Page 98 of Muddy Messy Love

“She’s in bed, fast asleep. She had a great night. How about you?”

Hannah takes a moment to process my question, then her face lights up. She throws her arms in the air and spins in a wobbly circle, narrowly missing the hazard on the floor. I rush towards her, zigzagging between the pieces, to clutch her shoulders still. “Careful. You’ll cut yourself.”

Cole returns and crouches at Hannah’s feet with the dustpan and a pair of thongs. He taps her ankle. “Lift.”

Hannah listens, raising one foot as she digs her fingernails into my arms. Cole slides a thong on over her stockings while I hold her steady. He does the same with her other foot, and we both sigh when she’s out of danger.

Pointing to her feet, Hannah erupts into laughter and cradles her stomach. “I’m a sloth. Look, I’m a sloth!” She keels over, hyperventilating as tears run down her cheeks, cutting white valleys through her bronzer.

It shouldn’t be so funny, but for some reason, it really is. Cole and I look at each other with loaded smirks, then down to Hannah’s two-toed, black hot-pink-thonged feet. The dam bursts, and we lose it. Leaning on each other, we dissolve intowild belly-aching laughter, re-erupting every time we glance back to Hannah’s feet.

Eventually, we regain a semblance of composure. Hannah’s ragged breaths calm, and her eyes sparkle with joy. For once, she looks her age, and that thrills me. “I had the best night, Aves. Thebestestbest. Thank you so much.” She plants a wet kiss on my cheek.

“Any time,” I say, amused.

Cole shakes his head, then lobs Hannah’s arm around his shoulders to help her walk. She almost falls over anyway. “Hell, I’ll just carry you,” he says. “Come on, trouble. Let’s get you to bed.”

Taking over clean-up duty, I squat to the ground and gather the dustpan and broom. Hannah sags in Cole’s arms, limp and loose, like a sack of potatoes. “Christ,” he grits, stumbling backwards. Ceramic cracks under his shoe. “Help me out here, would you?”

Hannah giggles before throwing her arms around his neck. Gaining balance, Cole heads for the hall. Halfway across the dining room, Hannah throws her head upside down to look at me. “Psst, Aves, I met a sexy man. See?” She releases one arm from Cole’s neck, and it flops down, dangling like a dead snake. Black digits scroll across the pale skin of her forearm, messy and jagged. “He’s so hot. You’ll love him.” Her eyebrows jump up and down, or rather down and up from this angle.

“No, she damn well won’t,” Cole growls.

Hannah snickers, slogs her head back upright, then pinches Cole’s cheeks and shakes his head from side to side. His steps falter. “Aw, you’re so cute when you’re jealous, Dribbles.”

I quirk a brow at Cole’s back. “Dribbles?”

“Ignore her, she’s drunk,” he deadpans before disappearing down the hall.

I smile at the dirt and shards as they collect in the dustpan.Okay, then.

Nineteen

On Monday morning, Istroll into the Mini-Bees staffroom to find Hannah leaning over the kitchenette bench, cradling her head in her delicate hands. She peers up at me, moving as little as possible, then groans and looks away. “You’re early.”

I bite back a smile as I hang my satchel and jacket, then saunter towards her. “So tell me about this sexy man.”

Her cheeks fume red, and she shakes her head. “I’m so embarrassed.”

“Don’t be. You got drunk, big deal.”

Hannah stands up with a sigh and leans her hip against the benchtop, folding her arms. “It’s not only that. I wish it was.”

“Why, what happened?” She shakes her head again and mashes her lips into a hard line. I huff out a laugh. “C’mon, it can’t be that bad, surely?”

Wincing, she drops her chin. “I had sex with him, Aves. In a dirty nightclub toilet, of all places.”

My shoulders relax. “That’s not so bad. People do that. You’re only young once.”

Her jaw clenches. “That’s not all.”

I quirk a brow. “What else?”

She clasps a hand over her mouth. “Nope, I can’t even say it.”

I nudge her. “Just tell me.”

Disgust darkens her delicate features, stirring dread in the pit of my stomach.

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