Elaina ~
The pounding in Lainey's head seemed to pull her from sleep as she slowly blinked her eyes open and tried to remember how she ended up in her bedroom.
Leaning forward she pushed off the bed, only to find she wasn't laying on her bed at all. She pushed off of a hard body and slowly realized that she was laying against Caleb's firm chest. He was sound asleep with his arm folded behind his head as he leaned against the pillows and headboard.
Caleb slept in my bed last night...with me...did we...
Lainey wasn't under her comforter, but there was a blanket that had been pulled over the top of her that she promptly lifted, shooting her eyes down at her body to make sure she was clothed.
Oh thank God.
She let out a sigh of relief once her eyes fell onto her t-shirt and shorts.
"Don't worry, nothin' happened." Caleb said without opening his eyes.
The gravel in his deep voice perked her ears and made her thoughts go fuzzy. He opened one eye and took a peek at her, lifting his mouth into a lazy smile.
"Mornin'"
She felt the vibration of his deep voice beneath her hand that was still firmly planted on the center of his chest. The sensation caused her to quickly remove her hand from his shirt with a sudden uneasiness that settled in her gut as she desperately tried to remember how they had ended up in bed together.
Footsteps coming down the hall grabbed her attention, but the clinking of a spoon against a bowl put her at ease, knowing full well it was James who was about to enter her room. He ate more cereal that any human being she'd ever been around and left cereal bowls all over the house, which drove Lainey crazy.
"Help me remember...last night...did we? I mean...we didn't..."
"No we didn't, Lainey. And if you think I would have slept with you when you were drunk and passed out, you obviously don't know me very well." Caleb corrected her.
"I didn't mean that, I'm sorry. It's just that you slept in my room all night. In my bed." she said softly with a hint of embarrassment in her voice.
"That's because your drunk ass fell asleep on him." James said as he entered her room with a mouth full of cereal.
"And you asked me to stay." Caleb said from beside her.
"I did?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am." The side of Caleb's mouth curled into a smile as if he were trying to reassure her that he hadn't minded her request.
"And what about my clothes? Did you dress me too?" she asked, standing from the bed.
"Nope, that was all you...which is why everything you have on is backwards." Caleb said with a grin.
Looking down at her shirt, Lainey flipped the collar and saw the bright white tag sticking out beneath her chin.
How. Embarrassing.
Marcus and Pierce appeared in the doorway next, probably following the sound of Caleb and James who were laughing at her backwards clothes and lack of recollection of her night out.
"I don't remember coming home at all." she said, rubbing her forehead as if the physical action would force the memories to populate.
"Well Pierce had to carry you out of the club so you didn't get into a fight, and Marcus had to carry you up to the house from the car because you couldn't walk up the steps." James said with a grin as he took another bite of cereal.
Did he just say get into a fight? I tried to fight someone?
"I'm sorry...back up a little bit. Get into a fight?" She asked, looking right at Pierce.
On our way out, Nick and this blonde chick he was with decided to run their mouths a little. Marcus went to handle Nick and keep him away from you, but the girl wouldn't quit talking. I thought you were about to rock her shit, so I picked you up and carried you out." Pierce laughed.
"Oh my God...wait I vaguely remember that. Was I screaming at her?" Lainey asked with a horrified expression.
"To be fair she's the only who started it. She called you a bitch and you didn't like that one bit." Marcus chuckled.
"What did I say to her?"
Both men exchanged comical glances as if they were trying to figure out which one of them was going to say it out loud.
Oh this can't be good.
"She said you had lost your chance with Nick to which your exact words were - You can have him, but make sure you draw him a map to your clit because he won't be able to find it."
Caleb's loud contagious laugh echoed from his chest. It was a sound that Lainey would have loved to hear if she wasn't so mortified by her own words.
She looked up at the ceiling and squeezed her eyes shut, wishing the ground would just open up and swallow her whole.
"Kill me." she groaned as the men around her laughed.
