Page 16 of Amor Prohibido

“Yup. We can awkwardly sit on your bed and eat and talk about you getting laid last night.”

Damn her eyes! How thefuckdid she know these things? It wasn’t like I was wearing a badge of dishonour. Her assumption was enough for me to slam my face into the pillow and count to ten,slowly.She still hadn’t said a word by the time I resurfaced approximately forty seconds later.

An agitated huff escaped my lips. “Grab my sunnies and I’ll come out.”

With a small whoop, she clambered back over me, ignoring my scream of pain when her knee embedded in my back, and started digging through my purse for said sunglasses.

“Too bad if I needed that kidney,” I grumbled, rubbing at it.

Lozza repelled my snark like water rolling off a duck's back. In other words, she didn’t give a shit. “You’ve got two, you’ll be fine.Now,here.Get your ass up.” She tossed my Bans at me before I could tell her not to throw them, then departed my bedroom, leaving an evil snicker in her wake.

I reluctantly rolled from the bed and tugged on a pair of comfy joggers and a hoodie, then hobbled my way to the kitchen.

Loz snickered as Marc said a cheery, “Goodafternoon.”

I jolted and my chest clamped. “It’s not!”

He laughed and slid a burger and fries across the table to me. “Nah, just messing with ya. It’s quarter past ten.”

“Thank fuck for that,” I breathed out. “Mama would kill me for being late for lunch at Kath and Kip’s today.” I gratefully took Marc’s offered burger despite being unable to eat just yet. “But fuck, my head is killing me. Let me get some painkillers.”

I shuffled to the kitchen for a large glass of water and medication, then slid back onto my seat at our small dining table.

Lozza studied me closely while smirking. “Soooo,” she started.

“Nope, not ready for this conversation.” I took a mouse-sized bite of burger bun and chewed tentatively.

She scoffed. “I wasn’t going to talk about you bumping uglies… yet. That will be later.” She flapped her hand flippantly, then grabbed a fry and pointed it at me.“WhatI was going to say is that Marc and I are planning a dirty fortnight away during Uni mid-year break. Thought we might head to the snow to do some skiing and all that jazz.”

Lozza was in her second year of a four-year Bachelor of Social Work with the ambition of specialising in a mix of youth justice and child protection. She wanted to make the world a better place for those who are most vulnerable, and I admired the shit out of her for it. While I brightened people’s days with beautiful flower arrangements, I sure as hell wasn’t changing society one child at a time.

“Sounds amazing,” I murmured between nibbles. “But why are you saying it like you need my permission?”

“I wasn’t intentionally. I guess I don’t want you to be worried about being here by yourself for two weeks while we’re away.”

I waved off Lozza’s concern. “You’re not always here at night anyway, so it’s no biggie. When’s mid-year again?”

She plucked up my milkshake and hummed around the straw. “In a couple of weeks. We just decided this morning and thought we’d let you know before booking anything.”

In an effort to stop myself snatching it from her clutches, I squished a chip between my fingers and watched the fluffy insides squeeze out. “You don’t need to worry about me, I can handle myself. Besides, I can crash at Mama and Papi’s, or Darren and Callie’s, if I get lonely. It’ll be fine.”

“Never doubted that for a second,” Marc chipped in while extracting the milkshake from Lozza’s talons, then handed it back to me.

I feigned a glare at Loz, then erased it for Marc. “Thanks, Marc.”

Loz scoffed. “So, who’d you bring home?”

My eyes narrowed on her. “Just some guy. He left hours ago.”

She hummed. “Did you get his name or number?”

“Nope.”

“So, his name didn’t rhyme with Bason Palone?”

If shooting “shut the fuck up” lasers from my eyeballs was a thing, I would have burned her lips closed.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

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