. I walked into the bedroom a wave of relief went through me when I saw Claire sleeping in bed.

I didn't have fun tonight no matter many drinks I drank, how many songs I danced to, or how many people I talked to, all I could think about was Claire and what I could do to not make her mad at me anymore.

But the more I thought about her, the more nervous I became because Claire was kind of scary when she was mad and that made me drink to calm my nerves. Before I knew it, I was 8 shots and 3 beers in and completely wasted.

All I remember from tonight was that Jamie kept trying to dance up on me and after the 7th time of me pushing her away, she finally stopped trying but not before  giving me a steely look.

I walked over to the bed and started peeling off my clothing as quietly as I could and crawled into bed in just my underwear. I hugged Claire closer to me, my body finally relaxing as soon as her body came in contact with mine.

I missed her tonight and I felt off without her next to me knowing that we weren't on good terms right now.

Claire moved closer to me turning around in my arms with her eyes still closed. It felt like a heavy weight was lifted off my chest when she did that because even though she wasn't conscious, whether or not she meant to snuggle closer, it felt like just a regular night of us falling asleep cuddling. I leaned in and gave her forehead a kiss, "I love you," I whispered softly. Butterflies appeared in my stomach, I did it, I finally said it. Granted, she was asleep, but it was baby steps.

* * * * *

I woke up alone in bed and a pounding headache, giving up trying to open my eyes, I reached around blindly for my cell phone. It was a bad idea to drink so much last night but I was grateful that I had today off.

I squinted at the time on my phone and was relieved that it was still mid-morning. I was supposed to move my stuff into my new place. I already felt bad that I ditched mom and Charlie this weekend when I should've helped them move in but I was hoping they understood.

I slid off the bed grudgingly and started to get ready to start my day.

Claire

I huffed and tried to keep a steady pace as I squatted with the bar and plates. "Good form, Claire!" I heard my trainer yell over the music blasting in my ears.

I woke up this morning tangled up in Beth's arms, for a bliss moment, I was happy and so content with just being in her arms. I had a brief memory of Beth coming home last night because I heard her bump into literally everything in the living room.

I thought she was going to sleep in the guest room like she decided the previous night, but to my surprise, she crawled into bed next to me. I felt her arms pull me closer to her and I fell asleep almost instantly now that I knew she was home safe.

But the last thing I remember was her saying she loved me. She said it so quietly that I thought I imagined it. Just the thought of it distracted me from my set as my left leg almost gave out.

I used all the strength I could muster up to push the bar up but I was struggling. I felt Lorenzo take the bar off the back and place it on the holder. "What happened with that last set?" he asked, "you were doing so well."

I ripped my earbuds out of my ear angrily and accepted the towel he had handed me, "I don't know," I panted.

He nodded probably thinking I was upset about messing up my sets, "maybe we should call it a day, I don't want you to strain yourself." He pointed to my left leg, "make sure you stretch your leg out, you might've just aggravated it and that's why it's sore."