8. Karrie
1185 Words
Eight
Karrie
I caught a glance of myself in the mirror while I washed my hands, and a giggle escaped my lips.
My flannel shirt was now tied around the waist of my cutoff sweats, so you could see all of the writing on my favorite T-shirt, which showcased different lyrics from Thirty Seconds to Mars songs. Paired with my Docs and completely messy up-do, I looked totally grunge.
Like I’d walked right out of a portal from the nineties.
I swear, I’d seen Crush’s lip curl up when he saw me and Ridge playing beer pong. Which, by the way, Ridge obviously had a lot of experience in, because I was totally smashed and he seemed no worse for the wear.
Wes, on the other hand, had passed out in the corner of the room. Trixie had looked at him with contempt and gone home with a few of the other girls.
Still giggling, I swung open the bathroom door to see Ridge leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes on me.
“You’re leaning again,” I told him, trying not to trip over my feet as I stepped into the hall.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, ignoring my observation and taking me by the arm to help me stay upright.
“Nothin’, just how rad you look.”
“Rad, huh?”
“Yup,” I said, popping the p.
“Do you want me to take you home, or would you rather go up to my room and crash here?”
I swung my head toward him, much too quickly, and asked, “Is it safe?”
“Safe? What, to go to my room?” he asked, pulling me against him when I started to waiver.
“Yeah, you’re not gonna try any funny business, right?”
Ridge scoffed.
“I don’t make a habit of pawing at wasted girls, even if they look like members of the Nirvana fan club.”
“Good one,” I said, as he pointed me toward the stairs. “Are you sure there isn’t some hot chick in stilettos waiting to warm your bed?”
“Jealous?” he asked.
I tried to guffaw, but it came out somewhere between a snort and a burp.
“You gonna be sick?” Ridge asked, moving us faster.
“Your insinuation that I’d be jealous of you makes me sick, but physically … no.”
“Okay, well, let me know if you do feel like puking, I have a bathroom off of my room, and I’d rather you make it to the toilet, than vomit on my bed.”
“Will do, Captain,” I said, giving him a jaunty salute.
Ridge shook his head and propped me up against the wall while he unlocked his door.
“You lock it?” I asked, letting my head fall back.
“Not always, but during parties, definitely.”
“Hmmm, I don’t remember it being locked last time I was up here.”
He looked at me with annoyance.
“Just an observation,” I said with a wave of my hand. “No need to get your panties in a bunch.”
Ridge just sighed. “Come on, killer, let’s get you inside before you fall over.”
He led me to the bed and I laid back on it with a happy squeal.
“Mmm, soft.”
“Here, take these.”
I opened one eye to see Ridge standing over me with one hand out and the other holding a Gatorade.
Sitting up, I took the pills he offered and the blue drink. Before popping them in my mouth, I looked closer at the pills, saw they said Motrin on them, and took them.
“Thanks.”
“Drink all the Gatorade,” Ridge ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
Ridge got some clothes out of his dresser and disappeared into the bathroom while I downed the rest of the drink. Once it was done, I set the empty bottle on the side table and laid back down on the bed.
“Is Wes your only brother?” I asked, then realized the last time I’d seen him was in the beer pong room. “Hey, is he going to be okay? Did you leave him in the corner?”
The door opened and Ridge stepped out wearing basketball shorts and a plain white tee.
“Don’t worry, a couple of the pledges had to stay sober to make sure the rest of them got home safe. Wes’ll be fine. And, no, our youngest brother’s Brody. He’s a senior in high school, but he’ll be coming to U of M next year.”
“Wow, all of you at the same school. That’s pretty cool … I mean, as long as you all like each other.”
“Yeah, we get along, it’ll be good for Brody to get away,” Ridge said, opening his drawer again and holding up a T-shirt. “You wanna put this on? It’s probably more comfortable than that.”
I looked down and saw my Docs were perched on his bed and quickly swung my feet to the floor.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, placing my hands on either side of me to steady myself on the bed.
“Here, let me help.”
Ridge crouched before me and started unlacing my boots.
“I didn’t think you’d be this nice,” I told him softly, enjoying the way his dark hair fell over his forehead.
“Don’t be fooled, I can be a total d**k,” Ridge said, his blue eyes intense when he met my gaze. “But, you and I, we’re a team now, we need to have each other’s backs.”
I started to nod, but the room started spinning, so I stopped.
Once my boots were off, I scooted back up on the bed and laid my head on his soft, yet firm pillow.
“What about you?” Ridge asked as he crawled in beside me. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
Turning on my side, I tucked my hands under my cheeks and looked at him.
“I do … My mom and dad met when I was like two, at college. He was a baseball player and she was working her way through school and raising me. Eventually they got married, and now I have a younger brother, Carter.” I paused, thinking about my family and how much I missed them.
“So, he’s your stepdad?”
“Yeah, Judd’s my stepdad, but really the only father I’ve ever known. Initially, my real dad, Tucker, didn’t want anything to do with having a kid. He and my mom were just a hookup and he had dreams of playing professional baseball, which he did. About five years ago, he settled down and got married and realized what an ass he’d been. He contacted my mom and asked if we could meet. She left it up to me.”
“So, both Judd and your dad were ballplayers?”
“Mmm-hmmm, on the same team. I guess they were even friends, until Judd found out Tucker was a deadbeat dad. They hadn’t talked to each other either, until five years ago.”
“What did you decide? Did you give him a shot?”
“Yeah,” I said, trying to cover a yawn. “I met him and his wife, Claire, and once they had my little sister, Evelyn, I started spending more time with them. Now we’re a big, crazy, dysfunctional family.”
“Sounds cool,” Ridge said. “My brothers and I just recently found out we have three sisters, who are all older than us. My dad was a deadbeat too, and didn’t have anything to do with them once he left their mom for ours. So, I have a crazy dysfunctional family, too.”
“Huh, who would’ve thought?”
“What?”
“That we actually have something in common,” I joked, and then I couldn’t fight it anymore, and fell asleep.
- Writer
