CHAPTER 22

 

The Hangover

Waking up to the worst hangover of his life and realizing he’d brought a woman back to his room was bad enough, but seeing who that woman was, nearly sucked the life out of him.

Sal stared at Melissa horrified. She stood at the door of the bathroom, holding two coffee cups, wearing a sundress, her hair and makeup perfect as ever. Did he really sleep through her getting ready that morning? “Why are you here?”

Her eyes widened and she looked him up and down with a smirk. “You don’t remember?”

It dawned on him just then that he was still naked. He walked past her in a hurry, grabbing his boxers off the floor and slipping them on. His head throbbed. “Remember what, Melissa?” He held out hope, based on the fact that she was fully dressed that what had happened wasn’t what he was thinking.

But she put one of the cups down on the nightstand and bent over to pick up the panties on the floor. “There they are. I couldn’t find these this morning.” She smiled wickedly and pushed them into her purse.

His patience gave way. “I asked you a question. Why are you in my room?”

“You brought me here last night.”

“I brought you?” He didn’t buy that for a second. Even in a drunk state, he would never do that to Gracie—not with any girl—but especially not Melissa.

“Yes.” She smiled, taking a few steps toward him. “We were pretty drunk but not too drunk to…” She glanced at the bed. “You were amazing.”

Sal put his hand up—a warning for her to not take another step. “Whatever happened was a mistake. I don’t remember any of it.”

“But last night you said—”

“I said I don’t remember!” He raised his voice with every word, feeling the enormous dread sink in and the pounding in his head double. “How the hell are you gonna hold me to something I said when I don’t even remember any of it?”

Her wounded expression did nothing to make him sympathize with her. They might’ve been drunk and he’d man up to whatever he’d done, but he knew somehow she manipulated this outcome. There was no way he’d allow her to even think she could make more of this than what it was—a horrible mistake.

“I don’t understand why you’re angry. We had a good time.”

“Because this should’ve never happened.” He wanted to punch a hole through the wall. Why the hell had he drank so much?

His phone rang somewhere near the bed and he glanced around then picked up his pants from the floor. He pulled the phone from the pocket and he saw it was Grace. No way would he take the chance of answering and having Melissa say something to make her presence known. “You need to leave.”

“But I thought we were going to—”

“Melissa,” he said through his teeth. “Whatever we did last night and whatever was said is a scratch. It’s like it never happened. Do you understand?” It sure as hell felt like it never happened. If only he could take the entire night back.

He saw the tears in her eyes and he knew he should try to sound a little more sensitive but this was a disaster. All he could think of now was how he was going to fix this—was this even fixable?

“You can deny it all you want, Salvador. But it did happen, more than once and you loved it.” She took a step forward, her tears—probably fake—gone now. “And don’t say you forgot you had a little girlfriend because you texted her just before you fucked me.”

His stomach nearly gave out and he glanced down at his phone, scrolling quickly to his texts. He found the thread between him and Grace and nearly choked at what he read. The first one he sent was just after two in the morning.

Having so much fun I may never come home.

She didn’t respond until fifteen minutes later.

Then don’t.

To his horror, his next text was even worse.

I’m really busy right now...if you know what I mean. ; ) Can’t text anymore.

She didn’t respond after that, but he had missed calls from both her and Alex. More than one from her which meant this last call that he’d let go to voicemail wasn’t her first that morning. “You need to go.” He hurried to the door. “I really hope you keep this between the two of us. Nobody needs to know, Melissa.”

She smiled as she reached the door he held open for her. “Don’t worry I won’t be telling your little girlfriend. By the look on your face when you read your texts, something tells me you already did.”

“Nope. And I appreciate you keeping this between just us. I don’t even want Jason to know.”

She walked out and turned around to face him. Sal fought the urge to slam the door in her face. “He probably already knows. He was pretty out of it himself, but he saw us together.”

Fuck. Who else had seen? “I’ll take care of him. Just don’t tell anyone else… please.”

She turned around and stalked away without saying a word. Sal closed the door and began the damage control as soon as possible. He called Alex first.

Alex sounded anxious. “Hey. You okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. Grace is worried. She said she got a couple of drunken texts from your ass, then hadn’t heard from you since. She’s been calling you, too.”

Sal put his hand on his forehead and paced. The continued throbbing of his temples didn’t help the thinking process. He desperately needed to figure out how to deal with this mess. “Is she mad?”

He called Jason next. No answer, so he called the phone in his room instead. A very groggy sounding Kat answered. “Hey, Kat this is Sal. Sorry to wake you, but I need to talk to Jason.”

