Page 12 of Secret Baby for the Triplets

Cousin? What? Was there a cousin too? Fuck, how much did we drink last night? Where did we even find Diana in the first place?

My brow furrows more.

We’d done a casino crawl, and suddenly she wasthere… but where did we pick her up?

All this recollecting makes my head pound more.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay and eat?” I’m not even sure I can get my ass out of bed right now, let alone order her food.

And where the hell are my brothers? How did she end up alone with me?

Ugh. I need more sleep.

Amusement laces her expression, and I’m grateful when she shakes her head, even if the movement makes me dizzy. “No, I’d better get back. They’re already mad at me. And I don’t think you’re in any kind of shape to entertain me over breakfast.”

I stare blankly at her, and the corners of her mouth turn inward. Her eyes narrow as she peers at me.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I mutter. “Do you need a car?”

“My hotel is just over… Never mind,” she sighs, as if she realizes I don’t remember much. “I’m good. Bye, Toby.”

She leaves, and I lie back down, pulling a pillow over my head, willing death to come for me while I sleep.

* * *

I wake a few hours later to find a glass of water, a bottle of aspirin, and a note by my bed. It’s the first thing I see when I open my eyes, and again, I think I’m dreaming as I sit up. Slowly, I pick up the handwritten note, and my heart skips at the unexpected kindness.

Hope you’re feeling better. Thanks for a fun night.

D.

A spark of shame rushes through me as I suck back a couple of the white pills and down the water. I hadn’t sent her off very nicely in my sorry state, and I wish I had a do-over now.

I don’t bother dressing as I hope that she’s still around, but I can’t be that lucky as I amble out of the bedroom toward the main floor.

“Fuck, it’s about time. It’s almost one o’clock,” Brock complains when I saunter downstairs.

They’re already drinking again, and I grunt at the sight of the mixed drinks.

“You just wasted half the day sleeping,” Owen sighs.

“I tried to wake you up,” Brock volunteers. “But I think we’d have more luck waking the dead.”

“We’re not on the ranch. I don’t have to get up at the ass-crack of dawn,” I argue, flopping onto the couch and curling up in the fetal position.

“Right. As if you ever wake up at the ass-crack of dawn without someone pouring cold water on your head at home,” Brock counters.

Owen laughs. “That girl wore you out! Our poor baby brother!”

Brock nods. “Next time, we’ll have to find someone a little slower for him.”

I can’t help but laugh as my brothers mock me. “She was something, huh?”

Brock eyes Owen. “Yeah, she was fun.”

“Did any of you get her phone number?” I ask hopefully.

Brock raises his brows. “Baby bro, she didn’t even give us her real name.”

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