Festive Fake

16 - What do you want me to say?

I woke Tuesday morning, and for the first time since I'd been sleeping beside Nate, I wasn't all over him. His spot was empty, but before I could wonder where he'd gone, I noticed the closed bathroom door and the sound of the shower.

Water. That would be amazing. My mouth was as dry as a desert and my head throbbed from dehydration. Well, hangover, dehydration, close enough.

I reached for my phone and knocked something over. Picking it up, I found lemon-lime Gatorade and smiled. My favorite. Nate continued to be a prince among men.

The shower stopped, and the room became silent. I sat up, cracked the top off the bottle, and chugged. Leaning against the headboard, I did a quick internal scan of my body and decided I was doing pretty well. Nothing a prescription dose of ibuprofen and the rest of the Gatorade wouldn't fix.

Lifting my phone, I found it was only nine in the morning, so I hadn't slept in too much, and I had several texts. Laurel was freaking out because I'd forgotten to call her after my meeting, but more importantly, Andre had texted. He said, I can't wait to see you again.

When the bathroom door opened, revealing Nate with a towel wrapped around his waist, I was grinning like an idiot.

He chuckled. "You look way happier than I was expecting."

"Andre texted."

"Really?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "What did he say?"

I tossed the phone toward Nate, letting it land on the bed, then sipped my drink as he crossed the room and read the message. He made approving noises, and said, "No games. That's another point for Andre."

"Oh my gosh, he's amazing. I'm completely smitten. Do people say that anymore?"

Stretching out beside me, Nate poked my nose. "No, but you're so happy I'll ignore that you sound eighty."

"Hey!" I shoved his shoulder. "Granny's older than that and she's cool."

"She is." Nate shook his head. "I can't believe she had a poker table set up when we got back. That was a lot of fun."

"Granny loves to play whenever we're together."

"I can understand why! If you'd told me a couple of weeks ago I'd be spending Christmas with my girlfriend's family losing thirty bucks in quarters to her Granny, I wouldn't have believed it."

"I'd never seen a worse poker player than Joby, but I think you stole his title." I laughed and sent stabbing pains through my brain. "Ugh. I have to get up. I need medicine and a toothbrush. My mouth feels disgusting."

"I bet. You were pretty tipsy last night." Nate snickered as he stood and went to the bathroom.

He worked product through his hair, and I closed the bottle and set it on the nightstand. "Thank you so much for the Gatorade."

"No problem, babe."

Standing beside him at the wide vanity, I dug through my toiletries bag in search of something to stop the pounding in my skull while he used the dryer and got every strand in place. When he finished and went to the bedroom, I took the pills and brushed my teeth.

Before leaving the bathroom, I asked, "Are you decent?"

"Never, but I'm wearing pants."

I snorted at his dumb joke and walked in to find him wearing the same jeans he'd worn to do yard work. "What's going on?"

He pulled on a black, fitted tee that showed off his toned body, then turned to me with a look of blank-faced innocence. "Nothing. Joby said he'd start that burn pile this morning, so I thought I'd help."