Page 26 of Fall Hard

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “But you’ll be okay.”

I hadn’t realized how much I’d needed to hear those words until just then, and Bryn reached out to squeeze my hand like she understood.

“Ready to go back in?”

I squared my shoulders and pasted on a smile. “Only if you promise to get me very, obnoxiously, drunk.”

“That, I think I can do.”

CHAPTERSEVEN

“You know,you’re a real cover hog.”

Bryn tucked her arm under her head and looked me dead in the eye. “I make no apologies.”

I couldn’t remember the last time a friend had spent the night in my bed, maybe when I was ten and my best friend at the time wanted to do a slumber party—it turned out to be a lot less fun than she was expecting, I think. My mom had made us get in bed by seven, provided a ‘midnight snack’ at seven-thirty that consisted of cucumber sandwiches and crackers, and then I’d been forbidden from doing anything like that again because my mom had found it ‘too stressful’.

Last night had been so completely different from that experience, I kind of wanted to cry. It wasn’t something I’d even considered adding to my list, but I wished I’d thought of it. We’d got back from Jamie’s party at about two in the morning, both drunk but it was the good, giggly kind. I’d immediately flopped into bed and Bryn had been horrified, insisting I ‘get my ass up’ and take off my make-up with her. That led to a five-step skin-care routine and eating cake in bed before we both crashed from the sugar high and fell asleep chatting about nothing.

“Do you have plans today?” Bryn asked, pulling me out of my thoughts and instantly setting me on edge. There was nothing wrong with the question itself, but for some reason it triggered the same kind of anxiety I got when somebody saysCan I ask you something?

“No… Why?”

“Well, it’s not on your list. But from everything you’ve told me so far about how you grew up and, well, just from observing you to be honest, I want us to do something.”

“Okay?”

“Duvet Day.”

“I’m listening.” I relaxed back against the mound of pillows as I rolled on my side to look at her.

“We stay in bed all day. You’re allowed to leave to pee, get snacks, and that's it.”

I frowned a little. “What about showering?”

“Nope.”

“But what are we going to do in bed all day?”

The twitch of Bryn’s lips told me she had a dirty response to that question but was holding it in. “Movies. We’re going to watch all the classics.”

Why did I get the feeling that my idea of classics would be very different from Bryn’s?

“I’m down. What, exactly, is this supposed to be teaching me though? Or are you just looking to spend some more time in a real bed before you have to go back on the sofa?”

Bryn laughed. “Your sofa is surprisingly comfortable actually. Plus, you snore. The lesson here is that not everything has to be a lesson. You don’t have to beonall the time. Just take the day, chill out.”

“Like, self-care?”

“Yep.” The smug look on her face made me laugh and I snuggled deeper into my pillow.

“Fine, consider me ready to relax.” I pointed out my laptop to her so we could load up a movie and couldn’t help my giggle as I saw her choice. “Legally Blonde?Is this why you wanted to be a lawyer?”

“It’s always been my dream to sayammonium thioglycolatein court, that moment changed me for life.”

We laughed together and I had to admit the movie was better than I remembered, though Reese Witherspoon’s attraction to Emmett always escaped me.

“His head is shaped like a penis,” I protested and Bryn choked on her soda, coughing violently as she laughed.

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