CHAPTER5
TANNER
The morning after the auction, I woke up with the biggest hangover I’d had in ages. I might only have been drinking champagne and expensive bourbon all night, but that didn’t make my head hurt any less.
After the bids had been placed and our fates for the weekend sealed, Jeremiah had arranged for a special after-party for the guys who had participated, and surprisingly, I’d had fun. I’d met some interesting people, and although my liver hated me for it, I was glad I’d stuck it out until the end of the night.
Groaning as I rolled over in bed, I buried my head in my pillow and tried to go back to sleep. Now that I was aware of the pounding in my head and how bad my mouth tasted, though, it was no use. There was no way I’d be able to doze off again while it felt like I had a gnome operating a jackhammer in my brain. I considered just going to brush my teeth and taking a couple of painkillers before coming back to bed, but my entire being was crying out for coffee and my stomach, queasy as it was, was demanding food.
Fuck. Guess I’m going to have to do something about all that. Deciding to start with a shower, I brushed my teeth right under the spray and stayed there until I didn’t smell like a distillery anymore. The warm water helped my head a little, too. By the time I got out, I was feeling marginally more human but still like an idiot over how nervous I’d been about last night.
It had actually turned out to be a really good time, and I grinned as I thought back to Jeremiah strutting his stuff on that stage. I just wished I had a video of it for the others because it’d been fucking hilarious. For a guy who’d known exactly who was going to win the weekend away with him—and who would be paying for himself—he’d really worked it.
But then I remembered that I had a weekend getaway ahead myself, only mine would be with some chick I’d never met before. My grin faded as I groaned again. At least someone bid on me. Lots of someones, actually.
I clung to that thought while I got dressed and stumbled into the kitchen to make some coffee. Thanks to the generosity of everyone there, they’d been willing to rake out the big bucks for everyone—myself included—and I’d ended up fetching a pretty tidy amount for the housing project. I was strangely proud of myself for it.
My stomach grumbled again, and I clutched it while trying to decide what to order for breakfast that wouldn’t have me kneeling in front of a toilet. No doubt the poor girl who won the weekend with me wouldn’t have been super excited about it if she saw me now.
A loud knock at my door had me wincing and reaching up to clutch my forehead instead of my stomach. Yep. That’s it. I’m never drinking again.
Jeremiah and I had been living across the hall from one another for years. Our penthouses were nice, and even though we could both afford much better—for me, that was especially true now—neither of us had ever even mentioned moving out.
I’d been playing around with the idea recently, but as I opened the door to his smiling face with no trace of a hangover on it, I cursed. “It’s official. I’m moving out. How are you not feeling like shit this morning?”
He smirked at me. “I didn’t go to sleep very soon after we got back. I drank a lot of water and I got in a bit of exercise with the lovely woman who bought me.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” I groaned. “Please, God. Not now. I really can’t face the thought of your sexcapades right now.”
“It’s not God, it’s Jeremiah. Funny enough, Steph made the same mistake a few times last night,” he joked, and I wondered if I would make it to the toilet in time if he kept referencing stuff I really didn’t want to be picturing.
The asshole laughed before shooting me a sympathetic look. “Anyway, the reason I’m gracing you with my fabulous, godly presence this morning is because I’ve got breakfast burritos, hashbrowns, and freshly squeezed orange juice at my place. Courtesy of Stephanie. We thought you might need it, and frankly, so do I.”
“So you are hungover,” I commented dryly, stepping out and shutting the door behind me without even going back for shoes. “I’ll forgive you since I’m never going to stop being grateful to your girlfriend for this. Just no more sex talk, okay?”
“I can’t make any promises,” he said and turned to shoot me a shit-eating grin as he opened his door. “Steph might want to tell you all about this thing we—”
“Steph will do nothing of the kind,” she called from their kitchen. “In fact, Steph wants to know why you’re making a point of torturing one of your biggest earners from last night?”
She walked toward us, spatula in hand, and she pointed it at him after glancing at me. “Can’t you see the guy is literally green? He’s going to puke on you if you keep making jokes like that.”
“Who said I was joking?” he asked innocently, but she rolled her eyes and ushered me to the breakfast bar.
“Ignore him,” she said. “By the time you two stumbled in, I was fast asleep. He’s just being an ass.”
I laughed, arching a brow at my chagrined friend. “Dude, I love it when your girlfriend puts you in your place. Can we keep her?”
“I’m keeping her. We are not.” He slung an arm around her shoulders possessively, and she leaned into him, giving him a sweet smile.
“Looks like you’re not the only one who can make jokes this morning.” She slid out from under his arm and lifted the lid off a tray on the counter. Then she sat down on the stool across from me.
“On the other hand, since all of you guys are so close and I’m the only girl, it is kind of a ‘we’ scenario, isn’t it?” She made air-quotes around the word with her fingers. “It’s too bad I only get the perks of one guy when I constantly have to feed and put up with all four of you. What do you say, Tanner? Help a girl out and start dating someone, would you?”
“Oh, sure. I’ll get right on that,” I said. “Let me just finish my breakfast. Then I’ll go out and find a wife.”
Steph laughed, pulling the tray with all the mouth-watering food on it closer to her. “If you’re going to be an ass this morning as well, I think I’ll just keep all of this to myself.”
“No. I’ll behave. I promise.” I put my hand to my chest, giving her my very best puppy dog eyes. “Please feed me. You’re a goddess and I’ll never make fun of any idea you have ever again.”