“Hmm hold on.” He could hear her trying to wake him and then Jason moan. This was no good. He probably had no clue either about last night’s events.

“The girls, I guess. All I remember was falling then being dragged back to the room by Kat and one of her other friends. Not sure how you got back, man. I was out of it.”

Sal heard Kat say something about Melissa. “What was that?”

Jason chuckled then moaned. “I guess Melissa got you back to your room.”

Sal held his hand to his forehead. “Did anything else happen last night that I should know about?” Mostly Sal was digging for anything anyone else might have seen, like him and Melissa making out or something in public.

“Nah, that’s it. After that it was lights out.”

With no more helpful information and Jason saying he was going to be sick, Sal hung up, his stomach in knots, wondering what was the best way to go about this. He hated to lie but there was no way he would tell her the truth. The truth was he was drunk and didn’t remember sending the texts. He’d start with that.

Hitting speed dial to call Grace, he took a deep breath. The pounding of his heart was now drowning out the pounding in his head.

“Hello?” Hearing her voice made him feel even guiltier.

Maybe he should’ve done the cowardly thing and texted her instead. “Gracie, baby. I’m so sorry about those texts last night. I had way too much to drink and I don’t even remember sending them.”

She was quiet then asked, “Who were you so busy with?”

“No one.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “It was all guys. Bunch of stupid, drunk ass guys.”

She was quiet again, intensifying the angst he felt, then finally spoke again. “Even if you were drunk, why would you text that to me?”

That’s what he didn’t get either. The thought that maybe Melissa had sent them crossed his mind but he couldn’t know for sure. All that mattered now is that the texts had been sent and the damage was done. What he needed to work on now, was making sure Grace forgave him. “I don’t know. I’m an idiot. Honest to God, I don’t remember much about last night at all.”

“So does that mean you are coming home?”

He felt a little relief. If she wanted him home then she didn’t hate his stupid ass. “Yes. I’ll be there in a couple of hours. You forgive me?”

She was quiet for a moment then said, “Well, I can’t say it to you right now. You don’t know the night you put me through.”

Jesus, she didn’t even know the half of it. “You don’t have to. I don’t deserve to hear it right now.” He didn’t even deserve her. “I’ll be home in a few hours and make this right.”

Even he didn’t buy that last sentence. How the fuck was he going to make this right?

 

***

 

The two aspirins Sal had taken just before boarding the plane did nothing to defuse his headache. He sipped the ice water the flight attendant brought him. It wasn’t just the hangover that made his head throb. Everything he’d woken to was a huge contributing factor.

If he had known Melissa was even going to be in Vegas he would’ve never come. First chance he got he’d be telling Jason off for not telling him she’d be there. He let his head fall back on his seat and gulped hard. He could only hope what happened last night didn’t come back to haunt him. He remembered Jason’s words and the saying, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” It was now something he’d be banking on. But with Melissa, you just never knew.

Blurry bits and pieces had begun to come to him about the night before. Like the two guys fighting just before he’d walked out of the bar. As much as he wanted to believe Melissa had snuck in his room that morning and somehow set up the whole thing up, there were two vivid moments that for some reason kept flashing in his mind. And although they were tiny bits they were very significant. One was of Melissa pulling his zipper down and another of her kissing his lips while she lay next to him.

Sal banged the handrail with his fist. The lady in the seat next to him shifted away from him. He apologized quickly. She just shook her head and continued reading her magazine.

Sal had given some thought about telling Alex. He wasn’t going to because he knew Alex would be mad but he needed his take on how best to handle this. Honesty seemed completely out of the question, but he dreaded Grace finding out some other way, too.

He flung his duffle bag in the back of Alex’s truck. “I messed up.”

Alex stared at him across the bed of the truck. He didn’t say anything then his brows pinched. “Whatcha do?”

The more he thought about it the more the reality of just how badly he’d messed up sunk in. He rested one arm against the truck and ran his other hand through his hair. “God, Alex. I fucked up bad.”

“I don’t even remember it happening! I was so wasted. But she was there in my room this morning.” Sal shook his head disgusted with himself. He’d keep the part about not having found any used condoms anywhere to himself. Alex was already worked up enough. “Should I tell Grace?”

“Are you crazy?”

“I don’t know. But Melissa isn’t exactly predictable. She was pissed this morning when I blew her off, telling her it was a mistake and asked her to keep it to herself.” Alex’s scowl was still as fierce as when Sal first laid the news on him. “What if she calls or shows up at the restaurant again and mentions it?”

They both got in the truck. “I still say you’re better off taking your chances that Melissa won’t do anything stupid. Did she agree to keep it to herself?”

