Page 15 of More than Need

“I thought you guys were waiting and letting it percolate or whatever.”

“I don’t think that’s what percolate means. And wewere. Sadie went by herself. I didn’t even know till after.”

Marshall sighed. “Should have expected that.”

Him and Dawson both. Should have locked her up somewhere. Not that Dawson could lecture her about impulsive choices right now. “So anyway, it went… not great. He reacted badly.” Understatement.

“Damn, I’m sorry. How does this relate to you fucking up last night?” Marshall froze, plates in hand. “Please tell me you didn’t.”

“I need more context than that.”

There were plenty of things that he’d probably done that Marshall wouldn’t approve of. The list was long enough he’d need some specifics.

“Dawson.”

“What? I’m serious.” He had an inkling, but he wasn’t going to say it first. As the youngest, he’d learned to bewaysmarter than that.

“You went and saw him while you were drunk.” Marshall frowned. The toast popped up, and he didn’t move. “He’s a cop, right? Her brother? You… oh my God. At the station?”

“Where else was I supposed to find him?” Dawson asked defensively. “I don’t know where he lives.”

“And if you had?”

“I’d like to think that I have more integrity than to ambush a guy at his home.” Dawson rubbed circles around his temples, adding some pressure to alleviate the pain as he slowly made his way through the coffee. He’d need another two or three.

“Unfortunately, we know you better,” Marshall said dryly.

Okay, rude. “Not my finest moment,” he accepted.

“I cannot believe that you would be that stupid. You’ve done some stupid shit but—”

“It’s not that bad, calm down.” Nothing compared to the headache trying to explode his head.

“You have to go apologise,” Marshall said firmly. “Like, today. Damage control, Daws.”

“Yeah.”Orhe could curl into a ball and die. Also a valid option. Like one of those rolling beetle things. Fuck, what were they called? Maybe he could Google it.

“Does Sadie know?”

“Do I still have my head?” Dawson asked rhetorically.

“Are you going to tell her?”

“Not if I can fix it first.” Fuck, he hoped he could fix this.

“Who is making all this racket?” Sadie grumbled, staggering into the room, rubbing her eyes as if summoned. “Ooh, coffee.” She stole Dawson’s mug and finished it.

He shared a glance with his brother and shook his head. No fucking way did he want to talk to her about it now. Not when he still felt like a bag of dicks.

She beamed at Dawson, eyes crinkling. “You look like shit.”

“Thank you so much,” Dawson replied sarcastically. Did they have to keep repeating what he looked like? He’d showered and changed, so he at least looked alive now. He’d even put some deodorant on, so he also knew he didn’t stink. And brushed his teeth. All the things required to start a day off right. “It might be because some witch wanted to compete in coordinated puking.” It hadn’t even worked. She’d gone to sleep before they’d gotten to that part. Dawson had done it all by himself in front of a fucking police station. To make it worse, he’d also done it in front of a cop. A sexy one that he’d have been hitting on in any other situation. Instead, he’d snarled at him and then thrown up. His life fucking sucked.

“You disappeared for a bit,” Sadie mused. “Did you fall asleep in the shower again? I told you that’s a waste of water. Beds are for sleeping. Showers are for cleaning. The fact that we need to have this lesson again is disturbing.”

“I’ve fallen asleep in the shower three times, let’s calm down.”

Marshall snorted. “Three times seems like a small number if you were buying apples. But it’s an unusually high amount for sleeping in showers.”

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