Bared To You (Sinful Nights)

3: The Morning After

Ashley

I woke up disoriented, like a confused goldfish in a brand-new bowl. The sheet scratching against my shoulder was soft and expensive. The air smelled faintly of... something distinctly male. Panic clawed its way up my throat.

My eyes snapped open and I sat upright. Where the hell was I? Definitely not my room. This room screamed testosterone and minimalist design. I looked down. My jeans were MIA. Instead, an oversized t-shirt hung off my shoulder, almost revealing way more than I was comfortable with. Okay, now the panic was full-blown.

Before I could scream, the door creaked open and Hayden walked in looking infuriatingly...calm. Like it was nothing. He had a glass of water in his hand and raised an eyebrow, a lazy smirk playing on his lips.

Jerk!

"Morning, you are finally awake."

"Hayden," I bit out, pulling the t-shirt higher. "What the hell is going on? Where are my pants? And why am I in your room?"

He sauntered closer, which was infuriatingly slow. "Well, Princess, last night you were...inebriated. Beyond inebriated, actually. Borderline comatose. You refused to let me drag you back to your room like a sack of potatoes. Repeatedly. So, here you are."

"I don't remember any of that," I muttered, my head throbbing. The last thing I recalled was slapping Abel and drinking.

Hayden's smirk widened. "That's usually how it goes. But believe me, you were... unforgettable." He paused, a glint in his eye. "Especially the part where you decided my perfectly good leather cushion was a better receptacle for your stomach contents than the toilet."

My stomach lurched again, but this time from pure mortification. "I...I didn't!"

"Oh, you did. Twice." He set the water on the nightstand. "And, Ashley, as much as I appreciate the... natural fertilizer, I wasn't about to let you sleep marinated in your own vomit. So... I changed you."

My jaw dropped. "You what?!"

He held up his hands, feigning innocence. "Relax. I closed my eyes the entire time. Besides, you're not exactly a Greek statue. You will live." He gave me a once-over that definitely wasn't closed-eyed, a smug smile plastered on his face. "Besides, I have seen better."

Heat flooded my face. "You are unbelievable," I hissed, grabbing the water and gulping it down. "I hate you."

"The feeling's mutual, cupcake." He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. He looked entirely too comfortable. "Now, if you're feeling well enough to function, I suggest you go back to your room"

He tossed my jeans at me. I snatched them out of the air, trying to ignore him while I ran back to my room. I quickly dressed up and left for school.

As I arrived at the campus, I could hear people whispering, pointing

Apparently, the slap at the party had been caught on at least three phones and uploaded to five different group chats. By the third period, someone had even made a meme out of it, Ashley's Slap Head Round The World.

Genius!

I kept my head down in the hallway, ignoring the whispers and side-eyes. Brittany gave me a particularly venomous look, her perfectly glossed lips curled in a sneer. I glared back, trying to project an aura of 'I'm-totally-unbothered-and-you're-beneath-me.' But deep inside, I was kinda scared of the whole drama.

I found Maya at our usual lunch table, happily devouring a slice of pizza. "OMG," she breathed when she saw me. "You are trending everywhere!"

"Yeah I know, I wish the ground could just open and swallow me right now, I'm embarrassed," I said through gritted teeth, covering my face up with my hand. Maya let out a deep sigh, definitely having nothing to say.

Just when I thought it was all over, I noticed Abel was walking toward us, I furrowed my brows, something was wrong. He was limping, and there was a nasty black eye beneath his left eye. He looked like he'd gone five rounds with a very large, very angry badger.

He stopped in front of our table, avoiding my gaze. "Ash... I, uh, I want to apologize," he mumbled. My jaw dropped.

"Apologize? For what, exactly? For being a jerk? Or cheating on me?"

He winced. "Yeah, for... all of that. I was a d**k. I shouldn't have done that, I was just overwhelmed at the moment."

Overwhelmed? "You had a funny way of showing it," I said, my voice shaking despite my best efforts.

"I know. I just...I wanted you to know I'm sorry." He turned and limped away, looking utterly miserable.

"What the hell was that?" Maya asked, her brow furrowed.

"I have no idea," I said, completely bewildered. Abel, apologizing? Being... vulnerable? It was like the world was collapsing.

*

The day crawled by in slowly. I felt like I was trapped in a bad reality show, and the producers had decided to crank up the drama to eleven. Just before the final bell, I cut through the back stairwell, hoping to avoid the crowds.

I suddenly heard voices and stopped in my tracks immediately, it was Brittany's high-pitched, whiny voice and... Abel's?

I pressed myself against the wall, listening.

"...you said you'd take care of it!" Brittany hissed. "I told you to make sure she's sorry"

"I tried, okay?" Abel retorted, his voice muffled. "But Hayden Blackwood showed up out of nowhere. He's crazy"

"I still can't believe Hayden broke your nose, made you apologize to that b***h after slapping you, is he mad or what?" Brittany shrieked.

"That's why I am going to pay him back, he thought he had the last laugh. I have plans Brits, I paid a lot of money for this, and I expect this to happen" Abel said his voice filled with anger.

"What plans do you have?" Brittany asked

"I got guys waiting to jump Blackwood after school, he is going to regret what he did," Abel said with so much conviction in his tone.

My blood ran cold. I knew this was trouble and there was no way I was going to stay out. The bell finally rang and I had to find Hayden, right away.