Salty

Fourteen | Of Salads and Men

Fourteen | Sloan

It was almost five in the morning when I walked through the door of the duplex. So, it was no surprise to find the entire place still dark, curtains drawn shut, and Hallie's door closed. Her car was outside, and that meant she hadn't worked her normal third shift. Feeling the exhaustion of being awake all night, I couldn't fathom how Hallie worked twelve-hour shifts at the nursing home. I would have found some empty bed to sleep in, if that were my profession. My best friend was probably the sweetest person in the world, and that meant she took her role of caring for elderly and terminally ill patients seriously. That heart of gold really failed her when she went to Ollie behind my back. That's why I flung Hallie's door open, allowing its knob to bounce off the wall behind it with a bang loud enough to cause her to stir.

"What time is it?" Hallie groaned, rubbing her sleepy eyes while I strode across her room.

"Five."

I threw open the curtains, allowing the bright pink and orange glow of sunrise to beam through the window. Hallie dove beneath her covers, which was useless since I yanked them completely off the bed. I didn't care that Hallie was dressed in practically nothing but a see-through teddy.

"Who pissed in your cheerios?"

"You did!" I yelled, pointing at the culprit in pink lingerie. "You went to Ollie! You told him about Steve... about all of it!"

"Damn right I did! You quit school because of him!"

"That doesn't mean you get to tell a stranger who hates me I committed insurance fraud, Hal! If he tells anyone about it, I could still go to jail! It doesn't matter if Steve is gone or not!"

Hallie sat up, still groggy, one boob spilling out of her nightwear. I pointed to the rogue tit, causing Hallie to roll her eyes and adjust herself, tucking the freed nipple back into the bust of the teddy. Then she patted the spot beside her—a wordless way of telling me we were about to have a chat. I hesitated, wondering why the girl was wearing sexy lingerie when the bed was empty.

"Did you sleep with someone last night? Because if you did, there's not a chance in hell that I'm climbing into that bed with you until the sheets are washed."

"I wish," Hallie muttered, pulling one of her two pillows out from behind her to place against the headboard for me. "My orgasms last night were, unfortunately, by my own hand. I attempted my new vibrator, named the Rocket, which did not leave me seeing stars. Its first mission was aborted, and it blasted its way right into the trash."

I could live with that. I kicked off my shoes, instantly realizing how badly my feet hurt from being on them all day and night, and crawled into the bed. The two of us sat there in silence for a long while, trying to figure out what to say to each other. Fighting for us always seemed awkward and stupid, because we knew we would make up almost instantly. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt when Ollie had shown up at TJ's store. One look into his stunning blue eyes, and it was obvious he had learned of Steve. I just couldn't believe that Hallie had been the one to go directly to him and spill every secret I had.

"Was he still a dick?" Hallie was the first to break the silence, looking to me with a lot of unneeded sympathy. "I can still kill him. He makes it easy. We know where he works and where he sleeps."

My eyes closed, and I giggled with Hallie's own joining. My head dropped to the blonde's shoulder. I still couldn't make heads or tails of what had happened last night. It still felt like a dream. Ollie had been more than nice—almost human, even. It still hadn't fully clicked that I took him up on a job offer to be an apprentice. Obviously, I had lost my mind in a moment of weakness. That moment was when he pleaded with me—the same moment I saw the hurt in him I felt every single second of every single day. His guard was down. Hell, it was practically nonexistent in that moment. As soon as I agreed, he was all business again, explaining dress code and the benefits package. Ollie acted like he hadn't admitted to me that a breakup ruined him, or how he wanted out of his family business.