Page 77 of The Boy I Once Loved

Chapter Fifteen

I groan when I open my eyes, the morning light blinding me. My head feels like a lead weight. Two arms are wrapped around me from behind and I can feel Dylan’s steady breathing on my neck as he sleeps. Holy shit! We had sex last night and we’re naked together in bed. It should feel wrong, but it doesn’t. It feels like we were always headed for this, like it was inevitable. He was drunk last night, drunk and hurting and not thinking straight. What if this was just a big mistake for him? What will that mean for our friendship? Have we ruined everything? My mind races at a hundred miles an hour as the panic in me rises.

"Ella, you've slept through your alarm." I jump up startled as my mum waltzes into my bedroom, not knocking. I sit up in bed wide-eyed as she stops still and looks from me to Dylan. "Oh."

I slap Dylan's arm repeatedly, and groaning, he opens an eye. "Oh shit," he says sleepily. "Hey, Kay."

My mum shakes herself out of her shock. “It’s quarter to nine. I suggest you both get up and get to college.” She shakes her head, still in shock. She points at Dylan. “You better have wrapped it up.” Before she turns and leaves, closing the door behind her. I definitely need to get a lock on my door.

“Oh, fuck.” I fly up out of the bed and grab some knickers and a bra from my draw, throwing them on. My mum just walked in on us naked in bed together. I pick up Dylan’s boxers, jeans and t-shirt and throw them on the bed. “Get up, Dylan!”

Groaning, he rolls over and buries his head in my pillows. “My head is pounding.”

“Get up and get home,” I order as I scramble to my wardrobe and I grab the first pair of jeans I find and a black hoodie.

Dylan rolls sideways and he sits up, pulling the covers off him and I lick my lips as I take in his nakedness. “Fuck, how much did we drink?” He hisses, blocking his eyes from the light with his arm.

“Get dressed for fuck’s sake,” I whisper scream.

He holds up a hand. “Okay, okay, don’t shout it hurts my fragile head.” He stands up and he pulls on his boxers and his jeans. I throw on my trainers and with a quick run of my fingers through my hair, I open the door and I head downstairs. I find my mum in the kitchen standing there looking a million miles away with a cup of coffee cradled in her hands. I walk in and she gestures to the worktop. “Think you might need that coffee, given the empty rum bottle on your bedroom floor.”

I keep my head down, not able to give her eye contact. I grab the coffee and I gulp it down. I grab my bike keys from the key hook and head towards the front room.

“You’re just going to take off and leave him up there?” She asks me, following behind me.

“I’m late for school,” I hiss, grabbing my bag and heading for the door. I can’t get out of here fast enough. I’m mortified that my mum knows we had sex and my anxiety is through the roof about what this means for Dylan and me. I head for school with my head in bits. I love Dylan with every fibre of my being. Sex with him last night just confirmed it, and I’m terrified. If he saw it as a mistake, I’m not sure I could survive. My heart couldn’t take another hit, not from him.

I scurry to my locker and pull out my books in automatic pilot mode. I jump a mile when Connor grabs me by the waist and spins me around. "Hey, you."

I hold my head as the room spins. “Fuck, Connor, don’t my head hurts.”

He stands back and grimaces. “Jesus, you look like shit. Did you just roll out of bed or something?”

“Or something,” I mumble as I close my locker. “I have the hangover from hell, so talk quietly.”

Connor chuckles and nudges me as he walks beside me. “So crazy golf got a bit crazy, huh?”

“That’s an understatement.”

Connor tilts his head in question. “Do tell.”

With a sigh, I fill him in. “His dad was there with his new girlfriend.” Connor’s mouth drops open. “Yeah, exactly. As you can imagine, that didn’t go down well with Dyl. So, we left and went back to mine and polished off a bottle of rum.”

“Wow,” he replies, nodding his head as he takes it in. “A full bottle. No wonder you look like shit.”

I glare at him.

“Sorry, but you do. So, where is he?”

I shrug my shoulders, putting my head down. “I don’t know. He’s probably at home in his own room in his own bed.”

Connor looks at me like I’m being totally weird, and I am being weird, I’m still freaking the fuck out.

Connor pulls out his phone. “I better ring him and see if he’s up.”

And that’s my cue to get out of here. “I gotta go. I’ll see you later.” I scuttle off before he can say another word. My first lecture is hell on earth. The lights hurt my sensitive eyes and my head thumps like a hammer. By the time lunch comes around, I seriously think I’m dying. I haven’t seen Dylan, but then again, we don’t share any classes this morning. Even so, I can’t face him, so instead of heading to the dining hall, I head to the library and I find myself a secluded corner to put my head down and close my eyes.

I wake up with a jolt, rubbing my eyes, and feeling disorientated. I look around me and remember I am in the library. Fuck! I look at my watch and realise there are only ten minutes left of my Business Studies class. My last class of the day is with Dylan, and I just can’t face it. I can’t look him in his eyes and see the regret there, see him give me that look that I’ve seen him give so many girls as he makes it clear that it was a one-night thing. Chicken that I am, I grab my bag and head outside to my bike.

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