Page 51 of I Blame the Alcohol

Lou’s blush returns as her boyfriend leaves, the shy smile on her face putting a happy one on my own. Nothing beats having your best friend in love.

“A hot tub, eh?”

“It was crazy, Stella. We could have been kicked out.” Lou’s eyes glow in a way that says she’s getting good, consistent sex. “It was so much fun.”

I pout, “That’s all I’m getting? ButTrip…”

Lou shakes her head, giggling at my spot-on imitation of Wes, “Okay, okay. Long story short, Wes tried to take me skiing yesterday. It was a disaster.”

I wince, picturing my uncoordinated roommate on skis. God bless the girl, she can play the air guitar like the best of them, but when it comes to moving her body in any sort of synchronized fashion – it’s best to duck and cover.

“After the second run ended with me in tears, Wes decided we should call it a day. He paid for a day room at this ski chalet, and each room had a hot tub on the balcony. If anyone had been staying next door, we would have been arrested for public indecency for sure.”

I impatiently wave my hand for her to get to the fun part.

“Anyways, Wes iced my hip for the better part of an hour before he finally cleared me well enough to go in the hot tub.” Lou pauses to roll her eyes, “He’s so ridiculous sometimes. I only cried because I couldn’t remember how to stop and was worried about hurting someone. He thought it was from the fourteen falls I took coming down.”

I mean, fair assumption on the man’s part.

“But back in the hot tub…” I prompt her with an encouraging smile.

“Back in the hot tub… things got heated.” Lou grins at her own pun while I groan.

“So, yeah. We kind of started making out, and then I was on his lap, and then my bikini got thrown over the balcony – which was super embarrassing to go retrieve later by the way – and then he carried me inside to test out the stability of all the horizontal surfaces.”

I sigh, “Not nearly as much detail as I would like but that will suffice, thank you.”

“You know, if you made a move on Caveman Cody, you wouldn’t have to live through my stories.”

“Pfft, I’d still want to hear your stories even if I was getting dick left, right, and centre.”

“Now there’s an image I will never be able to erase from my mind.” The deep voice makes me scream and drop my phone.

“What the hell, Mo!”

I hold a hand to my heart, the pulse pounding beneath my fingers. Lou’s confused face looks up at me from the floor and I quickly bend to retrieve her.

“Sorry, my brother forgot how to knock. Give me two minutes.”

She nods and I quickly mute her. Mo smirks, leaning his large frame against my open bedroom door.

Damn it. I must have forgotten to close it.

“What can I do for you, brother?”

“Well, I’m taking Cody to get fitted for some new boots for Whistler tomorrow and was wondering if there is anything you need.”

“Nope, I think I’m good.” I pause, unsure of how to ask the question that’s been bothering me all week.

“Why didn’t you ever tell Cody about our family? About mom?”

Mo tilts his head, taking a moment to think about my question. It’s one of my favourite things about my brother: he always takes time to think about his answer.

He might be a dick 99 percent of the time, but he’s a well-thought-out dick.

“By the time Ellsworth came into my life, mom had been gone for over a year. When I wasn’t playing lacrosse, I was partying myself into oblivion. It was the only way to keep her off my mind. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about the feelings I was trying so hard to bury inside.”

“You weren’t alone, you know.”

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