Page 39 of My Dream

“By three minutes,” Poppy grumbled and crossed her arms. “You couldn’t have taken a little bit longer?”

I rolled my eyes and took a seat at the bar next to Olive. “How are you guys not hungover?” I asked and propped my chin on my hand.

Adalee placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of me, and I reached for it gratefully.

“You’re the only one who was downing shots like they were water,” Adalee said.

I tipped my head to the side and narrowed my eyes at her. “What? You guys were drinking just like I was.”

“Water,” Dove chimed in and shook her head. “You need to drink water, honey. We were doing shots too, but we were alternating with water.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t remember that.”

“Because you were only drinking shots,” Olive said with a laugh as she clinked her glass against her empty plate.

I took a sip of coffee and savored the warmth as it spread through me. It was pulling me closer to normal.

“I’m making BLTs for lunch. You want one?” Adalee asked from the kitchen.

The thought of greasy bacon was heavenly. “I will gladly take one,” I said with enthusiasm.

While Adalee got to work, I sipped my coffee and let the warmth settle into me. The girls around me chatted as I fully came back to life.

“Did your guys get a text from Yarder?” I asked, curious.

“No text, but they all got the news that Clay wants in-depth interviews with everyone,” Olive said, her voice tinged with annoyance.

“Why?” I asked with a frown. “Don’t they already have interviews from before?”

Adalee shrugged as she flipped the bacon in the pan. “I know they do. Maybe Clay wasn’t happy with what I got before I was fired?”

“That would be because the guys were all fighting you tooth and nail to sit down for interviews,” Sloane laughed.

“Fallon!”

I turned toward the sound of Compass’s voice. He was standing near the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Yeah?”

“You and me, babe. We’re up first.”

I tipped my head to the side, narrowing my eyes. “First for what?”

Adalee cringed.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I demanded, pointing at her.

“Interviews in five minutes,” Compass said and headed down the hallway.

Adalee gave me a reassuring smile. “You’ll be fine.”

“Yeah,” Dove agreed and nodded. “They won’t even be able to tell you’re hungover.”

I swallowed hard as my stomach twisted. I had been feeling better, but now it felt like I might actually puke.

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. I could not have my first interview after drinking too many shots of tequila the night before. This was not happening.

Olive patted my hand. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”

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