“She did say she wouldn’t tell my little girlfriend.”

“There you go. Gracie doesn’t need to know. Trust me.”

The ride to the restaurant was a somber one with Alex shaking his head every now and again. When they got to the restaurant Grace was busy in the kitchen.

“Don’t do it, Sal.” Alex warned, as he passed him. “I’m telling you.”

Sal followed him to the back, all the while thinking about the dreadful possibility of losing Grace if she ever found out. She turned and her eyes met his. There was that smile he loved so much. Damn. He’d only been away from her for a day and it felt like an eternity. He had to make sure she never found out. There was no way he’d survive her walking out of his life now.

Even though she smiled, he saw the apprehension and he couldn’t blame her. He’d been a total ass.

“So you had a good time?”

His gut cramped up. “It was good.” He wanted to add that he missed her more than he had imagined he would, but it just didn’t feel right at the moment. Not after just saying Vegas was good. Instead, he kissed her but he noticed she didn’t kiss him back with her usual enthusiasm. The texts last night were obviously still on her mind. “C’mon lets go talk.”

He took her by the hand to the back room. Alex was in there. He gave Sal a warning look and smiled at Gracie. “Good to have him back?”

She smiled but didn’t respond otherwise.

Alex sensed Sal’s need to be alone with her and stepped out, closing the door behind him. Sal wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. “I feel so stupid about those texts. I can’t apologize enough, but I can promise you this. It won’t happen again.” He’d already decided he’d never drink that way again—no matter what. Part of the reason why he’d handled it so badly, was because he never had drunk that way. Not even in college.

Her eyes were uncertain. “I was so worried. I didn’t know what to think. I was up half the night, wondering why you would say that and what you could be doing.”

Feeling his gut wrench with guilt, he hugged her. Honesty was usually the best way to go no matter how hard it was, but there was no way he would risk not only losing her but hurting her in any way. “I don’t know, Grace. Maybe one of the idiots I was with sent them.” That was another possibility he’d considered. “It got pretty bad and we all had way too much to drink. I’ve never drunk to the point of completely forgetting what happened.” And he prayed she’d never find out the other thing he’d done and couldn’t remember.

She leaned against his chest and he felt her take a deep breath. “I’m just glad you’re home and it was nothing. I did consider that maybe someone else had gotten a hold of your phone. I just couldn’t believe you would say that. It was such an ugly feeling to read it.”

Sal could only imagine. The very thought of her with someone else sickened him. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

Grace smiled. “Just having you back is enough. But I don’t think I’d ever be comfortable with you going to another bachelor party.” she smirked. “I don’t think you can handle them.”

“You got it.” He’d agree to anything at this point, as long as she forgave him. “I didn’t even want to go to this one but I’d already promised. Never again. From here on, I don’t do bachelor parties.” He kissed her this time feeling the Gracie kisses he’d come to need. When she stopped to catch her breath he stared at her, feeling bittersweet about being forgiven so easily, but unable to hold back he whispered, “I love you, Gracie.”

She smiled, as usual her eyes were getting misty. “I love you, too.”

 

 

~*~

 

Two weeks after the horrific night Grace had spent, wondering who the hell was keeping Sal so busy in Vegas and why the world he would text her that, she’d finally shaken off the insecurity that he was keeping something from her.

They still hadn’t made love but he’d told her he wanted her first time to be special. She nearly melted in his arms when he explained how it felt like this was a first for him too. Since he’d never been in love before, this would be extra special for him also.

This was it. She’d gulped when he told her he scheduled them both off for the entire weekend. He said he was taking her away and she was his for the whole weekend.

After staring at him speechless, she finally asked him where to? But he said it was a surprise. Now the butterflies in her belly were going wild as she packed an overnight bag. He’d be there to pick her up before noon.

Rose sat on the bed next to her bag, watching her pack. Grace had asked Sal about Vincent coming out for the summer but he said he hadn’t heard anything about it. It relieved her a little but it hadn’t been a definite no. Now Rose was the one that seemed worried. “What’s wrong?”

The thought had actually crossed her mind, especially because it was getting harder and harder to leave Sal’s house every night. Once she slept with him, she knew it’d be just a matter of time before she started staying with him, more and more. “I’d never leave you.”

“But you can’t take me with you. That wouldn’t be very romantic.”

Grace laughed. “Its way too early to start worrying about me leaving, Rose. But I promise if it ever comes down to that, I’ll figure something out.”

I’m here. R U ready? >=)

She smiled and texted him back that she’d be down in a minute, hugged and kissed Rosie with a reassuring smile and took a deep breath as she walked out her bedroom door.