Page 69 of Give Me What I Want

“Yeah, me neither,” Cole decided, urging me off of his lap. “I love you, gorgeous, but no. I’m not sticking around for this.”

My brows pinched as he got up, leaving me on the sofa with Cece standing in the middle of the room glaring at me. “What if she tries to kill me?”

“I’d bet on you winning any day, no offence, Cece,” Cole said, grinning and patting the girl on the shoulder as he passed her.

“But—”

I was cut off by the front door closing. I huffed irritably, then looked up at Cece. Her gaze softened, then she whined. “Take him back, whatever has happened between you guys, please take your bloody guitarist back. Even for a night, put him back in the doghouse tomorrow. Ineeda night with my guys without him making shitty remarks about our relationship. I thought you guys were good, anyway?”

She slumped down on the sofa at my feet, and I tucked them up out of her way so that she could get comfy as I tried not to laugh. She had looked so angry when she had turned up, I had no idea what about, but apparently, she was just fed up.

I didn’t blame her. I’d lived with the shitty remarks for months and I was sick of them, but I thought of him as family when he threw them my way, I put up with it, but she didn’t need to.

“Fine, tell him to come back for the night,” I said, taking pity on her. “But just for one night.”

“What’s happened?” Cece asked, wrinkling her nose. “Come on, Bea, let me in. I can keep a secret, you know that.”

“I do,” I agreed. “But this is something I really need to keep to myself, just for now. I promise I’ll tell you everything soon.”

My friend pouted but accepted that I wasn’t going to budge. I was stubborn and she’d worked that out about me fairly fast. She must have been used to it anyway, being stuck on a tour bus with my best friend, a man who was arguably even worse than me at letting people in.

“How are you feeling now, anyway? Have you stopped being sick?” she asked, getting more comfortable on my sofa.

I shook my head. “Nope, Ro reckons it’s tattoo flu. I thought that was a myth though, I’ve never had it before. But my throat is loads better, and I don’t have a fever or anything, so I’m putting my money on a cold and stomach bug combo.”

Cece wrinkled her nose again, clearly disagreeing with me. “But no one else is ill.”

“I guess their immune systems are better than mine,” I said with a shrug, then grimaced as the taste of sick rose up my throat. I managed to keep it down, but Cece noticed how my face had changed.

“Want me to hold your hair while you… you know…” She mimed being sick and I laughed.

“I’m good, God, I want it to pass though.”

Her eyed widened and her jaw dropped. “Oh my God. What if you’re pregnant?”

I rolled my eyes and then narrowed them at her. “I’m on the pill. Come on, Cece, I’m sleeping with my whole band, you think I’d do that with zero protection?”

Her brows raised higher up her forehead as she blinked. “You know the pill isn’t exactly the most effective form of birth control, how strict are you with it?”

“What do you mean how strict am I?” I asked, worry twisting my stomach, making the vomit rise back up.

Cece blew out a long breath. “Bea, when do you take your pill?”

“Every day,” I said indignantly, swallowing hard, I wasn’t stupid, I knew how to—.

“At the same time?” Cece was leaning forward now, eyes raking over my body, lingering on my stomach.

“No, just… daily.” Exactly how the nurse had told me to take them two years ago when I first switched to this brand.

Cece shook her head, eyes still locked on my stomach. “Go get your pills.”

I did as she said, irritably getting to my feet and heading to my bedroom to grab the little packet locked away in my drawer full of sex toys and lube.So much lube.

“Here.” I tossed the packet at her, and the moment her gaze dropped to the box in her lap my breath caught.

“Shit,” She cursed loudly. “Bea, you—”

I ran, throwing myself through the bathroom door and launching myself headfirst towards the toilet. Cece was behind me a second later, a fistful of my hair in her hand as she soothed me, stroking my back and telling me it was all okay.