Page 34 of Fight For Us
“To the tequila,” she singsonged in a way that reminded me of one of those preschool cartoons Lilly used to watch.
Oh, no.That was the last thing she needed. I could tell when a person was dangerously close to crashing and Olivia was one shot away from blacking out. I followed her, letting her drunken declaration mull around in my mind. Did she really think all those things about herself? She couldn’t be more wrong. And the health insurance thing… that must have been weighing on her.
“Hey Gretel, you’re leaving a trail,” I called to her retreating frame. “You trying to reenact two fairy tales tonight?”
Stopping at the door to the kitchen, she turned and matter-of-factly said, “Only if it involves a fairy godmother or a magic genie. Anyone in the wish granting department would work.”
“What would be your first wish?”
Her gaze wandered as she thought, bouncing from a blank space on the wall to the floor, then finally locking on my face with a far away expression.
“Besides unlimited wishes… I guess it would be for an answer to my problems.” After a pause, she shrugged and let out a dry laugh. “For tonight though, my fairy godmother has a name and it’s tequila.”
As she pushed into the kitchen, I sat back against the vinyl booth. I was positive I’d put my head onto a smear of cake but I had other issues to think about. A headache was beginning to take root at the base of my neck but something else was brewing, too. An inkling of an idea. It was absolutely ridiculous to even consider. But maybe not.
Two things were certain. One, I needed to get Olivia home and to bed before she reunited with her friend tequila. And two, for this plan to work I’d have to let Olivia into my life—fully in. Which meant pulling her into the custody shit with Sav’s parents.
I glanced out the window at the dark sky. “Dylan, am I crazy for thinking what I’m thinking?”
I’d already answered my own question. Yes. I was talking to my deceased best friend out loud.
Either way, I’d sleep on it. Every idea looked better by the light of day.
Did I say every idea looked better by the light of day? Because it was just after seven and I was still certain the idea was bonkers.
“Here’s your coffee, sleepyhead.” Mia, looking fresh as a daisy, held a steaming mug out to me. I blinked and rubbed a crusty out of my eye. I’d forgotten how I ended up crashing on Olivia’s couch last night. My back would be reminding me of the sleeping arrangement all day though.
I glanced at my prosthesis and sock next to the couch. I must have been exhausted enough to get that comfortable.
“Thanks. I need this.” The steam hit my face, rousing me further. “Olivia still asleep?”
“Oh yeah, she crashed hard when you guys got back last night. She woke me up mumbling about cake and tequila but within five minutes she was out like a light. I’ve never seen her like that before.” She plopped next to me on the couch, holding her own mug.
“Yeah, I can’t picture her hitting the bottle hard like that on the regular.” I chuckled remembering the way she manhandled that cake. “She’ll be hurting today.”
“Oh, yeah, she will. Us Murphy women don’t hold our liquor well. You should see our mother the morning after a gala. It is not pretty or fun.”
I sipped my coffee again and stretched my other arm, realizing too late that I probably didn’t smell great. Putting my coffee on the side table, I reached for my sock and leg.
“Just going to take care of this so I can use the bathroom,” I said, hoping Mia would be kind enough to give me some privacy.
“Go ahead. I have to head out. I’m meeting a client for breakfast soon. Tell my sister I’ll call her later.” She took one last sip out of her mug and stood to bring it to the sink.
“Sure. If she wakes up before I leave.” Mia shrugged and grabbed her purse.
“Oh, and Wes?” She stopped at the doorway. “Thanks for taking care of her last night. She’ll kill me for saying this, but she needs someone to take care of her sometimes, even though she won’t admit it.”
“Anytime.” Fuck if I didn’t feel similarly. A sinking feeling settled in my chest at the memory of Olivia’s wish last night. I may have asked her the question as a cute joke, but I knew deep down that I wanted to know what she needed. Maybe I even wanted to be the guy to give it to her.
Mia left and I found the small bathroom in the hall. After taking care of business, I stepped out and heard Alex calling for his mom.
Olivia stirred, not that I was exactly peeking at her in bed. Her bedroom just happened to be adjacent to the bathroom and Mia had left her door halfway open.
I made my way toward the other bedroom and knocked gently on Alex’s door. “Hey, your mom’s still asleep. I can wake her if you need me to?”
He tilted his head, studying me. “What are you doing here? Is Lilly here, too?”
“I had to fix a leaky faucet in the kitchen for your mom this morning.” The lie slipped out easily. I didn’t need to be telling a ten year old that his mommy got drunk last night and needed to be carried inside.