"I hate to put salt on the wound Bug, but tonight's charity ball is hosted by Nick and his family..." James snickered.
All Lainey could do is slap her own forehead in disbelief of her drunken actions and the awkward conversations that were going to most likely occur as a result that evening.
"Well you guys are obviously enjoying my misery. If you'll excuse me I'm going to go get some breakfast...and maybe throw myself into oncoming traffic." she sassed as she left them laughing in her bedroom on her way to the kitchen.
The steps she took down the hall were slow and her legs felt heavy, letting her know she needed to take some of her meds as soon as she reached the kitchen.
She took a seat at the large rectangular kitchen table after taking her medicine and greeting Rosa, ignoring Rosa's jabs at her backwards clothes. Once she was seated at the table she leaned over, resting her head on her arms as she fought the pounding in her head and heard the men file into the kitchen and join her.
A deep familiar voice sounded next to her ear, making her uneasy stomach swarm with light butterflies.
"You low or just tired?" Caleb said in a hushed voice.
How is he so in tune with me?
"A little low." she said softly without lifting her head.
"How low we talkin' sweetheart?" he asked, trying his best not keep his voice low so he didn't bring attention to her.
Caleb's rough hands gathered her hair and shifted it over to one side, giving him room to run his hand down the side of her neck, pressing his fingers against her throat for a few seconds.
He's checking my heart rate.
"Hey Hollywood, toss me one of those electrolyte drinks from the fridge will ya?" Caleb asked with his hand still pressed firmly against Lainey's neck.
My heart rate must not have been where he wanted it.
"Sure thing, Doc. She okay?" Pierce asked.
"Just a little low, but we're gonna get it taken care of." Caleb said confidently.
Lainey felt the cold condensation of the drink against her arm and heard Caleb twist the cap for her.
"Drink up Darlin', this will make you feel a lot better," Caleb said, removing his hand from her neck and rubbing it gently up and down her back in an effort to coax her into sitting up.
She was a little woozy and fatigued, but sat up to do as Caleb had asked with her head bobbing slightly as she sat upright in the chair. Caleb immediately pulled her chair toward his with very little effort, positioning himself close to her right side.
Marcus mirrored Caleb's movement and scooted his chair up against hers on her left side.
Both men started to eat their breakfast and make small talk with the rest of the group as if nothing was out of the ordinary, but they were nearly shoulder to shoulder with Lainey. She quickly realized that their close proximity was due to the unsteady bobbing of her head as she re-hydrated. If she were to faint, the men on either side of her were blocking her pathway to the floor and holding her in place. Caleb and Marcus were eating their food, but eyeing her from the side ready to intervene if needed.
Once she finished the drink, Caleb brought her another one, giving here that lazy half smile of his that she couldn't say no to.
"So, what's everybody got planned for today?" Caleb asked as Declan took a seat at the table.
"James and I are running a couple club errands today including interviewing some new bouncers." Pierce said.
"You having trouble with your bouncers, James?" Marcus asked.
"They won't stop fucking the waitresses while they're on the clock." James grumbled.
"I feel like I'm hiring new bouncers every two weeks."
"You could try hiring uglier waitresses." Marcus chuckled.
"Then I wouldn't have anything to look at when I'm at work." James snickered.
James is such a cocky asshole sometimes.
"Charming." Lainey muttered, cutting her eyes at her brother who grinned at her with a mouth full of food.
"Camila is feeling better, thanks to those IV fluids you gave her last night, Doc. So Marcus and I will be going with Ricardo and Camila to a lunch this afternoon for a few hours before the Charity ball tonight."
As she listened to the team finalize their plans, Lainey's mind drifted to her own plans for the day. It was Saturday and they didn't have to be at the Charity ball until eight. Other than that she and Caleb didn't have a thing in the world to do and could spend the entire day lounging at the house. As she sat there thinking, her heart fluttered beneath her ribs and for once it wasn't due to lack of potassium.
Caleb and I will have the entire house to ourselves today.