Page 62 of Grumpy Sunshine

The first one was to Cutter, since he was the last to call.

“Dude, we have a situation,” he said as I answered.

“What kind of situation?”I asked.

“Are you sick?”he questioned instead of explaining.

“As a dog,” I admitted.“I can barely stand up.”

“Oh.”He paused.“I’ll talk to you later then.It’s not very important.”

I shrugged and said, “Later.”

The next call was to Copper, who didn’t answer.

The final call was to Keely, who answered before immediately sounding like she was throwing up.

“Uhhh,” I wondered.“You okay?”

“Probably better than you,” she affirmed.“Why do you sound like that?”

“Flu,” I explained.“Why did you throw up when you answered?”

“I’m a sensitive bitch.”She grumbled.

I grinned.“That sounds like fun.”

“It’s not.”She exhaled.“I was calling to see if you knew what was going on with Copper, but I doubt you know.”

“I don’t.”I paused, thoughts swirling.“Reign was here last night, though, so maybe it has something to do with her.”

“It might,” she sighed, sounding completely exhausted.“Maybe I’ll call her.”

“Give him a few days,” I said.“I’ll ask the guys, though.They’re too nosy not to know at least something.”

“Are you at the clubhouse?”she asked.“When I talked to Cutter this morning, he said your truck was gone and your bike was getting hammered by rain and hail.”

I sighed.“Yeah, I drove here last night because the rocking of the houseboat was making me nauseous.”

She snickered.“I told you not to go with that houseboat.”

“It’s easy.”I yawned.“I’m headed over to a friend’s place, though.The clubhouse is too loud, and every time they turn on the coffee grinder my head starts to pound.”

“I’ll have Dima move the bike for you,” she said.“After I’m done throwing up, that is.”

“Did you clean the toilet before you threw up in it?”I asked.

There was a long pause and then, “No.”

“You know I took a shit in there two days ago,” I teased.“You’re probably resting your face on my ass residue.”

There was a long moment of silence and then, “I’m going to fucking kill you one day.In your sleep.I’ll make it look natural so no one questions how it happened.Isn’t that one of the most cowardly ways to die, according to history?In your sleep?Shows how ‘viral’ you are.”

I would’ve laughed had a wave of nausea not rolled over me.

“Gotta go,” I said.“My turn to throw up now.”

And let’s just say, friends.

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